Apartment marketing
Apartment Forums
I will likely be publishing a ton of thoughts on this subject over the next few weeks so I apologize in advance to those of you that have no interest in the subject. I will try to lace in tidbits on other topics to keep the discussion fresh.
That said, here is the first point that I think all owners have to consider if they tread into the blogging and or forum arena. You have to be front and center in the discussions. You have to be a voice in as many discussions as you can. If you think you don’t/won’t have time, let me suggest to you that the consumer of your product has time and they can and will exercise it.
Now I’m not suggesting that you have to respond to everything and or start every conversation and in the same breath I would counsel you to take part in a meaningful way.
Technorati Tags: resident forums, mike brewer
HPI to sponsor FREE apartment home living
Do you think we could attract big corporations to sponsor apartment homes? Not unlike paying millions to put their name on the side of pro football stadium? Can you see the day that we have Park Station Apartments sponsored by Coca-Cola? Where Coke gets to put their message everywhere and anywhere they please in exchange for paying 50% of your resident’s base rent? Hmmm….
Sponsor the L or the Metorlink
For those of you that have communities on the light rail lines that serve your respective cities, what if you sponsored your section of the line. In exchange for all the marketing you want to do, you pay of the riders between your stop and the next. Everything from on train announcements to banners and on train billboards, window clings, huge banners at the platform and so on and so forth. WOW!
Online apartement seekers and personal information sharing
Revealing Personal Information Still Inhibits Online Shopping
According to a Pew Internet Project survey, released in February,
2008, most online Americans view online shopping as a way to save time
and a convenient way to buy products. At the same time, most internet
users express discomfort over
sending personal or credit card information over the internet.
- 78% of online Americans agree that shopping online is convenient.
- 68% of online Americans say they think online shopping saves them time.
-
75% of Internet users agree with the statement that they do not like
sending personal or credit card information over the internet.
I wonder how this affects, if at all, the property management industry and the aggressive moves being made to move leasing on line. Although, the above bullet point that states that 75% do not like sending personal information does not imply that consumers don’t do it. They obviously do but how many prospects or potential renters will we lose in the margin. Few? I mean they will likely come to the leasing office if they don’t feel comfortable doing it on-line.
For
additional information and access to a PDF file, please visit PEW here.
Source: Center for Media Research
Marketing = creating demand
”Marketing means solving customers’ problems profitably” Randall Chapman
And how do you do that in the property management business?
Let me share with you how our friends at Urbane Apartments do it. My thanks to Eric and his team for allowing me to share all this over the top and insanely great stuff they are doing! I have never met them personally and I can say that they are class acts in my book!
Check out this beyond cool practice:
As opposed to paper leases and move in paperwork we started
using memory sticks with a key chain and our Urbane Logo on it a while back. The
resident has all of the pertinent paperwork and their apartment keys all in a
match stick sized device that they carry with them. We scan a copy of the signed
lease, pertinent phone numbers (we are very transparent at Urbane, every
resident has all of our cell numbers posted, we welcome problem calls, it an opportunity
in disguise to connect, the 1 in 100 calls that may be inappropriate are told
as such and then a different relationship is created, all which is good),
information map with our preferred vendors, bars, restraints, atm machines,
etc, information about how the resident logs on to the Urbane wireless internet
at their community and how they log on to their resident portal to file a
Service Request or pay Rent on Line. All stuff that we gave them before, but
they would lose them, misplace them, etc. And who wants that mound of paperwork
as you reference.
We are preparing to do the same with our marketing material
right now whereas to your point, the floor plans and associated collateral material
for the selected property would all be on a memory stick that the resident
leaves with, and can print off what they need. Plus, it creates a “cool factor”,
because for now it is different and interesting, for something that is mundane.
