You know that feeling when you've been stuck spinning your wheels, investing dollars into digital marketing efforts with little transparency into how it all stacks up? Yeah, we're all too familiar with that frustrating scenario.
We're excited to unveil the first-ever Digital Marketing Benchmarks Report tailored specifically for the commercial real estate industry in the United States, aimed at brokerages, owners and operators, and CRE Tech firms.
The benchmarks offered are more than just figures; they serve as a strategic partner in your quest for efficiency and expansion. They are essential for justifying your marketing budget to stakeholders, ensuring that every dollar is accounted for and makes a significant impact.
This groundbreaking report represents a monumental milestone for an industry that has been sorely lacking reliable, CRE-specific benchmarks to measure against. No more grasping at generic metrics from other sectors - we've got the real deal here folks, and it is downloadable for free.
THE POWER OF DATA: TURNING INSIGHTS INTO COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Maybe you're wondering how we pulled off such an ambitious undertaking. Well, we're an industrious bunch here at ATYPICAL. Our head of Digital Strategy, Dylan Joubert, rolled up his sleeves and pored over a vast pool of over 8,000 digital ads and content pieces across the US commercial real estate landscape.
From this extensive analysis, he carefully calculated benchmarks spanning all the major marketing channels relevant to CRE - LinkedIn, Google (Search and Display), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and even emerging platforms like TikTok.
The findings are organized neatly with separate benchmarks for brokerages/owners/operators and CRE tech companies.
With this level of granular, industry-specific data at your fingertips, you can pinpoint areas of opportunity and ensure your marketing dollars are invested in the right channels and tactics.
Perhaps you'll discover LinkedIn Ads are an efficient avenue for lead generation despite higher conversion costs. Or that YouTube is an underutilized gem for expanding your brand's reach in the age of video marketing.
These benchmarks aren't just numbers on a page - they're a strategic weapon to justify your marketing expenditures to the decision-makers holding the purse strings. Goodbye, gut feelings. Hello, quantifiable metrics that prove your efforts are delivering maximum impact.
Craving a sneak peek at some of the juicy findings baked into this report? Here are a few of the highlights that might raise an eyebrow:
For traditional brokerages/owners/operators, Google Search ads generated an incredible 11.91% click-through rate (CTR) on average. That's nearly 5x higher than the typical B2B benchmark!
Commercial real estate companies are seeing strong engagement traction on TikTok, with the hanshtag #.CommercialRealEstate hashtag generating a staggering 194+ million total views organically.
Want to maximize lead generation? Focus your paid efforts on Google Search. Across brokerages and CRE tech, these ads yielded the highest conversion rates between 2.98% - 3.9%.
THE CHANNEL BENCHMARKS CRE MARKETERS NEED
LinkedIn Ads Benchmarks:
For brokerages/owners/operators, the average cost-per-conversion from LinkedIn ads was $104.76. While high, those leads were cited as being more qualified on average.
An interesting trend emerged for CRE tech companies leveraging LinkedIn. Their conversion costs were more affordable at $97.98 on average, thanks to lower-commitment lead gen tactics like "Try for Free."
Google Search & Display Ads:
The data tells a compelling story for Google Display ads and their ability to affordably build brand awareness. For traditional brokerages, the average CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) was just $1.78.
Facebook & Instagram Insights:
Facebook campaigns aimed at filling vacant retail space achieved the highest conversion rates of 7.96% on average for brokerages/owners/operators. A major point of validation for the platform's hyper-targeted paid capabilities.
Meanwhile, CRE tech companies found Instagram an affordable top-of-funnel tool with an average CPM of $5.62 for building initial brand awareness.
YouTube Opportunities:
For CRE tech, YouTube ads saw one of the highest CTRs in the report at 1.16% bar Google Search ads. The CPC was on the higher side at $1.25, pointing to a highly targeted audience.
YouTube performed exceptionally well in generating impressions and brand awareness across all CRE company types.
The TikTok Wildcard:
TikTok is incredibly powerful for organic engagement in CRE. The #CommercialRealEstate hashtag had at the time of writing a massive 194+ million total views organically, showcasing the platform's ability to expose your content to a vast array of interested audiences through their algorithm.
Organic Social Media Engagement Benchmarks:
This report doesn't just stop at paid channels. We analyzed organic engagement rates, and average engagement per post, and benchmarked it across company sizes:
The largest CRE companies with over 1.5M total followers averaged an organic engagement rate of just 0.26%. A testament to the challenge of retaining audience engagement at a global scale.
In the 250K - 750K total follower range, brokerages/owners saw a 1.07% average organic engagement rate, indicating mid-sized players are investing in resonant content.
For companies with up to 50K total followers, organic engagement rates jumped to 15.44% for brokerages and 12.1% for CRE tech firms on average.
A Whole New World of CRE Competitive Intelligence
We don't mind admitting our own childlike sense of wonder and excitement over this report. For far too long, commercial real estate marketers have been forced to operate with one hand tied behind their backs, lacking access to credible digital marketing benchmarks tailored to the realities and nuances of the CRE world.
But not anymore! This report represents a giant leap forward, providing the equivalent of X-ray vision into your marketing performance compared to industry peers. You'll be able to dissect the most granular metrics and splice the data across different asset types, company specialties, marketing objectives, and more.
Maybe this all sounds a tad overwhelming, like drinking from a firehose of CRE marketing intelligence, but have no fear - that's where the trusted experts at ATYPICAL can lend a hand.
Our team lives and breathes this data, allowing us to expertly guide clients in transforming these benchmarks into actionable strategies that maximize ROI.
We understand this level of advanced analytics and channel mastery is our secret superpower. So, if you're ready to graduate into the major leagues of data-driven commercial real estate marketing, nurture those hard-earned dollars, and ultimately drive more revenue, we've got your back.
The Time to Level Up Is Now
Hey, why not seize the chance to boost your competitive edge and drum up more leads with the assurance that comes from data-driven insights?
CRE marketers, the playing field has finally been leveled with this report. What are you waiting for?
Watch below to understand why you need this report: