WS1870 Marketing Strategies for Real Estate | Kimberly Zar Bloorian

Join us for an insightful exploration of commercial real estate marketing with our esteemed guest, Kimberly Zar Bloorian, the visionary Founder and CEO of KLOUD. In this engaging discussion, Kim generously shares her profound insights and experiences, tracing her journey from a finance background to pioneering an innovative marketing agency.

Navigate through the dynamic challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic as Kim unveils her strategies for identifying and addressing critical industry gaps successfully. Discover the transformative power of digital tools and strategies as Kim elaborates on the significant benefits her agency provides, enhancing clients' digital presence and ensuring robust brand recognition.

Our conversation delves deeper into the pivotal role of marketing in the commercial real estate sector. Uncover the reasons behind some companies' reluctance to embrace marketing strategies and explore how the evolving landscape, shaped by digital platforms, is influencing the industry. Kim offers valuable advice on maneuvering through market downturns without compromising your marketing efforts, underlining the potency of consistency.

Whether you're at the helm of a self-storage company managing $500 million in assets or just embarking on your entrepreneurial journey, this enlightening episode caters to all. Tune in to glean actionable insights and stay ahead in the ever-evolving realm of commercial real estate marketing.


 Connect with Kimberly Zar Bloorian today! Drop her an email at kim@kloud.nyc to kickstart a conversation about transforming your digital presence. For more details on how KLOUD can revolutionize your marketing strategy, visit their website at https://kloud.nyc/. Your journey to marketing excellence begins here!

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Transcript

00:00 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
we're facing a little bit of a market downturn, so I'm having a lot of clients starting to reach out and say like, hey, kim, we need to decrease our marketing budget. So I really think that we can't say like, okay, this is the budget and this is what you must spend to be successful, because that is not true and there's so much that can be done without a large marketing budget. 

00:33 - Deana Berg (Host)
Welcome to your daily real estate syndication show. I'm your host today, Deana Burke. Today, I think you're gonna find a lot of value in my guest, especially if you happen to be a business owner. Marketing is one of those things where, if you're not doing enough, you feel like you're not doing enough. If you're doing some, maybe you feel like you're doing too much. Well, I love what Kim Zarr Blurian adds today when she talks about her company. She was a founder and CEO of Cloud. That's KLOUD, a full service marketing agency specializing in innovative solutions for commercial real estate, focus on enhancing digital presence and ensuring brand recognition through cutting edge strategies. Kim is a New York native. She lives in Long Island with her husband and her two year old daughter. Well, she is passionate about what she does. I'm excited to share today's show with you and hopefully you can walk away with some practical and helpful tips and hints. I'm gonna do the show. So glad that you're here today, welcome. 

01:33 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Thank you, Deana. Thanks for having me. I'm very excited to be here today. 

01:37 - Deana Berg (Host)
I think the content you're gonna bring us is very applicable to many of our listeners. Now, some of our listeners are passive investors, but a lot of our listeners are involved in this space, they're getting started up and personally I think I mentioned to you so I'm I head up LifeBridge Capital's investor relations and I'm a part of a mastermind, an investor relations mastermind, and we meet once a month and let me tell you how often the topic of communication is marketing. So you, as an expert in marketing, I think, are gonna have a lot to inform us about today and to bring us along. So why don't you give us a flyover of your background? 

02:15 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
For sure. I started Cloud actually during COVID, so I was working at a finance company. 

02:23 - Deana Berg (Host)
Let's see, I love it. 

02:25 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Very gutsy. I was working on a finance company in New York. Because of COVID, they let go of about the entire marketing team and I had this passion, this drive for commercial real estate, and I had this passion and drive for marketing and I was realizing that there's such a large gap right now in an agency or a company where we can be putting together commercial real estate marketing. So I started, I started Cloud, I built out a team and we started growing very, very quickly because we were so niche and we now have a team of 24 and our client base is very, very large as well and we're doing everything A to Z for commercial real estate marketing. That's social media, email marketing, website development, press releases, conference management, truly anything that an in-house marketing team can do, we're able to do, but better because we have experts across the field. 

03:31 - Deana Berg (Host)
That's amazing. So your previous work experience was in finance. Where did you get your marketing expertise? 

03:39 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
So I started at a marketing agency. We were doing innovation and technology for very, very large companies like American Express and Amazon. So it was very, I would say, interesting learning the basics of marketing for very large campaigns. And then, when I needed a change, I kind of fell into real estate. But it was very natural. Living in New York City, real estate's all around you. You're always curious to know who's trading what building, what's going on here. So it was definitely an industry shift for me, but it was fitting and I was able to apply everything I learned at this large marketing agency to the real estate realm. 

