Director of Marketing
When most people think of marketing, they think of advertising tools like flyers, websites, online ads, and banners. While these are all useful tools for promoting properties, the list also includes many areas often thought of as outside the sphere of marketing. Here are a few examples that apply to multifamily residential property management.
Online Reputation Management
What people say about your business online can have a major impact on your customers. Research shows that online reviews wield a heavy influence on shoppers, especially with a very personal purchase decision like an apartment to call home. Respond to all reviews promptly to convey to your customers that you care. Responding promptly also helps you get a better position in Google search results.
What about the negative reviews you might have? One method we’ve found that works particularly well is actually contacting the unhappy reviewer. We listen to their problems, look for either a solution or resolution to the situation, then ask them to update the review. Some of our managers have turned 1-Star Google reviews into 5-Star reviews by reaching out and going above and beyond to resolve and alleviate any concerns.
Maps
Long gone are the days of people finding apartments in the yellow pages. Even search terms are losing their importance. Many searches now are based on proximity. One of the most common search phrases is, “<Subject> near me.” As an example, “Apartments near me.”
In order to be considered as an option with the searcher, you have to be listed in the map database. Google is the largest and most used such database, so make sure your property has a Google My Business tile. This is displayed as a box to the right of search results that Google uses to highlight your business’s information. This listing is vitally important because many mobile devices pull information from Google My Business tiles to fulfill location-based search requests. Many other map systems pull from Google, as well.
Beyond Google, you should list your property with Apple Maps Connect, the iPhone flavor of Google My Business tiles. You can also set up a presence with Bing. Regardless of the route you take, Google should always be your top priority, given the size of its user pool.
Social Media Presence
Believe it or not, people now shop for apartments on Facebook. That’s why we created business pages with regularly updated content for all of our properties. Many of our leases started as interactions through the social media platform. If you are targeting younger audiences, Instagram is a good add on. You can make posting content easy by linking the two accounts, so content posted to Facebook automatically cross-posts to Instagram.
Since people are looking all over for homes and rental opportunities, you need to be where they are looking.
Maintenance
Maintenance personnel have more contact with the customers in multifamily residential than any other member of the on-site team. I’ve read many online reviews where a good maintenance team member can be the reason an otherwise unhappy resident decides to renew their lease. At Allied, we train our maintenance staff in customer service. We also let them know how important and appreciated they are on an ongoing basis.
Touchpoints
How the property staff deals with people on the phone, interacts with people in person, and connects with them online, are all touchpoints that leave an impression with a prospect. Every touchpoint is a part of the marketing mix that plays a role in the lease/no lease decision.
Few people would consider each of these factors as part of the marketing that affects the success or failure of a property. That’s one of the things the marketing department at Allied does differently than many of our competitors. We look at the big picture, how all the pieces fit together, and then make sure all of the parts work together in harmony. Along with the traditional tools that harmony gives us the best chance of giving prospects the feeling that our community is a place they want to call home. That feeling ultimately is what makes a property successful.
We hope these tips help you succeed in marketing your property. If you’d like to have us do it for you, we’d love to talk to you. (Hey, I’m the Director of Marketing. I had to throw in a call to action somewhere.)
