by threshold | Jun 22, 2017 | All, Marketing
Your job, as an owner, manager or leasing agent, isn’t over when the prospective resident signs their lease. When key staff members consider their job complete after securing a signed lease, that property management company is going to have a hard time keeping residents happy —and an even harder time getting residents to renew for another year.
Creating a memorable move-in experience is one way to show residents that you’re prepared to take care of them even after you’ve secured their signed lease.
- There’s no such thing as too much communication
Whether you’re marketing to students and parents at an off-campus community or communicating with young professionals and empty nesters at a luxury complex, it’s important to send emails explaining the move-in process. You don’t have to talk down to residents, but make sure to give them explicit instructions on what to expect come move-in day. Here at Threshold, we see hundreds of reviews come in on Yelp and Apartments.com from new residents complaining about the move-in process. Generally, they’re complaining about things that could have been resolved with a little more communication.
You can prevent negative reviews for your property by sending emails ahead of time. We promise, new residents won’t get tired of them. Everyone would rather be over prepared for a big-move than underprepared, and your new residents will appreciate the fact that you gave them all the necessary information.
- Use move-in as an opportunity to brand your community
Student housing is unique in that the properties generally have everyone move in on the same day, but conventional apartment communities can have move-in days too, such as on the first day of the month or, for new developments, on the first day the property opens. If you’re anticipating lots of move-ins, take some time to create signage for your community. You can point people towards their building, parking, dumpsters and identify points of interest near the community. Here at The Anti-Vacancy Agency, we believe that properties should take advantage of branding their apartment marketing ideas whenever possible. People want to feel like they belong to a community, and branded signage is an easy way to help them feel that why while you promote your company.
- Make it easy for residents to follow your property on social media
Move-in day is the perfect time to get residents to follow your property’s accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Have a computer open in the lobby so they can sign into their account and follow you as they pick up their keys. You can even offer free swag to everyone who takes a couple minutes to sign in.
The most successful properties engage residents with events, giveaways, free food and other promotions. The easiest way to let residents know about these promotions is through social media. Just tell residents that your property’s social media followers are the first to know about events and giveaways. Maybe even offer residents the chance to snap a picture while they’re moving in, and have it featured on the property’s social media pages. It’s all about driving engagement early on.
- Make a memorable move-in day packet
Residents will appreciate anything you can do to make their transitional period easier. Consider assembling a move-in packet and placing it on the kitchen counter so they’ll see it when they walk into their apartment for the first time. In the packet, you can include magnets with helpful phone numbers (maintenance, front office, etc.), a list of nearby restaurants and coupons to those restaurants, and tips for local attractions.
It might seem small, but to a resident that’s just moved to the area, it can mean a lot that someone is willing to help them get acquainted. Make sure residents know how to access the event calendar for your community, or that they’re following you on social media so they can see when you’ll be having resident events. Most people who move into a new community are hoping to make some friends and meet their neighbors, so it’s important to provide them with the opportunity to do so!
- It’s never too early for a renewal special
If you’re going to run a renewal special, it’s a great idea to do it within the first couple weeks after your new residents move-in. They probably have good feelings about their new place, and they’re likely tired of the entire moving process, maybe so much so that they’ll commit to living in the same place for the next couple years.
Threshold is the industry leader in student housing marketing and leasing marketing ideas. If you’re in need of creative work, promotional products or just some sound strategy for your property, give us a call to set up a consultation.
by threshold | Jun 8, 2017 | All, Marketing
If you’re going to convince a renter to pay for luxury amenities, upscale finishes and detailed décor, your apartment marketing ideas need to be amplified by high end marketing materials. There are other ways to sway these types of renters towards deciding to sign a lease at your property, but it starts with professional, upscale marketing.
Standard communities are forced to justify their rates by providing features that are worth the price. Luxury communities, on the other hand, don’t necessarily have to justify the price. Truly luxurious brands are luxurious because they are only accessible by a limited portion of the population, and the price creates that exclusivity. All that’s left to do is match the exclusive feel in the marketing materials.
You’ll need to use emotive messaging, high quality images and superior design of course, but these elements only work when they’re created by apartment marketing professionals using professional printing services and inventive material structure.
- The luxury is in the details
Minor elements like unique brochure structure, use of digital animation and high-end promo items make all the difference when marketing a luxury community. These small details let people know that there’s something special at your community; a community they can be a part of when they sign a lease. Every little detail should reinforce the idea of luxury. Even something as small as a typo in brochure copy will turn off luxury renters. They plan on paying for the best, so they expect something close to perfection.
- Upscale apartments require upscale marketing materials
High end apartments deserve high end production. You need bright, original images taken by a professional photographer or illustrated by an experienced graphic designer. You’re also going to want to use high end print production that leverages the industry’s most innovative printing methods and materials.
If you don’t decide to use professional services to amplify your leasing marketing ideas, your competitors will. High-end renters are used to high-end materials, and they know quality when they see it. For that reason, it’s a revenue-damaging mistake to cut corners on marketing materials for luxury communities.
- Luxury isn’t for everybody — find your audience.
Understand the different wants and needs that a luxury apartment renter has, compared to a standard apartment renter. Make sure your apartment marketing ideas take an emotional angle. People who rent luxury apartments factor both practicality and appearances into their decision. Luxury renters want to feel like they’re buying something that will make them feel cool, suave, and elite. If you just lay out the basics of your apartment, they might be impressed, but they won’t be engaged.
It takes creative design and compelling copy to stir up emotion. At Threshold, we market luxury communities by playing up the lifestyle that accompanies the apartment, sometimes even more than we talk about the apartment itself.
- Fine tune your messaging
People seeking luxury properties care about different things than those seeking standard properties. If you’re marketing to students and their parents, those renters want to hear about the amenities like an on-site fitness center, resort-style pool and Smart Home technology.
A family that’s just looking for a place to call home is going to care more about features like access to green spaces, neighborhood walkability and the reputation of the school district. You don’t have to have a luxury community to be able to talk about those things in your marketing materials, in fact, you don’t even need high-end marketing materials to talk about those advantages.
Threshold delivers detailed, impressive marketing materials for all kinds of communities, but we love creating an air of sophistication around our luxury communities. Contact us today for a free consultation to start applying luxury to your brand.
by threshold | May 25, 2017 | All, Design
Here at Threshold, we spend most days developing, creating and executing apartment marketing ideas for our clients. However, we’ve always been more than a marketing agency; we’re the Anti-Vacancy Agency. Many members of our marketing team come from previous careers in the residential industry, which, combined with years of experience interacting with residential industry clients, allows us to take on a more consolatory role when necessary for a client’s success.
In this week’s blog post, we’ll share some tips for property managers. Although we aren’t property managers, we interact with our clients every day and have picked up on some things along the way. In fact, one of our main selling points has always been the fact that we’re a third-party to the residential industry. Our unique perspective helps us provide clients with unique leasing marketing ideas.
Turn your Apartment Community into an Actual Community
As the Anti-Vacancy Agency, we make sure all our marketing efforts are developed with the end goal of getting vacancies filled and leases signed. Creating a sense of community at your apartment complex may sound like the kind of fluff that doesn’t translate to financial success, but that’s just not true.
Resident events, giveaways, door-decorating contests and pet costume contests may found frivolous, but they’re all key components of year-round resident retention efforts. Residents simply don’t want to leave communities where they have friends, familiarity with staff and opportunities to fill their social calendar. Whether you’re marketing to students, young professionals or senior citizens, creating a community within your complex is vitally important to long-term success.
In 2017, Being Resident-Friendly Means Being Pet-Friendly
According to the Washington Post, “Three-fourths of Americans in their 30s have dogs. That compares to 50 percent of the overall population with dogs”
Millennials love their pets, and what millennial renters want, millennial renters get. That’s probably because they are:
- The largest generation
- The renting generation
The days of “No Pets Allowed” signs and strict breed restrictions are long gone, at least for apartment communities that want to continue to be successful. Apartment managers can make residents with pets feel welcome by hosting pet events at the property and having giveaways that are specially designed to appeal to pet owners. It’s a pet owner’s world, we’re just living in it.
Remember, Your Property’s Online Presence Matters
Whether we’re talking about your property’s social media pages or the actual property website, your digital presence demands as much maintenance and upkeep as your physical apartment complex. Like chipped paint on the side of your building, prospective residents notice when your digital presence isn’t maintained. Keeping up digital appearances is no easy task, requiring once-weekly Facebook, Instagram and Twitter posts. That’s why of our clients use Threshold’s Social Media Management services to free them up to handle other tasks.
Sometimes, Residents Need Reminders
There’s nothing wrong with sending emails to residents now and again, but you don’t want to overdo it. That being said, residents do want to know that their management company or property manager is communicative. Sending out emails reminding residents to renew is a perfect way to show residents that you’re paying attention and available to help them out at any time.
You can count on the fact that your residents are being bombarded by ads and offers from other apartments in the area. That’s why it’s important for you to make your presence known every once in a while, whether it’s through a renewal reminder, an event invitation or a simple check-in to see if they’re willing to fill out a survey.
