The Ultimate Guide to Commercial Real Estate Marketing

When marketing a commercial property, it’s important to start with the basics. There are a few basic collateral pieces and promotion methods every reputable leasing firm should utilize to kick off the marketing for your commercial property. 

To get your property in the market, start with these five basic marketing tools:

• Property flyer or brochure
• Leasing sign
• Listing your property on the leasing firm’s website
• Listing on CRE listing sites
• Email announcements for your property

1. Property Flyer or Brochure

A property flyer or brochure is usually a one-to-five-page document available as a PDF, but can also be printed. It includes all the information about your property that a prospect, or a tenant representation broker, might want to know. 

This flyer will be used for all aspects of property marketing – it will be available for download online and on property listing sites, distributed to inquiring tenant rep brokers, shared with prospective tenants, and more. 

Sometimes the flyer or brochure is done in the brand of the leasing company and other times it is done in a brand custom for the property. To determine if your property needs its own brand, read Chapter 2.

A standard AQUILA property marketing flyer for Chase Tower.

2. Leasing Sign

A leasing sign at your property (or site) is a great way to communicate that your property is available for lease or sale.

A property leasing sign should be placed in front of your property to grab the attention of people driving or walking by.

Standard leasing sign for Hartland Plaza.

These signs are usually designed in the leasing firm’s standard sign template. Your leasing firm’s marketing team should handle the design and execution of these signs. 

Your leasing firm will usually pay for a standard leasing sign, but always make sure to check your listing agreement to be sure. If your project requires a special sign (custom colors, graphics, or size), there may be an additional cost. The details should be clearly defined in your listing agreement.

Read Next: 5 Questions You Should Ask About Your Leasing Firm’s Marketing Team

3. Listing Your Property on the Leasing Firm’s Website

Tenant representation brokers regularly use property listing pages on a leasing firm’s website to find suitable properties for their clients or to verify accurate availability information. This means you need to be listed on these types of pages.

The property listing page should feature all of the information included on the flyer. This includes images, details, maps, contact information, a link to download the flyer, and links to the leasing brokers’ emails.

Property listing page for Prominent Pointe.

Additionally, a quality firm’s listing pages will feature interactive maps, an inquiry form for interested tenants and brokers to reach out directly, current availability and asking rates, and more.

This page is also an opportunity to feature any other marketing materials you have for your property such as a property website, video, virtual tour, etc.

4. Listing on CRE Listing Sites

CRE listing sites (aka commercial real estate marketplaces) are a broker’s first stop when searching for available spaces for their clients. Your leasing firm should update and maintain your property listing on major commercial real estate listing sites like CoStar and Loopnet. 

Loopnet listing for Mueller Business District.

These are similar to the listings on the leasing firm’s website and should include all the previously mentioned information and flyer. For an additional cost, you may want to upgrade to a paid listing on these sites. You can learn more about paid listings in Chapter 6.

5. Email Announcements for Your Property

Your firm should create strategic emails for your property. This will keep your property top of mind amongst the brokerage community.

This campaign should consist of emails detailing milestones about the property as well as other important announcements and should be sent to the local brokerage community. A reputable leasing firm will have a curated list of brokers in the market that will receive these emails.

Read Next: The Ultimate Guide to Hiring a Commercial Leasing Team

These five items are what we consider the “block and tackle” pieces of a property marketing campaign. They are the essential marketing pieces you need to play in the commercial real estate industry. However, there are many strategies and initiatives to consider to best position your property in the market. 

These initiatives include:

• Video and virtual tours
• Custom property branding
• Property website
• Advertising

We will discuss each of these additional marketing strategies in later chapters. You can click on the links above to jump to a certain topic.

Read the complete article: How to Market a Commercial Property: 7 Essential Tools Your Leasing Firm Should Provide

What Is a Custom Property Brand?

A brand identity includes both the visual elements of a brand, such as a logo, typeface, and colors, and the unique messaging and value proposition that helps to distinguish that brand in consumers’ minds. 

What Types of Properties Need a Custom Brand?

Typically, custom branding is seen in new developments because it’s important for a new project that doesn’t have recognition in the market to establish an identity and cache in order to lease up. These new developments also typically have a healthy marketing budget. 

Eastlake at Tillery is a 172,000-square-foot multi-building office campus in East Austin. It has a unique logo, its own website, and matching collateral. Custom-branded items can be seen in the gallery below.

We also see older properties get new or updated brand identities following major property renovations or other significant changes, like a change in ownership or a major vacancy. 

