According to industry reports, the popularity of co-working spaces is exploding especially in this age of e-commuting, startups, and the freelancer economy. Most times, small-scale entrepreneurs and startups are left with meeting at homes, cafés, or renting a small room in a business building just to handle business dealings.
Co-working spaces have provided a convenient solution to all these. If you already own and run a co-working space, then you realize that these ventures can be money makers, however, the issue is how to effectively market them.
Note that the most tiring aspect of marketing a co-working space is that the strategies you use this year may become impractical next year. As a co-working space provider, it falls on you to ensure you prioritize marketing in addition to other day-to-day activities. Have it in mind that without advertising, it can be quite challenging to attract new members.
Practical Tips and Strategies to Market a Coworking Space
1. Offer Membership Perks
It is easier to draw in members for your co-working space if you offer enticing perks or incentives. You can start with creating a member referral program and giving discounted rent or membership fees when members bring in a successful referral.
You can also choose to allow members, and even non-members, to come work into your space once a month for free (and include free internet usage).
Also, consider putting in place some sort of a “happy hour.” This might include little snacks or small catered buffets, or even local coffee or some alcohol. This is a prevalent co-working marketing strategy as people will always go where there is food.
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Create a Health Insurance Program
One dominant issue faced by freelancers or startup entrepreneurs in modern America is health insurance. If you can create a plan that includes health insurance, your membership will go through the roof. Although it can be challenging for individual spaces to do this, but if you can align with other spaces in the area, it will surely become manageable, and pretty significant in growing your co-working space membership.
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Partner Universities and Colleges
This is another practical marketing strategy to use in advertising your co-working space and there are numerous ways to do that. You can start with student programs, courses offered at your space, or even internship arrangements backed by companies in the space.
An internship program can be quite effective if you can attract a big name in your space to dedicate some number of internships every year.
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Host Panel Discussions
To market your coworking space, consider inviting members of your co-working space and the community at large to participate in panel discussions on hot topics such as the easy route to financing, how to scale, and even how to be productive when working remotely. Note that you can drive attendance through this method.
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Consider a CRM System
A Customer Response Management System can help you automatically create a customer directory that generates data and updates itself in real-time. Note that with this information, you can easily reach out to everyone who has come in contact with your co-working space. The key is to have a streamlined sales funnel as well as an onboarding process that is smooth and intuitive.
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Market Based on Location
It is now very necessary for co-working businesses to ensure that local listings are verified and kept current on numerous search platforms. In this line of business, your objective should be to attract customers on a local level. Therefore, don’t skimp on Google My Business listing that provides valuable information about your work hours, services, and geographical location.
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Focus on Member Experience
According to industry trends, the coming year is not about promotion but customer experience. Have it in mind that co-working space clients are already spoilt with luxury and comfortable work environments, so always aim for intangible benefits of workspace membership such as a special vibe, community spirit, fun events, and more.
If you provide all these, customers will naturally become the evangelists of your co-working space, willingly sharing your content on social media, and telling their friends about how good you are, which is the best promotion you can ever get.
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Leverage Co-Working Space Listing Websites
Having a listing created on as many quality directory websites as possible will improve your website’s visibility on Google and also ensure that more remote workers will naturally run into the listings on 3rd party websites. Note some various platforms and websites are known to help coworkers find co-working space, and they include;
- Coworker
- Copass
- LiquidSpace
- ShareDesk
- Desknear.me
- Heydesk
- Instant offices
- Pickspace
- Co-working Space Wiki
- included.co
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Run a Blog
You have to understand that community building is an utmost priority for every co-working hub. Have it in mind that a nice blog will help you achieve it efficiently. According to experts, an articulated blog containing fresh and valuable information is one of the sources of new business opportunities and leads. Some ways to promote your co-working space contents and blog include:
- Facebook ads, Twitter & LinkedIn followers
- Ask question platforms (Quora, Reddit)
- Email list (Newsletter)
- In-app notifications (social media sharing buttons, newsletter subscription)
- Outreach
- Promotion in relevant communities
- Repurpose content for different media (videos, podcasts, etc.)
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Ensure Your Website Loads Fast
You need to understand that a good number of your members surf the web using their mobile devices. According to statistics, at least 53 percent of users browsing your website from smartphones will abandon the page if it loads longer than three seconds.
Owing to that, it is very necessary to check how fast your web page loads. Here are some tools to help you achieve this purpose:
- Google’s Page Speed Insights
- GTMetrix
When advertising your co-working space, always remember that the earlier you start, the better. Once you start putting the space together, you should start sharing photos of it on your social medial handles to let people know about it. A greater proportion of the advertising will start when you are about to open but do not forget to keep marketing the space after.