High Rise Marketing - How are the dollars spent?

COLUMBUS, OH

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DINA

Buzzer

High Rise Marketing - How are the dollars spent?

Does anyone know how the (new) high rise development marketing budget is spent/distributed and what might the budget be relative to the project size? Thanks! :)

Canada / New Developments

MATTHEW SLUTSKY

Senior Buzzer

2299

171

Hey Dina, not including land, commissions, sales-centre.... etc... the marketing will be around $5,000 to $9,000 per suite in the highrise project.
What are you working on?

DINA

Buzzer

Just to verify that I understand you correctly, if a project is say 300 suites there's $5000 x 300 = $1.5M being spent towards marketing? are these the costs per year or for the entire project?
You said this price excludes sales centre, etc. What does it include? TV, radio, print, dirrect mail?
Would you be able to offer an estimate on the costs for a sales centre? Say one such as the Thompson Residences.
I'm a marketing student at U of T, trying to understand marketing of new high rise developments. I really appreciate your help.

GIOVANNI MARSICO

Buzzer

Hi Dina,
Marketing dollars are typically invested with an ad agency and PR agency. These agencies typically take care of branding, sales materials (brochures, floor plans, etc.), website, print design, etc. Media buys can range from magazine ads (The New Condo Guide, newspapers, etc.) while some projects use radio, TV, billboards, and transit ads. There's also a bigger push for online advertising (banner ads, Facebook, etc.)
There's usually direct mail sent to brokers/agents, typically invites to launch events.
Sales centre prices vary - the most expensive I've seen recently were DNA3, Treviso, Thompson and topped by Bisha (I believe Bisha was $4 million but I'm not 100% sure). The Yorkville has a pretty large site as well.

DINA

Buzzer

Thank you!

VANCOUVER BUZZ

Buzzer

Hi Dina ... also from the digital marketing side, Vancouver developers usually have a tight budget. It usually includes:
> website - $5,000 to $10,000
> email marketing - $5,000 to $10,000
> search engine optimization (natural) - usually $0
> search engine optimization (pay-per-click, banner ads, text links) - $500 to $1,000 per month (or $6,000 to $12,000 per year)
> CRM system/management - $5,000 to $10,000
Only bigger builders with larger projects will spend this much on digital marketing. Most of the other marketing budget goes towards direct/mail, signage, presentation centre, radio and TV.
Both social media and internet marketing is proving to be one of the best marketing strategies in terms of ROI (time & $), but developers are still old-school and prefer the more traditional strategies as in print.
Check out this Infographic for Digital Marketing Budget Trends for 2012 (non real estate specific though)
http://www.6smarketing.com/infographic-digital-marketing-budget-trends-for-2012/

MATTHEW SLUTSKY

Senior Buzzer

2299

171

^^@Vancouver, how much do you think Vancouver builders pay for advertising and marketing per unit? (not including commissions and sales-centre builds)

VANCOUVER BUZZ

Buzzer

Hey Matthew ... I don't know exact numbers, but approximate for digital marketing would be about $1,000 per suite. Then you add on print marketing/TV/radio which can run about $2,500 to $5,000 per suite.

MATTHEW SLUTSKY

Senior Buzzer

2299

171

@Vancouver... Thanks for the input. That is interesting.
In Toronto, the average spend for marketing is about $5,000 to $8,000+ per suite, but digital is starting to account for a higher percentage (depending on the builder).

VANCOUVER BUZZ

Buzzer

Hey Matthew .. that sounds about right. What I've found as the major differences between Toronto and Vancouver projects & marketing are:
> Toronto projects are much larger scale
> Vancouver projects tend to be single tower, boutique mid/low rise or townhome projects
> Vancouver real estate marketing tends to focus on presentation centre/print/digital
> Vancouver marketing tends to focus much less on radio, TV and interactive sales centres
But all in all .. still, many Vancouver developers fail to see the advantages of digital/social media ... but some are getting it and putting alot more $ towards the online side.
Are you a Toronto agent?
Mike

MATTHEW SLUTSKY

Senior Buzzer

2299

171

^^I used to be VP of a Toronto land development firm, now I work for BuzzBuzzHome! You?

BLOCKBUYR

Buzzer

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