Real stories will always resonate more than polished slogans. Patients don’t remember or care about “mission statements” or your strategic plan; they remember the way someone made them feel. In other words, the most powerful marketing tool isn’t your ad budget. It’s your (very happy and healthy) patients!

And when shared authentically, patient testimonials are one of the most effective ways to attract new patients and improve your healthcare marketing strategy.

We know that most healthcare organizations sit on a goldmine of data and feedback. Online patient reviews, thank-you notes, testimonials, and surveys will always offer more credibility than any great creative marketing campaign. The challenge is capturing and using these voices in a way that builds trust, enhances your online reputation, and drives growth.

This guide shows how to turn patient feedback into marketing that feels human, earns loyalty, and delivers results—one of the smartest healthcare marketing ideas available today.

Why Patient Voices Matter

Healthcare decisions carry huge weight for people. As a result, patients want to feel seen and understood before diving into an important decision about their health. They want to trust that their experience will be respected and their needs met by a caregiver. And when they’re choosing where to go for care, they look to others who’ve been in their shoes.

About 94% of patients today use online reviews to evaluate providers, according to Medical Economics. What sets healthcare apart is the emotional complexity of the journey. This isn’t about choosing a product. It’s about choosing a partner for recovery, safety, and hope.

That’s why patient reviews—especially when shared across multiple healthcare services—can directly influence decision-making. When that choice is informed by other patients’ voices, it carries more weight and more meaning.

Gathering Feedback That Feels Natural

The most effective feedback is honest and unscripted. It doesn’t come from focus groups. It comes from creating opportunities for patients to share, and listening with intention. Here are practical ways to collect it:

• Post-visit surveys via email or text
• Automated review requests through patient portals or CRMs
• On-site kiosks or signage with QR codes that link to review platforms
• Follow-up calls or thank-you notes that include an invitation to share experiences

Keep it easy. Keep it low-pressure. Let the patient lead. And always secure written consent before using any feedback publicly, especially if photos, video, or identifying details are involved.

Many of our healthcare clients, including Valley View, Craig Hospital, Donor Alliance, and Panorama Orthopedic & Spine, have built systems that normalize this feedback loop. Patients don’t feel like they’re being asked for marketing materials. They feel like their voice actually matters, and they’ll be more willing to help others to navigate those difficult healthcare decisions.

Turning Feedback into Marketing Content

Once strong feedback is in hand, the next step is turning it into something useful without compromising its authenticity. It starts with identifying the right stories. Look for narratives with a clear problem-solution arc, emotionally honest reflections, and language that sounds like your patients, not your marketing team. These are the stories that ring true, build trust, and reflect your values more effectively than any tagline.

Then, you must consider format and delivery. The format you choose should align with the channel. Short quotes work well for social media and print materials. Video testimonials add emotional depth and are ideal for your website, waiting rooms, or digital campaigns. Longer stories and case studies bring richness to blog content, SEO pages, and newsletters. Even slide decks and donor reports benefit from firsthand voices that show impact in human terms.

When shaping content, keep edits minimal. Fix clarity, not voice. The goal is to elevate what was already powerful, not reshape it into brand-speak.

Staying Ethical and Human

Marketing with patient stories brings both responsibility and risk. Handle these voices with care. Always secure documented consent before sharing feedback in any public format. Avoid overexposing a single story across too many channels, and steer clear of overly promotional framing that can feel insincere or exploitative.

Being transparent about how feedback will be used also reinforces your commitment to quality of care and respect for patient privacy.

Privacy laws like HIPAA set the bare minimum standard. But, if we’re being real… the emotional weight of healthcare storytelling demands more. These aren’t just assets; they’re personal experiences. Respect the vulnerability your patients share. Treat every story like a conversation, not a campaign.

Bringing Patient Stories to Life

A quote on a testimonial page is good, but it isn’t enough. Patient voices should live throughout your brand ecosystem. On your website, rotate testimonials on service-line pages or you could even build a searchable archive of patient stories! On social media, pair quotes with portraits or behind-the-scenes photos. Short-form video clips or reels can be especially compelling when shared as native content.

Email campaigns should also feature a patient voice in every newsletter or use powerful stories to introduce a new service or initiative. Advertising can include real quotes as proof of outcomes, grounding claims in experience rather than marketing copy. In donor outreach, stories bridge the gap between giving and impact. Instead of statistics, they show lives changed.

Our Panorama Orthopedics case study offers a strong example. They use patient stories not just to showcase clinical outcomes, but to reflect a deeper care philosophy. The message isn’t “look what we did.” It’s “listen to what they experienced.”

This shift from promotion to connection is key to reaching today’s patients based on empathy, not persuasion.

Measuring Impact

Start by tracking engagement: clicks, shares, comments, and video views. Then look at the performance on your site. Are patient testimonial pages drawing traffic? Are people spending more time on story-rich pages?

Conversion rates and appointment requests tied to patient-focused campaigns provide strong signals. These are strong indicators of how patient stories influence healthcare marketing performance and return on marketing budget. Brand perception scores (captured through surveys or third-party review platforms) also reflect impact over time. If you want to test the effectiveness of a story, run an A/B test. One version with a patient narrative. One without. The results often speak for themselves.

Feedback can also sharpen your internal messaging. Study which stories get the most traction. You’ll uncover what your audience values most, which will inform how your team communicates across every channel!

Addressing Common Concerns

Some marketing teams hesitate to use patient voices because it feels risky or insincere. These concerns are valid. Here’s how to move past them:

• What if we cross a legal line? Partner with your compliance team. Use clear consent forms. Build feedback-sharing into your patient privacy workflows.
• What if it feels exploitative? Let the patient set the tone. Never push. If a patient wants to share their experience, make space for it. And make sure they stay in control of how it’s shared.
• What if we don’t have any strong stories? You do. They just haven’t been collected. Train staff to identify moments that matter. Give patients multiple ways to speak up. Create a culture of storytelling, not solicitation.

Bring Your Brand to Life with COHN

COHN helps healthcare organizations find and elevate the stories that already exist inside their walls. When patient voices are treated with care, strategy, and creativity, they become a powerful source of brand trust.

If your organization is ready to put patient stories at the center of your marketing, we’re ready to help.

Contact COHN today and turn your feedback into something unforgettable.

Remember the 4 P’s of marketing? Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Those little alliterative rules are so memorable and fun (we’ve even written a blog post about it!), but they don’t always apply to all clients. In some cases, the 4 P’s are even quite outdated. Even if the alliteration is fun! They don’t reflect the real-time relationship marketing strategies needed today.

For example, let’s look at healthcare, where promotion is still relevant but not nearly as much as participation. (Another P word!) In fact, participation is so key that we would argue that organizations that consistently engage with their external partners unlock entirely new forms of amplification, support, and advocacy. And that’s the true secret sauce. Engagement brings new voices, new visibility, and fresh energy to your brand, creating a sense of community around your products or services.

At COHN, we strongly (nay, Passionately!) believe that meaningful partner engagement beats passive awareness every single time. We’ve proven this approach again and again through award-winning work with organizations like Donor Alliance, Craig Hospital, and Valley View Hospital. The most effective campaigns we see are the ones rooted in real relationships, not transactional marketing efforts.

The Value of Partnership-Driven Growth and Relationship Marketing

When your organization builds strong partner relationships, the benefits multiply in ways you simply can’t achieve alone. For example, strong partnerships:

• Extend your message through trusted, third-party voices
• Open doors to new audiences through co-branded outreach and events, improving retention rates and patient loyalty
• Deepen credibility and trust by associating your brand with respected partners who share your mission
• Build momentum through collaboration, so you’re not relying only on internal resources
• Improve your competitive advantage by activating your partner network and using their communication channels to share impact stories

A great example of this in action is Donor Alliance’s Donor Dash. Donor Dash has become a community-wide platform because of its donor engagement-first approach. Partners include hospital partners, transplant recipients, donor families, sponsors, volunteers, and more. These wide-ranging partnerships have scaled the event’s visibility and built lasting public trust.

Another example is our work with Kidneys for Communities. Through strategic brand storytelling and smart web activation, we helped this client quickly build a national network focused on living donor awareness. And the partnerships that came out of that work are helping sustain momentum today, strengthening customer relationships and supporting customer feedback loops.

Check out the great work we’re doing with First Responders here.

From Transactional to Transformational

How’s that for an alliterative headline?! I bet you remember that one. But back to the blog post for a minute… one of the most important shifts healthcare marketers can make is moving partnerships from transactional to transformational. A logo swap or basic sponsorship won’t cut it anymore if you want to nurture effective relationships that drive long-term engagement.

We find that partners become true brand advocates when they feel seen, valued, and connected to your mission. That’s how you turn transactional marketing into meaningful relationship marketing.

Authentic engagement means shared goals, shared wins, and shared storytelling. Some of the best ways to elevate partner relationships include:

• Co-authoring educational or awareness content
• Cross-promoting initiatives that benefit shared audiences
• Collaborating on community events or impact-driven campaigns that demonstrate real-time commitment

At COHN, we help clients turn basic sponsorships and collaborations into true relationship-building. Our integrated model makes sure strategy, creative, and content all work together, so every partner activation aligns with your larger brand story and customer engagement goals.

What Real Partner Engagement Looks Like

When we talk about engagement, we mean intentional, ongoing behaviors. Some of the best practices we recommend include the 4 C’s of Engagement (which we just coined right here in this blog. Take note!)

• Co-Create: Collaborate on content and experiences that benefit both sides. For example, you could create partner Q&A videos, co-developed toolkits, or shared awareness assets.
• Celebrate: Recognize and spotlight your partners, both publicly and personally. This could include campaign recaps, donor spotlights, thank-you videos, or collaborative media coverage.
• Communicate: Stay connected year-round. Don’t just check in when you need something. We recommend regular updates, partner briefings, and behind-the-scenes previews of upcoming initiatives.
• Connect: Introduce your partners to each other. You’re building a community, not just a contact list. This can take the form of special events, roundtables, or collaborative content series.

Real-World Inspiration: Donor Engagement in Action

If you want a great example of what partner-first marketing looks like, check out Donor Alliance. This client doesn’t just list partners. They activate them. Through donor stories, annual campaigns, hospital collaborations, and initiatives like Donor Dash, they:

• Share the spotlight in communications
• Showcase partner impact stories
• Build a network of recurring collaborators

The Ripple Effect of Meaningful Engagement

When you engage your partners well, the benefits don’t stop at a single campaign. You’ll see ripple effects across your organization. For example:

• Visibility: Campaigns reach broader audiences through partner amplification
• Loyalty: Engaged donors and partners are more likely to stay involved long term
• Attraction: New partners are drawn to your professionalism and authenticity
• Morale: Your internal staff feels energized by external recognition and collaboration, creating a sense of excitement and purpose

We’ve seen these effects play out in healthcare organizations large and small, from Kaiser Permanente to Panorama Orthopedics to many others. Their success shows how important relationship marketing and customer feedback are to amplify your mission.

Key Takeaways for Healthcare Leaders and Marketers

As you think about partner engagement in your own marketing, here are a few quick takeaways.

Audit your partner list. Who are your most engaged allies? Who might need re-engagement? These are simple things to correct as long as you keep an eye on your partnership engagement. Also be sure to make collaboration part of your annual strategy. Budget for it. Plan for it. Do it!

As a brand agency, we always want to make the case for partners to become a part of YOUR brand story, not an afterthought. Use content, storytelling, and recognition to build a partner-first culture. And remember, if you’re not treating partners as extensions of your brand, you’re leaving both impact and opportunity on the table—missing out on the customer loyalty and competitive advantage that strong relationships provide.

COHN Marketing: Turning Engagement Into Your Greatest Asset

At COHN, we help healthcare and nonprofit brands move beyond messaging into true relationship marketing. From strategy to storytelling to execution, we help you activate your partner network and amplify your mission.

With more than 20 years of integrated marketing experience, and award-winning campaigns in the healthcare space, COHN knows how to turn your partnerships into a real competitive advantage. Let us help you transform your partner engagement, improve donor feel, and use customer feedback and real-time insights to maximize impact.

Marketing in nonprofit healthcare has a slightly different approach than other industries. Most obviously, it’s never about selling goods or services. But the differences run deeper, in our experience. With nonprofit healthcare and foundation marketing, it’s more about building trust with donors and stakeholders, demonstrating impact, and staying true to the mission. When a not-for-profit healthcare organization communicates with clarity, compassion, and consistency, it earns loyalty that drives both engagement and growth.

Today, nonprofit healthcare organizations can no longer rely on traditional outreach alone. They need to find a broader method of connecting with their audiences, which is why we always recommend adopting a mission-first brand strategy—one that connects staff, patients, donors, and the broader community to a shared purpose.

At COHN, we’ve seen this work firsthand. In partnerships with organizations like Craig Hospital and Donor Alliance, we’ve helped elevate community engagement through strategic storytelling and internal alignment.

Internal Mission Alignment

Mission and vision statements always seem to make more sense and resonate more at nonprofits. In this world, if employees don’t understand the mission—or if they don’t see leadership living it—then you’ll see the cracks in everything you do. For example, you may accidentally give mixed messages reaching patients or donors. Or create inconsistent campaigns across departments. Worst of all, internal teams or partners may end up disengaging if there is misalignment or misunderstanding of the mission.

But when internal communications are aligned with brand values, something truly powerful happens: the culture strengthens, and so does the external message. In fact, organizations with high mission alignment consistently see higher levels of trust, engagement, and reputation.

Let’s dig deeper.

A Purpose-Driven Marketing Strategy

Mission- or purpose-driven marketing will never work unless it’s done with intention. Your budgets are too thin and it’s too important to save funds that directly impact the mission, which is why marketing in this space takes vision, commitment and discipline. Here’s how COHN helps nonprofit healthcare clients bring it to life:

Leadership Buy-In & Messaging Discipline

The mission must start from and be cascaded from the top. This can happen in a few different ways, but most commonly we see:

• Leadership town halls that share impact and values
• CEO columns in newsletters or blogs
• Executive involvement in community-facing initiatives

At COHN, we encourage nonprofit leaders to act as active storytellers, not just decision-makers. Which brings us to…

Storytelling & Impact Communication

It’s a tale as old as time. Literally! People respond to human stories, so you must always lead with your best stories—this is the core of healthcare storytelling:

• Real patient and provider stories
• Anonymous case studies with emotional impact
• Story-driven donor updates, social, and service line campaigns

We’ve seen storytelling increase donor conversion and volunteer engagement time and again.

Community Outreach & Equity-Focused Engagement

Because your brand needs to resonate across communities, we always recommend taking engagement very seriously in your community outreach. That means:

• Multilingual and culturally inclusive campaigns
• Partnerships with schools, nonprofits, and local leaders
• Grassroots events reaching underserved populations

Inclusive messaging builds long-term trust and long-term community health.

Internal Training & Culture Building

There are no better brand ambassadors and spokespeople for your nonprofit than your own staff (and their families). Empowered staff amplify your mission, so you must remember to take them through proper trainings and culture activities:

• Brand and mission onboarding for all new hires
• Messaging toolkits and patient communication guides
• Cross-team sharing of success stories

Measuring Nonprofit Marketing Impact

Obviously, metrics and KPIs matter tremendously, but they need to reflect real-world outcomes, not vanity stats. COHN helps clients track:

• Engagement: Email open rates, social shares, event participation
• Reach: Growth in new donors, patients served, or volunteers recruited
• Trust: Community surveys, testimonials, local media coverage
• Outcomes: Tangible service line impact (ex: preventative screenings up 3x post-campaign)

And we often pair storytelling + analytics, helping clients report outcomes in ways that inspire continued support.

Craig Hospital: From Brand Strategy to Employer Value Proposition

Several years ago, we led Craig Hospital’s brand refresh, rooted in the exceptional outcomes and uncommon love you feel the minute you walk onto the Craig campus. This refreshed and upleveled brand first was activated in a healthcare marketing campaign, but once the message was in market, we turned our sights inward to look at how to weave this new brand into the Craig culture. By “translating” the brand to the employer and employee value proposition, and retraining and refreshing our internal teams with the updated Craig brand, we’ve now achieved alignment internally, and the client is beyond happy!

COHN Marketing: Your Partner in Purpose-Driven Growth

When nonprofit healthcare organizations ground their marketing in mission, trust, and strategic storytelling, they reach more people and drive deeper impact.

If you’re leading marketing or communications at a nonprofit healthcare org, ask yourself: Is your internal alignment as strong as it could be? Does your community messaging reflect your mission?

At COHN, we help nonprofit healthcare teams turn values into action. From messaging strategy to multichannel execution, we’ll help your organization stay mission-first, while growing reach, reputation, and community impact.

Did you know that 77% of patients use online reviews as their first step in choosing a healthcare provider? That’s according to Medical Economics Online, at least, and what it means for hospitals, healthcare nonprofits, and provider networks is your digital front door matters more than ever. It means finding the right marketing partner isn’t just about hiring for creative flair. It’s about choosing an agency that understands the regulated, emotionally sensitive, and highly competitive nature of healthcare brand marketing.

At COHN, we believe success in healthcare marketing comes from patient-centered strategy, trust in partnership, flawless execution, and measurable results. We’ve seen this firsthand in work with organizations like Craig Hospital, Valley View Hospital, Denver Health, and Donor Alliance—crafting healthcare campaigns that are not only emotionally resonant but also fully aligned with brand standards and compliance expectations.

Healthcare Isn’t Like Other Industries (Your Agency Shouldn’t Be Either)

Healthcare marketing requires a deep understanding of regulatory sensitivity, patient trust, and brand-safe, empathetic language. Not every agency is equipped for that. Most agencies are unfamiliar with compliance protocols. Many don’t have a formal QA/review process for sensitive content. And way too many agencies still rely on fear-based messaging or scare tactics in their messaging.

Worse yet, the majority of (generalist) marketing agencies don’t understand things like provider referral networks, payor mix implications, digital front door strategies, value-based care language, and content governance in regulated or reputation-sensitive environments.

Strategic Partners, Not Just Creative Shops

In healthcare, a strategic healthcare marketing agency partner does so much more than just deliver campaigns. A strong agency will understand and influence each stage: Awareness → Consideration → Conversion → Retention → Advocacy

At COHN, we routinely help clients map messaging across the entire journey—from first impressions to long-term loyalty. A good tip to get a gut-check on the efficacy of your marketing agency is to ask them how they map patient touchpoints across the journey. This will tell you everything you need to know about their ability to be more than a “campaign” resource.

What to Evaluate in a Healthcare Marketing Agency

We will keep this simple and straightforward, while also making a quick pitch for COHN to be your next agency partner. Here’s a quick checklist to guide your evaluation process:

Experience: Do they have relevant healthcare client case studies? What specialties have they worked in?

On this front, it will be hard to beat COHN’s experience. Just in the last few years alone, we have worked with Craig Hospital, Valley View Hospital, Denver Health, Diversus Health, Donor Alliance, Kidneys for Communities, MAX Surgical Specialty Management, Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation, TMS Solutions, Vanguard Skin Solutions, and many more.

Understanding of Regulated Environments: Can they collaborate with compliance and clinical stakeholders?

COHN partners with clients in complex, regulated environments (it’s sort of our specialty), and we understand the importance of ensuring all brand-facing materials are reviewed, aligned, and appropriate (though we do not produce HIPAA-regulated content). In this environment, it’s better to be safe than sorry! Always seek approvals.

Creativity: Does their portfolio reflect emotional intelligence and professionalism?

We always like to tell our clients that just because you work in a sterile environment, your marketing doesn’t have to be sterile, too! Look for campaigns that build trust, connect with people, and put patients at the center of the marketing journey. Our work with Valley View Hospital does a great job of checking all the creativity plus strategy boxes! (Check out our online portfolio for more examples.)

Measurement: How do they track KPIs like brand engagement, campaign reach, or referral traffic?

When it comes to media, we track everything to make your ROI and budget conversations much easier. We can deliver dashboards and other reporting frameworks aligned to real-world results, just tell us what you need!

Collaboration: How do they coordinate with internal marketing and compliance teams?

Above all else, COHN operates as a true partner in everything we do—integrating seamlessly with internal teams across legal, marketing, and leadership. We have found that good ideas alone will often fail if there isn’t collaboration and partnership, and that even mediocre ideas can be homeruns if we all work together to execute well!

What Does “Integrated Marketing” Mean in Healthcare?

Integrated healthcare marketing strategy in healthcare means patients, referrers, and partners see a unified brand message across every channel. Disjointed marketing leads to wasted budgets and patient confusion. COHN recently supported a behavioral health campaign that required seamless coordination across SEM, organic content, provider toolkits, and referral outreach, ensuring every touchpoint reinforced the brand’s value and voice.

It’s also important to remember that patients and families often choose care based on emotional resonance, not clinical outcomes alone. A strong visual identity and consistent messaging build trust and a sense of safety. Just off the top of our heads, here are a few red flags you should keep your eye out for:

• Vague processes and unclear scopes
• No experience with regulated industries
• Overuse of buzzwords without substance
• Lack of clear campaign metrics or reporting
• No formal QA/review process for sensitive content

COHN’s Healthcare Approach

COHN specializes in brand marketing for healthcare organizations across hospital systems, nonprofits, behavioral health, neurorehabilitation, and community health. We do not produce HIPAA-regulated content—but we excel at building brand-facing campaigns that drive reputation, relevance, and trust in high-stakes environments. Our model is built on process-driven creativity: strategy-first thinking, paired with seamless execution to drive measurable outcomes.

Hiring a healthcare marketing agency is about more than choosing a creative shop. It’s about finding a partner who can help you navigate complexity, inspire confidence, and communicate your mission with clarity.

COHN is more than a vendor—we’re a trusted partner helping healthcare brands clarify their message, connect with their audience, and grow with purpose. That’s the power of a strong healthcare marketing agency—to help you connect every part of your brand to a unified, mission-first approach.

This year, COHN is celebrating something pretty special: 25 years in business.

That’s 25 years of helping clients grow. Twenty-five years of building brands and campaigns that make an impact. And maybe most importantly, 25 years of finding ways to do GOOD—for our clients, our communities, and each other.

As part of our 25th anniversary, we launched a cup-filling initiative that reflects who we are and what we believe in. It’s simple, it’s joyful, and it’s something we hope the entire marketing community will join us in.

-> DOING GOOD FOR 25 YEARS

Why “Doing GOOD” Matters to Us

When we look back over the past two and a half decades, sure, we see the brands we’ve built, the awards we’ve won, and the results we’ve delivered. But the moments that really stick with us? The ones where marketing did something bigger than the brief. Over the years, that’s meant things like:

• Helping LGBTQ+ youth find behavioral health support through an app-based marketplace
• Raising awareness for the life-saving power of organ donation
• Hosting Colorado’s biggest Santa experience to bring joy to families

And those are just a few of the 25 favorite GOOD things we’ve highlighted on our 25 Years website.

The truth is, marketing can be a powerful force for GOOD. We’ve seen it firsthand. And as we celebrate this milestone, we want to double down on that belief.

A Celebration with Purpose

To mark our 25th year celebration, we’re not just throwing a party or sending out swag. We’re using this moment to pay it forward. We’ve committed to making a $2,500 donation to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline—a national network of local crisis centers that provides critical support and intervention.

But instead of just writing a check, we’re inviting the entire marketing community to be part of it. The more people engage, the more GOOD we do.

Here’s how it works

Commit to doing one GOOD thing for your community or a nonprofit in the next six months. No donation required, just a personal commitment. Fill out the form on our 25 Years website and that’s it. Share the initiative with another marketing professional. Every share helps us reach more people—and helps grow the GOOD. And for every form submission or share, COHN will contribute $10 toward our $2,500 donation goal.

Why We’re Asking the Community to Join In

One thing we’ve learned over 25 years? The marketing world is full of talented, generous, creative people. People who want to do GOOD, not just do work. By inviting marketers to participate, we hope to inspire more acts of GOOD in communities everywhere, shine a light on the power of marketing for positive impact, and build momentum for causes that matter—like mental health and suicide prevention.

And honestly, it’s just more fun this way. GOOD things are better when shared.

How You Can Help

If you’ve worked with COHN, partnered with us, or even just crossed paths in the marketing world—we’d love for you to join us. Head to 25years.cohnmarketing.com and make your simple commitment to do one GOOD thing! After that, share the initiative with a fellow marketer.

That’s it. No pressure, no donation required. Just an opportunity to spread a little GOOD.

As we look to the next chapter of COHN, one thing is certain: “Doing GOOD” will always be part of our story.

We’ll keep helping clients grow. We’ll keep building brands with purpose. And we’ll keep finding new ways to give back to the communities and causes we care about.

Thanks to everyone who has been part of our first 25 years. Let’s make the next 25 even better.

Let’s do more GOOD, together!

Big ideas get attention.

But what earns results? Execution.

For years, creative marketers have been taught to chase the spark—that brilliant idea that cuts through all of the distractions and clutter. But the reality is, customers never experience a strategy deck. They don’t see your brainstorms, creative platforms, or mood boards. What they experience is what’s delivered: the content, the emails, the ads, the timing, the consistency. They don’t know the backstory to your big idea.

Interestingly, when integrated marketing campaigns fail, it’s not usually because the idea was weak. It’s because execution fell apart.

This is where great brands separate themselves: by building campaigns that aren’t just imaginative, but operationally sound.

What good is an idea if the team behind it can’t bring that idea from the whiteboard into the real world?

If you can’t trust a team to deliver, don’t hire them to begin with.

Let’s dive in.

A Campaign Is a Product. Plan It Like One.

Let’s start by talking about the winning approach to campaigns. Think about your next campaign not as a collection of assets, but as a product—something people interact with, move through, and respond to.

Just like product development, strategic marketing campaigns require intentional scoping, milestone planning, stakeholder coordination, and quality control. They need version control, test environments, bug tracking. You don’t “wing it” with a product launch—and you shouldn’t with a marketing campaign either.

The best campaigns are experiences: tight, time-bound, and clearly defined. Whether you’re building for lead gen, brand awareness, a product launch, or community engagement, success depends on a disciplined campaign management process.

Here’s how to structure winning campaigns, the COHN way:

1. Initiation & Strategy

A winning campaign starts well before the creative. A campaign kickoff among the team (and client) should align goals, roles, timelines, and communication processes. From there, define your campaign type (lead gen, awareness, etc.) outline a detailed scope that keeps internal teams and the client aligned. Included in that scope should be stakeholders, dependencies, and success metrics. Done well, this phase prevents confusion, creep, and costly misalignment later.

2. Campaign Planning

This is where discipline shows up. Campaign planning should include mapping tasks across disciplines, assigning ownership, allocating budget and time. If your account services team isn’t up for the task of really getting in the weeds during campaign planning, we can all but guarantee your campaign will fall flat. Teams that skip this step often regret it once deadlines hit and nobody’s aligned.

3. Execution (and it’s all about Execution!)

Execution includes every moving part of the campaign, including creative production, copywriting, scheduling, deployment, QA across platforms, stakeholder sign-off, and everything in between!

Without project management infrastructure, even the best creative teams stall here. Campaigns get delayed. Assets get lost. Channels misfire. Execution fails not from lack of talent—but lack of system.

4. Monitoring & Control

Real-time tracking and monitoring allows you to stay on target. This empowers control and enables future success. While you monitor clear KPIs tied to campaign objectives, you can swing for optimization loops to increase ROI for your spend. Reporting back on a weekly (or daily) basis through check-ins, and handling scope changes.

Without this layer, teams miss issues until it’s too late to recover.

5. Closing out the campaign

Closure isn’t just hitting “pause.” It’s post-campaign reflection. What worked and why? What didn’t? What’s repeatable? What should never happen again?

The best agencies (and internal teams) don’t just finish campaigns—they extract value from them.

What to Look for in a True Campaign Partner

Ideas are common. Reliable partners are not.

Of course we’re here to pitch COHN as your reliable service partner—and if we’re keeping it 100, you’re on the COHN website, still reading a blog after more than 600 words! But, as a way to demonstrate that we want you to succeed, here’s how to evaluate who can actually deliver.

• End-to-End Capability: Your partner should handle strategy, production, deployment, and measurement—seamlessly. Look for integrated teams that work across disciplines without silos. (Did we mention that COHN is full-service?)
• Diverse Campaign Experience: Have they run complex digital campaigns? Public health PSAs? National launches? If the portfolio is all sizzle, no follow-through, keep looking. (Oh, by the way, check out our diverse campaign experience portfolio!)
• Structured Methodology: Ask how they manage campaigns. Not just conceptually—specifically. What tools? What process? Who owns what? As an account-led agency, COHN always works from a single point of contact to streamline all of this on behalf of the client.
• Transparency: You should have full visibility into timelines, budgets, and priorities. Shared calendars and real-time dashboards aren’t a bonus—they’re required. As one of our leaders will sometimes say in new business pitches, “COHN doesn’t really hire liars. We’re not good at it.”
• Collaboration Skills: Does your agency play well with others? In-house teams? Other vendors? Great campaign partners coordinate, not compete. (And just for the record, COHN has its PhD in collaboration.)
• Defined Accountability: Someone should own the outcome—and you should know exactly who that is. (And if you still aren’t sure who to call, just call Jeff Cohn—our founder. He will pick up. Would your current agency’s CEO answer if you called?)

Why “On Time, On Budget” Should Be the Norm

Obviously, campaign failure is possible. Some people might even claim that failure is common in our world. Regardless, we view failure as something that can be avoided through collaboration, but if it’s going to go wrong, it will be because of one of these things:

• Unclear scope → leads to endless revisions and budget bloat
• Poor planning → delays, missed details, overlapping workstreams
• No single point of accountability → confusion, blame-shifting
• Inadequate resource management → burned-out teams, missed windows
• Weak stakeholder communication → misalignment and rework

These are solvable problems. At COHN, we address them head-on. Every campaign starts with scope and timeline alignment. Budgets are tracked to the dollar, not just the big picture. Stakeholders are updated through centralized platforms. Change requests are documented and approved. Deadlines are respected—and protected.

Oh, and we like to go out for beers when we succeed together. First round’s on us. (Probably the second and third, too. Okay fine, we will also get the fourth. But the fifth round? Well, I suppose that’s also on us.)

Are you starting to see and believe us that creativity and discipline are not opposites? They actually support each other, and the right structure—and agency!—enables both.

Structure Fuels Creative Freedom

There’s a persistent myth in the marketing and advertising world that process kills creativity. You wouldn’t know if you worked at COHN with us. Because process doesn’t kill creativity here—it protects it. When teams have clear direction, enough time, and the right context, they’re not guessing—they’re creating. And when execution is solid, creative teams spend less time in fire drills and more time producing great work.

At COHN, we’ve designed our campaign management model to support creative experimentation. That includes shared briefing tools, built-in time for iteration, A/B testing environments, and a sort of  “psychological safety” that encourages pitching bold ideas. There are never any dumb ideas when it comes to pitching!

Execution Excellence Builds Trust

At the most basic understanding of marketing, campaigns are how audiences experience your brand. And if the message is disjointed, the rollout is delayed, or the production quality drops halfway through—your reputation can take a serious hit. But when a campaign lands flawlessly—across media, platforms, and timelines—it signals something powerful: this brand has its act together.

Done right, great execution…

• Builds credibility
• Strengthens brand equity
• Reduces team stress
• Maximizes budget efficiency
• Delivers measurable ROI

Only 61% of marketers believe their marketing strategy is effective, highlighting challenges in execution.

In short: the better you deliver, the more trust you earn.

Your Partner in Campaign Delivery

Smart campaigns are not just about ideas. They’re about infrastructure. Teams that win repeatedly don’t do it with luck—they do it with systems, accountability, and clarity.

Execution excellence turns potential into results. And it’s one of the most overlooked sources of competitive advantage in marketing today.

At COHN, we don’t just ideate. We build. We manage. We measure. We deliver. Our clients count on us not only for great ideas—but for campaigns that arrive on time, on budget, and with real impact. Whether you’re launching a new brand, building pipeline, or running a high-stakes awareness push, we offer full-service, integrated campaign execution—from strategy to refinement.

Let’s get to work.

As the founder and CEO of COHN, I am immensely proud of achieving our 25th anniversary this year. It’s been an amazing journey.

I started my career in the retail industry and spent 18 years at the acclaimed Rouse Company. Rouse was a retail real estate pioneer, and the company brought excellence to every property. We truly had an amazing brand. Most of my work there involved downtown and urban properties, which suited my passion to improve our cities.

When I started COHN as an agency in 2000, I realized there was a clearly defined need for cities, counties, economic development commissions, and business improvement districts to compete more effectively with the booming shopping centers and malls being developed throughout the U.S. in the 80s, 90s, and 00s. These jurisdictions needed professional-level marketing and branding services. By 2005, we had over 30 cities and BIDs as clients, from Long Beach to Albany, from D.C. to Colorado Springs. It was rewarding and creative work.

As the agency grew, we found ourselves working for many retail real estate companies as well as healthcare providers throughout the U.S. and Canada. But given my personal experience and the company’s foundation, I have always had a soft spot in my heart when I see cities and urban places getting it right. Even if we were never involved, I applaud the efforts of those cities, urban developers, and their marketing providers. Hey, we all need to celebrate everyone’s success! And that leads me to my fun discovery at ICSC 2025 in Las Vegas.

A “Eureka” Brand Moment in Las Vegas

I attended ICSC this year with Chris Thomas, COHN’s Creative Director for over 13 years. We often try to see the entire convention floor (that’s a lot of footsteps) to see the hidden gems of the industry. While there is admittedly a “sea of sameness” in this industry, sometimes something just pops out and screams, Look at us! As marketers and creatives, we love to see it. And that’s what happened this year.

While walking through the Las Vegas Convention Center, a booth screamed out at us. The company, Bedrock Development (again, for clarity, nothing to do with our agency), had this small but mighty trade show booth presentation that lured us over. It turns out that Bedrock is focused primarily on the urban Detroit market. We all know the many stories we are hearing about Detroit’s bounceback and its organizations, like the Detroit Eastern Market and companies like Shinola and Bedrock, that are making this happen. But here’s the best part.

The booth was a beautiful presentation of Detroit’s uniqueness and distinctions. Bedrock is tying their brand distinction to their passion for their hometown. The booth features murals created by hometown artists, celebrations of the Motown era, and fantastic presentations of opportunities that center on the Detroit market. On top of this, their representative was an incredible ambassador of both the city and the company. She was truly living the brand!

Brands are always about distinction and clear messaging. Some companies truly appreciate the value of this investment. Creating a powerful brand strategy and compelling creative expression of the brand is what creates this distinction. It sets you apart from everyone else in the industry. The marketing and leadership team at Bedrock has demonstrated this distinction by clearly positioning their company as a leader in the Detroit Renaissance. The brand is clear, beautiful and fully realized.

Celebrating GOOD through Brand

As a key part of our 25th anniversary, COHN is committed to celebrating the GOOD that marketers and companies are bringing to the world. Our 25th Anniversary celebration is all about “doing well by doing good,” and encouraging others to do the same.

You can help by clicking here.

That’s why we want to amplify the good work being done by Bedrock and others in the comeback city of Detroit.

After over 35 years of attendance at this convention, it’s incredible to still see vibrancy and creativity in an industry that is evolving and changing. We hope to work with many other organizations in the future to help them define their brand and shout it from the rooftops, wherever place or destination they happen to be located.

As a business professional, your online presence is everything these days. Every post, comment, and connection either reinforces or weakens your standing, and this is particularly true in our primary vertical: commercial real estate (CRE).

CRE is an industry that demands intentional networking, so ask yourself this: Are you shaping that online reputation strategically—or letting it happen by default?

At COHN, we say Every Interaction Matters. That goes double for digital interactions. Whether you specialize in office, retail, industrial, multifamily, or land deals, how you show up online can create new opportunities, elevate your perceived value, and build influence far beyond your current network.

Let’s walk through how CRE professionals can harness social media to establish a compelling personal brand, communicate expertise, and grow meaningful relationships across the industry.

Clarify Your Personal CRE Brand First

Many of us know this intuitively, but branding is no longer just for businesses—it’s for people, too. And as experts in brand strategy, let us just say that the thing that matters most in brand is clarity in point of view. This is the foundation of successful real estate personal branding.

Who are you in this industry? What makes your perspective valuable? Are you an analyst with unmatched data fluency? A connector of tenants and landlords? A creative problem-solver in distressed assets? A champion for sustainability in industrial design?

Define your niche and your unique point of view. This is an exercise that will really force you to pause and get intentional about your digital presence. Then make sure your brand, across platforms, reflects this POV consistently: professional headshots, bios that explain your role in the ecosystem, and messaging that mirrors how you show up in real life.

This is one of the places we help clients most. At COHN, we work with real estate brands and professionals to translate real-world expertise into digital brand strategy, ensuring their online presence supports both business development and reputation-building goals.

Choose the Right Platforms (and Use Them Intentionally)

You don’t need to be everywhere. But you do need to be strategic. Here’s how to think about your options:

LinkedIn: Your Professional Hub (Non-Negotiable)

This is your digital HQ. Every CRE professional—regardless of sector—should treat LinkedIn as a place to showcase credibility, stay top-of-mind, and build a network that extends beyond geography. It’s the cornerstone for LinkedIn real estate professionals looking to build authority.

Optimize your profile to clearly communicate what you do and what you know.
Share your take on market movements or development news.
Post photos from events, webinars, or site tours that reinforce your authority.
Write and publish articles when you have something deeper to say.

Even 15 minutes a week of intentional activity can drive visibility.

X (formerly Twitter): Your Real-Time Feed

For CRE pros who thrive on speed, X is where you can join fast-moving conversations. This is where you react to interest rate updates, share links to press coverage, and engage with journalists or influencers in real estate and development. It’s more informal—but no less strategic.

It’s worth noting that users are leaving X en masse due to hate speech, bots, and other political “rage bait” considerations, and advertisers have all but abandoned it entirely. In fact, many of our clients have pulled back their ad spend entirely on X, and this could be a canary in the coal mine for its future viability. We suggest you spend the majority of your time on LinkedIn, but check in on X from time to time.

Instagram & YouTube: When Visuals Tell the Story

If your projects are highly visual—new builds, architecture, or before-and-after transformations—these platforms help showcase your work in compelling ways. Just be intentional: your tone and quality should reflect your professional brand, not compete with lifestyle influencers.

Post With Purpose: What to Share and Why

You don’t need to post every day. You just need to make it count. Here’s the kind of content that works in CRE and supports your overall real estate marketing strategies:

• Market Commentary: Don’t just repost headlines. Share your POV. Why does this deal matter? What does this trend mean locally?
• Case Studies & Project Wins: Talk about a deal that recently closed or a leasing success—without giving away anything confidential.
• Behind-the-Scenes Process: Walk your audience through the steps of due diligence, construction phasing, or tenant mix strategy.
• Conference Highlights: If you’re speaking or attending, share takeaways that spark conversation.
• Thought Leadership: When you have an opinion, a framework, or a prediction—write it down and put your name on it.

And don’t forget to engage!! Commenting thoughtfully on someone else’s post, and re-sharing their content when it’s good, can build just as much visibility as publishing your own. Remember, effective social media for real estate agents and all CRE pros involves interaction.It’s called social media for a reason.

Use Social Media to Network Like a Pro

Connections aren’t just about who you know—it’s about who knows you. Social platforms are excellent tools for expanding your visibility within the right circles, enhancing your social media branding. But quality beats quantity every time.

• When you send a LinkedIn connection request, personalize it. Mention a mutual colleague, event, or shared interest.
• Don’t just like posts—comment on them, and reshare them when possible! Add your perspective. Ask a question.
• Share introductions. Offer useful links. Be the person people are glad to have in their network.
• Move conversations offline when appropriate. Some of your strongest partnerships might start with a comment and end with a signed deal.

Social media should amplify your ability to build trust, not just your follower count.

Protect and Polish Your Presence

An outdated LinkedIn headline. A forgotten Twitter account. A typo-ridden post. These small missteps can create a disconnect between the reputation you want and the impression you leave.

Consistency, professionalism, and polish matter. So does accuracy. Avoid posting unverified market data, overly promotional content, or confidential information. The CRE world is small—and reputations are built (or broken) quickly.

COHN helps clients audit and realign their digital presence to ensure their brand isn’t just visible—it’s respected.

Measuring What Matters

Social success in real estate isn’t about likes. It’s about influence. Pay attention to:

• Connection requests from people in your target market.
• Messages asking for your thoughts or inviting you to participate.
• Mentions from peers who value your input.
• Website visits or inquiries that tie back to your content.

Influence often grows quietly—but it builds real credibility over time.

What Success Looks Like

We’ve seen CRE professionals evolve from under-the-radar players to regional thought leaders by committing to a social media strategy. One client built momentum simply by posting once a week with consistent local market insights. Another leveraged project photos and leasing highlights to position themselves as the go-to retail broker in a specific submarket.

None of them went viral. But all of them became more visible, more respected, and more in-demand.

Your Voice Has Value—Use It Strategically

There’s no one right way to “do social media” in commercial real estate marketing. But there is a smart way: be intentional, be consistent, and be authentic. Know who you are, what you bring to the table, and how to communicate that to the people who matter through strong personal branding and effective social media branding.

You already have the credibility. The track record. The expertise. Now’s the time to show it—strategically, consistently, and with confidence.

Want help refining your personal brand strategy or optimizing your LinkedIn presence? COHN partners with real estate professionals to elevate their visibility, credibility, and deal flow. Let’s talk—schedule a call with our team today.

Sometimes clichés are clichés for a reason. One of the major clichés in branding is “Your brand doesn’t happen by accident.” But just because it’s trite doesn’t mean it’s not true!

Your brand DOESN’T happen on accident. It is crafted. Strategized. Refined. Every word, every touchpoint, every asset—built to communicate who you are and what you stand for.

But today, a growing number of people aren’t experiencing your brand through your website, your ads, or even your own words. They’re meeting your brand through an AI assistant. Through ChatGPT. Through Gemini. Through someone asking a question—and the answer coming from a large language model (LLM) trained on everything it can find about you.

This is the new frontier of brand visibility. And the brands who understand how to show up clearly, accurately, and authoritatively in these systems will define what trust looks like in the next decade—for digital marketers, stakeholders, and your target audience alike.

Why LLMs Are the Next Brand Battleground

First, let’s discuss how AI “sees” you. When someone types a question into a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT, the response is a synthesis—a best guess based on billions (and billions) of data points.

The model isn’t “looking up” your site like a traditional search engine. It’s drawing from what it’s seen across the web: your owned content, your structured data, third-party references, articles, reviews, and signals of trustworthiness.

Now, we are not experts in this area, so we are trusting online sources (including LLMs!), and what the internet says is that LLMs use something called retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)—which allows them to reference current information. This is where it gets real: If your site’s content is out of date, if your messaging is unclear, if third-party mentions are wrong or inconsistent, AI might deliver an answer that misrepresents your brand entirely.

Not because the tech is broken—but because your digital presence wasn’t built with this kind of interpretation in mind. And because LLMs are just models, not humans!

The Stakes of Inaccuracy

Misrepresentation happens more than you might think via LLMs, and isn’t just a minor issue. With more and more of the internet and relying on LLMs, misrepresentation can:

• Undermine years of brand building by diluting your positioning
• Erode customer or investor trust if key facts are wrong or missing
• Seed misinformation that spreads across platforms faster than you can correct it
• Block efforts to create increased brand awareness in competitive industries

In a world where someone might ask ChatGPT “What does [your brand] do?”—and never visit your site—the accuracy of that answer becomes a strategic brand asset.

The Way We See It: Four Pillars of AI-Ready Brand Messaging

To show up clearly in the AI ecosystem, your brand needs a deliberate foundation—one built for both human audiences and machine interpretation.

1. Content That Communicates Authority

The quality of your website content directly impacts how AI models understand and summarize your brand. Your content should be:

• Clear, concise, and jargon-free
• Comprehensive in scope—covering the full range of your expertise
• Structured in a way that emphasizes your core value proposition

This is not just SEO. It’s reputational architecture—and a critical piece of your AI content strategy.

2. Unambiguous Brand Definition

LLMs thrive on clarity. If your brand messaging is inconsistent—if your company description varies across pages, or your tone wavers from one platform to another—AI will fill the gaps, and not always in your favor.

Define your brand precisely and stick to it. This includes:

• Consistent use of your brand name, tagline, and descriptors
• Clear articulation of mission, values, and key differentiators
• Alignment across owned channels and social bios

3. Credibility Signals That Reinforce Trust

Third-party validation is a powerful signal in the LLM ecosystem. Mentions in reputable publications, backlinks from trusted domains, and positive sentiment all serve as reinforcement for AI systems trying to assess authority.

Unique, verifiable data points—your own research, proprietary frameworks, or customer stats—can also elevate your perceived digital brand authority and trustworthiness.

4. A Technical Foundation That Doesn’t Get in the Way

A poorly structured site with missing markup or inconsistent metadata can muddle your brand signals. Ensure your content is:

• Crawlable and well-organized
• Marked up with appropriate schema where relevant
• Free from internal contradictions (e.g., outdated bios, mismatched headlines)

Think of this as the infrastructure that allows your messaging to arrive intact.

Content Strategy in the Age of AI

Your brand’s content strategy is no longer just about ranking in search or appealing to prospects. It’s now about making your brand understandable to machines. That means content must do more than sound good—it must be:

• Deeply informed: Surface expertise on the issues and challenges your brand addresses.
• Distinctively yours: Incorporate original thinking, proprietary language, and unique data points.
• Consistent and repeatable: Use the same terminology and phrasing when referring to products, services, or concepts to help AI connect the dots.
• Brand-lensed: Answer questions the way your brand would—infusing content with your tone, values, and POV.

Measuring Brand Health in the LLM Ecosystem

It’s not just about visibility anymore. It’s about alignment. Are LLMs accurately describing what you do? Are they using your language? Are they reflecting your positioning and tone?

These are the new benchmarks of brand health. Success metrics must evolve. Yes, you can still track reach and engagement—but you should also be:

• Testing how your brand appears in ChatGPT or Gemini
• Auditing AI-generated responses for tone, accuracy, and message integrity
• Monitoring for misinformation or outdated content propagation

This isn’t a one-time audit. It’s an ongoing process of brand stewardship in a machine-mediated world.

Stewardship, Not Just Optimization

You don’t “hack” your way into AI systems. You earn your way in by being consistent, credible, and technically sound. That’s why brand managers must treat LLMs not as a threat, but as a new frontier of influence.

Your brand’s digital presence—how it’s built, structured, and maintained—now directly affects how others talk about you, write about you, and ask questions about you.

COHN: Brand Guardians in the Age of AI

At COHN, we help brands do more than show up online. We help them show up clearly and confidently across platforms, algorithms, and now—language models.

Our integrated approach blends brand strategy, content development, technical insight, and reputation management to make sure your story stays your story, even when it’s being retold by a machine.

This is about more than visibility. It’s about brand control in an uncontrolled ecosystem.

