Why is public relations important in property development?

    In the highly competitive property market, public relations helps developers and agents sell and build their profiles to attract future buyers and deals.

    What should never be underestimated is the ‘halo’ effect of being quoted as an industry expert in newspapers or interviewed on TV and the value of on-sharing that coverage across social media.

    Why is public relations important in property development?

    As a PR agency, Adoni Media has helped property clients achieve millions of dollars of ‘free’ publicity across local, state and national TV, radio, print and online. We have put together a guide on how PR can help developers, agents and others in the property market including surveyors, planners, and architects.

    1.     Promote key stages of your development

    Seems obvious but each time a development hits a key milestone is a potential opportunity for media attention. Think scale and statistics, think sales figures, and think pictures. Your PR agency should be prompting you for updates and information to find a newsworthy angle for a media release and photos/video that shows the progress.

    2.     Become a ‘go-to’ industry commentator

    Show you are an expert and step up to offer your opinion and help put market research into context for local media markets. Your understanding of the property market is what helps sell your service to find a PR agency that can seek out opportunities for you to comment.

    3.     Offer up human-interest stories

    Testimonials are powerful and the media – TV, radio, and print – regularly need ‘case studies’ to help personalise stories about trends in the property market. Persuade your clients to talk to the media. The publicity can often help sell a property and promotes the team behind the project whether it is the developer, architect and builder or agent.

    4.     Watch out for trends

    Identify trends in the market. A new “property hotspot” or design trend can create a headline for journalists. Where possible have figures to support your findings and again a case study is always useful.

    5.     Tips and how-to advice

    Journalists like to give viewers, readers, and listeners information they can use so think about tips and advice you can give that may be timely or seasonal. The advantage of providing this type of advice piece is that it further helps position you as an expert meaning the reporter will have you on their list next time, they are looking for a comment.

    6.     Blogs

    Pose and answer commonly asked questions to generate a following and attract enquiries. Think about the challenges your clients face and the questions you and your team are regularly asked. Unlike news stories, blogs are less likely to go out of date and you can share them on social media.

    7.     International market attention

    Property PR can put your development or property in front of international investors by targeting real estate magazines and publications in key overseas markets. It is particularly useful for promoting prestige properties and developments.

    8.     Make social media a priority

    Media Releases, blogs and media coverage created and earned through PR is fresh, quality content for social media. The added value of news coverage earned through PR is that news organisations share stories to their audience therefore far increasing the exposure of your brand.

    9.     Build a network of media contacts

    Property PR puts you top-of-mind for journalists looking for stories and comments, by interacting with the media you are building an invaluable network of contacts. PR firms, the very good ones, have great relationships with working journalists and they are your gateway to building your own strong network.

    10. Schedule a newsletter

    As well as sharing on social media, all the content created can help you craft a newsletter that can be sent to your growing database of customers, investors and stakeholders. Remember to comply with legislation though, you will need to build a mailing list that gives your contacts a way to ‘opt-out’.

    Leisa Goddard is a journalist with 30 years of media experience and Founder & Managing Director of award-winning PR firm, Adoni Media which has proven success delivering property PR. Adoni Media is a national firm with offices in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth.