Overview
To successfully run a business, it is important to not only market your brand but also create a favorable image of your reputation and expertise in the eyes of the public. Using PR strategies can help broaden your scope of operation and increase public awareness of your brand.
I have experienced a lot about what works and the clients’ strategies to win through my own real estate oriented PR business called Lion & Orb. Let me now guide you in developing your PR campaign while also providing you with the necessary means to take advantage of PR.
How Would You Define a PR Campaign?
A PR campaign can be described as a series of activities brought together in an organization and aimed at accomplishing a range of objectives of promoting the optimum creation of a positive outlook or reputation, for individuals, brands, or products (in this case, various real estate properties). Such purposes can be, for example, raising awareness, enhancing the image, increasing interaction, or even marketing particular projects or some events.
What are the Benefits of Creating a PR Targeted Campaign?
The sizable advantages an in-house structured PR campaign can offer when implemented to promote the professional image of realtors.
- Increased Market Visibility: A well-done PR campaign is a potent tool to enhance your visibility in the market and make potential clients more attracted to your services. It makes sense then to get your real estate business marketed as exposure is important in any line of business but especially so in real estate where there are numerous competitors vying for business.
- Credibility and Trust: Positive media coverage aids in creating more credibility and trust with your target audience which helps enhance your reputation much more effectively than advertisements that you pay for. This sort of credibility is also good in attracting new clients as well as assures the already existing clients and helps inspire their loyalty which would mean referrals as well.
- Brand Awareness: A PR campaign helps in enhancing the brand awareness of the organization, leading to more and more people being aware of you, your services, and even your listings which is a must for generating new clients and increasing your outreach.
- Audience Engagement: Directing communication and contact with your audience can be achieved through PR activities such as planning events, as this will foster closer ties and make clients feel appreciated. Such an engagement can lead to increased visits to your listings and your website, generating leads and possibly increasing sales.
- Cost-Efficiency: Compared to advertising, PR campaigns are cheaper and are substituted instead for advertising, as they are more cost effective and can be seen to generate real longer lasting impact. They also help you to network by introducing you to journalists, influencers, and key people in the industry.
To sum up, an organized PR campaign can play a big role in enhancing your real estate business and establishing its image in the market.
How to develop your public relations Campaign Strategy
From helping develop realtor.com News & Insights to starting my own PR agency specializing in real estate, I’ve created a number of PR campaigns on many different subjects. In these pieces, I’ll walk you through the basics of a PR campaign and how to get your own media coverage, if that’s your goal.
1. Choose a Story That Is Worth Reporting
The keyword in news is “new” – new properties that are up for sale, new properties that are sold, a new career advancement, fresh data from the market, new trends in the industry, etc. There is a misconception that in marketing listings of properties the only thing that needs to be focused at is the price point. This is where the market is very restricted. I am hereby telling you that it doesn’t have to be a listing of a famous person or one with the highest price secured. What it has to have is a unique narrative, it has to be interesting and there has to be a plot.
2. Develop an Engaging Pitch
Take that which is newsworthy or can become a news worth story and make it your own. It is the story that is central to PR. Here is what you need to remember:
- Find a New Angle: So maybe you can also ask why them or why believe in this listing or why stand out with them, how is their story different than others.
- Contextualise the Story: Take advantage of the news that people’s attention is already focused on like trends and events.
- Specialise and Stick to Your Space: Whatever story you are spinning, retrace your steps to a single area of real estate. Sources show that reporters appreciate the go-to expert.
- Target Group Specific Words or Slang: Ensure key messages are stated more clearly and assist you in making a list of words or phrases in readiness for a campaign.
- Evoke Personal Feelings: Don’t forget to make your narration personal, including human touch and care, so how do people perceive the story. What action will move subscribers?
- Use Superlatives to Your Advantage: For this neighborhood, it was his first time on the market more than once, which is effectively branded as the most interesting whatever. These components are the ones responsible for the appeal of the story.
Consider this case: A former Super Bowl champ and his wife owned a 26-acre wine property in the Paso Robles wine region where for 20 years, they ran the award-winning TH Estate Wines vineyard.
3. Create a Media Kit
After you devise an engaging pitch that suits your needs perfectly, proceed to gather the required media to be distributed to journalists. For instance, when advertising a new listing, take the following steps:
- Capture high-quality images.