Let’s schedule a conversation about how COHN can help you navigate LLMs, optimize your digital footprint, and build brand authority that holds up—no matter who (or what) is telling your story.

We’ve seen a significant shift in the American residential and commercial landscapes in recent years.

Suburban communities are evolving, developing vibrant, walkable downtowns that offer the amenities and experiences traditionally associated with urban centers. This transformation is driven by changing lifestyle preferences, population migrations, and the desire for a balanced live-work-play environment.

We bet you can name a handful of examples in your hometown, but here in Colorado, cities like Littleton, Arvada, Superior, and Old Town Lafayette exemplify this urbanization of the suburban trend, providing valuable insights for retailers and real estate marketers aiming to navigate this new terrain.​

Let’s discuss further.

The Shift Towards Suburban Living and the Rise of Mixed-Use Development

The allure of suburban living has grown substantially, influenced by factors such as the rise of remote work, affordability, and the pursuit of more spacious living environments. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, suburban counties have experienced notable population increases, with many individuals and families moving away from densely populated urban centers to suburban areas that offer a blend of residential comfort and urban-like amenities, improving overall quality of life. ​

But not all suburbs were conceived with this image in mind. In fact, this migration has prompted suburban communities to totally reimagine their infrastructures, leading to the development of mixed-use downtowns that cater to the desires of modern residents. Today, many areas now feature a combination of residential units, retail spaces, dedicated office spaces, appealing public spaces, dining establishments, and entertainment venues. . These developments create a holistic environment that fosters community engagement, boosts local foot traffic, and stimulates economic growth.​

Colorado’s Suburban Downtown Transformations

COHN is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, still inside the Mile High City’s urban core, but many of our employees live in the suburbs. While we do occasionally come into an urban office setting together, mostly we are still remote, as this business works efficiently and effectively in a remote environment.

In other words, we work, live and play in the suburbs. Gasp!

Here’s a snapshot of the Denver Metro suburbs that we’ve seen adapt to this “urbanization of the suburbs” trend, and what it can mean for retail real estate marketers like us.

Littleton: Crafting a Destination Downtown

Downtown Littleton has emerged as a lively hub, attracting both residents and visitors with its unique blend of shops, eateries, and cultural spots. The area boasts specialty stores like iN-Tea, offering an extensive selection of unique teas, and the recent addition of Denver Beer Co.’s taproom on Main Street further amplifies the area’s appeal, providing a communal space for craft beer enthusiasts. ​

Littleton is also situated directly on RTD’s Light Rail, meaning there is still a transit-oriented lifeline back into the urban core that makes this suburb feel as if it’s still connected to the spirit of downtown.

These developments reflect Littleton’s commitment to creating a downtown that mirrors the energy and diversity of urban centers, fostering a strong sense of community and attracting a steady stream of visitors.​

Arvada: Fostering Community Through Development

Olde Town Arvada seamlessly blends historic charm with modern amenities. The district features over 100 unique shops and restaurants, including Carly’s Boutique and the Olde Town Pickin’ Parlor, offering residents a rich urban experience in a suburban setting. ​

A notable addition is the upcoming Arvada Beer Garden, supported by the Arvada Urban Renewal Authority. This communal space aims to serve as a central gathering spot, enhancing the area’s social fabric and providing a venue for events and community activities. ​

Similar to Littleton, Arvada is now also connected via Light Rail, giving it that mobility that makes the suburbs feel a little more cosmopolitan.

Arvada’s strategic initiatives demonstrate how suburban areas can cultivate vibrant downtowns that serve as focal points for community life, blending residential comfort with urban vitality.​

Superior: Building a Modern Downtown from Scratch

Unlike its counterparts, Superior is developing a downtown core from the ground up. It’s called Downtown Superior (a COHN client), and it encompasses 156 acres of mixed-use development, featuring residential units, retail spaces, and entertainment venues. The inclusion of diverse dining options and boutique shopping aims to create a walkable, engaging environment that caters to an active lifestyle. ​

This proactive approach positions Downtown Superior as a model for suburban communities seeking to establish vibrant urban centers, offering residents the conveniences of city living within a suburban context.​

Check out our work for Downtown Superior on our case studies page.

Old Town Lafayette: Cultivating a Cultural Hotspot

Old Town Lafayette, another COHN client, has emerged as a cultural and culinary destination in the Denver metro area. The area hosts a variety of restaurants, breweries, and coffee shops, such as The Post Brewing Company and Community Supper Club, offering residents and visitors a taste of urban sophistication in a suburban locale. ​

The Lafayette Urban Renewal Authority’s efforts to support local businesses and enhance public spaces have been instrumental in this transformation, showcasing the impact of strategic planning in suburban revitalization.​

Check out our work for Old Town Lafayette on our case studies page.

National Trends in Suburban Development

As far as we can tell, the transformations observed in these Colorado communities reflect broader national trends. This evolution represents a significant departure from post-World War II growth patterns that led to urban sprawl and often separated residential areas from commercial zones or isolated central business districts. For example:

• Population Growth in Suburban Areas: Suburban regions across the United States have experienced significant population growth, outpacing urban centers. This shift is driven by factors such as the desire for more affordable housing, larger living spaces, and the flexibility afforded by remote work, altering the character of many residential areas. ​
• Emergence of Mixed-Use Developments: There is a nationwide rise in mixed-use developments that combine residential, commercial, and recreational spaces. These projects aim to create self-sustaining neighborhoods that reduce the need for long commutes and foster local economic activity. ​This often includes carefully planned public spaces and green spaces to enhance the sense of community and public health.
• Retail Sector Adaptations: The retail landscape is adapting to these suburban shifts, with a growing emphasis on open-air shopping centers and neighborhood retail hubs. CBRE Research forecasts that retail sales growth will moderate to around 2.6% in 2024, with asking rent growth expected to rebound in the second half of the year. ​

Implications for Suburban Retail Real Estate Marketers

The evolution of suburban downtowns carries significant implications. Regarding strategic site selection, identifying and investing in emerging suburban markets with significant population growth can position retailers to capitalize on new consumer bases.​

We also believe in the power of community-centric marketing in retail real estate. Developing marketing strategies that emphasize integration into the local community can enhance brand loyalty and customer engagement.​

​Navigating the evolving landscape of suburban retail requires a strategic partner who understands the nuances of this transformation.

At COHN, we specialize in crafting tailored marketing strategies that align with the unique dynamics of suburban downtown developments. Our expertise spans brand development, digital marketing, public relations, and creative services, all designed to elevate your retail presence in these burgeoning markets.​

Whether you’re a retailer looking to establish a foothold in a revitalized suburban area or a developer aiming to attract top-tier tenants, COHN is equipped to help you achieve your goals. Our team is dedicated to delivering innovative solutions that resonate with your target audience and drive measurable results.​

Let’s collaborate to position your brand at the forefront of suburban retail evolution. Contact us today to discuss how COHN can support your retail real estate marketing needs and help you thrive in this dynamic environment.