We know the benefits of coworking spaces. We know you, as a coworking space owner or manager also know the benefits of a coworking space. But, does your local community know and truly understand the benefits?
Over the past several years coworking has proved itself to be a successful and sustainable business model. However, as with many other lines of business, it needs to be strategically planned and executed–including a marketing strategy.
While coworking is a hot word today, many people remain confused about what exactly it is and the various advantages it provides to businesses of all sizes. In lieu of this, it’s important that coworking operators have a marketing strategy that will help them educate and attract new members.
Here are five ways you can do it.
1. Spotlight your members
What better way for others to learn about the benefits of a coworking space than hearing it directly from those who have benefitted the most? Give your current members a shout out, it will help you attract new members and it will help build loyalty among your current ones.
Highlight what they do, their accomplishments, and how your coworking space has helped them grow and succeed. There are various formats to spotlighting members–from social media posts, to weekly newsletters, and even short introduction videos.
2. Send out newsletter
This can also help with attracting and retaining members. Use newsletters to spotlight your members, to send out promotions, updates, and invite people to visit your space or attend events.
Newsletters are a great way to build an online community and inform your local community about your space, the activities you organize, and the various uses of coworking spaces. You can even share some of your blog posts (if you have one, though we strongly recommend you do) or send out pricing information and the various types of membership options you offer.
P.s. Make it visually appealing and easy to read in desktop and mobile. We also suggest using a newsletter platform that can help you track who is opening and reading your newsletters.
Use social media
Social media is a powerful marketing tool and it can greatly help coworking operators showcase their space, their community, and their events. Use images, graphics, video, and plain text; however, choose your social platforms carefully and don’t sign up to all of them. Choose the ones that you believe will help you the most and make sure you have a strategy and that the content on all of your platforms is unique, yet always aligned to a common goal. And always remember, social media is mostly about being social, so make sure you interact with your followers and answers comments and questions.
Host events
Ever heard “see it to believe it”? It applies in business, as in life and sometimes people want to try something out first before committing to it. Coworking tours can help greatly, but oftentimes these don’t allow for people to experience the community. This is where hosting events for members and non-members can greatly help, as it allows people to visit your space and get a taste of the community that’s a part of it.
It doesn’t need to be a huge event; you can host yoga classes, marketing workshops, brown-bag lunches, or host a local art event.
Embrace video
Make a video of your space, of your members, of your local events…make short videos about “A Day in [Your Space] Coworking”. It’s about telling a story and demonstrating to people that your coworking space is not just a physical space where people can work from, but that rather it’s an experience.
Oftentimes images fall short on conveying the ‘flow and life’ of a space and its people. Video is great solution that can be easily integrated to other marketing efforts. However, don’t go making long videos; keep them short and sweet, and share them often.
Remember that marketing is not just about sharing content, you have to have a strategy, a purpose, and a holistic approach in order for the efforts to be fruitful. If you need help coming up with a marketing strategy or deciding which approaches will work best for your space, reach out to us.