Lisa Nickerson

Waltham, MA Lisa Nickerson, founder and principal of Nickerson People Relations (Nickerson), a full-service communications agency offering an integrated blend of marketing and public relations, recently held a Marketing Workshop in conjunction with the Newton-Needham Chamber (N2), a committee working to encourage and cultivate business through advocacy, education, and networking.

Beginning at 8:30am on Friday, January 22, in the NewTV Newton Media Center Studio, the workshop provided an opportunity for leaders within the real estate industry to learn how marketing, communications, and branding in real estate has changed dramatically over the past decade. As a leader and authority on trends in the industry, Nickerson offered essential insight, tactics, best practices, and case study examples targeted specifically to real estate professionals in her interactive presentation.

During the sold-out presentation, Nickerson outlined the Top 10 marketing and communications trends for real estate professionals in 2016. Topics included significant changes within the industry, proactive public relations, how to capitalize on social media, real estate placemaking, risk management, crisis communication, brand development, and graphic/website design.

“Over my 20-year career, I have developed a deep understanding of the challenges faced by real estate professionals and, more importantly, the integrated set of tools needed to achieve success,” said Nickerson. “The Newton and Needham markets are experiencing a period of exciting growth and opportunity. With many transformative projects underway and more planned for the near future, I appreciated the opportunity to share my experience with leaders in this market. Integrated marketing and communications plans are essential as technology continues to evolve. Social media, responsive websites, and video have become required complements to more traditional forms of marketing and communications - tools that our team utilizes to develop winning brands and increase the velocity of sales and leasing for our clients.”

Attendees included representatives within the development, architecture, brokerage, and finance industries. Notably, Kerry McCormack, director of development at Crosspoint Associates Inc., a Waltham-based real estate development firm, contributed to the presentation. McCormack provided insight on a successful public relations campaign that was developed and managed by the Nickerson team for a challenging project  that Crosspoint was spearheading in a local community. Through an integrated and informative campaign, Nickerson was able to reverse the negative spin of the opposition by applying the methodologies discussed in the presentation.

“I was very happy to speak to Crosspoint’s positive experience with the Nickerson team and their public relations and social media management plan,” said McCormack. “After our initial meetings, the Nickersonteam immediately engaged with relevant reporters, community influencers, and project stakeholders to deliver factual information and maintain a clear line of communication between our firm and all involved parties. Through their integrated approach, the team changed the voice of the community which resulted in a favorable outcome.”

As the agency’s founder and principal, Nickerson oversees business operations, while leveraging her 20-year career in the real estate market to guide real estate and A/E/C industry accounts. In addition, Nickerson is the founder and principal of Nickerson Real Estate Partners, a full service real estate brokerage firm, which provides exclusive sales and marketing services for residential projects throughout New England including The Preserve at the Bay Club in Mattapoisett, Mass., where she is also a development partner, and The Cottages at River Hill in West Newbury, Mass.

Additionally, Nickerson serves as communications chair on the Board of Directors for SIOR’s New England Chapter, is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) Steering Committee and ULI Programs Committee, and serves on the Employer Advisory Council at Boston College, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and Finance.