Previously called The Millenium, Pennybacker Commons is a 136,000-square-foot office building in Austin’s Northwest submarket. In 2019, the building underwent major renovations, a change in ownership, and, in turn, was given a new name and brand identity to redefine the building’s perception in the market. It has a custom website, distinct messaging, and custom-branded marketing materials, which can be seen in the gallery below.

Typically, the bigger a property or building is, the more likely it is to need a unique brand identity. Developers and owners of large mixed-use projects, retail centers, and multi-building office and industrial campuses generally invest in creating a custom brand identity.

Custom branding might be a waste of time or money for smaller Class A properties, Class B properties, or value-oriented properties. 

Whether or not you choose to pursue creating a unique brand identity for your property or not also depends on your marketing goals and budget.

Want to go a step further with your property branding? Read our Guide to Building an Effective Marketing Center for Your Commercial Property.

How Much Does a Custom Brand Identity Cost?

In our experience, basic brand identity and strategy packages which include a custom logo, color palette and typefaces, brand guidelines and messaging can range from a few thousand dollars to upwards of $50,000 depending on the agency. 

For full campaigns, we’ve seen projects range from $25,000 to upwards of $250,000.

Ready to hire a branding agency? Check out our list of the top 6 Best Branding Agencies for Commercial Real Estate Property

To get a more in-depth look into custom branding and the brand-building process, read the full article: Do I Need a Custom Brand Identity for My Commercial Property?

Videos are an important asset for your property. These can be used on listings, property websites, email campaigns, ads, and social campaigns. It’s important to capture your audience’s attention and keep your property top of mind. 

In this chapter, we explain what videos are a good fit for your property, what elements you need to create them, and how much they cost.

Who can benefit from using video in their property marketing strategy?

The short answer? Everyone. Deciding which type of video fits best into your strategy will depend on your budget and resources. 

Read Next: 10 Best Examples of Commercial Real Estate Video Marketing

The Most Effective Videos for Commercial Properties

The seven most effective videos include:

1. Drone videos
2. Property tours
3. Digitally rendered videos
4. Value proposition videos
5. Property commercials
6. Influencer/lifestyle videos
7. Tenant testimonial videos

1. Drone Videos

Best Fits: Land, industrial buildings, and some existing buildings (combined with a property tour or other compelling video)
Estimated Cost: $500 to $3,000

One of the most common types of property videos is a drone video. It can be a useful storytelling tool when trying to paint a picture of the location, access, views, or nearby features or amenities.

In the example below, the drone video for the 3625 SH 123 Land serves a key purpose in defining the borders of the parcel.

2. Property Tours

Best Fits: Existing Buildings, recently renovated spaces, buildings that are far away or hard to get to (but can be used for any building)
Estimated Cost: Under $5,000

They are a great way to highlight building exteriors, and on-site and nearby amenities, and to show off cool existing tenant spaces. Usually, these videos have graphic overlays to narrate the video, but we’ve seen good examples with voiceovers or interviews as well. 

In the example below, the property tour for Pennybacker Commons uses drone footage, graphics, and interior shots.

3. Digitally Rendered Videos

Best Fits: New developments, major redevelopment projects
Estimated Cost: Simple fly-throughs range from $10,000 to $15,000 and building/property videos range from $20,000 to upwards of $250,000

These videos are basically a property tour video, but instead of having live footage, they utilize digitally rendered images of buildings. This allows you to showcase properties that don’t exist yet or properties that are set to undergo major renovations. 

Sometimes you’ll see buildings rendered into actual drone footage of an area like is seen at 1:37 in AQUILA’s Mueller Business District video below.

4. Value Proposition Videos

Best Fits: A wide range of properties – from office and industrial to retail and even land
Estimated Cost: Depends on the length, number of stakeholders interviewed and the amount of time needed to capture the B-roll or any digitally rendered footage used

Value proposition videos are highlight reels to feature the best attributes of the property and how they add value to prospective tenants. Generally, these videos highlight key stakeholders such as a developer/owner, leasing broker, and/or architects in an interview-style setting.

In the example below, a developer and a broker speak about Eastlake at Tillery, an office development in East Austin.

5. Property Commercials

Best Fits: A wide range of properties – from office and industrial to retail and even land
Estimated Cost: Can vary greatly depending on how much custom footage is shot, if actors are used, and if digitally rendered clips are included

A property commercial is similar to a commercial you might see on TV. These videos help to tell a story, are typically highly scripted, and have a heavy emphasis on emotional appeal.

See the 7700 Parmer property commercial below for an example.

