How to Advertise Commercial Listings

A few minutes ago I was browsing through the Commercial Real Estate group on Activerain, and I saw an interesting question from a member in Michigan. She was asking about how you should advertise commercial property. The ironic part of this, is that my Dad (a residential broker in Arkansas) was just asking me the same question on Friday evening, as he tries to market a commercial listing he recently acquired.

What's the Difference?

There are certainly some parallels in advertising residential and commercial listings, but there are a number of differences as well. Instead of comparing and contrasting, I'm going to go over the methods that we use at our firm.

Listing Services

We utilize a number of listing services.

• Costar - Costar is a fee-based service, but is free to upload your listings. Free publicity!
• Excelligent - This service is very similar to Costar, and is free for agents to have their listings included.
• LoopNet - This is another fee-based service, that we use extensively to find properties, and list our properties. The fee is nominal, around $35/month. You can get a free membership, but your listings aren't viewed by a great deal of searchers, I would recommend the premium membership.
• CIMLS - A free listing service that looks somewhat like the old BBS services that were precursors to the modern-day internet. Not as popular, but it is free.
• Craigslist - Although this isn't strictly a real estate site, you can post your properties here for free. Craigslist is very popular in some cities, so it would be wise to take advantage of this. It also helps your listings pop up high in Google. I would recommend using a service like Postlets to create a better presentation.
  

E-mail Broadcasts

E-mail broadcasts are some of the best ways to advertise your properties, and your clients' needs to other brokers. We subscribe to a list called the CIB list, which is currently only used in Texas. Check www.cib.net for more information on this service. Their list includes thousands of brokers from across the state, so you nearly always receive responses when broadcasting a listing or a client's need.

Buls Hodge also maintains an in-house e-mail list, that we broadcast similar e-mails to.

Website

Most real estate professionals today have some type of website, be it their firm's website or their personal website. This is a great way to teach potential clients about your personal level of service, as well as to show clients and brokers what you have available for lease or sale.

Signage

Property signage is very important for a number of reasons. First of all, it can have a broker or potential buyer/tenant call you because they are interested in that specific property/space. As a dual benefit, you are often able to pick up leads from a sign and convert them over and represent them. The marketing power of a sign can be very significant. We generally use 4' x 8' signs that can be viewed by traffic traveling in either direction. Though our signs run $400 - 500 each, they generally are worth the cost.

Direct Mail

Direct mail doesn't provide great percentage returns, but one deal can pay for an entire year of direct marketing. Our firm uses direct mail of postcards and flyers to potential tenants, buyers, and landlords. We market our services or listings (as appropriate) to the demographics that we feel are most appropriate. The average return is about 1%. The most costly parts of direct mail campaigns are the design and postage. Once you have the design, you don't have to pay it anymore, so you save money over time with this type of campaign. You also can save money by ensuring your list is accurate, so you aren't sending postcards (and the subsequent postage) to people and businesses that don't exist. Direct mail campaigns have proven to be more effective over time, don't expect great results after one, two, or even three mailings.

Print Advertising

Print advertising is expensive (usually). There are an array of options, and depending on the publication, you may or may not have the design of the ad included. Classifieds are probably the cheapest, but these aren't used as heavily in commercial real estate. Ads in business newspapers/journals and commercial real estate magazines are considerably more expensive, but they generally have a better rate of return. I find that you can generally work out deals with advertisers on rates.

Social Functions/Word-of-Mouth

One of the best ways to get the word out about your listings, and your name for referrals, is just by word-of-mouth. This is accomplished by getting out there and doing deals. It is also accomplished by attending networking functions. This is a great way to garner name-recognition and awareness of your properties. Not to mention the free cocktails and meals you get. It's a win-win for everyone!

This is by no means a one-size fits all solution for all brokers, but I hope some of it might be able to help. Feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions.