Topic: Generating Traffic....HELP!!!!

Hello!

I'm a property manager at a very cute complex of 100 units. There is now a new management company that started the first of the year and I started the beginning of February. Since then we have unfortunately had a handful of evictions and a few move outs. Being such a small property just having one person move out makes a big impact. The past two months have also been very very slow for traffic. We are on busy road which in February and March were bringing in lots of drive by traffic, however, now it's taking a big halt. I had 3 tours all week last week...I'm dying here.

We have a package with ForRent and have an ad in their magazine and online. I call any miss traffic as soon as I see there was a missed call. Respond to all emails we receive, I post on Craigslist throughout the day, we had ForRent bring in a photographer and updated all our pictures, I change up the signage along the busy street to catch peoples eyes, I do a property walk everyday with my maintenance supervisor to make sure the property looks great at all times, open my models and make sure they are nice and fresh, I have someone putting out flyers in the area, have a preferred employee program going on. I started our Facebook account through ForRent and they give a free iPad away every month for people who like our page and sign up for the drawing. We give money off rent for resident referrals. I just feel really stuck. We have great apartments with huge selling features, when we get people coming in we have a high closing ratio, the issue lately has been getting people in the door. If anyone has any ideas, no matter how out of the box, please let me know!! THANK YOU A MILLION!!!

Hi Liana-

I noticed you have someone doing outreach marketing (placing flyers), but I was curious how much of it they are doing. Also, how targeted is your collateral? We find that if you go out with a broad spectrum marketing message trying to appeal to the masses, you end up appealing to NO ONE. We believe in very targeted niche marketing- you have to pull at their heartstrings! So if you're going to the schools in your surrounding areas, you should have a flyer design that applies to teachers and admin staff. If you're going to hospitals and medical offices, you should have medical themed flyers, etc. Also, be sure to bring labeled goodies along with you!

My other thought was the actual presentation of the person going to the businesses. You represent the buying power of 100 families in the area- any partnership is mutually beneficial! So don't be timid- go in with a big smile. Here are some presentations that we suggest: s1094.photobucket.com/user/SproutMarketi...zpsc771a241.jpg.html

I work for a company that helps onsite teams with their monthly outreach marketing campaigns. Please let me know if you need additional tips!

Tasa Balderrama
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Sprout is a fantastic resource! I highly recommend them - very creative in their approaches and beautiful marketing materials, too! But if your budget is now stretched, you might look into trying to capitalize on their suggestions. So, let me ask you why your closing ratio is so high? Who are you renting to? Where is the current traffic that you are closing coming from (is it from a particular employer, referrals, drive by since your location is excellent?) I think traffic sometimes has an ebb and flow. Now, here, it is graduation time and people are busy with this and not looking for new housing. You might try targeting those past Traffic Prospects from a year ago who may not have rented to see if they would be interested in touring again since their leases are expiring. One of my biggest successes has always been partnering with home builders whose clients may be selling houses and needing short term housing if you are worried about occupancy. However, you need to cap the number of short term leases you allow. You could perhaps try bandit signs if signage regulations allow. You might also try sending cute follow up gifts in the mail offering to waive the app fee if they come back and rent. (One person here sent flip flop in the mail with that as their marketing theme. It was super cute!) I would also tout your website and the ease of applying online if that is applicable to your property. That worked wonders for me with a small community - I also changed the property photos seasonally on the website and made sure our curb appeal was outstanding.

Liana, Mindy as always gave great advice and suggestions. You can never go wrong by listening to what she has to put out. I will put in here a list of advertising sites that do not cost anything unless you take their bells and whistles. I never take them and keep it at free. Now, I would just look them over and see which ones will give you what you need.
Another thing is if you have a military base close to you and have not been in contact with them this is always a good thing as you can increase your traffic and get some sure pay customers.
www.ablewise.com/
www.adsglobe.com/
www.adsinusa.com/
www.adeex.us/
www.adjingo.com/
www.adquest3d.com/main.cfm?brd=1
www.adoos.us/
www.buysellcommunity.com/
cosmos11.adpost.com/
www.beatyourprice.com/
www.bestwayclassifieds.com/
www.classifiedads.com/
www.classifiedsforfree.com/
www.classifiedslive.com/
www.domesticsale.com/
epage.com/?r=870618
www.ezclassifieds.com/
www.free2postads.com/
www.freeadlists.com/
www.freeadscity.com/
www.inetgiant.com/
www.mytownads.com/
www.olx.com/
www.oodle.com/
www.porkypost.com/
www.salespider.com/
www.stumblehere.com/
www.supershopper.org/
www.targro.com/
www.usfreeads.com/
www.webcosmo.com/
www.wildfireclassifieds.com/
www.yardsalenet.net/
www.zikbay.com/
migpro.1-family.com/
www.50statesclassifieds.com/
craigslist.org/
www.backpage.com/
www.freelistingsonline.com/
www.tmzclassifieds.com/
www.kijiji.com/
livesimon.com/
www.iupost.com/
www.hoobly.com/
www.corkin.com/
I also have some shameless promotion ideas that I can give which would not cost your property anything and may assist you with also receiving some ancillary income as well. If you want to know more, then you can contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.