by threshold | Sep 1, 2016 | All, Tech/Web
What sets your property apart?
For some, it’s location. No matter what amenities the competition offers, prime location draws prospects to the leasing office day in and day out.
Other properties beat the competition with luxurious amenities. Resort-style pools and 24-hour fitness centers provide residents with an area to hang out or work out in their own community.
Still other properties might woo prospects with bigger, better floor plans than the competition. Lots of prospects decide to move simply because they want to upgrade to a larger living space.
The point is, every property has a differentiating factor. Today’s blog post is about another differentiator: technology. Properties that take advantage of modern technology offer a more convenient lifestyle, and sometimes that can make all the difference.
Differentiators are important because prospects have no shortage of properties to choose from these days. Multifamily housing construction increased 43% from 2012-2014, compared to a 20% growth rate for single-family home construction during that time. Much of this growth has been propelled by a young population renting to take advantage of luxury amenities they can’t get with single family homes.
Here’s another statistic showing the demand for amenities only found in larger communities: In 2004, 24% of new multifamily units were located in large buildings with 50 or more units. In 2014, that number grew to 48%. With rent prices only going up, renters expect large communities to meet their wants and needs in terms of amenities.
One “want” that has become a “need” is high-speed internet. A fast Wi-Fi connection is the No. 1 desired amenity for multifamily properties according to Richard Holtz, CEO of Infinisys Electronic Architects. People want internet access in their apartments, at the pool, in the gym and in common areas. Today’s connected residents need Wi-Fi like they need air to breathe, and the industry must conform.
Technology can help bring in revenue too. A recent study by PayPal and Koski Research revealed that millennials enjoy paying digitally and are more than willing to try out emerging payment options. The study also reported that more than 30% of millennials consider credit cards to be “old school.” If credit cards are old school, what does that make monthly rent checks? The days of collecting rent payments in person are long gone, and online rent and utility payment portals should be the new industry standard. Online payment options not only help residents submit payments on time, but also helps them feel like their property management team is working with them rather than against them.
Smart home automation is the leading edge technology popping up in new properties these days. Nest Thermostats and smart lightbulbs work with mobile apps to help residents stay comfortable and reduce energy costs. These devices learn and adapt to resident preferences, giving your property an extra “wow” factor to mention in your multifamily marketing materials. Even low-cost smart home offerings like built-in USB ports let residents know your property is tech-savvy.
One new technology we’re extra excited about is Beacon technology. Apple’s iBeacon allows mobile apps to scan for signals from physical Beacons in the real world and react with push notifications. The opportunities to use Beacons with current residents and prospects are endless. For instance, when leasing agents are giving tours, Beacon technology can be used to highlight key features as residents make their way through the property. A finishing touch here, a spectacular view there, calling attention to the little things that residents might otherwise miss.
Current residents can receive alerts about special promotions at your property’s spa or snack bar when they walk by. Beacon technology could also remind residents about renewal specials when they’re passing your leasing office. Beacons are truly a next-level opportunity for apartment marketing.
At Threshold, we spend a lot of time coming up with marketing ideas for apartments that harness the power of emerging technology. We know that the faster property’s implement new technology, the more impressed future residents tend to be.
by threshold | Aug 5, 2016 | All, Tech/Web
Facebook rolled out its new 360 Photo feature in June, describing it as a way to “share immersive stories, places and experiences.” As the marketing agency Austin turns to for innovative apartment marketing ideas, we can definitely get behind the “places” part of that quote. The new technology presents a prime opportunity for residential marketers to provide in-depth property tours to prospects before they ever leave home, and provide those tours on a platform the prospects are already familiar with.
360 Photo offers a whole lot more than your typical “fly-through” or “walk-through” property video. The viewer can rotate their device and drag their fingers across the screen to view the room from every angle depending on the direction they’re facing. This type of experience is tailor-made for prospects to see every nook and cranny of a residential space.
Facebook offers succinct directions on how to take and post 360 Photos:
1. Take a panorama on your iOS device or Samsung Galaxy phone or capture a 360-degree photo using a 360 photo app or 360 camera.
