Don’t let Corona Infect Your Business. How Property PR can help You Now and Post Pandemic

Over the years, the property industry has had many challenges to overcome. Whilst some of these challenges are of financial origin such as the 2008 Recession, others evolve from natural catastrophes. COVID-19 is a prime example of the latter and has left many estate agents, property developers and house builders facing complete uncertainty over their market and business performance.

As part of a series of AIPP webinars to share ‘good practice’ on how members build their property businesses using digital media we asked three AIPP members for their insights and some ideas via an online presentation. We have asked the same panellists to provide their presentations as a blog article.

In the third in the series, AIPP member Andre Kappelhoff a freelance Property PR Consultant and Founder of London-based Viking PR, shares his thoughts on how to best handle the current pandemic from a communication point of view.

“Firstly, it’s important to remember that your business will have different PR requirements to those of your competitors because each business has unique objectives. Having a truly bespoke communication strategy in place is therefore key. Secondly, we must realise that the current crisis is not just a hurdle to overcome; it also presents an opportunity to get ahead of the competition.

“With that in mind, we want to remind business leaders that Public Relations services are not just there to boost your company profile when the market is already performing well. Property PR becomes particularly important when a crisis occurs.”

Viking PR advises clients to “Analyse, Improve and Action” (AIA). This means that now is the time to analyse the foundation of your business plan and marketing strategy under consideration of the following:

Take the time to analyse your target audiences and think about adjusting these. You might find that you need to reach out to a target audience that wasn’t a priority before but could now present a solution to your business challenges.

For example, the South China Morning Post recently published an article suggesting that developers are now changing their strategy to market their overseas projects to Hong Kong residents. Why? Because the Hong Kong dollar has been performing well, which allows Hong Kong investors to snap up overseas property at reduced prices.

Bearing in mind that your buyers’ behaviour will have changed, consider adapting your key messages accordingly. What can you offer and what should you really be highlighting right now to ensure that your audience will remember your services long-term?

We should all have Unique Selling Points (USPs) in place but are yours still relevant to a changing market? Can you perhaps improve your USPs and invest time to push a particular strength of your business? Think about how you can stand out from the competition during and post Corona.

Remember that you’re not facing this crisis alone. Use this situation to your advantage and think about brands or corporations that you could approach for a brand alliance. For example, if you are an agent, there might be a property developer that you always wanted to work with. Now is probably the best time to reach out to them and discuss a joined strategy to offer future buyers a unique product or service.

Maintain your business’s arguably most valuable asset – your customer database. It’s crucial to stay in touch with your hot leads. Remind them that you are still in business and reinforce confidence in your brand and services. Whilst newsletters are one possible channel, another perhaps more trending option, is to hold a Zoom seminar. Consider teaming up with an overseas property lawyer or mortgage broker and host a Zoom session for your key target audience.

It’s true that even property journalists are currently predominantly focusing on Corona-linked stories. This month, Viking PR attended a webinar with the property editor of the Financial Times and he confirmed that Corona takes centre stage. Another problem is that no property journalist can currently partake in overseas press trips due to travel restrictions. So what to do – particularly if you don’t have the budget to place adverts in the papers?

If you know the right journalists, now would be the perfect time to target specialist property publications or online media. Not only do online channels currently hold more opportunities for overseas property stories, they also help your SEO rating and general online presence.

From a PR perspective it’s important that you don’t shy away from talking about the impact of Corona on the market. Even if the market has adjusted in a year’s time, journalists will still be likely to ask you how the market has been performing since the pandemic. It is and will remain a topic for the unforeseeable future.”

Interested in Property PR support? To contact Viking PR directly, visit www.vikingpr.co.uk, email info@vikingpr.co.uk or contact Andre Kappelhoff on +44 (0)208 191 9145.

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