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 which allows you direct and specific control over which locations your ads appear in. You can choose to 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 a few 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 in general. Keep an eye on the feature’s performance and tweak your settings along the way.
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 their opinion of their fellow renters. Your branding therefore needs to be in two parts: for the property itself and the community that occupies it.
Branding for 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 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.
That’s why you should always market the apartments to more than one demographic. The trick is planning for how these groups will interact, what problems are likely, and how to deal with outliers (that one “Neighbor From Hell” in every community). Your effectiveness in managing these interactions will determine your brand reputation long-term.
Consider Longer Leasing Hours
Most people who go looking 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 for longer than just during 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, attitude in speech, and knowledge of the business. Agents need to 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 around once a month at first, and then adapt 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 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 giving out 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 also review the leasing process and make sure everyone can implement it to the same standard.
In summary, to outshine your competitors, you need to shift your approach. Geotargeting, cohesive branding, longer leasing hours, and perfecting your phone service will guarantee a stellar user experience that’ll improve client satisfaction and retention.
On top of that, streamlining your TLC factors will attract more new renters and maximize your leasing potential in the long run.