Fundraising can be one of the hardest parts of getting a new development off the ground. However, if you take pre-development marketing seriously, you can line up capital commitments before investing too much in land acquisition, entitlements, construction plans, and so on. 

But you have to do it right. In this article, we’ll go over some common property development marketing mistakes, what to do instead, and how early-stage marketing can accelerate funding.

Mistake #1: Waiting Until Everything Is “Ready” to Start Marketing

When a development is still an idea, marketing to investors can feel premature. But the truth is, you don’t need to have all the details upfront. Pre-development marketing is more about getting investors excited about your vision than solidifying every particular.

In fact, if you wait too long to market your project, you could miss out on valuable feedback for refining your development concept and pitch. Or worse, you could lose potential capital commitments from investors who decided to invest elsewhere. 

Mistake #2: Relying on AI to Build Your Pitch Deck

While AI can be a powerful tool, trusting it to build your pitch deck is a bad idea. 

For instance, imagine trusting AI to create your construction drawings. The result might look good to the untrained eye, but it won’t stand up to professional scrutiny. The same goes for pitch decks. Many investors can tell when you use AI and are immediately turned off because it signals that you didn’t put much effort into your pitch.

Plus, an AI-generated deck can look polished without doing the persuasive work you need it to. For example, it might show visually impressive renderings of buildings but not capture the specific vision and goal of your project the way a more intentional designer could.

Mistake #3: Slides That Don’t Tell a Story

Many developers view pitch decks as just a collection of slides covering pre-determined topics: construction plans, financial projections, team bios, etc. However, the most effective pitch decks tell a story. For instance, they might start by outlining an emerging market gap, then show how a proposed development would fill it, and finally reveal what investors would get in return.

By structuring your pitch deck as a narrative, you’re much more likely to hold investors’ attention, especially if you make them the hero of the story. By contrast, decks that are strictly information and don’t flow from one slide to the next are bound to bore investors. 

Mistake #4: No Dedicated Web Page

Your development project needs a dedicated landing page from day one. If you send inventors to a general company site, it forces them to hunt for project-specific information, signalling that the project isn’t a serious standalone venture. 

Furthermore, a dedicated landing page can serve as a hub for all your other marketing: pitch decks, brochures, and outreach emails can all point back to it. Without one, you’re forced to share the same marketing materials over and over again via email. 

Mistake #5: Not Following up With Potential Investors

According to HoneyStack, it takes up to 417 touchpoints (or interactions) to convince a B2B lead to commit $100K+ or more. In other words, you shouldn’t give up after one pitch. Unless an investor tells you no, follow up. Otherwise, you could be leaving money on the table.

For example, if you haven’t heard back after your initial outreach, check in a few days later. You could also periodically share new project updates, renderings, or press mentions. Anything to keep the development top of mind without being pushy. 

Mistake #6: Inconsistent Branding Across Touchpoints

When your pitch deck, landing page, and other marketing collateral use different color palettes, fonts, and styles, it sends a subtle but damaging message: This team isn’t detail oriented. And if they can’t keep their own brand consistent, how will they manage a complex development?

Inconsistent branding ultimately makes your project look unprofessional and less memorable, which matters when an investor is weighing multiple opportunities at once. Fortunately, you can easily avoid this by making intentional style choices upfront and sticking to them.

How to Fix it: The Pre-Development Marketing Stack

Now that you know what not to do, here’s a pre-development marketing stack that you can adopt to set yourself up for success: 

• Project Narrative: Lock down the story within the investment (opportunity, vision, outcome, etc.) so you can anchor all your marketing materials to it. 
• Professional Pitch Deck: Invest in a professionally designed pitch deck that pulls investors along, one slide at a time. Keep the deck updated as the project evolves.
• Project Landing Page: Create a dedicated project web page for potential investors to explore on their own time. Use it as a central hub for all your marketing materials. 
• Consistent Branding: Choose style guidelines for the project and apply them across all marketing materials and touchpoints from day one. 
• A Follow-Up System: Establish a consistent cadence for following up with potential investors and sharing relevant project updates. Be persistent without being pushy. 

All five of these pre-development marketing elements reinforce each other. A strong narrative makes the deck better, the deck can drive traffic to the landing page, the branding ties it all together, and the follow-up system ensures you don’t let anyone fall through the cracks. 

Next Step: Invest in Professionally Designed Marketing Collateral

Well-funded developments don’t happen by accident. They attract investors early on with compelling marketing that sells a vision before you have to build anything. 

Getting the marketing right, however, can be a challenge. Instead of doing it all yourself and hoping for the best, partner with Alignment Haus. Leverage our experience and skill to align your offer with what we know investors are looking for in a development project. 

Whether you need a pre-development pitch deck, landing page, or both, we can help. Reach out today to start raising money for your next project.

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