If you’re preparing to take your commercial property to market, then how you advertise it will be key to achieving its potential – especially in the current climate.
You don’t want to have to settle for a partial-match tenant because your advertising didn’t work as hard as it could to secure the right tenant for your specific requirements – and directly linked to this is the fact that you won’t want to compromise on the return you’re expecting to gain either.
With this being an important element of our work, we’d like to share seven ways of ensuring you advertise as effectively as possible, so you can achieve maximum market potential for your property.
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1. Make your listings image-rich
A property listing with few accompanying visuals can appear incomplete and less impactful in comparison to other listings. Make sure you include high-quality photographs that showcase the range and versatility of the spaces your property has to offer.
Virtual experiences and 360 photography can take your listing up a level by creating an immersive virtual walk-through of your property. This gives potential tenants the opportunity to really get a feel for it and picture themselves actually using the space.
In addition to visually enhancing your listing (and offering an initial Covid-secure way of viewing your property), virtual tours can also help to generate more quality enquiries, while filtering out anyone that wouldn’t be suitable. This is because those potential clients who proceed to enquire will clearly have liked the virtual experience when considering their search criteria – therefore increasing the chances they’ll want to go ahead with a tenancy agreement once they view in-person. At Mounsey Chartered Surveyors, we offer virtual tours as standard with our listings.
Take a look at an example here.
2. Ensure your particulars are as detailed as can be and well-presented
Having detailed particulars in your listing goes a long way. Not only does it show that as a Commercial Landlord you are professional, transparent and thorough, it’s also more engaging and appealing for potential tenants because it provides answers to many of the questions they’ll have as they browse and compare listings.
At Mounsey Chartered Surveyors, we always aim to include in-depth detail that is tailored to the market you’re targeting and in line with what a tenant would need to know. By taking pride in the details such as ranges of use, different sizes, business rating, description, and property class (to name a few), we’re able to connect a suitable tenant with a property more easily because these details will verify to them how strong the match is. Gaps in the details only place unnecessary barriers between you and the right tenant.
The presentation of your advert is also key. Its layout and typeface should be clear and consistent, with plenty of white space, clear headings and neat links to extra information. A good website will ensure all of these – take a look at our property search as an example.
3. Tailor your listing to your specific market
We always like to find out what type of tenant our commercial landlord clients are looking for, so that we can strive to find the right person for them, at the right return.
Ask yourself what type of tenant would be your ideal tenant. This will help your agent advertise your property accordingly. For example, if your property is on a street with several hairdressers, then you might specify ‘not a hairdresser’ to help aid tenant longevity. Alternatively, you may have two identical properties to advertise, but each with a very different target market. A good agent will clearly distinguish this in the way they present and write each advert, maximising the chances of appealing to the right tenant from the right market for each.
4. Work with an agent that has a proactive attitude to understanding your requirements
Following on from the above point, it’s absolutely essential that you work with an agent that is genuinely interested in getting to know you and understanding your requirements. When it comes to marketing commercial property, the service has to be bespoke to really maximise a property’s potential. A one-size-fits-all approach will not take into account who the right tenant for you would be, so how could it achieve the right return and tenant longevity for you?
One of the most important questions we ask our clients is “What is it exactly, that you’re after?” – and the ensuing conversation forms the focus of our work so that we can strive to achieve the results you want.
5. AND to canvasing your enquiries
As well as getting to know you and your requirements, we also believe in the importance of understanding the nature of every enquiry your advert receives. To us, how we canvas enquiries is equally as important as how we get to know our clients.
Ultimately our ethos is to aim for an excellent match between the requirements of you as a client and the requirements of the potential tenant. The better the match, the better potential for a great landlord/tenant relationship, tenant longevity and the ideal return for you.
6. Advertise in the right place
To maximise the effectiveness of all of the above steps, it is essential that you advertise in the right place. Having detailed, tailored and well-presented information will only be worthwhile if you’re showing it in the most effective places. At Mounsey we have a wealth of experience in scrutinising and selecting the best online advertising portals for our commercial clients, ensuring properties are promoted on the right sites at the best price to enable us to meet each client’s overall requirements.
7. Choose an agent that can work efficiently during the current restrictions
Finally, if you’re looking to take your commercial property to market during lockdown or tiered restrictions, then it’s important you choose a commercial agent that can work efficiently and safely during this time – while still progressing the tenancy of your property swiftly. For example, at Mounsey Chartered Surveyors, we have processes in place to minimise travel to the property, ensuring that only the necessary visits take place – in a socially-distanced, Covid-secure manner. As mentioned, 360-degree photography or virtual tours also provide an easy and Covid-secure way of initially viewing a property, meaning potential tenants can browse your buildings 24/7 without having to wait for an initial in-person appointment.
So, is it worth a little extra time to perfect your advertising?
After 10 years specialising in commercial property, we absolutely believe it is.
We understand that as a landlord or property developer you may feel reluctant to spend money or ‘too much time’ on one of your properties, but ultimately, following the above steps can save you both money and time. Matching the right tenant to your requirements increases the chance of a long and healthy tenancy, meaning less void periods, solid return and peace of mind.
Plus, at Mounsey Chartered Surveyors, we take on as many of the time-consuming elements as possible to getting your property to market effectively – allowing you to focus on your core business operations.
Get expert advice on your commercial property
We hope this blog post has helped to demonstrate the ways you could enhance your advertising to really maximise the potential of your commercial property. However, we know that you may have further questions – and seeking advice on your individual circumstances is key to your success.
Speak to us to learn about how our Commercial Agency and Property Consultancy services can support you – ensuring you make the right decisions at the right time.