04:32 - Deana Berg (Host)
So what was that shift like? How did you get into CRE from walking around wondering how these things were trading? What was your open door into that industry? 

04:42 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
It was very interesting, but it also felt very natural Because the real estate industry is I would. It's rough to say it, but they're a little bit slow to what's going on. So it was fun because, like oopsies, we would talk about things like Instagram or you know, followers and our brokerage, because we were in a house. Marketing thing would be like what is that? Do I need that? So it was, it was in, it was very interesting and it was fun because we were like these experts and we still are these experts, but it's it's definitely a shift and it's definitely a learning curve. 

05:31 - Deana Berg (Host)
Mm, hmm, mm, hmm. Okay, this is interesting. So, in the middle of COVID, I just was wondering, like, what was going through your mind when you were, like I'm going to launch a marketing company. What was the opportunity that caused you to make the leap? 

05:46 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
It was the scap and there was this gap and seeing that there was so much that could still be done within the commercial real estate space, there was basic, I would say. There was basic marketing or communication tools that were still not being used, and it's extremely exciting to think about what could be done for our clients, and I think that's what was driving me forward and was pushing me to start my agency. 

06:12 - Deana Berg (Host)
Okay gotcha. So you looked and you saw a strategic gap in the midst of, like a freeze in trading. Not to mention that you were in New York City, which I think for the rest of us in the nation there's a huge lack of understanding of the. I don't know just the gravitas of talking about COVID in New York City, because you all experienced so much difficulty, death, darkness, isolation, all those things. And here you are launching an entrepreneurial venture in the midst of all that. So I love that foundation. That speaks to me about who you are and probably about the soul of your business as well. Let's transition into the question of why is marketing so important for commercial real estate companies? You talked about the lack Number one why do you think commercial real estate companies are slow to adopt? And then, why do you think it's so important specifically in commercial real estate? 

07:08 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
So commercial real estate is very much so a relationship-built business and you know that you do investor relations. 

07:16
You understand that it's all about building these relationships and making sure that you're trusted, making sure that they're getting someone who they truly believe can get the job done for them and bring those dollars back. So you understand that and I think that the I don't want to say old folks in real estate, but I'd say that the older generation that started this really strong commercial real estate industry they just say, like I know my people, I don't need to push my name out, but now there's a new young generation. Everyone is using their phones. Everyone their mother, their grandma is on Instagram. You know like everyone is now pushing themselves out there. So, like, why would we not also push out your name within the marketing space, within, you know, the digital space, within all these different platforms? So it's really about building that visibility right now, going beyond just relationships, we really see that there's so much potential and ensuring that you're reaching your potential as a commercial real estate business. It's an easy answer Push marketing, like, push your name out, do things that are different, be innovative. 

08:46 - Deana Berg (Host)
Okay, so let's get to some of the nuts and bolts. So you have relationship-based business. That's going on. What's working, or percentage of potential untapped business is being left on the table with the marketing. I mean, is it like an additional 50%? Or how do you quantify what your services provide for a firm? 

09:06 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
So I wouldn't even say there's like a number. I wouldn't say like, oh, you can, if you post today, you're going to have a 50% growth. It doesn't. It doesn't work like that. And it's different when you're when you're marketing yourself as a commercial real estate company, versus, let's say, you're selling a product. 

09:23
If I'm selling a, you know, a shoe, is it going to be if someone clicks on the ad and it leaves directly to the sale, right? Whereas if you're pushing out your commercial real estate business or you're pushing out a really great deal and you're looking for investors, right, it might not be that today they're going to invest in your deal. It might be that they saw you, you know, in on December 1st in 2023, but they're investing in a deal in March right, and it might be difficult to track that right now, and that's something that, as an industry, we're trying to kind of really figure out how to do. But at the same time, as long as you're pushing out your name, you're going to see that growth. So it's not a direct sale, but it's eventual. This, this, this relationship that's being built now, is being built digitally. 

10:20 - Deana Berg (Host)
Yes, and it's a long game, just like with in-person relationships. For me, like we play the long game, we're just like. We're not like hey, we met you. Now we expect that you're going to invest with us. Like we want to add value to you over time. Bill, trust we want you to know, like and trust us and then you know we can develop on the good platform for trust and investment. So talk to me a little bit about cloud, your company and what are the suite of services that you provided. Let's say you're sitting down with somebody who has a commercial real estate firm. Let's say they're small to medium size, because I'm assuming the larger ones maybe already have marketing. Maybe that's not a correct assumption, but what size of company do you start with? And then do you scale your, the services that you provide? Like, how do you get somebody started with this? 

