Having over 20 years of experience managing apartment communities and starting my own business focusing on managing social media for the apartment industry has helped me identify the top mistakes our property managers make when running their own social media campaigns.

1. Not consistently posting on social media – This should not be confused with “you should post multiple times a day on social media.”  I recommend posting 5-7 times per week because studies have shown this to be the sweet spot.  All those posts don’t have to be your original posts.  Share local events/news from other top media outlets in your city.  Think about what would interest YOU.  Posting videos of vacant apartments that are available are great, but no more than one per week.  The majority of your ‘likes’ are from your residents, what would cause them to engage with a post?
2. No one is in charge of social – Partnering with a company to manage your social media is always a good investment, but along with that, each Property Manager should designate someone on their team as the Social Media Manager.  I’ve learned over the years if it’s “everybody’s job” then it means “it’s nobody’s job” because no one can be held accountable.
3. Using social media as a message board – Property managers shouldn’t only post on social media about resident events/communications.  It creates a negative first impression when someone reviews your social media while considering to move there.  All they see are notices about rent being due, dogs need to be picked up after, vehicles are going to be towed…..not really creating that call to action to welcome them in! 
4. Posting bad content/pictures - If you are posting pictures of your property or resident events, please only choose the best of the best.  Unflattering photos of residents at a pool party or in the middle of eating aren’t the best ways to showcase your community.  Also, no one is going to scroll through 25 pictures of the pool party, choose 3-5 of the best pictures and post those.
5. Posting at the wrong times on social –Every team should be using the schedule function on your Facebook business page to pre-schedule the time your posts will hit Facebook.  Think about when you tend to be on social media yourself, lunch time is a great time to get higher engagement!  Posting at 7:30 am or 10:00pm on FB is not going to get you engagement.  Use the info on your Facebook Business Page, choose the Insights tab to see the days of week you get the best engagement on social, every property is slightly different.  Preschedule your posts for those days of the week. 
6.  Trying to be on every social network – HUGE!  I recommend Facebook and Instagram for my clients because I’ve had the most results on those two platforms in the apartment industry.  Clearly SnapChat has a big following, but that depends on your targeted demographic.  Facebook has the largest reach overall but the properties we work with are experiencing much higher engagement on Instagram.  If you are trying to be on every network out there and keep up with it all, you’ll quickly burn out yourself and your teams.  Focus on what works best for your apartment community.
7. Sounding too corporate – Now, I know I’m making some RPMs nervous when I say this, but hear me out.  Social media is meant to be, well, SOCIAL.  I never engage with social media posts that are worded in a way to ‘sell’ to me.  Nobody wants to be sold to, we want to be interacted with, informed and entertained.  I’m certainly not suggesting you be too casual or use language that could be offensive but your goal should be CONVERSATIONAL.  How you can word your posting to connect with your audience?
8. Not responding to reviews/comments at all or quickly - Have your team members responded to EVERY review/comment that has been posted, even the good ones?  Thanking someone for their comment is Social Media 101, whether it is negative or positive.  It validates the time they spent to make it.  Every firm should have a policy about how to respond to negative reviews on social media, so they can respond right away each time without hesitation.  Negative reviews are going to happen, but when I see that management has responded quickly and sounds like they want to help, it diffuses the power of the comment quickly.  Please don’t overlook the people who had something positive to say!  Those are the folks you want to show some love!
9. Arguing online about negative comments – If a resident or prospect posts a negative comment, respond but keep it short and sweet, then say you will message them to discuss.  Do NOT engage in online comment wars because you will always lose.
10. Incorrect setup on Facebook/Instagram – I see this all the time when I begin working with new clients.  The original setup of the Facebook Business Page was done incorrectly and it is making it difficult to find your community and the check-in feature was never enabled to increase your visibility when people visit.  Also, Instagram was setup as a personal account and never converted to a business account, so you are losing valuable Instagram reporting insights.