Digital marketing promises limitless potential. The endless creativity combines with new ways to reach and engage people. Today’s digital marketing isn’t limited to social media advertising. These innovative ways to use digital marketing in CRE are making us more excited for the years ahead.
Virtual Reality (VR)
We love how immersive and experiential these virtual environments are, and the technology’s still evolving. Virtual reality is a better form of project visualization and space planning than 2D architectural plans and artist renderings. It’s used to market existing and developing properties, guide build outs, and help with construction. CRE investors, developers, and businesses tour spaces, both existing and yet to be developed, across the county to see if it’s a fit for their needs.
A VR headset opens a window into anywhere in the world. But you don’t need to spring for a VR headset. Access virtual tours or 360 photos from your phone. Simply move the device around to see the space for yourself. Or, use a desktop and click through the spaces.
Using VR for digital marketing puts you at the forefront of the latest tech trends.
Augmented Reality (AR)
Similar to VR technology, the difference is AR creates a futuristic experience in a real-world environment. The possibilities here are incredible, and we’re tracking how business are creativity using AR to bring their services to the next level. Example: AR apps improve navigation by overlaying directions around a space like a hospital or shopping mall. Another application helps clients imagine a redevelopment while standing in front of a blank existing space. Retailers use AR to have pop-ups appear over their store windows marketing specific products or services.
Interactive Content
Engage your audience in new ways with interactive content. Some examples of this in the CRE space include office space layout templates like CBRE’s Spacer, SquareFoot’s office space calculator, and Buildout’s interactive 2016 infographic.
Personalized Marketing
Think beyond segmented emails and targeted social marketing. How personalized could you get with your marketing? How cool would it be to have some marketing experience inspired by Netflix’s Bandersnatch. Like a choose-your-own adventure marketing path? With the way we can personalize content today, it’s not that far off.
Sure, lots of businesses are using chatbots to support customer service. Since they’re on 24/7, they respond to customers when they are ready to engage with your brand. Marketing must be backed by good customer service, and chatbots tackle the challenge by fielding simple queries, sourcing leads, and capturing contact information. The market is anticipated to have an annual growth rate of 31 percent. The growth is spurred by chatbots’ ability to answer increasingly sophisticated and more complex client queries thanks to the growth of artificial intelligence.
Here’s something you may not have thought of: geofencing. This technology uses located-based services to trigger a pre-programmed action. It can be configured to send push notifications, a text message or alert, or send targeted advertising on social media.
Think of it as a way to push marketing to people who are so close to physically engaging you in the real world. Retailers use geofencing to push special in-store offers, but what about other industries? Could it send an alert that a particular property an investor just drove by is on the market? Could you use it at a conference to draw people to your booth? Brainstorm away!
The future for marketing in commercial real estate is digital. Our mission isn’t to be at the forefront; we’re the trendsetters everyone seeks to copy. See the work we’re doing at ATYPICAL.