TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
WHY YOUR MARKETING
APPROACH ISN ' T
WORKING
If that old Apartment For Rent sign is all you ' ve got, then read this article!
By Cyndi Oaxaca
As little as 20 years ago, marketing an apartment complex was a far more simple task. Large signs and balloons announcing a grand opening were enough to draw in those looking for a new place. One could even take out an ad in the Yellow Pages and rely on mailers for the majority of their business. A posting in a local paper could also help a business spread the word. And there was the always reliable referral traffic.
These days, however, marketing is a whole new game. People don’ t drive around a town looking for new places to live or seeking out“ For Lease” signs. Instead, they’ re turning to the Internet. Rather than seeking referrals from friends, most people prefer to check Yelp or other online review sites to gather insight. And it’ s hard to say how many people actually read physical newspapers these days, or use the Yellow Pages for anything other than a doorstop. The digital world has caused a significant shift in the way people gather information, and apartments that fail to adopt are failing in their marketing efforts.
Changing Strides for Changing Tides
Many might argue that digital marketing is working better for apartments because more people are looking online for information than elsewhere. While this isn’ t necessarily wrong, it fails to grasp the scope of how marketing and sales have changed by the Internet’ s influence.
It used to be a seller’ s world. Interruption tactics like commercials and billboards worked easily to let buyers know a new item was on the market and they needed it.
Now, with the prevalence of information on the web, consumers are in control. They are able to gather information on many solutions to a problem or issue, and choose the best option. This shift in power from being seller driven to consumer driven is why digital marketing is so powerful.
It’ s not enough to set it and forget it when it comes to digital marketing. Many apartment communities may argue they’ re already involved in digital marketing because they have a website and have put up listings for their properties. But then they do nothing with them. This approach can be damaging and even wasteful. It’ s not digital marketing, but rather, taking the old outbound seller’ s approach. A website isn’ t meant to be a brochure or a flyer, nor will it be found if it’ s just left up without making active changes. Digital marketing is meant to be dynamic, matching every step of a consumer’ s journey.
What does that mean for the marketer? Digital marketing approaches should be constantly mobile, with content and other optimization forms ready to give buyers what they need at any given stage.
Optimizing Your New Approach
So you know you need to have a digital presence. Many of you likely already do in the form of a website and a Google business page. But what comes next?
The first question is, are you searchable? And no we don’ t just mean for“ Your Apartment Name, City Name” although you should easily come up for that search. Instead, you should be trying to attract residents earlier. How? Become useful in their search, and then optimize your site’ s SEO to match.
This means creating content— web copy, blogs, infographics, and other useful tools for your potential resident. This is where most apartment complexes are lacking. For example, a good portion of your residents may be new to your city. So start optimizing your content around potential searches they may have.“ Best neighborhoods in X” or“ best things to do in X” are good obvious choices.
By ranking well for these searches, you get in front of potential customers early, helping lead them along their purchasing journey and being able to serve them the most helpful and relevant content on their quest. This makes your property remarkable. Your major competitors likely only show unit images or skylines on their site
34 | TRENDS • OCTOBER 2017 www. aamdhq. org