It’s safe to say the tenants you’re targeting have scrolled through social media channels as they woke up this morning, then again at lunch time, traffic stops, drive-thru lines, and more. They’ll continue to shift their attention back to social platforms while taking a break from work, standing in line at the grocery store, watching the news, or brushing their teeth as they prepare for bedtime. For multifamily property managers, social media channels present a can’t-miss opportunity to attract and sway your ideal tenants — if you get the tone and content mix right.
Below you’ll find six ways to make prospects feel seen, educated, inspired or entertained by your social media presence. Mix and match them often to see engagement rise.
1. Humanize your property
You may have heard the adage that people prefer to do business with people, not faceless corporations. When marketing your property, putting a human face and personality on your brick and mortar is an instant rapport builder that helps you stand out from competing properties.
Balance sterile snapshots of empty kitchens or pristine landscapes with warm faces and personal stories, featuring residents, local staff, and more.
A few ideas:
- Featuring a pet of the month.
- Resident stories or testimonials, conveying their experiences in their own words.
- Staff spotlight including personal quirks that make them relatable to readers (e.g., hobbies, favorite spots in the neighborhood, favorite part of their job).
- Light-hearted content borrowed with permission from tenants (e.g., TikToks, videos or photos shot on your property).
2. Help visitors see themselves as your tenants
What’s it like to live at your multifamily property? Help social media visitors visualize themselves as your tenants. How do residents use the property? Do they hang out by the pool on weekends? Hit the gym at sunrise? Socialize at movie night or community cookouts? Give your social media audience a peek into life as a resident.
Potential ideas include:
- Resident events
- Images of tenants enjoying property features
- Tenants interacting with property staff, maintenance workers
- Nearby community resources and destinations that make living in your property enjoyable and convenient
3. Cater to furry friends
One trend that marked the pandemic is a huge rise in pet adoption. Demand for pets has been such that shelters nearly ran out of animals back in January, The Washington Post reported. Reasonably, one way to attract pet owners is to highlight pet-friendly policies and environments.
A few ways you can do that via social media:
- Will tenants find more favorable, flexible or affordable conditions for raising a pet in your properties? If so, let them know!
- Can pet owners enjoy easy access to nearby parks, pet stores, vet clinics or other conveniences? Consider showing that too.
- Showcase those sweet faces! Introduce pet lovers to Toto, Bandit, and other furry neighbors.
4. Highlight your ties to the community
As the pandemic stretches, consumers are craving stronger community connections, reports Forrester. Multifamily property managers have an opportunity to highlight their ties to the community, helping tenants establish roots and cultivate a sense of belonging.
You can showcase community ties by…
- Showing your support of community causes and organizations.
- Showing appreciation for local partners, vendors, homegrown products and services.
- Celebrating local heroes including frontline workers, first responders and healthcare professionals.
- Giving residents opportunities to give back via donations, volunteering, charity events, and more.
5. Answer FAQs & objections
Frequently asked questions are great opportunities to counter fears, prevent confusion, build a sense of comfort, and grow your rapport with prospective tenants. So are common objections! Get ahead of potential tripping points and neutralize them before they can snowball into false impressions or sabotage a sale.
Supportive content ideas include:
- Answering frequent questions, concerns or suggestions.
- Anticipating what prospects need at each stage of their decision-making process.
- Clarifying what to expect when scheduling a tour, closing a contract, or requesting support.
- Move-in tips, money-saving tips, and other how-to guidance.
- How to request, expedite or check the status of a maintenance request.
6. Listen, engage, adapt
Want to nail your social media content and tone? Approach it as a gracious party host. A charismatic host shows interest in others, listens intently, anticipates guests’ needs, is gracious in acknowledging the preferences and interests of their conversation partners, and gives more than they take.
To that end, take visitor feedback to heart, then respond quickly and with grace, just as you would treat a VIP guest in your living room. Encourage audience engagement with polls, giveaways, cross promotions with local merchants, and gleaning content ideas from their feedback.
Just as important, be consistent. As you prioritize what you can give and how you can help versus what you can gain from your audience, you’ll reap increased interest, referrals and conversions.