2. Open the Facebook app and share the photo as you would any other photo: tap the status tool from the top of your Timeline or News Feed, select Photo/Video, choose the photo you want to share, and tap Post
3. Once your photo is posted, look around in your photo — or any other 360 photo in News Feed that’s marked with the compass icon — by moving your phone or dragging with your finger. Tap on the photo to view it in full screen.
Facebook’s 360 Photo technology is a step below the Oculus Rift or Samsung Gear VR in terms of an immersive virtual experience, but to dismiss the technology for this reason misses the point of 360 Photos on Facebook. Part of the appeal of 360 Photo is how easily the content assimilates into everyday life. One second prospects are scrolling past baby photos on their Facebook feed, the next they’re taking a virtual tour of your property on their own terms and on their own device.
There are similar marketing ideas for apartments that property managers can use to offer virtual tours, but 360 Photo is the most intuitive option. Apartments.com offers virtual reality tours on their website, but they require expensive virtual reality headsets. At a demo in San Francisco at the National Apartment Association conference in June 2016, attendees could walk through a series of properties using an HTC Vive headset and hand controllers. However, very few people have access to virtual reality headsets. Even if property managers supply prospects with the headsets on-site, isn’t the whole point of virtual tours to allow renters to check out properties on their own time and in the comfort of their own home?
As Business2Community.com points out, brands have been slow on the uptake of 360 Photo. However, colleges like Oregon State and The University of Oklahoma have recently featured 360 Photos on their pages, which should be a signal to the student housing marketing industry that future residents are ready and willing to use this technology.
Threshold Agency can help your property get started with 360 Photo and any other social media marketing initiatives. Schedule a call today so you can fill vacancies and keep them that way.
by threshold | Aug 17, 2015 | All, Tech/Web
At Threshold, the Anti-Vacancy Agency, we know that great photography is the basis of good advertising to attract your future residents. As the saying goes, “People buy with their eyes.” Even though they may not be making a decision to purchase, they will be drawn to high quality imagery of your property in their search for their next sanctuary. Great photography = fewer vacancies.
How attractive is your property “profile” photo?
If you are perusing profiles on an online dating site, besides reading clever bios, you’ll more likely be attracted to those with a lovely, current photo aren’t you? Appearances may not be everything, but it’s a good basis to begin, isn’t it? The same philosophy applies to your property “presence” on and offline. We must always have beautiful, up-to-date images to present to our potential renters. As branding and marketing experts, Threshold is ready to get you all the attention your property deserves.
How current are your photos?
When was the last time your student housing community multi-family apartment complex, senior living facility or single family home development was photographed? The last time you completed a renovation? That’s not often enough. If a client arrives on site, having seen seedling trees on your web site, yet you have mature shading oaks, you have short-changed your public image. If you’ve got it, flaunt it! Plan to photograph your community every time you have a change of season. People love coziness from the winter cold, enjoy strolls through the trees during fall color, gazing at fresh flower gardens in the spring, and will visualize themselves beating the heat in your turquoise pool in summer. Help them channel their future lifestyle!
If you do have regularly scheduled photos taken, have you positively portrayed all of the amenities you offer? …that Olympic-size pool, gleaming high-rise tower, well-appointed apartment, state-of-the-art game room, and lavish landscaping…
Why not?
Okay. So where do you begin if you are photography-challenged? Ask yourself these questions:
What is your properties’ strongest selling point? Facilities? Amenities? Location? Lifestyle? The strategy to promote each of these is very different AND each requires a different STYLE of photography. See examples below:
So, you have your strategy in place, are you ready for a photographer? Not yet.
First, make a comprehensive list of property features you wish to promote and photograph:
- Amenities (swimming pool, fitness center, cardio/yoga spaces)
- Model room interiors (flat screen TVs, kitchens, bedrooms, living areas, balconies, baths)
- Public room interiors (club houses, venues, dog parks)
- Prominent landscapes (vistas, luxurious gardens, lakes, trees)
- Notable architecture, monuments, nearby universities
- Do you want to include models in the shoot? What is your plan to recruit models (professional models or residents and/or staff members)?
Once your list is complete, we will plan a photo shoot that maximizes the best time of day to capture all on your list so that you have a gorgeous library of images at your fingertips for every marketing and advertising occasion.
What’s the secret of gorgeous images of building exteriors, interiors, landscaping and portraiture? The time of day the photos were taken.
Best times of day for great photos? Low light.
Low light is between 7am and 10am, and again from 4pm to 7pm. This is the best natural light to showcase your property. Long graceful shadows drape across architectural details, golden sunlight trace the edges of your beautiful landscaping and people will glow with warm sunlight on their shoulders. Otherwise, between 11am and 3pm, the sun beats down, creating harsh shadows on faces, bleached-looking gardens and creates a near black-and-white color spectrum. Even interior shots can be a challenge because the light through the windows is too strong. See examples below:
A word about resolution.
Even though cell phone cameras are making amazing advances, in order to use your photos for print and web, the resolution must be at least 12 megapixels. Even then, phone cameras have limited crispness. It is best to hire a professional photographer with high-resolution and light adjustment capabilities to insure your property always looks its best! And technology is only part of capturing quality images – the composition is key to capturing the best pictures. A high-resolution picture is all for not, if the composition of the picture is off.
Take a step in the direction towards a vacancy-free community, and schedule your photo shoot today with Threshold.
by threshold | Jul 2, 2015 | All, Tech/Web
Over the last several years, tech writers and bloggers have fiercely debated if email marketing and even email in general is a dying medium (a quick Google search reveals both sides of the debate). But the fact that the debate rages on and email is still hanging around might indicate its resilience. After all, email has been around since 1971.
One thing is for sure, email as a technology and communication tool is evolving. The method of how we send/receive email has drastically changed in the past 10 years. Emails need to have a big hook. The subject line has to grab your attention. Think about the emails you get daily—what do you open or trash? Your copy and delivery needs to be up to date or you will be sooo 2014. But what are the best email marketing practices for student and multifamily?
Overload
According to a report by The Radicati Group, worldwide consumers send and receive 87.6 billion emails per day. Add that with the number of business emails sent/received, the total number of emails sent/received is a staggering 196 billion. That number is expected to rise to 227 billion by 2018. Whether you’re a student housing, multifamily or senior living marketer, you have to stand out in the crowd.
Get Mobile – Don’t be the 31 %
This is a no-brainer. Make sure your emails look good on phones and tablets. They don’t have to be responsive, just clear and easy to read on smaller devices. According to Litmus, 48% of emails are first opened on a mobile phone. And 80% of email subscribers delete emails that “look bad” on their phones. Funny enough, 31% of marketers don’t send responsive emails. This is another chance to get ahead of the pack.
CTA and Content
Knowing that emails will be read on-the-go (in class, at the grocery store, etc) it’s imperative you keep your call-to-action (CTA) catchy and to the point. Ultimately, your end goal with emails is to push the receiver to your website.
Emails are not the right medium to include a laundry list of your communities’ amenities. Let the reader find that information on your website. Use the email as the bait to get them to there. Think quick and memorable.
Intrusion
There’s no denying that purchasing mass lists can be effective, but is this the right place for it? From a list of a 100,000 names, even if you achieve a click rate of 1% (the real estate industry open rate is 2.2%) you’re still driving 1,000 pieces of traffic to your website. Not bad at all. We encourage you to think of your audience and think of your own preferences. Many companies can purchase lists and blast away…but remember, spam is called spam for a reason. People don’t want it. The property that spams-a-lot can have this backfire quickly. Spam filters have become super intuitive and readers very savvy. Best practice? Use the relevant lists you’ve collected through use of raffle entries, housing fairs, contact forms on websites, etc. Be authentic. Be relevant and memorable.
At Threshold Agency, we build brand. We also build best practices from experience and create custom solutions to keep the leases rolling in! So let’s hit “Send” together!
by threshold | Jun 24, 2015 | All, Tech/Web
At Threshold, the anti-vacancy agency, we know that designing a cool website is much like planning your dream home. It’s exciting! But who wants a home that wins design awards for curb appeal but doesn’t have a front door? How about a kitchen without a sink? Or a living room without windows? To be truly cool, a website has to serve many purposes, just like a home. As experts in branding and residential marketing, Threshold concentrates on attracting your future occupants by focusing on their needs before we ever begin construction. What makes a website COOL? So what are the important questions to ask?
- Who is your target resident/group/audience?
- What is the top benefit you have to offer your target audience? Price? Location? Amenities?
