There’s no better time to invest in real estate than right now. Not only is the market finally improving after a long stint of poor returns, but it’s also the age of the Internet and digital connectivity. As a direct result, marketing has never been easier for rental properties than today, and a strong marketing strategy for your investments is an absolute must.
This is especially important because millennials are your prime target audience. They’re the crowd of young adults, aged 18 to 35,who are still young and working on becoming established. As a whole, they’re more interested in renting than any other group of individuals, which makes them the primary focus when marketing your property.
Millennials value digital connectivity above all else. They’re immersed in social media and anything to do with online engagement. Though traditional marketing efforts such as signage and snail mail are important to your labors, they should take a backseat to your digital marketing strategy, particularly when it comes to social marketing.
Approximately 74 percent of adults are on social media, according to a recent report, and Millennial renters have the highest engagement with these networks than any others. Of men and women, aged 18 to 29, 89 percent of them are on social media, the highest percentage of any age group.
These numbers strongly indicate the importance of making social media the preferred method of connecting with your rental audience. If you’re looking to make use of these networks to promote and toorganize your community, here are a few suggestions.
Before you begin sharing things on social media, you must first have things to share. Relevant images, graphs, articles, videos, and other forms of media are excellent ways that you can interest potential tenants and share knowledge. Starting a blog is one of the best ways to do this.
As the landlord or manager of a rental community, you’re at the forefront of everything that’s going on with your community, neighborhood, and tenants, and you can share that on your blog. News articles and videos are always welcome to keep things current, but tips, tricks, and other general information in your media can help to bring attention to your blog and rental properties as well.
Facebook is by far the most lucrative network for marketing your rental property. Seventy-one percent of all adults have a Facebook account, which is approximately three times as many people as those who use any of the other social media networks. For this reason, you should begin your social marketing efforts with a Facebook page dedicated to marketing your rental.
This page can keep a standing photo album of what your properties look like. You can advertise when you have openings, and share information about events. It’s also a good idea to include client testimonials, advertisements and specials, and other information that will attract potential buyers. The more people you can attract to this page, the better chance you have of keeping all of your units rented.
Facebook may be the best, but it’s not the only useful way to share information and promote your property. Twitter is an excellent platform for asking and answering questions. The setup is perfect for maintaining conversations and building audience reach through information sharing.
Google Plus can also be great for boosting search engine rankings if you have a website or blog. Sharing news, photos, and promotions on there will bring more attention to your blog or website, leading to a more lucrative return later on.
Pinterest and Instagram are photo hubs that’ll let you share high quality images of the apartments, amenities, rental community, neighborhood, and happy tenants. You can also use these networks to share relevant information and blog articles.
High quality photos are an absolute must for marketing your rental property. Not only is adding images to your social posts a failsafe way to catch a reader’s eye, but it’s also the best way to show off the potential of a property. Though you would never want to give the wrong impression of a place through your photos, it doesn’t hurt to show the best parts and to minimize the flaws in your imagery. High-quality, well-edited images can make even the dingiest of places look great, and it’ll at least get people to come look at the property rather than being influenced by a bad image.
Keep your social profiles current by staying engaged in the existing conversations with your tenants. When they ask questions, answer them in a timely manner. When they comment about something they liked or didn’t like about your property or services, don’t ignore them. Take the time to let your followers know that you’re interested in their well-being.
This’ll give your tenants a glimpse into what it’s like to live under your management. If you’re not willing to take the time to engage with current tenants and prospects on social media, it’ll give the impression that you’re not willing to do so in real life either.
Social media is also a great catalyst for getting people to set foot on your property. One of the best ways to fill vacancies is to host local events at the rental unit, and social media can make that happen. Advertise the event, and encourage your current and past tenants to spread the word. As long as the event is well publicized and has a great theme and organization to it, you won’t have any problem getting people in attendance, and such events are great for your image as a landlord.
Make a Facebook page for your current tenants to organize your interactions with them, to send out announcements and reminders, to appear more personable, and to encourage feedback. You can also post photos from recent events – with the tenant’s permission, of course – and build a sense of community among your renters.
This is a great way to keep up constant and steady communication with tenants, and, more importantly, to build up your reputation. When you can keep track of what tenants are saying about you, you can make the necessary changes to improve the problems, and encourage them to spread the word that you’re a great landlord.
If you’re reading this list of ideas for marketing your community on social media and thinking that it’s a lot of work, you’re right. It’s no easy task to keep a constant social presence, but with the right management team, you won’t have to. At Green Residential, we’re experts when it comes to marketing your rental property and keeping your vacancies filled. For more information about what our team can do for you, contact us today!
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