Everybody seems to be relating coworking space to building a community. Some companies also tend to argue that coworking spaces all say the same things. They all have this judgement that the community is a key element of coworking space, even though it can no longer be a differentiating factor.
A successful marketing campaign plays equally an important role in portraying and sharing a space’s unique value proposition.
As the coworking industry tends to grow and evolve it seems like the word community has stayed constant among the most important factors.
And it’s true the workspace communities are an important factor since it allows the like-minded people to connect and share experience, advice and tools to succeed in business. They can access information and resources, get support and inspiration, leverage the group for marketing their own products and services and building a meaningful relationship and networks.
Even though building a community in a coworking space is important, as much has been said about the different channels of coworking and flexible workspace operators can use to market their space. There are different platforms that can be used for this purpose – Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin etc. These are great tools but you need to stand out from the rest or else you won’t have such an impact on the customers.
During the early days of coworking existence, being more than a workspace was enough of a marketing strategy. The coworking space during that period focused on attracting customers by emphasizing on the community. The industry has evolved a lot from those days and it’s become very difficult to stand out.
Coworking community is as diverse as the people in it, and their shared experiences in a compact ecosystem bring about positive results.
Coworking spaces provide businesses with a place to get away from distractions at home, as well as a professional setting for clients. And best of all, they help build confidence and community with like-minded professionals.
But how to attract members to your coworking space? What kind of marketing strategy will work for this purpose?
Use these straightforward 10 steps to help grow your coworking space
1. Have a quality website
A good website is the first step to attract customers. Make sure the website is made professionally. Mention all the details for your workspace along with the rates.
The contact information should be visible easily. Include certain updates like a newsletter, or blog posts related to business growth, networking etc. Also, take a note of it that these posts have the potential to be displayed by Google when searched.
Include an easy way for potential members to sign up on your web page and for current members to quickly pay their rent and membership fees.
Your website is the basic requirement and it should contain all the necessary information may be needed.
2. Have a Social Media Strategy
Use the social media platforms. Like you can use Twitter to follow your members or the potential members. Engage in Twitter chats with different niches to help network and build professionalism.
Advertise using Facebook Ads and make sure you have a page dedicated to your space. Make sure when advertising on Facebook, your ads focus on local areas since those will be the people who will use your coworking space.
Use Instagram to show off the inside of your building, your members, and the events that you host. Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms today, especially for bringing in followers, traffic, and business. Make sure you have high-quality photos and take smart advantage of hashtags. Spend a little to create sponsored Instagram posts that will show up on everyone’s feeds.
3. Membership Perks
You can attract more members towards your coworking space is provided with different perks or incentives. For examples, create a member referral program: give discounted rent or membership fees when members bring in a successful referral.
You can also offer free coworking days. Some days during the month allow members or non-members to have a free access to space without hampering your profit margins.
Have some sort of happy hours. This doesn’t have to be about alcohol but a small buffets, or a local coffee etc. can prevalent coworking marketing strategy as people will always go where there is food.
A barter system can also work like getting work done from a graphic designer in exchange for a few posters for your coworking space.
Since coworking spaces don’t need a lot of oversight, offer it 24/7 to your members. Especially freelancers have an odd working schedule, and they will be more likely to go to you if they aren’t restricted by operating hours.
4. Create a Health Insurance Program
If your company can deal with providing health insurance to the members if will mean a great deal of work. It is nerve wracking to branch out and become a freelancer or create your own startups.
By having an insurance plan, members will be satisfied and more willing to stay longer since they can provide medical care for themselves and their families.
5. Offer Daycare
Creating a low-cost child care can help the members with young children to get their work done efficiently. This will help the members have an independent workspace from their children.
Kids can benefits from this as well for having other kids to play with. It’s like a win-win situation both for the parents and children.
6. Help Your Members Succeed
You can also provide some guidance, support or advice at certain levels to the freelancer, startups, interns, and other members of your coworking space.
Let the members advertise their business within the building. Let them create posters to showcase their activities or work. Create workshops or conferences in the different niches of your members to help them improve their businesses, as well as network. Let the public have an access to this which will bring in more traffic for your space.
7. Advertise to Current Members
Marketing to the new members is important to bring in more customers but it is also necessary to make sure to keep the existing ones. The newsletter is one of the great tools for this purpose.
For example, you can spotlight a business on your Facebook page.
8. Advertise Toward Commuting Workers
You can advertise about the how easy is the commuting to your coworking space especially if it’s in a metropolis or airport.
The members who regularly fly for work find it difficult to rely on a place to do their work. No one wants to work from a coffee shop all day long. By reaching out to these workers can bring in more members for you. Remember to provide them with a flexible pricing since its a booking only for a few days a month.
9. Partner with Local Businesses
Coworking marketing strategy can be to partner with other local businesses. Provide coffee to the members in the coworking space of a specific local coffee shop. Can create raffles or gift cards of some restaurants. You can also partner with some local transport system to provide discounts for the members.
Advertising your coworking space in local gathering places. Create events to build the networking.
10. Host Events at Your Coworking Space
The coworking space can be more than just a coworking space. You can rent it out for some events to more than just your members. Host local events, art galleries etc.
These are few marketing strategies apart from community building to focus on while marketing your workspace.
Community building is important for the reason it brings different people working under one roof together.
The various benefits of building a community-
- It brings like-minded individuals together.
- Cultivating Innovation and Ideating
- New Business Connections
- Acquiring New Skills
- Learning from Mistakes
- Congenial Work Environment
- Nurturing A community
The problem is that as more operators use the community as a marketing tool, the less authentic it seems to become. It’s time to start telling a different story.
If you are trying to look for a different story to get from your workspace then try to find out what is so unique about your space. Try to look for the unique value proposition to reach out to the current members and ask them what do they like the most about your space.
It can be anything small or big. Like the fast wifi, or the fact that you can instantly book a meeting room. Maybe it’s something as simple as your location or that you offer a free parking spot. It can also be the comfortable chairs and desks or that space has the environment where it’s to work.
The value proposition doesn’t have to be something unique altogether. It can be the simple day to day amenities. Sometimes people value what’s familiar, and easy to understand or easy to navigate or easy to use. Your pricing can also be one of the propositions.
These stories can be shared on social media. Embrace everything that your coworking space offers and everything that your members love about what you offer.
You just never know the best part about your space is that there’s no pressure around the community and that you can go and grab a cup of coffee without feeling the need to engage in a small conversation.