Threshold can you out with any of the aforementioned tips, so don’t hesitate to contact one of our residential marketing experts today.
by threshold | May 11, 2017 | All
Name: Mac Mischke
Title: Copywriter
Mac writes the messages that make our multifamily marketing campaigns memorable. Additionally, he is a part the creative team that generated dynamic apartment marketing ideas on a day to day basis.
Get to know Mac below!
What are 3 words you would use to describe Threshold?
Lively – Organized – Momentum
If you had an office nickname, what would it be?
“That guy who makes my words sounds better”
What is your favorite line from a movie?
Alright alright alriiight
If you were stuck on an island, what three things would you bring?
All the old Pokemon games, some sunscreen, and tons of La Croix.
What is the title of your autobiography?
Mac Mischke: What Went Wrong?
What is/would be your motto or slogan?
“A ship is safe in a harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.”
If you had a superpower, what would it be?
I would love to be able to fall asleep on command
What is your hidden talent?
I’m low key the fastest swimmer I’ve ever met.
If you were famous, what would it be for?
Hopefully for a bestselling novel. That’s my only shot.
Favorite Austin eats?
Chi’lantro. Specifically their honey butter chicken wings.
by threshold | May 4, 2017 | All
If you’re a property manager, or your work involves marketing to students, you’ve probably heard the phrase FOMO thrown around a lot in recent years. FOMO is an acronym for Fear of Missing Out. FOMO began as just another phrase born on social media, but it has become so commonly used that even respected outlets like Psychology Today have addressed the issue.
No app has the ability to strike FOMO into the hearts of young people quite like Snapchat. Now boasting more than 300 million monthly active users, Snapchat offers an attractive opportunity for managers hoping to implement new leasing marketing ideas at their next property event.
Using Snapchat for Leasing Events
Event promotion is in Snapchat’s DNA. Some features of the app were originally created for use at music festivals. The goal was to allow festival-goers to share their experiences with friends in the form of disappearing pictures and videos. However, the app is perfectly suited for promoting all kinds of events, which is why more and more apartment communities are using the app to raise awareness about their brands.
The app’s ability to allow people to share pictures and videos of themselves having fun at events makes it an ideal tool for leasing events and housing fairs. It’s not just about the pictures and videos though, Snapchat also lets brands add customized geofilters to certain locations and time frames.
Wait, What’s a Geofilter?
About a year ago, Snapchat began allowing brands to pay for customized geo-filters.
Simply put, a geo-filter is a graphic overlay. Customized geofilters can be overlaid on any picture or video than a Snapchat user takes when they’re in a certain geographic location within a designated time frame. Most properties that use geo-filters at their events choose to spice up their logo by adding some fun text or colors to it.
Sounds like it could help raise awareness, right? Here are some statistics that will help illustrate just how much awareness Snapchat filters can raise for your property.
These eye-popping statistics were compiled from Snapchat data and — since Snapchat recently went public — facts from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
158 million daily active users
301 million monthly active users
2.5 billion Snaps sent per day
30% of Millennial internet users open the Snapchat app regularly
30% of Snapchat users say they use the app because their parents don’t use it.
25-30 minutes—average amount of time spent using the app each day per user.
18 times — Number of times Snapchat’s daily users visit the app per day on average
These stats speak to the popularity of the Snapchat app, but your custom geofilter can live on outside Snapchat as well. Snapchat users often download or screenshot pictures to post them later. Imagine the impact your geofilter can have when it starts appearing on people’s Instagram posts and Facebook pictures as well! A professionally designed geofilter has the potential to be seen by thousands of potential residents.
Not only do Geofilters raise brand awareness by getting your logo out there, they also help your property’s reputation. When somebody sends a snap of themselves showing off your geofilter, it’s like they’re giving a personal endorsement to their friends. People trust endorsements from their friends more than any other kind of recommendation.
As the previously mentioned statistics show, the Snapchat audience is out there, just waiting for your branded geofilter. As properties plan their events for the summer and early fall with the goal of driving leases, demand for custom geofilters will be high. Threshold’s graphic designers can create Geofilters for your property’s next event, and while we’re at it, we’ll advise you on other apartment marketing ideas to raise awareness about your community.
by threshold | Apr 28, 2017 | All
Brittany is back in action this week, and she’s spilling the beans on some of our best outreach marketing ideas for apartment communities. We wouldn’t ordinarily release all these industry secrets, but all the nice weather in Austin has us in a giving mood.
Your property’s staff can take these tips for outreach marketing strategy and start implementing them right away. Our student housing clients are trying to fill vacancies for Fall 2017, and these tips could provide the final push they need. However, these outreach marketing ideas for apartments can be applied across the residential industry, so don’t feel left out if your property isn’t just for students.
Want more apartment marketing advice? Contact Threshold today. Until then, enjoy the Vlog!
