Adapting New Marketing Trends to Property Management

Like most other industries today, the approach to marketing within the property management industry has changed significantly. 2023 has seen rentals grow in popularity due to consumers’ eagerness to travel, change jobs, and relocate; it’s time to employ new marketing strategies that can elevate your properties above the competition.

Social Media Presence: The Key to Building Brand Recognition

Consider any first-time renter: What do you picture? The most common market for potential tenants is young adults emerging into the workforce or pursuing a degree at a university. In 2022, 18-year-old teenagers consumed social media for more than 8 hours a day. How many times could they have scrolled past an ad for your property during this time, and how much would your content influence their decision for a new apartment?

Creating a strong brand image across all rentals will promote memorability and customer retention through logos, similar colors and themes, and marketing materials. In addition, the likelihood of your content being seen across platforms such as Instagram and Facebook can increase with the use of trendy music/audio, aesthetically pleasing imagery such as interior designs, relevant hashtags, and customer testimonies. The ease with which a young adult can forward a ten second TikTok video of a prospective property’s amenities and tenant benefits to a future roommate can elevate your listings to the top of their consideration.

Keep in mind that especially young adults expect fast and accessible information about listings at their fingertips, so avoid overly complex content and confusing webpages. Make sure that you highlight what differentiates you from other local competitors or communities and offer reliable customer service.

Customer Reviews: Protect your Reputation

Tenant acquisition and retention across all age demographics can now more than ever be affected by negative customer reviews, so making a great first (and last) impression is crucial for word-of-mouth recommendation and return renters.

Approximately 74% of all renters read between one and ten reviews before reaching a decision on their new rental – 64% said that they would pay more for a property with high reviews. Try to handle bad reviews courteously, customizing your responses to each unique situation and reaching a solution with your unhappy tenant, before a future renter decides against your property due to a negative review. The obvious here is that practicing proactivity—handling any issues as they arise, before they escalate to negative reviews—is the best policy. Any persisting reviews should be handled with urgency and importance: The only thing worse than a negative review is one that remains unanswered by the property.

SEO & Buzzwords

On top of pushing out consistent and attractive media, maintaining a website and socials with relevant content can expand the reach of your properties. Similar to hashtags, key phrases and buzzwords in your content increases the likelihood of your brand being suggested or shown within search engine searches. Utilize a blog space on your website or social media captions to include content that is trendy or popular within the rental market while focusing on which audiences you are trying to target. Don’t forget to utilize Google Analytics or Meta (Facebook & Instagram) for Business to better comprehend your outreach—this will help you and your team to understand which aspects of your strategy to tweak in order to achieve desired outcomes.

Keeping up with the current marketing trends in property management will enable you to expand the scope of your outreach for new renters and increase your chances of returning clientele as well.