- Do you have property application forms, floor plans, and maps available in downloadable PDFs?
- What categories do we need for concise navigation?
- Do you have a strong logo, color system, and font set?
- Are there plenty of photographs to show the beauty of the renovated pool, updated workout rooms and the layouts of the rooms?
- Are there competitors close by that we must exceed?
Once we gather the information that answers those questions, we can establish the new web structure. What about the visual look of the site? Which style, look and feel is appropriate for your target audience? Rustic? Modern? Playful? Vibrant? Elegant? The Threshold design team will delve into the creative process using our design strategy to craft a custom and unique look. Done well, great design helps future residents see themselves living the good life at your property.
The Threshold consulting team knows that, even then, the evaluations aren’t over! We’ll scrutinize the site using important principles for successful websites:
- Does it clearly tell the viewer who you are?
- Is the site eye-catching and design-appropriate for your target audience? (Whether for student housing, senior living, or multifamily units)
- Is it simple to navigate?
- Is there a value proposition for the viewer?
- Is there a call to action?
- Does the content change often?
- Is it viewable on all media – i.e. responsive?*
Speaking of viewable, an adaptable or responsive website is a must. Although Cameron Adams demonstrated it as early as 2004, in 2010, Ethan Marcotte coined the phrase “Responsive Web Design” or RWD. That means cool websites “respond” by interchanging the elements of the site so that it they are always legible on the media on which they appear: computers, laptops, iPads, monitors, and various cell phone platforms. How? We must program liquid layouts using media inquiries. Liquid layouts are when elements and images adjust their size and aspect ratio according to the size of media. Media inquiries are the set of programming rules and scripts that enables the elements on a web page to always be legible. When these strategies are applied, as you open your web window larger, the images, text, and ad banners change with you! At Threshold, the design and development teams will program multiple layouts for every page so that you always shine.
Whether it’s a website for student housing, senior living, or a new residential development, we are your best advocate to make sure vacancies are few and far between! As THE residential marketing experts, we will create well organized, visually stunning, and responsive websites for you.
by threshold | May 28, 2015 | All, Tech/Web
Here we are…The Age of the Selfie. What does that mean for you and marketing your community? It’s how people find your apartment community. It’s how you look online. It’s your Internet curb appeal. Become a residential marketing expert and take an online selfie of your community every few months. Here are simple steps can make all the difference and keep your online reputation intact. Online reputation should be managed daily.
The Home Page
- Is your web site responsive and adaptive?
- Does your theme represent the brand?
- Is it resident focused?
- Do your pictures dazzle?
- Is your call to action prominent? Do you have a call to action?
- Is your contact information correct?
- Are the leasing specials up to date and accurate? Does the verbiage match your other marketing materials?
- Is your copy well written? Free of copy and grammatical errors? Does it connect well with online campaigns and any ads?
The Contact Page
- Do you have an opt-in form?
- Test the form. Are they being sent to the right person internally?
- Are they being tracked?
Leasing Online
- Does your site have the ability to lease online? If not, it’s time to make the jump!
Social Media
- Are your social media links working correctly? Are you tracking them through Google Analytics?
- Are the graphics (profile picture, cover photo) sized correctly and high-resolution?
- How often are you posting and tweeting?
- Is your messaging consistent with what is on your website? Are you promoting any current leasing specials?
After you’ve thoroughly reviewed your website, it’s time to take the big leap. Google yourself! Definitely put away some time for this part of the Selfie.
Search both the key terms a potential resident would use and your property name. The key term search might be a combination of “service” + “location.” For example, “apartments Austin” or “student living in Austin.”
When you search using your property name, also search acronyms or city abbreviations. For example, use “UV” for University Village and “Tally” for Tallahassee.
Also search your property name on ILS’s like apartments.com, apartmentfinder.com, apartmentlist.com, rent.com or any other regional/local sites. Make sure specials, images, floor plans, messaging is up to date and consistent with your website and social media channels.
Digital audits only help if they happen on a regular basis, schedule your online Selfie and make it a priority. Have a plan. Create action items. And update, update, update! Before you know it, you’ll be trending and leases will be rolling in!
Threshold Agency is a full service marketing agency specializing in the student housing, multifamily, senior living industries.
