Students often have limited budgets, making it essential to provide easy-to-find pricing info on your property website in order to make it through this phase. Additionally, though tours may be an influencing factor during this phase, students tour in person less than other audiences, so virtual tours, high-quality photos, and comprehensive amenities lists are great ways to bridge that gap.

During consideration, prospects will often tour a handful of properties before signing a final lease. Though price point is still a chief deciding factor among their options, this audience tends to have more disposable income than others, making amenities and apartment size more important factors in their decision than for other audiences—pricing, amenities, and floor plans with square footage listed should all be highly visible on your property website.

During consideration, both the adult child and senior parent are likely to tour multiple properties to find the right match. Many of these prospects are moving from an owned home, so they are not limited by a concrete move-out date. This means they can afford to be picky, sometimes taking 3-6 months to find the perfect long-term home.

Student residents are particularly cognizant of online experiences and looking for hassle-free service through a variety of online portals. A well-functioning property mobile app or online portal and the ability to pay rent and submit maintenance requests online will go a long way in impressing this audience during this phase.

For the multi-family audience, responsiveness and upkeep are key. This audience needs to feel they can rely on apartment staff when things go wrong or when maintenance is needed, and values well-maintained amenities throughout the community. Rent changes over time can also impact this audience’s experience during this phase, with large rent increases likely to have a negative impact, especially when they are not matched by improvements to the community.

Community events and personal staff interactions make a huge impact during this phase for senior residents. Senior residents often value the feeling that they are part of a community, and value opportunities to connect with neighbors and on-site staff. Hassle-free maintenance requests and payment options are also key for this audience, since their housing goals tend to include reducing the hassles of home ownership and enjoying greater ease of living.

Students are more likely to be persuaded by online and peer reviews than any other audience. Don't neglect your reputation management; use the advocacy phase to your advantage by asking residents to leave an online review or refer their friends before (or shortly after) they move out.

Friends of tenants who visit the property may also participate in the loyalty and advocacy phases for multi-family properties. They may leave online reviews or refer their friends to the property, especially if the parts of the community most visible to them (amenity spaces, apartment interiors) have been well maintained by property staff.

Since in many cases, this audience wants to spend the rest of their life in their senior living community of choice, the advocacy phase can be less relevant for this digital journey. When relevant, it may rely more on the adult children of this audience than on the residents themselves.