How to Use Commercial Real Estate Data to Improve Digital Marketing

How brokerages and owner-operators can turn internal data into external demand. By Walter Fitzgerald

* A note on the author: Walter's 83, allergic to buzzwords, and still insists that “CC’ing someone” sounds like a medical condition. He’s not here for fluff, just sharp insights, a few curveballs, and the occasional jab at marketing jargon. We don’t always know where he’s going, but he always gets us there.  ---- Let’s be honest. Most commercial real estate teams are sitting on more data than they know what to do with. The problem? They treat it like it’s paperwork, something to store, ignore, or dump in a folder labeled “Q4 Maybe.” 

Between your CRM, your email list, your OM downloads, and all those weirdly specific foot traffic reports, you’ve got the equivalent of a digital treasure chest. 

Only instead of using it to unearth leads, you’re probably just staring at charts and wondering what the heck a “bounce rate” actually means. 

I’ve been in this business long enough to remember when data lived in file cabinets and was shared via fax. These days, you don’t need to print anything, but you do need to do something, and preferably more than sending the same email to 3,000 people named "Investor - No Response." 

Here’s the good news: You don’t need fancy software, a 12-person data team, or a weekly meditation circle about KPIs. You just need a few clear, doable ways to plug the data you’ve already got into your marketing. 

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Let’s walk through five ways to make that happen, without losing your mind or your budget.

1. Use Email Lists to Build Lookalike and Retargeting Audiences
   

Email lists. We all have them. Some of them even have names that make sense. But most teams use them the same way we used mailing labels back in the day, to blast out info and hope someone bites. 

But here’s the kicker: that same list can quietly turn into your most valuable targeting tool, if you’re willing to let it moonlight outside of Mailchimp. 

Take those existing contacts and plug them into platforms like Meta, LinkedIn, or Google Ads. These platforms will take that list, chew it up, and spit out a fresh audience full of people who behave like the ones you already work with. It’s called a lookalike audience, but really, it’s just marketing voodoo powered by machine math. 

Oh, and a word of caution from someone who’s seen a privacy complaint or two: 

Don’t do any of this without ensuring that your website has the required cookie consent and opt-in functionality and form fills set up. Otherwise, you’ll end up explaining to your legal team why a landlord in Tampa is demanding to be “digitally forgotten.”  Create Lookalike Audiences to Find More of the Right People 

If you’ve already got your lists segmented, retail investors here, office tenants there, you’re in great shape. 

Upload those segments, and the ad platform will go looking for people who behave like your original list: same clicks, same interests, same chance of hitting that “Download OM” button at 2 AM. 

It’s like cloning your best leads, but without the lab coats. 

Lookalike Best Practices (from someone who’s broken them all at least once):

• Use clean, well-labeled lists (if it says “old maybe warm leads 2022 backup,” don’t upload it) 

• Pair each audience with a campaign goal (leasing, investing, brand love, etc.) 

• Stick to smaller match percentages for tighter targeting 

• Match the ad to the mood of the original list, don’t go full sizzle if the contacts are mid-funnel realists

Build Retargeting Audiences to Re-Engage Warm Leads 

Here’s something they don’t teach in marketing school: People forget fast. Even if they liked your social media post last week. 

That’s where retargeting comes in. It’s your second chance. Your digital do-over. A way to say, “Hey, remember us? We noticed you were snooping around the multifamily listings in Atlanta. Want to talk?” 

Retargeting works because these aren’t strangers. They’ve visited your site, opened your emails, or clicked your OM. They’ve already raised their hand. You just need to keep your face in front of them long enough for them to come back around. 

Just don’t overdo it. I once saw a campaign that served the same ad 17 times in four days. That’s not marketing. That’s how you end up on a block list. 

Retargeting Tips That Won’t Get You Muted: 

1. Track visits to key pages; listings, bios, downloads 

2. Let your CRM create dynamic audiences based on real behavior 

3. Make your ads feel like the next logical step, not a rerun 

4. Set frequency limits so people don’t think you’re stalking them  

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2. Use Engagement Data to Guide Campaigns and Content Strategy 

Let me say something that sounds obvious but apparently isn’t ,your audience is already telling you what they care about. The problem is that most teams are too busy setting up next week’s newsletter to actually listen. 

Clicks, downloads, form submissions, time spent on listings; these aren’t just vanity metrics, they’re road signs. If a specific campaign or asset is getting more traction than the rest, that’s not a coincidence, it’s demand raising its hand. 

On the advertising side, this data can steer your budget in the right direction. If your flex space listings are cooking and your office assets are barely getting a glance, shift your spend. Don’t double down on what’s flopping out of stubbornness. 

Same goes for your content. If people are devouring your “Top Industrial Markets” report and ignoring your think piece on capital markets strategy, maybe your audience isn’t as academic as you thought. Lean into what they’re actually reading, not what you wish they would. 

