DALLAS—As Texas continues its phased re-opening of retail and other businesses, Weitzman is using its proprietary digital platform to launch "A New Together Again". This online effort encompasses shopping center websites, social media platforms, blog posts, tenant-specific posts and video.
"A New Together Again" will encourage shoppers to patronize Weitzman centers and tenants through an emphasis on community, safety and human interaction. With the campaign, Weitzman reminds people to shop local, shop safely and shop now as retail slowly re-opens for business.
The campaign images and messaging are designed to inspire by highlighting tenants' ingenuity in the transition to a new normal. The campaign will continue to expand in the coming weeks. It currently encompasses hundreds of tenants and dozens of centers totaling millions of square feet.
Weitzman's strategy of SEO, social and paid content gives its marketing team a direct channel to customers. In addition, the platform allows Weitzman to promote retailers and inform about specials, operating hours and options such as curbside, takeout and delivery, along with a variety of critical messages.
These messages are reaching about 85% to 87% of the population within a three-mile radius of a typical Weitzman-managed shopping center, according to the analytics provided by the marketing team. The messages are being broadcast on average three times a week.
For those tenants not on social media, Weitzman's marketing team has reached out with assistance for getting onto Instagram or other platforms. The marketing team has found that some of the dark retailers actually do have a social media presence, so the team works with these tenants to make those pages more visible and searchable through the use of links and hashtags.
"In the less than five years since Weitzman initiated its own proprietary digital platform state-wide to elevate the awareness of each of its shopping centers in over 80 Texas communities, our retail real estate firm has been able to also achieve the digitalization of 68% of its tenant base," Leisa Barger, Weitzman chief marketing officer, tells GlobeSt.com. "Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the company's marketing team launched a 'tenant boost' program to close the gap on the remaining 30% of small independents who now realize the critical need for an online footprint."
In 2019, US retailers spent $28.33 billion on digital ads, an 19.1% increase in spend from 2018. In 2020, retail marketers will spend $33.12 billion on mobile ads, an 16.9% increase from 2019, according to eMarketer, as reported by DialogTech.
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
