Do you feel like your apartment rentals just aren’t getting leased at a satisfying rate? In addition to renovating and improving the property itself, you might consider improving your marketing campaign. Take a look at these strategies for upping your game and reaching new tenants before your competitors do.
Get into Geotargeting
Geotargeting is a feature of Google Ads that allows you direct and specific control over which locations your ads appear in. You can target a country, a specific radius around a location, or a group of separate locations.
The latter is especially handy if you own or manage properties in a few desirable but disparate locations, e.g., different states. It’s also helpful when you want to serve your ad to people who frequent nearby tourist locations, schools in the area, etc. Just remember that the targeting isn’t 100% accurate.
Its geographical precision depends on several factors, including the signals Google receives from users’ devices, what settings each user has enabled or disabled, and how they behave on Google’s platforms. Monitor the feature’s performance and tweak your settings as needed.
Create a Strong Brand
“Strong” in this case means “cohesive.” When you build a brand as a property manager, people’s opinion of you will depend on the opinion of their fellow renters. Your branding, therefore, needs to be for both the property itself and the community that occupies it.
Branding for a property is relatively simple: factor in the location, size, furnishing, and amenities, and that’s pretty much it. You’re building a brand based on mostly fixed factors so that you can focus on a mostly fixed niche (e.g., luxury apartments).
Branding based on community is more of a balancing act. You do need to adhere to a category (senior living, young families, pet-friendly, students, workers, internationals…), but you also have to be flexible. Prospective renters will likely fit several categories, e.g., college students who are also young parents, a single senior with a support animal, etc. In some cases, depending on your geographical location, real estate postcards could be a big marketing win.
That’s why you should always market the apartments to more than one demographic. The trick is planning how these groups will interact, what problems are likely, and how to deal with outliers (one “Neighbor From Hell” in every community). Your effectiveness in managing these interactions will determine your brand reputation in the long term.
Consider Longer Leasing Hours
Most people who look for apartment rentals have to squeeze their viewings and other appointments between work and other obligations, e.g., child pickup or dropoff. You could get a leg up on your competitors by being open longer than the standard business day hours, especially during the summer.
Tap into the pool of people who would love to be able to come by after dinner, on their way back from work, or even on a weekend when they’re less swamped and can afford to consider your offer with more attention.
Polish the Phone Service
Many people nowadays prefer chats to phone calls, but customer service lines are still a thing, and nothing tanks user experience like a moody, uncooperative, unknowledgeable, or just plain unavailable agent. Invest in training for how to treat prospective clients over the phone (and existing residents as well, of course).
Cover things like response time, tone of voice, vocabulary, speech attitude, and business knowledge. Agents must be thoroughly knowledgeable about the property, including floor plan, rent, amenities, maintenance, and the best selling points. Run regular test calls and consider some seminars for sales techniques while you’re at it.
Give your Campaign Some TLC
The “Traffic, Leads, Customers” model is a formula for reviewing your efforts to see what areas need improvement. We recommend you apply it once a month at first and then adapt it to your business flow.
First, rate all your traffic sources by how much quality traffic they bring you, then focus on the top five or even the top three. How can you amplify their output? For example, you might polish your on-page SEO for more organic traffic or increase your budget for Google Ads at strategic short-term intervals (e.g., during peak moving season, festivals, etc.)
Next, compare the copy on your ads and website: Does the site provide what the ad promises? Is your brand message on point? Is everything easy to navigate? Touch base with live chat support agents and make sure everyone is providing correct and up-to-date information. Polish your support scripts so that everything is being said in the best possible way, and occasionally refresh your customer service policies.
Finally, turn your leads into new customers and retain old ones. Train your employees for better conversational skills, improve the overall response time, and consider adding a unique touch to your follow-up emails. From the customer end, diversify your offer of viewings, e.g., with virtual tours. You should review the leasing process and ensure everyone can implement it to the same standard.
In summary, you need to shift your approach to outshine your competitors. Geotargeting, cohesive branding, longer leasing hours, and perfecting your phone service will guarantee a stellar user experience that’ll improve client satisfaction and retention.
Streamlining your TLC factors will also attract more new renters and maximize your leasing potential in the long run.
