What is Project Marketing – 7 Helpful Tips to Help You Get Started
This useful article will answer the question “what is project marketing”?
Marketing is essentially selling a product or a service. It is pretty similar to advertising, and in fact, an advertising campaign can be part of a larger marketing strategy.
The way you market a product or service will vary according to the thing for sale, the target market, your available budget and your expertise in the area.
For instance, there is no point in marketing toys to parents without kids or alcohol to people who don’t drink. The target market needs to already want the product or service or be a viable prospect for a conversion (sale).
Furthermore, in real estate terms, project marketing means selling homes. At Little Fish Real Estate, we tend to market off the plan townhouses that are not yet constructed.
So, in this article, we’ll lean on our own extensive experience selling properties off the plan. We’re happy to share these seven tips and tricks with you here, so you walk away informed of the process.
Are you ready? Let’s get into it.
Marketing Off the Plan Homes is a Promise
The first thing to note when learning how to sell a property off the plan is that you are selling a promise. That promise is a complete, brand-new home at the end of the project. However, that means that you need to deliver what you say you will, on time.
And because you don’t have a physical property to display and walk people through, you need to rely more heavily on other marketing assets. A marketing asset is a thing like a flyer or a brochure, or a social media advertisement. It’s something that shows the promise you will deliver, for instance.
Profit is the Aim
When selling properties off the plan, profit is the aim of the game. Sure, you sell homes for people to live in, but you need a living wage. So does the property developer. Everyone needs to make money, or projects wouldn’t be viable.
The trick is to sell off the plan real estate at a premium, which delivers a profit. This means that the buyer’s perception of the home is of the utmost importance.
In addition, how people perceive things determines how they react, so you want to project quality, premium craft and that the home is worth the money they will spend.
That means that marketing is critical to delivering a successful townhouse project.
Build Your Assets
As we mentioned above, developing your marketing assets to support sales is critical. We’ll share some asset ideas now.
Renders
You’ll need to get in touch with a quality 3d render company, which will provide a full render for your project.
Renders are 3D images of what your project will look like once finished.
The render company looks at the plans and builds the renders to match them.
Now, these renders won’t be cheap. They are pricey. However, quality renders sell properties off the plan, hands down.
Furthermore, these are the images of your homes; they get used in all your marketing assets.
If a buyer isn’t impressed by a render, you’ve got no chance of selling off the plan.
A Stunning Brochure
The next step is to take your renders and have a high-quality brochure developed. You’ll want to engage a graphic designer for this. Again, don’t be cheap. You might find someone cheap on Fiverr or another freelance website, but the quality from these designers can be seriously lacking.
Once designed, arrange professional printing of your brochure. Choose a nice piece of stock (the type of paper) that conveys professionalism and quality.
Brochures are essential in conveying your project. You want your brand to come across as polished, professional, sleek and modern – like your off the plan properties.
Social Media Ads
Another asset you can develop is social media advertisements. Think of all the places potential buyers are hanging out online.
This will vary according to demographics. For instance, younger people (who still buy property) are more likely on Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. Older people will be on Facebook.
Ideally, a social media campaign covers your entire target market, catching them online where they are scrolling.
As well, your renders are the drawcard here. You want people tapping on your ads to get to your landing page, where they enquire – and bingo, you have a lead.
What About a Real Estate Agent – Can’t They Market for Me?
You may be thinking that you could approach a run of the mill real estate agent to market off the plan properties.
Now, we’ve got nothing against sales agents – they are good at what they do. But they really shine selling established property.
An agent might print off a one or two-pager flyer advertising an off the plan development and call it a day.
This is nowhere near a complete marketing campaign that includes many assets and catches people at multiple touchpoints. They’re just not comparable.
Remember, buyers’ perceptions influence decisions, so you want a comprehensive marketing approach to guarantee sales.
Inclusions Document – An Essential Asset
An essential asset in your marketing approach is a solid inclusion document.
This is tremendous leverage when selling an off the plan property.
Our partner company, Little Fish Property Developments, engages a professional interior designer to pick out all the fixtures, fittings and finishes for our off the plan properties.
We then “co-brand” a design document, which uses branding from the design firm and the development company.
This includes what all the fixtures, finishes and fittings will look like. There might even be options for the buyer to choose from. Furthermore, an inclusions document can get them more attached to the property, as they feel in control of the design.
Mood Boards or Trays
Another exceptional marketing strategy is to use a mood board or tray. This includes samples of things like the carpet, swatches of paint colour, samples of the metals used on fixtures, and more.
These boards or trays are another chance to position yourself as a provider of premium homes.
Invite your buyers to pick up and hold the different things on the board. Let them hold them and grow attached to them.
This is based on a classic sales tactic. If you go into a shop to purchase a smaller item, a savvy salesperson will let you hold the item – this builds attachment.
With this marketing hack along with the rest, buyers will grow more attached to an off the plan property.
Banners on the Site
Our final tip for this article is regarding the building site.
It is worth it to display big, stand out banners at development sites.
A custom banner with huge branding and (again) display of the renders catches the eye.
If people are interested in a project and visit the site, the banner will reinforce the marketing approach when they see it. Again, it’s about building confidence in your brand.
In addition, it also serves as advertising. People walking the dog, driving past – anyone who sees it and is considering purchasing a home is a potential lead now.
Wrapping Up
We’ve explained project marketing in this blog and shared ten helpful tips to get you started.
Remember, marketing assets are the key when selling off the plan properties. Because you’re not selling a physical home that people can walk through and inspect.
The assets become the promise that you’re selling.
Think about what buyers will ask when buying a townhouse and address those questions in your marketing as definitively and as intelligently as you can.
Get people invested in the promise, and they’re hooked.
Finally, if you don’t have the time, resources or energy to run your own project marketing campaign – don’t hesitate to reach out we are Melbourne’s leading real estate marketing agency, we’d love to hear from you!
