Real Estate Will Witness a PR Reckoning in 2022: Three Ways to Prepare Your Brand Now
We’re not ones for doomsday prophecies or alarmist rumors, but the writing is on the wall (or lack thereof) with both residential and multifamily real estate.
According to Pew Research, “a rising share of Americans say the availability of affordable housing is a major problem in their local community. In October 2021, about half of Americans (49%) said this was a major problem where they live, up 10 percentage points from early 2018. In the same 2021 survey, 70% of Americans said young adults today have a harder time buying a home than their parents’ generation did.”
Sure, the housing market is as strong as ever and per Realtor.com, homes are worth more now than in any time in history. But the national housing shortage is up to 5.2 million (from 3.7 million in 2019). First-time home buyers are facing extreme barriers to entry between affordability of the current home price and demanding down payments. Coupled with the lack of new construction and corporate investors scooping up “starter homes” and flipping them to fully-renovated rentals with all-cash offers and the waiving of inspection contingencies, it’s dicey at best.
Analysts also note that while home prices have skyrocketed, so have rents, which increased almost 15% year over year in January, per Zillow, due to the nationwide housing shortage, low rental vacancies and increased costs of maintenance, supplies and personnel.
On the PR side, we’re seeing a tidal wave of negative press and investigative consumer reporting focused on “greedy landlords,” “problematic property management companies,” and “homebuilders taking a beating” with supply chain shortages.
Not to mention the onslaught of angry resident reviews as maintenance teams are stretched thin and the cost of hiring/training increases.
In today’s media landscape, issues and crisis management is no longer a question of “if” but “when.”
Here are some of our tried and true strategies for navigating the coming challenges:
Audit Your Vulnerability - Some crises can’t be predicted, but many can. Begin by doing a “vulnerability audit” on your community and company. Talk with people at every level of the organization – from your entry-level team members to the C-suite – and ask them what could possibly go wrong. Once you have a list of seven to 10 of the most likely potential events, think through how these scenarios could play out. Prepare general talking points around each topic that can be used regardless of the specific, situational details.
Identify Your Communication Team - If a crisis is short-lived, existing manpower is easily deployed to attend to the crisis. But if a crisis lasts many days or weeks, make sure you know who you can call: identify other team members, either from within your organization or additional consultants you can call in on a moment’s notice. If your community does not have a current PR consultant, have a list of potential crisis communication experts available on standby. During a crisis, disable any pending social media posts and email blasts you may have scheduled. It can look incredibly insensitive if your Facebook channel posts about an upcoming event or promotion when everything is going sideways.
Assign a Communications Quarterback or Point Person - They might not be calling the shots as the ultimate decision-maker, but they pass information from group to group as the project manager during an issue or crisis. Your Quarterback should be armed with your updated contact sheet and updated communications tree, so information always lands in the right hands.
Select & Media Train a Spokesperson Now - Your media spokesperson is the face and voice of your community and your business, especially when things go wrong. This may or may not be the communications quarterback. When selecting a spokesperson consider the following:
Emotional IQ: Can they read a room? Especially if they're handling tense situations. Who's best in front of the camera? Who's best for print, online and blog interviews? Charismatic executives are usually the best on camera and should definitely be used for TV broadcast or radio interviews, and now, video and Zoom interviews too. Technical specialists or subject matter experts may be better for print, online media or blog interviews as well.
Does your spokesperson have the sincerity and the transparency that's required during an interview?
And how well does your executive know the organization? It's important for your spokesperson to not only be knowledgeable in his or her respective area but also be well-versed and able to comment on important company information that's in the public domain.
We’ll be sharing more about communications readiness in the coming months including:
How to Effectively Build a Kick-Ass FAQ
Why a Response Bank Can Make or Break Your Brand
How to Not Be an A%$ When Responding to Negative Reviews
Stay tuned!