Written by Alfred Perez, Digital Success Manager
In 2010, 1.8 billion people had access to high-speed internet. Six years later it was 3 billion. Now, experts are forecasting that the entire world—and its roughly 8 billion people—will have high-speed internet access as early as 2022. With all that connectivity, much of our lives take place fully online already. These realities paved the way for new approaches to work when the COVID-19 pandemic hit: many businesses have shifted their attention to working remotely and/or a hybrid approach.
According to Review 42, before the coronavirus hit, 4.7 million people were already working remotely. Once the pandemic hit, 88% of the organizations, worldwide, made it mandatory or encouraged their employees to work-from-home. One benefit to employers and employees of this approach is that the rise in the availability to work-from-home offers the employees the option of living in cheaper, outskirt cities rather than being tethered near the office to avoid commutes.
WFH, The New Normal
The longer this pandemic forces people to work remotely, the more businesses are looking to expand their remote offerings and policies for current and future employees.
- In April 2020, a Gallup survey revealed that 60% respondents said that they’d prefer to work remotely as much as possible once coronavirus is under control.
- In August 2020, a report by CNN polled about 800 employers. 83% of respondents said they would have more flexible remote work policies after the pandemic.
- In September of 2020, Reuters surveyed about 1,200 Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in which they said they expect 34.4% of their employees to be permanently remote for 2021.
How Apartment Communities Can Adapt to This Shift
To stay competitive, owners and managers should consider providing amenities and services to appeal to potential residents who work-from-home and tailor their marketing messaging with this focus.
There are 3 main focuses that owners, management, and apartment marketers can use to attract residents who work-from-home:
- Tools and resources like high-speed internet or fiber internet. 92% of residents would like to have high speed internet in their apartments. 76% were interested in having USB ports in the wall.
- Allow the potential resident to visualize living and working there. Apartment marketing constantly adapts to the current situation and right now, it’s work-from-home. Examples include virtual staging tools to stage balconies or workspaces in vacant apartments, large windows for ample light, amenity spaces where residents can plug in and get to work, and rooftops and courtyards for a fresh video call backdrop. There has also been a correlation between work-from-home residents and being a pet owner so try incorporating apartment ads and messaging on your website related to that as well.
- Don’t forget about your current residents when you’re out looking for new ones. Current residents are more likely to renew and they are the best source for referrals. People crave human interaction and work-from-home residents are no exception. Adapting the community spaces to be more work-from-home friendly and hosting community events will help retain work-from-home residents.
Remote Work Is Not Going Anywhere
The pandemic threw a screwball in just about every business, but one thing is for sure, we learned how to adapt because of the rise in technology advancements. By allowing employees to work-from-home, businesses have lower overhead costs and studies show that employees are also more productive. We’re more connected than ever and businesses can still operate remotely in full effect. When the pandemic has gone away, we know working remotely will stay. That means the adaptations you make to your apartment marketing strategy will be beneficial even after the pandemic wanes.
