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December 20, 2022

A Real 2022 Round Up

real 2022 round up cover
As we round up on what a great year 2022 has been for REAL HQ, we take a look at some of our favourite projects, that kept us busy.
As we round up on what a great year 2022 has been for REAL HQ, we take a look at some of our favourite projects, that kept us busy.

REAL 2022 Round Up

A lot can happen in a year, and with 365 days to play with we’re happy to report that once again we’ve squeezed in more than a few pretty amazing projects attributing to 2022 being one of our busiest years so far for REAL HQ! From welcoming new team members, taking on inspired and interesting projects, to achieving record-breaking data for clients, and not forgetting the accolade of winning ‘Best Development Marketing UK’ from the International Property Awards! It’s safe to say we’ve made the most of 2022. 

Where do we start …

As our 6th year partnering with client and global giants, Sodexo and Kier Property draw to a close, we’re pleased to have reached occupancy milestones for their student accommodation portfolios that we’re proud to have marketed since 2016 and continued to achieve record conversions for in 2022! As a core industry that we operate in, student accommodation and property marketing is an area of real expertise for the REAL team, so it’s always such a pleasure to see what we’re achieving as a result of our team’s hard work! 

How we did it… We brought the property to life with bespoke styling and staging. We captured updated virtual tours of bedrooms and social spaces including gyms, courtyards, and cinemas and we also filmed drone footage showcasing the property from a 400-meter birdseye view! 

We didn’t stop there either as we took on new projects to support existing clients with B2B marketing and design resulting in contract wins for them worth six figures plus. (Now that’s what we’re in business for – what a great feeling!)

Early in the year, we were engaged by North West based property developer Northern Development who tasked us with creating a brand and website for their luxury, new build development in the Lake District. We took inspiration from the history of the site which overlooks the historic Carlisle Racecourse which can be seen throughout the brand through the striking emerald green colour palette which speaks to the surrounding countryside and brushed steel which refers to the equestrian significance.

How we did it… We had fun developing and implementing a nationwide digital marketing strategy that incorporates Pay-Per-Click (PPC), Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), social media strategy, and content marketing.  We created customer personas and designed campaigns around them. We designed digital billboards which were shown to thousands of people across Cumbria and we undertook photography to showcase progress alongside emotive drone footage. Take a peek.

Our work across multiple universities and student accommodation operators ran throughout 2022 as we continued to support student recruitment and occupancy across the UK, via digital marketing management. 

What we achieved…

  • Impressions: 13 million
  • Website Users: 209,736
  • Website Sessions: 304,100
  • Website Page Views: 733,930
  • Goal Completions (on website): 74,593 

In the midst of summer, some of the team spent time on campus with the University of the Arts (UCA) after they engaged REAL to work with them to stage their university accommodation for updated photography and virtual tours. And it’s always great when clients extend their contract with us into other areas like UAL did when they asked us to create bespoke TikTok content for their student audience! Check out a few behind-the-scenes shots:

Our podcast Get REAL About Marketing launched in February with ten episodes running for six months and achieving record downloads for us! With topics from the metaverse to the decline of influencer marketing, we rambled on for 244 minutes of pure marketing wisdom (there might be some irony in there also, perhaps…) 

We were delighted to join construction industry heavyweights at the UK Construction expo at Birmingham NEC in October where we showcased the capabilities of the REAL team at our stand and also during the time on stage when our MD Laura who spoke about how to define, design, and deliver real results in the construction industry! Key points covered include:

  • The importance of building a robust strategy for the modern market 
  • Why transforming traditional construction marketing into digital is vital 
  • How to keep construction marketing strategy as digital as the construction process (BIM)
  • Delivering the expectation

Talk to us if you’re looking for speakers on the topic of marketing for your next event.

2022 saw the launch small business advocacy brand Local Life or whom we were thrilled to launch website 1.0! Watch this space for more to come! 

Our Real Local service launched offering a ‘quick launch’ website option for small and local businesses who need a basic website and aren’t working with ocean deep pockets. Take a peek at a few case studies for Cheshire based Robinsons pub The Rising Sun and Staffordshire based property maintenance company SAE Property Maintenance

And finally, we ended the year on a high as we received the acolate of being crowned ‘Best Development Marketing UK’ from the prestigious International Property Awards for our brand work with The Paddock. We will continue to be thrilled about the award! Take a closer look at the work we did here!

Agency life

We’ve welcomed two real people to the team during the last 12 months! Introducing Saj who joined the design team bringing with her incredible design and illustration skills and a love of cats that rivals Ops Director Mikes! (Gus the office cat is a big fan!) And then we have Em, the newest real person joining us at the beginning of November and taking on the mammoth job of managing client social media and content. 

This year we’re proud to be featured in the Northern Agency Guide and we ventured to Manchester to join Prolific North for the launch party – who said Instagram frames were dead? Do yourself a favour and skip straight to page 220. 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand thats about all we’re able to share! 

Check back for client case studies that we weren’t able to include in this roundup and to stay up to date with our 2023 predictions (curated User Generated Content (UGC), the decentralisation of social media, the increase of small and independent brands to name just a few!)

We’ve definitely made the most out of this year (have you?), and we can’t wait for even bigger and better projects next year! 

We’re excited to continue our 6-year streak of producing real results for clients! Get in touch and let’s talk about how we can help you to make the most of the next 365 days.

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