Today’s renters shop for properties online.
This means traditional yard signs and paper fliers can only get you so far. Online shopping is the most popular way to find properties and often the only way for those who live far away or can’t make it to a showing.
Your chances of filling a vacant unit skyrocket when you market your property online.
While digital marketing introduces new versatility and wide reach, it also comes with new rules. To successfully advertise your properties on digital platforms, you need to understand the expectations, audiences, and purposes of each platform and their potential to host your ads.
Here are six tips for marketing your rental properties digitally.
1. Determine Your Target Audience
Every website and advertising platform has a different user demographic.
Unlike a yard sign that everyone passing on the street will notice, only certain groups of people will see a property ad posted on a particular site. If you just pick a few sites at random to post your ads, you could end up with an influx of applicants from populations you weren’t expecting.
Therefore, it’s important to determine your target audience before starting your digital marketing campaign. Who are your ideal renters? How would you describe their age, location, familial status, etc.?
Remember that you can’t use these factors to discriminate against renters after they’ve applied. Identifying your ideal renters is only a strategy for adjusting your applicant pool to include more renters who are already qualified to rent your properties.
2. Identify Your Properties’ Strengths
Next, determine your properties’ strengths or best features. Is it the downtown location? Affordability? Are your properties in a quiet neighborhood or close to a major university? Do they include certain amenities that other properties don’t?
If you know your properties’ best features, you can probably predict who will most likely be interested in them.
For instance, a quiet, spacious neighborhood might attract families with young children. A downtown location would most likely attract young professionals or single renters, while low rent or a nearby university appeal to student renters.
Finally, ask yourself whether the population you identify as being most interested in your properties also matches your target audience. If not, consider how to adjust either your properties or marketing strategy.
3. Pick Platforms
Once you have a target audience, it’s time to choose your primary platforms.
You should always include major listing sites like Zillow, Apartments.com, Realtor.com, or Trulia. These sites have a wide audience, and renters are certain to check these first.
Remember, if you use landlord property management software, you can use the listing syndication feature to distribute your listings to multiple sites at once.
You can also advertise your properties on social media. Focus on one or two platforms rather than trying to tackle three or four at once. For example, Facebook Marketplace is a great place to get your listings to Millennial users, while Instagram is an image-based platform better for community-building and is used by many younger renters.
4. Add an Engaging Title and Attractive Photos
The headline and photograph are your primary tools for attracting renters online. Headlines should be brief and engaging, and include the price, type of property, location, and the best feature.
Photos are also critical. Many renters rule out properties based on photographs alone. Use your photos to make a positive first impression by using a high-quality camera, natural lighting, and including all major rooms.
5. Monitor Activity and Post Regularly
You aren’t done once you’ve posted your listings. To succeed long-term at digital marketing, you need to monitor renter activity online and sustain your own.
This means responding to messages, reacting or commenting on others’ content, and regularly posting new content yourself. You can also set up automated responses to renters who express interest in your properties on sites like Zillow or Apartments.com.
6. Create a Virtual Tour
Finally, if you’re looking to really master digital rental marketing, consider creating virtual tours.
Many renters don’t have the time or resources to travel long distances to attend a showing. However, they still want to experience your properties before signing a lease. Meet these renters’ needs by curating virtual tour content on your website to supplement your photographs.
A virtual tour can be as simple as prerecording yourself showing the unit. You can also use 360-degree tour software to give online users an interactive experience of exploring your properties virtually.
Navigate Digital Marketing Like A Pro
It’s true that entering the digital marketing arena means learning all new rules. However, any extra work you dedicate to learning how to market your properties online will quickly pay off. By considering your audience and showcasing their strengths on the platforms that your ideal renters will find them, you can find great renters for your properties in no time.
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