- Prepare listing text that includes the background of the house and seller information.
- Provide a link to the listing (once the mls has made it live).
- Include a press release (if required).
- State if the seller can be reached for media if they want to offer him or her for an interview or seek a quote.
- Indicate if the agent can be interviewed.
4. Choose a Target Audience
A public relations project can utilize television, radio and magazines along with a variety of other modern outlets. If, on the other hand, you are collaborating with a public relations agency or firm, they will indicate which media outlets there are to achieve your stated goals. However, if you are doing it on your own, here is what you need to start:
- In-depth analysis should be the first step. Use the “news” option to seek out the words which you want to be associated with your narrative. For example, “sale record in Los Angeles”.
- Check the websites that appear on top of the rankings and after that go on to the page that contains the article that appears in the rankings in first position.
- Pay attention to the writers of such materials and try to obtain their contact details.
- Study the work of your target journalists and other similar editors in order to understand the scope of articles they usually write.
- Based on the editors and reporters who regularly write stories similar to the ones you have in mind, create a dream list.
5. Begin to Pitch
For instance, if Lion & Orb or in a public relations firm that works with you in capacity like a membership service, again, they will do this step for you. Usually it involves several rounds of pitching on one’s own: making promises of exclusives to some of the names and publishers of the dream list and then setting up interviews with those reporters who have shown interest.
If you find yourself on your own, this is the strategy to follow to publicize yourself:
- Personalized Pitches: This is the pitching phase where you can consider sending short pitches to reporters as long as you are thoughtful about who you send them to. For instance, include a short message in your pitch where you mention what they have focused on in their previous discussions. As an example, send them a message such as, “Hello {name}, I noticed you posted an article on {topic}. I have a related narrative that might be worth a discussion if you would be interested in one.”
Keeping the pitch personalized is the key as well as introducing you as someone who reads the work of the writer they are pitching. A majority of the people, for instance, make the mistake of bulk sending out their pitches to journalists , but this only minimizes their chances to be seen. A pitch should incite interest , they should spend their time reading what the reporter has to offer. Why would they write to explain what they want based on topics that the reporter can work with, for what reason.
An illustration could be taken from this article in realtor.com.
6. Be a Source
If reporters would like a source, why not just be one when they need it? Publish an offer to writers which would include your specialty and sign up to be one on HARO and Qwoted to be given the opportunity.
Apart from the exposure, providing quotes is a nice way to gauge some of the issues and subjects that the journalists are busy exploring. These quotes can also be utilized for fresh content on your blogs, socials as well as for video marketing.
Listen to this HousingWire Power House podcast to understand how one of our client implemented this idea.
7. Foster Partnerships
Most likely, journalists will not have time to meet you for a cup of coffee, but you may never hesitate asking for one, particularly because it is an excellent means of laying the groundwork for a fruitful relationship.
Another great approach to catch the attention of a busy reporter is refer to one of the articles they recently published. Consider how you might help with a subsequent article or as a future resource without coming on too strong.
For instance, contacting a reporter of a local business journal saying that you came across their article on housing trends, and you can offer some help about the current trends, might be helpful. Next time, they may put you in mind when needing a source.
Make Sure to Update Others About Your Successful Campaigns
Suppose an article about you interviewed by some journalist came out or perhaps you were mentioned for your recent sector work in the spotlight. Below are some actions that should help in furthering that visibility and distributing the coverage.
- It is encouraged to attach the article in the press area on your site.
- Add it to other social media networks – your followers might retweet it.
- Send it via email to your address book letting them know you are in the news.
- Place the article in the advertisement and run an advertisement campaign.
In What Ways Can the Success of Your Campaign Be Assessed
As you have now rightly transcended your boundaries and started your own PR campaign, it is of great importance now to evaluate its success. Below are some metrics recommended for consideration while determining the metrics’ analysis of your campaign.
Quantitative Metrics
These are the figures and hard facts that you can obtain from a newsletter, social media, website analytics service and your CRM. In detail: Look out for the following:
- Social Shares and Engagement: Did the audience of the post and the article like it and leave comments as well as share the content? How to measure: Track the ratio of clicks to objectives, mentions on social media and relevant platforms as well as comments and shares.
- Lead Generation: Did the article result in an increase in inquiries and clients? How to measure: After the advertisement campaign, watch your CRM with attention. Obtain the number of clients who when they made new inquiries.
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