MARKETING
MISTY SKEDGELL, RENTPATH
5 Strategies to Maximize Your Resident Retention
C
ommunication methods have
been on a wild ride.
We’ve gone from dispatching
handwritten letters to typing emails; from
exchanging text messages to publically
posting tiny, 10-second videos of ourselves
wearing digitally affixed dog ears. Yeah:
wild.
Since our communication channels
are always evolving, marketers have
been refocusing efforts on reaching
both prospective and existing renters –
particularly the younger millennials (the
group born between 1977 and 1995) and
Generation Z’ers (the group born between
1995 and 2014). These generations
are checking their email less often, and
they find it to be an outdated method
of communication. In fact, you probably
won’t find Gen Z’ers – the world’s first
generation of true digital natives – looking
anywhere other than at a smartphone.
ALTERNATIVES TO EMAIL
TEXT MESSAGES
According to a Pew Research Center
report, as of August 2017, two-thirds of
adult Americans reported getting some of
their news on social media.
PHOTO SHARING APPS
Younger generations are extremely
visually oriented when it comes to
communicating. For example, photo and
video sharing apps like Snapchat and
Instagram have become very popular.
Snapchat allows users to send other users
photos and videos featuring various digital
alterations – like those dog ears. Instagram
lets users post photos and videos to
a portfolio grid. The two apps’ story
integrations have been raking in upwards
of a combined 416 million daily active
users, according to a CNBC report.
VIDEO CHAT APPS
Facetime and Skype are apps that
allow users to video chat with one another.
Apps like these are becoming increasingly
popular with employers who want to
conduct remote job interviews as well.
These instantaneous private (or even
group) messages have become so deeply
ingrained within everyday life that in
many cases they are replacing phone and
face-to-face conversations altogether.
Upwards of 15 million texts are sent every
minute of every day worldwide, according
to recent research compiled by Domo. While millennials have already been
yielding significant spending influence
within the apartment market, Gen Z’ers
are beginning to trickle into the workforce
and consumer market. They will be the
new renters, and it’s crucial to nail down
communicating with and reaching this
group.
SOCIAL MEDIA TRANSITIONING TO A DIGITALLY
FRIENDLY FUTURE
Aside from interacting through
posts, pictures, videos and private Instant
Messenger-esque chat windows, many
people are also gathering their news from
social media platforms like Facebook and
Twitter—a trend that’s gaining popularity
with adults across many generations.
www.aamdhq.org
TARGET THE PHONE SCREEN
Mobile generations prefer using
phones over computers, and text is
typically preferred over email. In fact, Gen
Z’ers have been found to use smartphones
15.4 hours per week on average, which is
more than any other type of device. That’s
why it’s crucial to gather phone numbers
in addition to email addresses from your
prospects and residents. However, make
sure to acquire the appropriate permissions
up front, before you start texting.
RUN PROMOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Instead of mass-texting residents about
your community promotions and activities,
better platforms would be the community’s
website and social media accounts. That’s
where residents will look for news that
pertains to the entire community.
Integration of social media with
community campaigns can even get
an interactive boost. Ask residents for
permission to use their social media posts,
and encourage them to tag the community
in their content and utilize specific
hashtags.
ALLOW RESIDENTS TO
COLLABORATE WITH THE
COMMUNITY
Consider adding a community
Snapchat story and geofilter, which will
allow residents to upload their experiences
and connect them back to your property.
This can provide you with valuable
feedback as you review the information
they are choosing to share and engage
with when it comes to your community.
Email isn’t completely dead yet, but
communication has come a long way since
users were checking their Hotmail inbox.
There may be a learning curve and some
time investment when it comes to these
various digital platforms, but they will
maximize ROI when it comes to capturing
– and keeping – residents.
FEBRUARY 2019
TRENDS | 37