Eight Effective Outreach Ideas for Marketing Apartments

Marketing apartments – The apartment industry is a competitive landscape of high demand and low supply, which makes it difficult to stand out. There are over 100 ways you can increase your tenant prospects through creative marketing efforts. Below we have provided 8 ideas that are sure to change the way you market your community to prospective tenants.

1. Make your apartment directory a digital asset

Include social media accounts on your online property information page and provide links to your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and any other social media sites where you have a presence. This can be easily done with an iFrame on the web version of your website or by capturing leads through a landing page on your site dedicated to digital directory sign ups.

2. Update property websites regularly

Regardless of whether it’s professionally managed or done in-house, it’s important for property websites to reflect up-to-date information about the community and its amenities. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression and it’s important that website visitors know right away that the apartment community is well-maintained and up-to-date.

3. Participate in local meetups

Join Facebook groups and other relevant organizations and participate in events related to your apartment community. This will allow you to connect with the local community while also helping others who are looking for apartments in your area. You can also use Meetup.com to locate tenants who might be interested in moving into your property based on their interest level in similar events or communities.

4. Make a video

When it comes to social media, video is king. While writing descriptions or taking images of your property are effective marketing tools, a short video gives prospective tenants the opportunity to view your community in action. This can be easily done using YouTube’s live stream feature and a simple smartphone camera. Remember, videos in which you have included descriptive narration can be easily added as annotations on your website for easy viewing and a potential lead capture option at the end of the recording.

5. Be a guest blogger

If you’re unable to write your own blog posts, try reaching out to other relevant blogs in your area and pitch an article that’s relevant to your property. This effort can lead to loyal readers of your blog, who might also become loyal residents at your apartment community. Another option is to co-author a post with another property manager or local expert in the field of expertise related to the post. Whatever approach you take, it’s important that you remember the goal of writing a blog post: educating and informing prospective tenants about living at your community.

6. Run a creative contest

Rent.com recently completed a contest with one of our property clients where we asked community members to share their best apartment hacks with the hashtag #RentHack. The winner was rewarded with free rent and the top five finalists were rewarded with a $100 Amazon gift card and other promotional materials to help them implement their hack at home. Running a similar contest can be an effective way to drive traffic to your community website or Facebook page, or encourage people to visit your leasing office if you’re participating in the contest via social media.

7. Participate in community events

Attending local events is an excellent way to connect with the local community and attract tenants to your property. These events can be informal neighborhood parties or large-scale community festivals. These types of gatherings are a great opportunity to reach out to prospective tenants and learn what they like most about your apartment community. You can also reach out to local merchants or business partners for promotions tailored to your property, which will help draw more potential tenants into your market area.

8. Create an online display ad campaign

Online display ads are a cost-effective marketing tool that target prospective renters at specific demographics by enticing them with discounts or other offers, such as free rent for six months if they move in immediately. If you need help crafting a creative ad, try using ad services like Facebook or Google AdWords to create ads tailored to your area of expertise. For example, if you’re a property manager, you might want to run Facebook ads that offer free rent for six months in exchange for signing an occupancy agreement.

Conclusion

Creating a marketing campaign that is tailored to the needs of your community can help your property stand out from other rental apartments in your area. While there are many more ways you can market your apartment community, these ideas are a good place to start so you can create a unique approach that will improve tenant-move-in success.