The Property Marketing Survey Results 2021

The student accommodation sector collectively faces a new string of challenges as we head into the 2020s. 

With tremendous shifts in the industry, the rise in remote working and the impact that has had on the workforce, organisational dynamics are changing alongside customer expectations. 

How is this impacting the industry, and most specifically, what does this mean for property marketing? 

We spoke to a panel of experts during The Property Marketing Survey webinar, where we discussed some of the key points raised from The Property Marketing survey. 

The panel was made up of The Property Marketing Strategists’ Sarah Canning and Deenie Lee, Ayo Abbas (Abbas Marketing) who took over as the host, Tara O’Brien from Aparto, and Matthew Halfpennyfrom Red Penny Recruitment.

The Great Resignation

So, let’s begin with the obvious: the pandemic. 

We kicked off with a discussion of ‘The Great Resignation’, which seemingly gained momentum towards the back end of the Covid-19 lockdown. But was it all a media façade? What’s happening at ground level?

With an imbalance of roles vs talent, the ‘Great Resignation' hints at a lack of people across industries. Matthew gave his perspective, discussing how paradigm shifts during the pandemic have led to greater focus on existing people. 

He spoke about how organisations put a pause on expanding teams during the pandemic, since the level of uncertainty was so unprecedented. But now, as restrictions are eased, people are more confident and hungrier for new roles which could explain why it might ‘feel’ like a great resignation.

Matthew explained how people now demand more from their current roles, and they want something that fits in with their new work/life balance. People want more in terms of training, development, and culture. He noted that this is a mixture of candidates seeking more from their roles and others simply looking for a change of scenery. 

So how do we hold on to valuable team members?

Tara spoke about the importance of company culture, and that by inspiring and empowering your teams they’ll be less likely to look further elsewhere. This comes down to upskilling, training, and development, and adapting well to change. Can more senior roles be offered to marketing teams to enhance their feeling of progression and offer career direction?

Sarah reiterated this point, citing that there is a lack of senior marketing roles in comparison to a lot of functional marketing roles. The result is a lack of direct impact on strategy.

Interestingly, the survey hinted at a lack of mid-level seniors and female managers in marketing. Since the majority of respondents were younger females and older males, this might have impacted the responses when it came to career succession.

This was a great segue to our next point:

The Role of Marketing

We posed the question, ‘Is marketing a board level position in your company?’ to which 65% said yes. However, further investigation in our survey also showed that 48% of marketers are reporting to non-marketing professionals.

This response highlighted a huge disparity between marketing and senior leadership across organisations. 

The hierarchy of the marketing department in the property industry was an interesting topic once again. Is marketing given the position it deserves?

Matthew challenged this response, and said that in his experience, he has found a lot of young CEOs are looking to bring in marketing at a senior board level. They understand the need to stand out and attract investors, and the role that marketing plays in that. While these are encouraging signs, it was the more established, traditional brands that are still holding back. Perhaps they have made it this far without marketing on the board level, but as the environment becomes more competitive, the position of marketing should be increasingly valued. 

Deenie believed it’s a ‘marketing mindset’ that is so important on the board. If an organisation doesn’t have the expertise or resources to communicate effectively to customers and internal staff, they are missing a huge chunk of value. It’s not just about transactional marketing, it’s about longevity of engagement.

Tara voiced her perspective, speaking from her experience at Aparto, and how they work with one family mindset. She explained how this promotes strong and close collaboration between teams. Whether it be design, demographics or marketing, it’s what holds everything together in terms of marketing strategy.

Is Marketing Underutilised?

Are marketers underutilised in property marketing? 29% if respondents said that they reported to their operations department. This response brought up some interesting perspectives into what marketers are expected to do, and how they are managed internally. 

The Property Marketing Strategists’ Sarah questioned the relationship between marketing and operations. If marketing is managed by operations, who is leading and encouraging marketers to develop their talents and learn about the industry? Do marketers have mentoring and succession opportunities compared with other departments? 

Sarah talked about how it doesn’t matter how talented your marketers are, if they aren’t trained up and educated about the industry, how can they perform to their best potential? There is a huge gap in development and knowledge-sharing when it comes to marketing. The panel discussed how marketing is more than sitting behind a desk, and the importance of getting out and about, seeing the product and places you’re marketing. But if there is an obvious lack of senior marketing leadership, perhaps junior marketers don’t have that permission and encouragement to go out and expand their knowledge.

Internal Communications

When asked who is responsible for internal communications in their business, the responses indicated that this tends to fall around 50/50 between HR and marketing. But do HR and marketing communicate? The panel discussion led to some interesting points. 

Matthew said the sharing of communication is extremely important for businesses at the forefront of the great resignation. Covid gave us no excuse not to communicate more internally, but as we transition back into normality, silos are beginning to form again. Marketing gives you the power to communicate internally and establish your internal narrative.

Deenie quite rightly pointed out that if you can't engage your own teams on the product you’re trying to sell then you can’t do it externally. In property marketing, almost everyone is remote which makes this all the more challenging. And as we move down the route of more flexible working it’s only going to get more important. Your brand needs to be as strong as it is internally as externally.

But there could be a misconception of what ‘internal comms’ really is, which is why it so often falls with HR. It’s not about everyday internal conversations. It’s about the growth trajectory, industry related events, where the business is going, and how you bring your culture and people on that journey with you.

When asked the difference between brand and internal communications, Deenie came up with this excellent summary: 

Brand is the essence of what you do. Your brand is your messaging foghorn and should be marketing’s responsibility to communicate brand. Internal communication brings the rest of the team along with that messaging. 

Matthew’s thoughts from a recruitment perspective highlighting the importance of brand essence when searching for new talent. Seldom do we see brand related statements and questions on a job description. But if we’re looking for people who are aligned with our cultural and brand values, we should be communicating those messages from the offset. 

When it comes to location, a webinar viewer posed the very valid question: Do you believe brands should sit in the relevant country in which they operate?

Tara answered this one, stating that while heading up UK and Ireland assets for Aparto, they also have marketing managers based in Italy and Spain who look after those residents and the mobilisation of those residences. But it’s important to have guidelines set up from the start, so they know the brand guidelines and can use them consistently. While some approaches might not work in other countries, everything needs to ultimately align with the brand values. Tone of voice and brand DNA should be set out at the start.

Sustainability 

And last but most certainly not least, the survey delved into the topic of sustainability. When asked about how confident they were in their future product’s ability to support the 2050 net zero target, marketers showed lower levels of confidence, and higher levels of uncertainty. 

Could this be related to the problems mentioned above when it comes to internal communications? Are marketers uncertain or just uninformed? There is certainly a need for greater internal collaboration and communication. 

In Conclusion…

Marketers are very multi-faceted professionals. Given the right tools and direction, marketing departments can make a huge impact on a company’s image, trajectory, future, and customer relationships. But it appears that once again, there is a gap when it comes to senior board level marketing and marketing at a strategic level. Our panel discussion gave great direction and insight, perhaps pointing towards some hope for the future. But we can’t deny that the survey and the webinar has raised many more questions that we will endeavour to answer as the year goes on. 

Paradigm shifts and an increase in competition could pave the way for an increased presence of marketing. 

In the meantime, if you would like to involved in our webinar discussions or the Property Marketing Survey, please get in touch.