A marketing trendsetter who helped elevate brands for the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers has been tapped to lead the marketing efforts for @Properties Christie’s International Real Estate.
Caileigh Tuma was raised in Newport Beach, Calif., but could not wait to trade in her flip-flops for cowboy boots.
“I have family in Highland Park, and I knew I’d end up here after college,” she said.
The 27-year-old graduated from Ole Miss with a unique degree in integrated marketing communications, which offers a hands-on approach to branding and public relations. She minored in graphic design, a choice that would come in handy as she began her career marketing luxury listings and helping agents brand themselves in the competitive world of real estate.
“I’ve always been interested in real estate,” Tuma said. “My family was always very involved with real estate. My mom used to own an interior design firm. I grew up around real estate and it seemed like a natural fit.”
In 2017, Tuma arrived in the Lone Star State and took a job with Stillwater Capital, overseeing the marketing for the investment firm, their custom home building company Robert Elliott Custom Homes, and their brokerage, The Associates, which she helped Stillwater create. She handled the branding of Stillwater’s numerous developments and led marketing for their project with the PGA of America.
In 2021, Stillwater sold The Associates to Monument Realty and Tuma ultimately went on to become director of marketing for Monument Realty. She handled their partnerships with the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, quarterback Dak Prescott, and HGTV show “Hot On! Homes.”
Jerry Mooty, CEO of @Properties, took notice of the rising star. In May they struck a deal for Tuma to join the @Properties team.
“Caileigh has been such a huge addition to our leadership team,” Mooty said. “Her market knowledge and years of experience in real estate brokerages has given our company and our agents an advantage in branding, social marketing, and analyzing the results of those different channels. Our agents are leaning on her talents to create logos, strategize and implement a path to generating more followers and in turn, more clients.”
Marketing the Market
Tuma’s job involves advertising, branding, graphic design, recruiting, and event planning, but her real passion is consulting and helping agents with their marketing.
“I help with their marketing, graphic design, and social media,” she said. “I can share my experience of what’s not working, what is working, and what approach I think they should take. Social media is really important for real estate. Perception is reality. If you’re not posting about what you’re up to, then people forget about you. You’re top of mind if you’re posting content and making videos.”
Chicago-based @Properties has a user-friendly creative studio so agents can design their own marketing materials and share designs through the studio with marketing if they need assistance.
“We’re smaller right now, with a boutique feel, a family feel,” Tuma said. “It’s something I admired and wanted to be part of.”
About 40 agents work for @Properties, and an office in Frisco is slated to open in November.
Strategy Session
The market is always changing and agents need to stay on top of it, Tuma said.
“I think it’s also changing from a marketing perspective,” she said. “Agents are needing to put in more work to market their listings since things aren’t selling as fast as they were last year. At one point, agents didn’t need help marketing their listings because they would sell so quickly.”
Not only does Tuma bring her marketing skills to @Properties, she also brings her fluffy assistant Hudson, who has been working alongside her since the beginning of her career. Hudson is a cocker spaniel poodle mix who became an office therapy dog.
“I brought him into the office one day and everyone loved him,” Tuma said. “He instantly improved the office atmosphere and was so well behaved. My life motto is ‘created to create. I’m self-taught and a self-starter, which is so important. I’m really creative, and I love what I do.”
