At Beau Property Home Staging we are lucky because we are a multi-disciplinary company. Our Home Staging business began as an investment in quality products that were used to stage photos of properties we wanted to sell or rent. We quickly realised that ‘staging’ was a viable business in itself, adding value to properties and shortening their time on the market.
Style and staging have become extremely important. We have been able to demonstrate the value it adds time and time again with the sales and rental data from our own property portfolio, before sharing this message via a number of different marketing channels to create more interest.
Firstly, LinkedIn has been essential to our strategy of building reputation and for targeting potential new clients for our Home Staging business. The platform allows you to share case studies and connect with the decision makers directly, thanks to its focus on professional online networking amongst those who share similar sector expertise or requirements. You can share thoughts and insight at the same time and, whilst they might not respond to you immediately, consistently putting out content about Home Staging – whether directly through our work or indirectly through our ideas and insight – keeps Beau Property in mind. It has also helped that the team are now embracing LinkedIn and are having similar successes when posting articles about staging.
In line with LinkedIn is Instagram, of course, which is perfect for highlighting the before and after images with some simple data and messaging. With Instagram we also try to show the people behind the company. We have amassed a decent following from both businesses and interiors enthusiasts alike that buy into the people and the story behind the company, as much as they do the successes and showcases of the company itself. Hand in hand, these two channels work brilliantly for us, driving people to our website, supporting our search optimisation and creating a positive, reputation-enhancing digital footprint at the same time.
Secondly, we believe that holding networking events focused purely on Home Staging work well. We have hosted two events with drinks and canapes to date – one for our launch and one Christmas party. Both of these events brought together 30 to 40 property professionals and facilitated all of the Beau Property team to network and really explain the benefits of staging and how it adds so much value. We have seen a direct correlation between holding the events and the number of signed contracts for jobs. The events also help foster relationships with introducers, such as estate agents, financial advisers and lawyers.
Finally, we have found PR and content production to be extremely useful in helping us to tell our story in the third person. One piece of national coverage can garner direct enquiries and, if it displays great photography of our work, these enquiries can be in the dozens. It underpins our targeting and builds great credibility and brand loyalty.
We have found these three workstreams to be most effective when part of an integrated marketing campaign, whether that’s building our brand or achieving leads and demand for our Home Staging business. Currently we have never been busier and, while this may be in part due to the market turning, we believe these marketing tactics have helped set us apart from others.
About the Author
Chris Hammond is a Director and co-founder of boutique Kent and Sussex based house builder Beau Property and its complementary business divisions Beau Property Home Staging and Beau Property Design & Build. The family business also owns a buy-to-let / PRS portfolio of rental properties in London and the South East which evolved from the family’s love of property and prior experience in flipping homes. The family realised that not all properties needed to be sold, with strong revenue streams possible by holding assets and becoming landlords, then utilising this income to support the creation of a more diverse business beyond the company’s original goals at its inception in 2017.