11:08 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
So it's very, very dependent on the company. So we're we work with large corporations and for them they already have a huge marketing team behind them, but we'll be able to chip in on smaller projects, or we'll manage one social channel for them, or we'll do, maybe, a conference. We'll do like conference management for them. So it really depends on that the company and what it is that they already have in place. If it's a company that is, you know, they're smaller size, they have a smaller budget, we have to also think about what makes sense for them. So it really is dependent on the company, what their goals are, and that's where we usually what we think about and then we'll see like, okay, this is the best place to start. 

11:59 - Deana Berg (Host)
Okay. So let's say, just like, as an example, ex commercial real estate company, let's say that it's a self storage company and they have call it I don't know 500 million assets under ownership. Where would you start them? Where would be the best place for them to like allocate finances in marketing, and then how would you suggest they grow from there? 

12:22 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
So I always like to start with a digital presence. So we'll build out some sort of digital platform for them that includes a Instagram page. It might include a LinkedIn page, and then we can think about whether an email email campaign makes sense for them. Do you already have an email database of people that you can reach out to and push your messaging out? Do you not have one that we should maybe build out a platform where we can collect these emails? 

12:53
Do you have exposure right now at all of the big self storage conferences? Are you sponsoring panels that are about you know the growth behind self storage? Is there any press out there? Can we get you on interviews? Can we get you on podcasts? There's so much out there and there's so much that we think about to make sure that our clients are getting the exposure that they need. So I can't say like, okay, this is the equation to be successful if you're a self storage company and this is how many assets you have under your belt, but so it really depends on your goals, what strategies we can put in there and the budget. 

13:38 - Deana Berg (Host)
So okay, options are endless. Yes, it's so great, so that's great that you do placement to get people onto platforms. Love that you can just outsource conference management. What does that look like? 

13:52 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
So conference management is interesting because we really think about which for a conference. There's panels. We think about which ones make the most sense for these, the members of the teams, to show up on. We want to make sure that they're showing up as thought leaders. We want to make sure that the panels that they're on they're truly an expert for. And then it's about making sure they have a booth with beautiful frontage. They have brochures, people are representing them well behind these booths. So we're making sure all of these different pieces are aligned before the conference begins, and then we'll either fly out with you or I'll send some more from my team. 

14:37 - Deana Berg (Host)
Nice, okay, and do you have like a follow-up setup or do you set folks up with like a follow-up plan, or is that yes? 

14:44 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Yes, I love that you said that, dina, because it's true, follow-up is so important for these conferences. You're attending them and you know that the follow-up is the number one, so we make sure that during the conference, you're collecting the emails, you're collecting the contact information, scanning the badges so that when we get back, we're setting up these email campaigns that blast out and say, hey, it was so nice to meet you. Can we set up a follow-up meeting or reaching out to folks and saying, oh, it was great, thanks for including us in the conference. Can you please include us in the next panel that you have? Or putting out content on social media? Video clips of you at these at the booth, video clips of you speaking to people, video clips of you on the panel. Like there's so much content, juicy content that comes out of these conferences. 

15:42 - Deana Berg (Host)
Like eight contents. 

15:44 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Yes, and it's free for you as an individual attending these conferences. It says to post while you're there and to post afterwards, post before. It's just like it's so important and valuable to get that content out and it really is the most cost effective marketing tool. So we definitely, definitely push out how important it is to get that content out. 

16:13 - Deana Berg (Host)
That's amazing. So how do you guys and we'll get, we'll push further into marketing mechanisms for CRE. I'm just curious. It just dawned on me, like, how do you guys do your own marketing? Are you also at these conferences? I mean, you and I spoke about this briefing record, about getting you to a conference where I think it would be really business. But do you guys have your own like marketing plan within? 

16:37 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
And then okay, so I always joke, you know. You know the story about the shoemaker always has the the rest shoes yeah. 

16:46
I do like. So it's always us focusing on everyone else. And then our marketing. I would say that we have really great marketing. I love our website. I love our social presence. We're getting on podcasts Thanks for having us and then conferences. 

17:03
I think that there's really no marketing booth usually at these conferences. I definitely, as a personal goal for next year, I definitely want to attend more conferences, but I'll see you there. Yes, you need to hold me accountable, I will. So I think that what we're really doing is one. I think that we're pushing ourselves really great on social media, but I really think we get the most business with word of mouth and, thank God, everyone who works with us. They're really happy. I'm happy to say that they're happy with us. So it's really word of mouth, like someone works with us and says, hey, cloud was great, they were able to get me in the real deal this week. You really should talk to them. I know you just had that awesome deal. Get that, get that some exposure for that. So it's really been word of mouth and, thank God, we have some awesome clients that are speaking highly of us. So word of mouth works for us. Social media we do my email blasts and hopefully we'll be attending more conferences. 

