Friends of SAY, Sarah Canning and Deenie Lee at The Property Marketing Strategists
We got the opportunity to speak to Sarah and Deenie, Co-Founders of The Property Marketing Strategists about their careers and advice that has shaped them.
The Property Marketing Strategists’ are a unique consultancy service supporting the Property industry’s marketing needs from brand and advertising to research, knowledge building, and communication.
This is what they had to say…
1. When did you start your business?
We officially registered as a business in 2022 but have been working together on projects for about 2.5 years now.
2. Why did you start your business?
We were both marketing consultants individually working in the property industry but decided we were better together!
A joint passion for elevating what marketing in property can bring to an organisation was the driver to do things differently. We are strategy and product marketers and there were many aspects of the sector that we wanted to help improve and innovate – one of them being access to the customer voice.
Together we know we can help businesses to build better products and better marketing strategies to communicate all the work that goes into developing a building.
3. What did you do before?
Sarah – I have worked in property marketing for 20 years now straight from uni, from estate agency to property developers, proptech and PBSA. I couldn’t imagine working in any other sector and not utilising the years of knowledge and experience I have accumulated.
Deenie – I have worked in marketing for over 20 years, first in publishing before quickly moving to further education and then higher education. My first property role combined this perfectly in PBSA, that was almost 15 years ago – and I have loved the sector ever since.
4. What has been your biggest challenge in growing your business?
Our biggest challenge is managing resource. Being a consultancy means the client and project work varies and we need to ensure we can always support our clients with the best team possible at that time. We do have close relationships with amazing marketeers and other support functions so we can meet client requirements.
5. What are you most proud of?
Being true to our mission – we are strategic marketers and that has to come first. If potential clients want to skip this bit and start implementing we often have to say no and have had to walk away from potential work. Without a strategy, how do you know what to communicate, to who, how and when? Being highly commended by Property Week for Agency of the Year in 2022 was testament to the work we do.
6. What is the one piece of advice you wish you had, before you started the business?
Something about tech and systems to create better efficiency. We have learned a lot along the way but certain things would have been more efficient from the beginning had we been able to set things up properly.
7. If you could choose anyone to be your mentor, who would it be and why?
Sarah – Stephen Bartlett – I love how he has grown businesses, shone the light on marketing and how he takes chances on young entrepreneurs and challenges the status quo.
Deenie – Yvon Chouinard – Patagonia has become a global brand and stayed true to its passionate and roots. I love that and focusing on what is important to us, is definitely at the heart of how Sarah and I want to grow The Property Marketing Strategists.
If you want to find out more about The Property Marketing Strategists, visit their website here.
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