How to Use Engagement Insights (Without Hiring an Analyst) 

• Track what’s getting clicks, downloads, dwell time, and follow-ups 

• Shift your ad budget toward top-performing campaigns or asset classes 

• Turn winning themes into blog content, newsletter features, or video series 

• Mirror your messaging to what the market is engaging with, not what internal stakeholders think “should” perform 

The beauty here? No guesswork. Just pay attention to the signals and give your audience more of what they’re already leaning into. 

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3. Use Demographic and Foot Traffic Data to Refine Targeting and Strengthen Listings

Let me guess, you’ve got ADVAN, Placer.ai, or something similar, right? 

You’re already using it for site selection, trade area analysis, and to impress that one investor who loves heatmaps. Good. Now stop leaving that data at the leasing table. 

The same audience and movement insights you’re using to justify a location can also make your marketing sharper. Way sharper. 

When you layer this data into your campaigns, you stop guessing who your audience is and start knowing. And when you put it in your listings? You move from “nice space” to “here’s the foot traffic proof you can take to your C-suite.” 

But don’t forget: any time you’re using location tracking or behavioral data, you need clear consent and privacy compliance. No exceptions. This isn’t the ‘90s.

People get twitchy when their movement is tracked without notice.  Use Audience Data to Target Smarter, Not Louder 

• Find high-performing zip codes or trade areas and target them directly 

• Adjust messaging to match lifestyle segments, income levels, or visitation habits 

• Run ads when your audience is actually active; yes, sometimes that’s Sunday morning 

• Pick your platforms based on where your audience hangs out (maybe it’s not LinkedIn after all) 

This is where your media spend goes from “spray and pray” to “I know exactly who I want, and I know where they are.”  Use Foot Traffic Data to Make Listings Pop Off the Page 

Most listings are a little... dry. Square footage. Parking. Some awkward photos of an empty suite with bad lighting. You can do better. 

What if your listing showed how many people walk past the property every week?

Or how often that corner sees repeat foot traffic from target customers?

That’s not fluff—that’s ammo. 

Here’s what to include when you want your listing to actually convert: 

• Foot traffic volume (bonus points for consumer behavior data) 

• Demographics by age, income, and lifestyle 

• Surrounding spend patterns; retail, food, services 

• Visitation frequency and dwell time 

This is the kind of data that gives investors confidence and helps tenants picture themselves in the space, literally and financially. 

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4. Set Up Your CRM to Power Automated Nurturing 

Here’s the reality: if you’re still following up manually with every lead that pokes around your site, you’re going to miss deals. Or lose your mind. Or both. 

Your CRM shouldn’t just sit there like a digital phone book. It should do some of the legwork. Automated nurturing isn’t about spamming your entire list with a weekly “CHECK OUT OUR LATEST LISTING” email. It’s about delivering the right message, at the right time, to the right contact, without someone on your team burning hours crafting each follow-up. 

When done right, automated workflows can make your marketing feel timely and personal, even when your team is off grabbing coffee or knee-deep in a lease negotiation. 

And let’s be clear, none of this works unless your contacts have opted in. No grey areas. No “well they filled out something once in 2019.” If you’re automating, make sure it’s all above board. 

What Automated Nurturing Looks Like in Real Life 

• A lead views a property, and gets a follow-up email with similar listings 

• An investor downloads an OM, and is sent educational content about that asset class 

• A tenant clicks on a brochure link, and your CRM scores them as “hot” and alerts your leasing team 

• A cold lead gets re-engaged automatically with content tied to their past interest 

It’s about staying relevant without becoming annoying. Automation doesn’t mean impersonal, it means consistent, and in commercial real estate, consistency wins. 

Getting Started (Without Needing an IT Degree) 

• Use a CRM that supports automation or integrates easily, think HubSpot, Salesforce, ActiveCampaign 

• Base your workflows on actions; downloads, clicks, views, not just time 

• Segment by journey stage: new lead, active prospect, MIA contact 

• Review regularly, improve what’s not working, and keep testing 

Trust me: getting your workflows right is like hiring a round-the-clock marketing assistant who doesn’t sleep or complain about Monday meetings. 

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Final Thoughts: You Already Have the Data. Now Put It to Work. 

Look, I’m not here to sell you another dashboard. If you’re in CRE, chances are you’ve got more tools than you use and more data than you can pronounce. 

What you probably don’t have is a plan for actually activating it. 

The teams that win? They don’t always have the biggest budget or the fanciest branding. They’re just the ones who take what they already have; email lists, CRM notes, location analytics, and put it to work with some consistency and common sense. 

They build audiences from their own contacts. They track what’s working and do more of that. They automate follow-ups so leads don’t slip into the void. And they add just enough data to listings to make investors say, “Hmm, interesting.” 

You don’t need to overhaul your stack or reinvent your strategy. You just need to stop letting your data sit idle. 

And if you want a partner who can help you wrangle all that info into something that actually moves the needle, we’ve got a few ideas. 

As always, 

Stay ATYPICAL 😊