People often ask me, what are we trying to accomplish at Threshold? I field this question from a lot of varied parties – from larger agencies to clients to PE, just about everyone asks and it’s an easy question to answer (now). When you look at our Vision, Mission, and Values, we have set a course to crash with the fundamentals of marketing deliberately.
It’s everyone’s belief that there are three principles to service delivery: there’s fast, there’s high quality, and there’s cheap. Common belief is that you can choose two of the three and that’s where concentric circles align.
we’re flipping the service model.
We are on a mission to change that belief; it’s our goal to deliver all three things to our clients. Our strategy has been and continues to be to focus on specific industry niches that make us specialists in that area. We focus on full service marketing to deliver results to our clients who lack the resources to do the marketing and lead generation they really want to do. They are strapped for people, for time, for money, and much more and they need a partner that gets them.
Our first industry was real estate (really apartments) and then we moved into financial institutions (banks and credit unions). These are core to how we operate and by keeping a laser focus on our approach, we are able to deliver on our vision which is to “Make everyone rethink what they expect from marketing” and our mission to “Deliver remarkable results by constantly breaking the barriers of affordability, quality, and timeliness.”
intense industry focus = our sweet spot.
So how do we accomplish this and what separates us from the pack? The main thing is that by focusing on specific industries, it allows us to hone in on our processes, people, pricing, tech stack and all things that help us be more efficient with our work.
For example, we have been designing and delivering websites for over 10 years. The last few years, we started testing a monthly payment model and a delivery system that allowed us to deliver websites faster and better. Our approach and desire to meet all three goals drove that outcome and I’m excited about what our THeam has done and how they continue to innovate to deliver incredible websites to everyone we serve.
We started our journey in the real estate industry, mostly focused on apartments (student housing, conventional, active adult, BTR, and more) and then moved into community financial institutions which have very similar needs. Those industries will continue to expand as we explore others that fit our model and we feel confident about success with the client base and for us.
faster, better, and obsessed with results.
In our Digital department, we have been told by new clients that one reason we continue to earn new business is the speed at which we deliver new campaign launches. We have heard some clients being asked to wait 30+ days for new campaigns to be delivered. Now – if you are a property manager needing leases or a bank or credit union that’s looking for deposits, can you imagine needing to wait that long? Me neither. While speed to market is critical, our results outperform industry benchmarks regularly. But we don’t stop there; we measure against client benchmarks and our own benchmarks which are more stringent than normal digital benchmarks. As we do this, we report on them to our clients and we beat additional benchmarks regularly to make sure our clients are validating their marketing dollars.
By specializing and focusing and constantly pushing our THeam to be better, use new technology, and use the intelligence available to them, we launch campaigns in 10 business days or less (on average). While search can launch faster, our typical delays are due to approvals for creative or compliance, but other than that, our clients are not waiting on us to start getting the traffic they need to succeed.
raison d’être.
Our competitors come in all shapes and sizes; from agencies to internal marketing shops to software companies that sell marketing when it’s not their core offering. We provide the trifecta for our clients to separate us and the user experience and lead creation leads the way.
Our clients, their marketing efforts, and their success are not an afterthought, but our raison d’être. And THAT is what we are accomplishing at Threshold.
Setting a new start community up for success is among the most complex projects you can undertake as a real estate developer or property manager. From branding and positioning to floor plan creation and event planning, the sheer number of marketing projects necessary to attract new residents and turn great construction into a successful community can quickly become overwhelming. That complexity is multiplied when you take into account the various touch points you’ll need along the way to translate a central brand identity across every digital and print asset, from websites to brochures to signage.
That’s why new start developers and asset managers often turn to full-service marketing agencies to help them navigate all the moving parts. A full-service agency is a marketing partner that covers the full array of digital, print, and strategic services that feed into a successful marketing plan for you property. Because new start developments are working from scratch to stand out among the competition and reach an untapped audience, working with a full-service partner is key. Spreading your marketing needs across multiple partners and vendors can compromise your strategic vision and dilute your brand identity, leading to less effective real estate marketing.
So what services should you look for in a real estate marketing partner? For new starts, here are the key services your marketing partner should be able to cover.
Research & Discovery
Any good real estate marketing plan begins with research and discovery. Skipping this step can be tempting if you are already familiar with your market (especially if you live locally yourself), but that’s never a good idea. Every new start enters a unique market defined by its precise location, existing competition, and ever-changing audience demographics and interests. That’s why we always recommend working with a marketing partner that will do their own research and discovery before launching into the branding process.
Although savvy developers usually conduct their own internal market research in order to design communities that will meet market demand, a marketing partner will cover additional nuances that help you activate a specific target audience and ensure your vision comes through loud and clear. While a developer might pay attention to rental rates, amenities, floor plan availability, and housing density in the area, a marketing partner might pay extra attention to competing brands, audience demographics, local history and culture, and other details that complete the picture of how your community can connect with new residents.
Naming & Branding
Without a cohesive naming and branding strategy, all marketing collateral suffers. You need a brand identity that is unique and recognizable so that potential renters have something to latch onto when comparing you to a sea of competitors. After all, details like amenities and floor plans matter when selecting a home, but what matters even more is how you tell the story of those advantages so that your audience takes the time to engage and learn more.
Telling this story begins with a suite of branding decisions that can be consistently applied across all collateral in order to amplify brand recognition and brand loyalty. That means naming, logo design, colors and patterns, typography, voice guidelines, and lifestyle imagery guidelines should all be established with your marketing partner, then codified into a comprehensive brand guidelines document so that future collateral builds upon the central brand identity.