18:11 - Deana Berg (Host)
Yeah, so as a commercial real estate investment firm, let's say you have X amount of gross revenue. Do you recommend to a firm that they should spend Like? What percentage of an overall budget do you recommend allocating to marketing? 

18:28 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Again, this question is so specific to the company. Right now, we're facing a little bit of a market downturn, so I'm having a lot of clients starting to reach out and say like, hey, kim, we need to decrease our marketing budget. So I really think that we can't say like, okay, this is the budget and this is what you must spend to be successful, because that is not true and there's so much that can be done without a large marketing budget. If right now, for example, you're putting in dollars into paid campaigns, maybe transition to organic social, we'll start posting some videos of you speaking on social media rather than paying for those ads and those clicks. So I'm not gonna say like, if you have X amount to spend, this is what you should be doing or this is the percentage of your business that you can be spending, because everything is so particular. But I do think that everyone should be conscious of what they're spending their money on and evaluating every single week or every single month if those dollars that are being spent are being spent in a valuable way. 

19:45 - Deana Berg (Host)
Yeah, yeah, talk to me a little bit about the slowdown in the commercial real estate market. 2023 has been an interesting year in terms of the turn of tides and just even the start of a new economic cycle. What do you think about that? How do you continue to generate business and how do you advise? You started to say folks are coming to you saying, hey, we're gonna pump the brakes a little bit on this, but what do we do to continue marketing in a time where there's not a lot of transaction volume? 

20:15 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Yeah. So we all know real estate market, the real estate market's cyclical Like this is a downturn, but I'm confident things are gonna turn up. We're already seeing interest rates going up a little bit, so we're hopefully the end is near for this. Right now I'm advising to keep your marketing consistent, even if that means cutting costs a little bit. Consistency is key and I cannot say that enough. That means do not turn off your marketing. Do not stop pushing out what you're pushing out. 

20:50
It is obviously difficult to continue pushing out a huge budget and having the same amount of marketing that you did. I'd say, okay, maybe don't sponsor every conference that you were sponsoring before. Maybe again cut costs on some paid ads. Maybe it's switching from print ads to digital ads. There's a lot that can be done that where you can keep that consistency with your brand, making sure that people are still seeing you and you still have that visibility, without really turning it off. My number one thing right now is do not slam the brakes. This is not the time Like if everyone else is slamming the brakes. You should be going full force. So we're really advising to be consistent and continue that visibility. 

21:46 - Deana Berg (Host)
Yeah, I agree. There are things that you can do that are free, yes, but even keeping money in it. So you have these clients and they're paying for marketing services. How does one of your clients evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing that you're doing? 

22:01 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Good question. So it's what we're really really focusing on in seeing if your marketing is effective is if you're getting in those leads. So we're tracking leads, we're tracking clicks, we're tracking engagement, and then what we do is we'll kind of we'll compare that to, obviously, before we started marketing and then we'll compare that to the industry standard and making sure that those goals and the KPIs the key performance indicators that we set at the beginning are being met. 

22:38 - Deana Berg (Host)
That's awesome, Great. Well, we're gonna wrap up this show before we end. Is there anything else that you wanna add as we wrap up? What would you say to put a bow on this content? 

22:50 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
So, to wrap it all up, I'd say that just stand strong during this time. Do not think that you need to stop your marketing because everyone else is stopping and because you're not necessarily bringing in as much revenue as you may have been bringing in before. So stand strong, be consistent and you're gonna see the visibility, you're gonna see your brand grow. 

23:18 - Deana Berg (Host)
I love it. It's also like if people are pumping the brakes, there's less folks in the lane or less folks on the street Exactly Kind of like, creates this illuminating force that you are standing strong. So I love that. I love that you wrapped that up this way. Kimberly's, our blurion from cloud, spelled with a K. How can people find you? 

23:38 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
So you can find me at Kim K-A-M-K-L-O-U-Dnyc. Send me an email. You can check out our website wwwkloudnyc, or follow us at kloudnyc. 

23:54 - Deana Berg (Host)
That's right. Follow, get on the social, Follow us, Follow us All right. Thank you so much for being with us today and I look forward to our next show. 

24:04 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Thank you, Deana. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for being with us again today.