Buh-bye, Classifieds: Marketing Commercial Real Estate in the Digital Era

Buh-bye, Classifieds: 

Marketing Commercial Real Estate in the Digital Era

Digital marketing and real estate don't seem to have a lot in common. Except one thing - location, location, location. Real estate brokers and their properties need to be in front of buyers and sellers... and they need to be in front of them aggressively.  Digital marketing is the way to do that.

The real estate industry is driven by relationships and hand-shake deals -- does digital marketing really have a logical place? One start-up company thinks so. Buildout, launched in 2010 and headquartered in Chicago, is a real estate marketing platform. According to a survey conducted by Buildout, 33% of brokers spend eleven hours or more on marketing tasks and 26% of brokers spend six to ten hours devoted to administrative work. The time-constraint challenges represents a massive opportunity for an automated, digital marketing solution. In turn, Builout has created a software that enables commercial real estate operators to showcase and market properties. Think Zillow for commercial real estate.

Buildout is not alone. In January 2019, the world's largest commercial real estate brokerage firm, CBRE, made a big-time bet on digital marketing. CBRE announced a landmark 7-year deal with Co-Star Group. Co-star is a provider of online marketing, commercial real estate information and analytics.  Historically, commercial real estate was largely unaffected by digital market and high-tech solutions, but that it all changing. Social media, content marketing snd brand identities are becoming increasingly important in the world of commercial real estate.

So how are these companies taking advantage of the digital marketing marketplace. They are doing everything. Going mobile, using metrics, earning media, owning media, claiming digital space and integrating digital with direct mail. The digital revolution is upon us.