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Marketing Partnership Case Study: Holmeshaw Property Investments

Lisa East • January 26, 2024

Why did Holmeshaw contact The Thinking Cap?

Smart Investment direct mail campaign


Dan and Fraser, the co-founders, were on the lookout for someone new to manage the company’s social media accounts and after googling and finding The Thinking Cap, they went on to see our LinkedIn posts.


They had previously tried a couple of agencies but found that they weren’t quite the right fit.


Between us The Thinking Cap’s husband and wife team has more than 55 years’ design, strategy, sales and marketing experience, so we know what works and how to do it!


We hit it off straight away and our working relationship was born. We have now just hit the 10th month of working together.


How did Holmeshaw present their business to you?

Holmeshaw, a UK property investment firm, specialises in marketing off-plan developments and fully furnished holiday lets to affluent investors and cash-rich business owners. In order to broaden their reach, they sought to promote their latest listings to a wider audience. Recognising the affluent nature of their clientele, they also aimed to enhance the sophistication and professionalism of their brand image.


The business grew during Covid-19 as people realised the importance of getting away with family on short country breaks, and the UK staycation market boomed as a result. Holmeshaw realised that they needed to both look and act consistently as a high end company for their target audience in order to build trust in their property investments portfolio.


As social media marketing was not in their skillset, they decided to outsource it so they could focus their efforts on growing their business.


At The Thinking Cap, we also saw it as a great opportunity to build their brand presence. Their marketing communications appeared disjointed and inconsistent with a number of different looks, which we felt diluted their brand story. This inconsistency was prevalent across a number of areas - social media, emails, newsletters, Facebook ads, and blogs.


There was no cohesive message and the content lacked focus, undermining the Holmeshaw brand. (This may have been because a number of different companies managed different elements with occasional contributions from both directors.)


How did they feel after contacting you? What made them choose The Thinking Cap to work with?



We all gelled instantly, which definitely helped.


I had met with them previously, but on the last meeting I took my husband Martin with me. Martin’s experience of working with well-known financial brands may have contributed to us winning the work.


We showed Dan and Fraser the work we had done for other clients and offered to conduct a social media audit.


They realised that we knew our stuff and trusted what we were saying. An extra bonus for them was that The Thinking Cap was local, as they knew that they might need someone to visit them and give them a nudge from time to time!


Although they were originally looking for help with social media management, we offered them a marketing partnership proposal.

They appreciated our forward-thinking approach and realised how everything could fit together to help them across other areas of the business.


A graphic we designed to announce Holmeshaw were exhibiting at the Investor Show in London.


How do they feel the partnership is going?

Our working relationship is going really well.


We have elevated their brand look and feel as well as helped them to automate systems internally.


For example, we encouraged them to introduce a customer on-boarding and nurturing programme, covering all the bases from initial lead through to sale.


We also created an investor guide packed full of facts, infographics, and FAQs that helped to keep leads warm, reduce questions from prospective clients, and, therefore, speed up the buying process.


How do you feel about the work you have completed for Holmeshaw?

We feel we have worked together to elevate the Holmeshaw brand through integrated and consistent marketing communications and collateral.


We hope to continue to help their brand to grow by creating exciting lead generation campaigns into the new year and beyond.


What were the results for Holmeshaw?

Their Facebook Ads are now refined and on-message.


We created an investor guide that potential investors can access by clicking a ‘download button’ on the adverts, which has really helped them to understand the investor offer. As a result, they are asking fewer questions, and they have trust in Holmeshaw when they follow things up.


The new marketing collateral has, therefore, helped to speed up the lead to conversion process, meaning less administration.


Our work in producing branded sales collateral opened a door for them with a major owner of UK holiday parks, helping them to secure exclusive selling rights.


This would never have happened without the coherent brand building strategy we implemented, all created within the marketing partnership agreement we put forward right at the start. They have gained exclusive deals and higher commissions through hotter, more informed pre-qualified leads.



The Thinking Cap have immediately impressed us with their strategic thinking, creativity and expertise. They’ve not only started to improve

our online presence, but also enhanced our brand and carefully improved our customer journey. Their holistic approach has had an immediate positive impact and we are thrilled to have them as our marketing partner. Lisa and Martin truly understand our business and we are very much looking forward to a bright future working together. We’re really excited about the possibilities!"


We also encouraged the founders of Holmeshaw, Dan and Fraser, to be more visual in company messages by putting them in front of the camera and asking them to record short videos when they meet investors or view properties. We made short clips and reels that reinforced their USP as trustworthy, friendly guys who know a lot about property investment. You can see from the Instagram showreel below, how great, factual and professional their social media posts look.


They are now looking into upgrading and investing in new systems for automation as well as expanding their team and moving into bigger premises.



What were the results for The Thinking Cap?

Holmeshaw kept us in the loop and leaned on us for help and advice gained from our years of strategic sales and marketing experience.


We relished seeing our clients grow in confidence and their business become more successful as their brand presence grew stronger.


Would they recommend you to others?

They have provided us with a great review and have already advocated The Thinking Cap services to other business owners.


In fact, we’ve already pitched to one client they recommended us to and creating a website for another.


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