Coworking brands need to do a better job of differentiating themselves, stop using dull images, Times New Roman, and improve their SEO
Coworking brands need to do a better job of differentiating themselves, stop using dull images, Times New Roman, and improve their SEO.
This is one of the key findings from the London Flex Brand Index report, published last week by Spaces to Places Ltd, covering the flex workspace market in London, one of the most competitive coworking markets in the world.
As of today, London hosts 686 flex locations, operated by 60 distinct brands, across 2.1 million square meters. The 10 biggest players in London are as follows:
WeWork, Regus (IWG), Workspace Group, Fora, Runway East | B Corp Serviced Offices, Uncommon, Spaces. offices | co-working | meeting rooms., Halkin Offices , Landmark Properties, Inc. and Work.Life .
“Generally, for the top 10 [coworking brands], nothing is left of the marketing tools kit”, says Zoe Ellis-Moore, founder of Spaces to Places. They all use it properly. However, the other ones should better use all the available marketing channels, from guerilla marketing and partnerships to CRM systems and following up on leads to working with aggregators to Google adverts. “There are too many providers neglecting the basics, or ‘behind the scenes’ housekeeping neglecting the basics with Google business profile and local SEO.”
“In a competitive and mature market like London, providers struggle to differentiate, the days when flex brands could get away with nondescript identities patched together with budget stock photography and Times New Roman are gone. As we’re all well aware, snoozing leads to losing and audiences are increasingly discerning about the brands they select. It isn’t just about adopting a warm tone of voice and peppering your website with photos of smiling employees. By understanding their audience’s amenity preferences, the impact of Google ratings, and what their target market segment really wants from a flexspace, providers can refine their brand positioning to better cater to their customers.”
Zoe Ellis-Moore will be a speaker at the upcoming Coworking Europe 2024 conference in Sofia (Nov 13-14).
