How Social Media Marketing Can Drive Leasing Activity in Commercial Real Estate

Whether for personal or business purposes, it seems everyone and their cat has a social media presence today. Yet for commercial real estate (CRE) properties aiming to drive more leasing activity, social media isn’t just a place to share photos and videos.

Across social media platforms, these digital spaces enable building owners to stand out online and generate interest in their properties. Savvy commercial properties areusing social media marketing to attract new tenants, fill office spaces, and capitalize on recent return-to-work trends. Here’s a look at how digital strategies can fit into your overall marketing efforts and help you create a buzz online.

Why Social Media Matters

In a departure from pandemic-era work-from-home arrangements, companies large and small are shifting toward more in-office days for employees. While not all employees like the trend, the advantages of at least some in-office time are clear for both businesses and employees. As The HR Digest reports, it means better communication, stronger coworker relationships, mentorship opportunities, and clearer boundaries between work and personal lives.

As a commercial building owner or manager, you can seize the opportunity to accommodate growing teams and those requiring new or larger office spaces. Social media is the perfect tool to capture company leaders’ attention and illustrate the benefits of leasing space at your building.

Whereas traditional outreach methods such as networking, signage, events, and promotions can take time to produce results, social media gives you instant access to your target audience. When you craft your social media marketing campaigns effectively across platforms, from LinkedIn to Instagram and Facebook, you can showcase your property’s amenities, floor plans, and local attractions.

How Social Media Boosts Leasing Activity

The more appealing your offices are on social media, the more likely it is that companies will take an interest in leasing. Here are some of the ways social media can catch businesses’ attention, especially those wanting to sweeten the deal for employees returning to the office.

Increasing Visibility and Reach

Outside of social media, there are few mediums that let you connect so directly with potential tenants, brokers, and decision-makers. People who take an interest in your content can message you directly, click over to your website, and even book tours — all from the palms of their hands.

Research shows that social media tops word-of-mouth referrals for introducing people to new products, services, and brands. Moreover, paid placements on social platforms are the third most significant way to discover new brands, after search engines and TV ads. With targeted social ads, you can hone in even more on the precise people you want to reach based on their location, demographics, interests, and other factors.

Storytelling Through Visual Content

Social media allows you to bring office spaces to life in ways that other mediums cannot. Video tours, drone footage, behind-the-scenes and lifestyle content, professional photos, and other types of immersive media let your prospects experience what it’s like to work from your spaces.

With live video options on social media, leasing agents can go live to answer questions, provide walk-through tours, and convey the property’s look and feel. They can even trigger the “fear of missing out” (FOMO) factor, building excitement with limited-time and “last chance” promotions.

Generating Leads

With access to real-time analytics on engagement, reach, and other metrics, you can gain deeper insights into campaign performance. It’s easy to adjust your strategy if you’re not getting the results you want. You’ll maximize your return on investment while minimizing the time spent identifying the right audience, content types, and targeting.

Boosting Engagement and Leads

When you have your targeting and strategy down, you’ll naturally generate more engagements such as comments, likes, messages, and shares. You can add interactive features like calls to action that encourage people to take the next step — booking a tour or picking up the phone, for example.

These engagements can lead to more leasing opportunities and signed contracts. And isn’t that what commercial real estate is all about?

Consistency Is Key

Of course, the benefits of social media marketing are only possible when you maintain a consistent presence. While your posting frequency largely depends on the platform, most experts advise posting on LinkedIn at least once per day.

On Facebook and Instagram, one or two posts per day are usually sufficient; you can also post once or twice daily to Instagram Stories for more impact. Platforms like TikTok and X will accommodate more frequent daily posts due to the constantly updating feeds.

“These days, if you’re not on social media, you’re missing out on a huge part of the market,” says Nicole Wallach, Director of Marketing at inMotion Real Estate Marketing Agency, which specializes in helping properties leverage social media to attract and convert quality leads. “The right campaign at the right time can make all the difference in reaching the right decision-makers, filling vacancies, and keeping properties top of mind.”

Key Takeaways

Around the globe, there are roughly 5 billion social media users, according to Statista. By posting frequently and tailoring content for your audience, you can get more of those eyes on your property and fill office vacancies with happy, long-term tenants. Most importantly, you can drive the kind of leasing activity you need for long-term success in commercial real estate.