strategy
Multifamily Monday: SBWA
Mike Brewer · · 1 Comment
What are we talking about on this Multifamily Monday? SBWA. What is SBWA. Supervising By Walking Around.
How many of you get lazy and don’t walk your apartment properties as often as you should? How many of you get lazy and do not walk your market ready product? How many of you get lazy and do not inspect what you expect of your teams.
Don’t be shy.
If it helps, I will admit that I am as guilty of this as much as the next guy/gal. At times, it is simply out of a haste to get on to the next thing that is calling my attention. Other times, it is simply just being lazy.
I admit it not for the reason of calling you or myself out but simply as a matter of getting it imbued in your mind. You, we must do it. It is fundamental to our business. It is what keeps us all true to our standards. If you are not looking at what you expect those standards fall pretty fast. I think we would agree.
Supervising By Walking Around
I wrote a piece on this concept back in the Spring of 2011. At the time my posit was that you could not know your people and or your business if you did not spend any time wondering around in it. Not my novel concept but one made famous in the world of leadership and management by Tom Peters (side note: you could consider me a super-fan of Mr. Peters).
To the Point
Since the purpose of the Multifamily Monday series is to be short and to the point – here it is.
Get our of your office today and walk around your community. Walk alone. Walk with the people in your office. Walk with your service team. Walk with someone that might be moving in soon. Walk with the cable guy. Walk with the landscaper. Walk with someone that currently lives in your community. Walk with a police officer. Walk with a Mom. Walk with a Dad.
GET Up – Walk NOW
Your SBWA multifamily manic,
M
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Using Social Media to Market Apartments Redux
Back in 2009 I penned a post about using social media to market apartments. Back then the groundswell was happening and everyone had an opinion about it. And, over the past three years, I think we have all learned a lot. Some of it good. Some of it bad. Some have taken the lessons and left the conversation. Others have bet the farm. While others dipped their toe in, listened, learned, participated, grew and are now providing real value. And, while we were all quietly churning away in our social media bull pens another more than mentionable groundswell was taking place. Fewer multifamily starts and a generation ripe with numbers that we have not seen since the baby boomers hit the scene.
Fast-forward to the second half of 2012, the coastal markets are booming again while the somewhat insulated Midwest lays in wait. In St. Louis specifically, most sub-markets that have hit bottom and are now bouncing along. Some city central, mid-city and west county properties are sporting occupancy gains and rent growth they have not seen in three years plus.
Get these two things (marketing apartments using social media and the near perfect storm of fundamental metrics) in a room together and you have the makings of a home run. At least in my opinion.
Not Using Social Media to Market Apartments?
Now might be a good time to rethink that position. Don’t take my word for it. Take a look at this recent post over at Business Grow (a great blog by the way – subscribe and read every word). I pulled out a quote that I think speaks to my real point.
If you think about, using social media at the university level is the perfect test case for what all our organizations may be seeing just a few years from now:
- Its primary audience uses the social web as its primary tool for communication.
- It is an essential strategy for connecting with, and nurturing, its “customers.”
- The relatively low-cost effectiveness of social media fits with programs under constant budget pressures.
Assiduity and The Why Behind the What
How many of you knew what that word meant? Me either. But, I fell in love when I looked it up. Assiduity – constant or close attention to what one is doing. As I read the word then the definition and then the word again it made me think – get off your ass-n-do-it.
To the point: your near now, now and future residents are growing up digital. Miss the point and miss some real opportunity.
Your big believer in using social media to market apartments,
M
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Apartment Marketing: Google Now
Mike Brewer · · 1 Comment
I am moving our normally scheduled budget post to Wednesday. My apologies to you that were expecting some number crunching today.
Google Now
Imagine a day when Google understands your interests so much so that it recommends a new apartment living experience. Maybe that is predicated on the fact that you a value shopper in all other areas of your life – Google might recommend a cheaper place to live. Suppose you are a social butterfly who often frequents downtown hotspots but you live in the burbs. Google might refer you to a nice new downtown apartment community.
The information from Google Now is displayed on what Barra referred to as “cards,” tile-sized amounts of information (seen above) that you might find similar to the cards seen in Palm’s WebOS software–think the default weather app on your iPhone.
Apartment Community Interest Graph
I am of the firm belief that the future of apartment search is going to be interest based and will come predictive in nature. And, I think that every apartment community should be working on their digital personality (read: get interesting). I think that apartment community reviews along with a plethora of other data points are going to be intermingled with neighborhood reviews (aggregate of every local business review in and around your community – sort of a neighborhood cool score: think walk-score) and that information is going to flow out in the “cards” described in the quote above. The key going forward will be positioning oneself as interesting.
Your keenly interested in interest graphs multifamily maniac,
M
Pic props: Android News
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Apartment Marketing: Friends of Followers
Quick hit on this Friday following a holiday.
Suffice it to say that we should not only be marketing to the people that we want to live in our apartment communities but also the connections those people have. Think about it, in the world of ratings and reviews and social sharing platforms, people reach out to friends, family and total strangers for advice on where to live.
It’s not a novel concept but I am curious what you are doing to reach those groups?
I have been thinking a lot about how to make an impact on that group and how to compel them to talk about our communities when faced with the question. “Where would you live if you were looking for an apartment?” Or, “I am searching for a new place to live, what apartment community or area of town would you recommend?”
I want my communities to be tip of tongue when their connections ask for their advisement.
What Are You Doing to Make Sure Your Community is Tip of Tongue?
You tip of tongue thinking multifamily manic,
M
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Apartment Podcasting Marketing
“For corporate marketers, podcasting is low-hanging fruit.” – Paul Gillin
Low Hanging Fruit
Caught this video over at businessgrow where Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner throws down his 18 to 24 month content marketing prediction. It’s an interesting thought and one that I am trying to wrap my head around as it relates to marketing apartments. His thought comes in near the end of the four-minute vid:
Your wondering about apartment podcast marketing multifamily manic,
M
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