6. Influencer/Lifestyle Videos

Best Fits: Mainly used to market office properties
Estimated Cost: Varies greatly depending on the intricacy of the shoot as well as the fee for the influencer (influencer fees can range from hundreds of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars based on status and reach)

Lifestyle and influencer videos are also on the rise. These videos can tell an authentic story of a location or neighborhood where a commercial property is located. They usually include B-roll of surrounding amenities to paint a picture of what it would be like to office in the location. 

Influencers can help promote properties in locations where they are trusted voices or subject matter experts. Collaborating with an influencer can help bring outside authority and trust to your property’s brand.

In the example below, you can see one video series featuring food and lifestyle influencer Jane Ko of the A Taste of Koko Blog. In these videos, Jane highlights the unique food destinations in the East Cesar Chavez corridor where AQUILA is marketing the Eastlake at Tillery office development.

7. Tenant Testimonial Videos

Best Fits: Existing buildings or campuses with tenants already in place, new developments that have a significant pre-lease tenant secured
Estimated Cost: More than property tours ($5,000) but less than most other commercial videos

Tenant testimonials aren’t used in commercial real estate often, but they can be powerful. Producing testimonials with existing tenants is the ultimate form of social proof. Having an outside source speak about why your property is a great place can create trust with future prospects. 

Read the full article here: 7 Videos You Should Be Using to Market Your Commercial Real Estate Property (Examples)

Your property website is your chance to attract prospective tenants looking at your property across the country (likely before they ever step foot on site). The messaging on your website should create engagement and invoke emotion.  You should avoid lists of facts and features – this can be supplied on a fact sheet or page for brokers.

Who Needs a Property Website?

Property websites are best for promoting larger projects. This includes new office developments, major redevelopments, and existing campus opportunities. 

Read Next: 10 Best Commercial Property Websites

What Should Be on Your Property Website?

In each of these categories, you should be focused on what makes your property unique and sets it apart from the competition.

1. Professional photos, renderings, and videos

The images, videos, and renderings you place on your website need to grab the user’s attention immediately. This will be their first impression of your property. You need to use professional media assets that are compelling and make the user feel as if they are actually at the property.

Make sure you have interior and exterior photos or renderings and that you highlight the property’s unique attributes in all visual assets. 

You can read more about professional photography and renderings in these articles:

• 4 Benefits of Professional Photography for Commercial Real Estate
• Six Things to Consider When Creating Renderings for Your Commercial Property
• 5 Best Firms for Photorealistic Renderings of Commercial Real Estate Developments

2. Engaging and interactive maps

No matter what kind of property you are showcasing or where it is located, it is essential to include maps on your website. These maps can include:

• Property location
• Neighborhood amenities
• Campus layouts
• Access points
• Surrounding developments 
• Nearby employers

Below is an example of a map for Braker 6, 7, and 11.

3. Content About the Property

You should also make sure that your website visitor is informed about what’s going on at, and around, your property.

This could look different depending on how large your property is, and what sort of amenities are around it. Press releases and news coverage are great touch pieces to include on a press page. And, if your property is in a compelling neighborhood, a property blog page could further expand on the area and its advantages.

4. A Clear Call To Action

Finally, your website should have a clear call to action. This could be a link to download a brochure or to schedule a tour and fill out a contact form. 

Your CTA should be clearly visible throughout the user’s journey on the website. This means you should have at least one CTA on each page and your contact information should also always be visible at the top or bottom of your web pages.

Contact information at the bottom of the Alto website as well as a message bubble linking to the contact form that follows the user throughout their journey.

Read the full article: 7 Things That Should Be on Your Property Website

An event can be a great way to incentivize tenant rep brokers to visit a property or generate buzz around a project or new development. 

Events can be great for:

• New developments or projects
• Large blocks of space that come on to the market
• A property that has recently been renovated
• A property that is far away from the city center
• A property that has an existing negative stigma in the market that no longer applies

Examples of Property Events

Events can be as simple as a happy hour, lunch, or dinner at the property, which typically require top-notch door prizes to draw broker attention. For new developments, it often makes sense to host “milestone” events (groundbreakings, topping out parties, etc.) to bring brokers and the press out to the site to see the progress on the site. 

In other cases, a larger event may make more sense. For example, during the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, AQUILA hosted a brunch at a property and provided tickets and a shuttle to the golf tournament after the event. 

In other cases, especially if a property doesn’t exist yet, it may make sense to host an event in a popular central location. AQUILA hosted an event at the world-famous Franklin Barbecue to promote the Four Points IV development, rather than asking the brokers to visit the northwest location.

Hosting an event helps inform the brokers about the property (or if hosted at the property, to actually see the space or activity on the site) and get them excited about it. Then, they can better market the property to their clients, the prospective tenants.