Web Design & Development
In many cases, a landing page or full website is the first place your brand will come to life and get the chance to connect with your audience. Working with the same marketing partner on web design and development that you worked with for research, naming, and branding helps ensure that this crucial milestone fully realizes the brand identity you worked so hard to create. Few things can compromise an otherwise solid marketing plan more easily than a poorly executed website that is out of step with your larger marketing strategy.
Along the way, it’s also essential that your web designers and developers understand UX and SEO best practices so that your website isn’t just pretty and on-brand, but also pleasurable to use and easy to find so that your audience of potential renters can actually connect and take action. Make sure your marketing partner is well-versed in UX and SEO so that your websites and landing pages continue to pull their weight long after they’ve been launched. In fact, we recommend working with a real estate marketing partner that offers long-term hosting, management, optimizations, and periodic design refreshes on your site so that as trends change, you can stay ahead of the curve.
Print & Digital Asset Creation
In addition to website design and development, there is a wide array of digital and print assets that contribute to your brand efficacy and help your audience make their housing decision. Included in this category are assets like floor plans and site plans, virtual tours, photography and videography, brochures, flyers, business cards, and letterhead. Each of these separate touch points is a chance to amplify your brand identity and engage your audience. If executed poorly, they can have the opposite effect—diluting your brand identity and failing to connect with potential renters.
Once again, consistency is key when it comes to asset creation. Every asset should be an extension of your larger branding and marketing strategy in order to maximize ROI. Details like these can often go unnoticed unless they clash with your brand or otherwise fail to meet expectations, so they can sometimes become an afterthought for developers and property managers. A great marketing partner knows how important it is to get these details right so that everything fits seamlessly together.
Environmental Graphics
The real estate marketing funnel is increasingly digital, but environmental graphics still play a key roll in raising awareness, driving foot traffic, and creating great tour experiences. From construction banners and billboard graphics to temporary lease space design decked out with floor plan graphics, rendering graphics, and targeted messaging that speaks to your unique differentiators, your marketing partner should be able to help with it all. Meanwhile, permanent signage should also be carefully crafted to amplify your brand identity so that you’re never at risk of blending in among your local competitors.
Digital Marketing
As you work hard to complete your new development project, your digital marketing should be working just as hard to raise brand awareness, generate leads, and nurture those leads so that your efforts pay off with a swift lease-up. When it comes to digital marketing, you’ll benefit from having the same partner involved in your ad campaigns and email tactics that was present for the research & discovery, branding, and design projects along the way. This digital marketing partner is then better equipped to target your unique audience with the right message at the right time in the right place.
Promo & Swag
As you prepare for open houses, housing fairs, grand opening events, and move-ins, branded promotional items can go a long way in keeping your new community top of mind with prospects and delivering a great move-in experience that turns residents into brand advocates. Welcome kits, giveaway items, and event promo should be more than an afterthought; the right item outfitted with a unique design can be the difference between a memorable brand experience and a throwaway object that people quickly forget about.
If you’re still looking for a new start marketing partner who covers all these bases from discovery to promo, we’d love to chat! Threshold covers all this and more in order to deliver cohesive marketing strategies that build on one another to accelerate lease-ups and drive high ROI. Keep us in mind for your next new start project or use our chatbot, Trent, to schedule a no-strings consultation to learn more about what we do.
AUSTIN, Texas – Oct. 30, 2017 – Threshold/Carve, a full-service marketing agency, has been named No. 5 among companies with revenue from $500,000 to $9,999,999 on the annual Fast 50 list, which highlights Austin-area private companies that have grown rapidly in the past three years.
The recognition underscores the agency’s tremendous success as it expands into new markets and industries. Threshold/Carve was one of only four marketing firms making the list and topped many other marketing firms by demonstrating a 96 percent compounded annual growth rate from 2014 to 2016. Company rankings were announced at an Oct. 26 reception and awards presentation at the Hilton Austin hosted by the Austin Business Journal. Fast 50 companies were ranked in two groups – the top 25 firms with revenue from $500,000 to $9,999,999 and the top 25 firms with $10 million-plus in revenue.
“We are honored to be included with such an amazing list of companies in this years’ Fast 50,” said Billy Wilkinson, chief of everything else at Threshold/Carve. “Our team has worked hard to drive results for our clients which, in turn, has driven continued success for our company. Now that we have completed our acquisition of Carve, we look forward to the rewards of driving incremental success for our clients.”
The original firm, Threshold, acquired Canadian boutique marketing agency Carve Creative + Strategy in June. The new Threshold/Carve agency has produced a broader agency group better positioned to serve clients in the United States and Canada with a vast offering of services. Both agencies come together with strong reputations for their creative campaign solutions and proven digital marketing strategies. The newly formed group has an impressive track record of high-profile clients that span from national brands to local retailers to technology start-ups.
The new agency also has a broader client base that includes healthcare, technology, consumer brands, retail, B2B and financial services. The firm continues to grow its capabilities in the real estate industry where Threshold is already a leading agency.
The naming of the company among Central Texas’ Fast 50 is just the latest accolade earned by the firm, which also has won awards for projects such as Brochure Excellence for Arbor Company Senior Living Brochure, Website for Station at MacArthur and Campaign Distinction for Citizen Park.
Qualifications for Fast 50 nominations include:
Demonstrate annual net revenue in each of the past three fiscal years. Net revenue is what was derived from sales of products or services.
The company must have minimum net revenue more than $500,000 in each fiscal year of 2014, 2015 and 2016 and be willing to publicize this information.
Independent, privately held corporation, proprietorship or partnership (not a majority-owned subsidiary or division) with headquarters in Travis, Hays, Williamson, Caldwell Bastrop or Burnett County. State agencies, government and print media are not eligible.
Billy Wilkinson
Billy Wilkinson