These are typically planned by the brokerage firm and paid for by the property owner or developer.

Incentives for Brokers to Attend

The hardest part is incentivizing brokers to attend your events. You have to offer something that is worth their time. 

We’ve seen everything from gift cards to surrounding restaurants for the first 50 brokers to a trip to Cancun for two, and everything in between, including cash prizes.

Brokers also like games and competitions. Activities that anyone can do like cornhole or a putting green with a prize for the winner will also encourage people to attend an event. 

Generating Press

Events can also generate free marketing in the form of earned media. This earned media can vary depending on how large your event is. 

For example, when you have a groundbreaking event, if you invite the press, it is very likely that they will write about the event – helping your property gain attention. Creating buzz not only in the news but also on social media, is a huge advantage to events.

Alto groundbreaking event.

Sponsoring Events

Sponsoring events can also be an effective way to market your property. For example, in 2020 AQUILA’s client chose to sponsor BisNow’s Austin State of the Market on behalf of Preserve at 620. This meant that the event would be held at the sponsoring property, drawing hundreds of industry professionals out to the newly completed project to see the space first-hand.

You can also sponsor smaller events in your community. This can be a great way to build goodwill with the neighborhood and connect with local business owners and decision-makers. Events like this usually allow you to set up a booth, hand out collateral, and speak with attendees. For example, AQUILA’s Mueller Business District team participated in Mueller’s 2019 Aldrich Street Fair. This not only helped the team get involved in the Mueller community but also helped us promote the Mueller Business District.

Should You Host a Property Event?

Getting tenant rep brokers from various companies together in one space is one of the biggest advantages of these types of events. This allows the landlord brokers and owners to network with the tenant rep brokers and form relationships that lead to a signed lease.

But, if you do not have the resources required to host an event (large budget, planning capabilities, attendees, networking goals for the event), it may not be the best marketing tactic for your property.

Read the full article: Broker Events for Property Marketing: Pros and Cons

At AQUILA, we have worked on many advertising campaigns for large commercial properties and developments. Over the course of these campaigns, we have learned what types of advertisements are the most impactful and how to overcome the obstacles related to each type of ad.

Seeing your branded property multiple times, across different platforms or mediums is the best way to get someone to remember it. 

Your goal is to make sure your property is in front of the brokerage community, industry players, the city and chamber of commerce, and business decision-makers (CEOs, CFOs, Real Estate Directors, etc.) both in your market and any potential “donor markets.”

Awareness-Level Advertising

At this stage, your goal is to make sure the market knows about your property and the opportunity that it presents. 

Awareness-Level advertising can include:

• Ads in industry or trade publications (GlobeSt., Bisnow, Real Estate Business) 
• Ads in The Business Journals
• Social media ads targeting brokers (LinkedIn, Facebook/Instagram)
• Using the RealtyAds platform to run ad campaigns

Consideration-Level Advertising

Once you’ve cast your wide net and the market is aware of the opportunity, it’s time to narrow in on your targeted list of prospects. 

In this phase, your goal is to get your property in front of the decision-makers at companies who are actively looking for space like yours. 

Consideration-Level advertising can include:

• Social media ads targeting companies (LinkedIn)
• Ad placements on Costar or Loopnet

Decision-Level Advertising

Finally, once you’ve made contact with a prospect and have them in your sights, it’s time for decision-stage ads. 

If awareness is a shotgun approach, this is a sniper campaign. Your focus here is to get in front of a specific group of people. 

Decision-Level advertising can include:

• Prospect-focused social media ads (LinkedIn)

How Much Does it Cost to Advertise a Commercial Property?

Ultimately, it depends. Generally, the longer your campaign, the more expensive it will be across all ad types.

• Social advertisements can start at around $1,000 a month per ad and increase based on the size of your audience.
• CoStar ads can range from $100 to $4,500 per month, depending on exposure and placement. CoStar usually also requires a six-month minimum.
• Annual sponsorships can be anywhere from $2,000 to over $10,000 depending on the organization and level of sponsorship. 

Reach out to the publication or organization that you would like to advertise with to get exact prices on their advertising packages.

Read the full article here: How to Use Advertising to Market Your Commercial Property

With all the moving parts of marketing your property, knowing what fits into your budget can be daunting.

We have included tables below to help you estimate what will fit best into your property marketing strategy and budget

Read the full article here: How Much Does It Cost to Market a Commercial Property?

See How AQUILA Has Helped Other Businesses Like Yours

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How AQUILA Leased a Space that Hadn’t Been Toured in Six Months in Just 75 Days

Preserve at 620: How AQUILA Transformed a Super Walmart Into Class A Office Space

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