Month: January 2021

resident appreciation resident appreciation

Resident Appreciation: We Love Our Residents

Written by Stacey Feeney on January 24, 2021. Posted in All Articles, Marketing.

Residents have been home more than ever this year, and we are grateful when ‘home’ is at our communities. In a world where less people are moving, resident retention is paramount. Your amazing residents should be celebrated, and now’s the perfect time to shower them some well-deserved appreciation! Hosting a Resident Appreciation Week (or Day) gives you time to have a variety of events to connect with all types of residents. Our guide will show you how to host some stress-free, COVID-safe and budget-friendly events that will show your residents how much they are valued at your community.

How to Host a Resident Appreciation Campaign

1. Pick a Week or Day on the Calendar

That gives you enough time to plan and prep. Valentine’s Day is a nice way to tie-in with a holiday focused on all those warm and fuzzy feelings. You’ll find plenty of festive décor at Target or the party supply stores.

2. Consider Your Community

When choosing what will work in your space while staying COVID-safe. A garden community might benefit from door delivery. A high-rise might find a spot in the lobby where residents can take some goodies on their way out the door. With some careful planning, you can have virtual or grab-and-go moments with your residents that are just as meaningful.

3. Decide on a Mix of Events, Gifts and Giveaways

Keep reading for some great ideas to get you started!

4. Create a Budget

For your events, and it doesn’t have to be pricey. Vendors will often work with you to sponsor an event. They can provide some marketing materials for your residents and provide funds to cover your costs.

5. Invite Your Residents

Email, texts, social posts and signage around the property. You’ll want residents to save the date so send these out early! Remember, zipcode creative is your partner in designing custom branded graphics for all of these things!

Show Resident Appreciation with Gifts

Find a theme that fits your community and select your signature gift and then pair your resident gift with a custom designed and hand-written card to show your appreciation. Postcards or greeting cards slip right into gift bags and give you the opportunity to send your message of gratitude. If you’re doing a door delivery, maybe personalize a cute door hanger that you can hang with your gift. Here are a few clever gift ideas for you to tweak or steal:

Valentine’s Day Themed Gift Ideas

Everyone loves a sweet treat, chocolate or candy and this is an obvious choice if you plan to celebrate Resident Appreciation in conjunction with Valentine’s Day. Pair your sweet treat gift with a “We think you’re sweet” card as the cherry on top!
Wrap some Burt’s Bees up with a card saying “Bee our Valentine”
Celebrate some self-love with bath bombs for everyone with a note saying “You’re the bomb Valentine”.

Year Round Gift Ideas

Give a house plant or cactus to each unit with a “Never Desert Us!” message – clever, catchy and plants brighten any home.
Gift a bottle of wine with a custom label saying “love, like wine, gets better with time & we <3 you!”
Local coffee shop gift card inside of a mug saying “home is morning coffee in my favorite mug.” Complement it with a note that says “we’re glad you’re home at ___ apartments!”

Spoil Them with Events and Giveaways

You’ll need plenty of ways to show your appreciation if you decide to spoil your residents with a week long celebration. In addition to a thoughtful gift or two, host an event, giveaway or other special moment throughout the week. Here are just a few ideas to get you started that you can tailor to fit your property and residents’ interests:

Raffle off really good prizes throughout the week.
Personalize your appreciation by hand delivering your gifts to each door.
Grab-and-go goodie bags in the lobby or clubhouse filled with swag and knick-knacks.
Invite them to come by for a cookie break one afternoon in the social lounge – partner with a local bakery to provide a tasty variety.
Provide muffins and mini ojs in the lobby for breakfast on the go.
Deck your lobby out with vases and flowers. Residents can take a bloom back to their home for some fresh greenery.
Host a Facebook Live yoga class focused on love and gratitude
We #LoveOurPets day. Connect with a pet vendor or local dog walker to raffle a prize and ask residents to bring their pooches by the dog park or office for treats!
Give out mini champagne bottles in the lobby to level up their weekend brunch-at-home.
Keep it simple and give residents what everyone loves most – money! Send a gift card with a thank you to each apartment.

Resident Referrals – Double the Love

Show your residents you really love them by doubling your resident referral fee for the month in honor of Resident Appreciation. Another option is to offer a special incentive you wouldn’t normally give – like a month’s free rent when you refer a friend who leases and moves in! They’ll be excited about the extra incentive, and you’ll get to connect with some prospects who might be in the market.

Resident Reviews

If it’s been a while since you’ve asked your residents for reviews, this is a great time to remind them. Send a “Show the Love” email to your residents encouraging them to share their favorite parts about living at your community. Incentivize them to post a review by entering them into a giveaway for doing so and then turn their reviews into cute graphics to repost on social! We can help with this too – social media or email graphics, we’ve got your back!

Resident Appreciation Strategy for Renewals

Whether you celebrate Resident Appreciation week or day, whether you pair it with Valentine’s Day or dedicate a date of your choosing – having a Resident Appreciation campaign at your community is one of the best strategies to secure lease renewals. Keep it simple or go all out with emails, flyers, signage, gifts and events galore. Your residents will remember your kind gestures, big or small. Keep us in mind for custom designs for campaigns just like this one!

Direct Mail Marketing Direct Mail Marketing Direct Mail Marketing

Direct Mail Marketing for Apartments That Will Drive Leases

Written by Stacey Feeney on January 13, 2021. Posted in All Articles, Graphic Design, Marketing.

In our digital age, direct mail marketing pieces are often-overlooked in favor of flashier online alternatives. But taking it back to basics with a marketing mailer can be one of the best ways to generate interest among prospective residents.

From showing off property photos to advertising special promotions to highlighting your amenities, direct mail marketing is a simple and effective outlet to talk about what makes your community unique. If you’re considering marketing mailers to help fill current vacancies, try advertising a few key events to pique prospects’ interest.

Direct Mail Marketing Stats

• On average, Americans receive 605 emails and 16.8 pieces of mail every week.

• For roughly every 36 emails you receive on average, you get 1 piece of mail in your mailbox.

• The average lifespan of an email is 17 seconds, compared to direct mail’s average lifespan of 17 days.

• 73% of American consumers say they prefer being contacted by brands via direct mail because they can read it whenever they want.

• 58% of the mail American households receive is marketing mail.

• 59% of US respondents say they enjoy getting mail from brands about new products.

• 60% of catalog recipients visit the website of the company that mailed them the catalog.

• Up to 90% of direct mail gets opened, compared to only 20-30% of emails.

• Prospects are 15% more likely to respond to an oversized mail piece if they have never done business with you.

• Per USPS, 98% of people check their mail daily and Americans spend upwards of 30 minutes with their mail on a single occasion.

• 68% of marketing respondents said combining digital and direct mail increased website visits.

• 60% of marketing respondents said combining digital and direct mail increased ROI.

New Construction Grand Opening

If you’re new to the neighborhood, putting your list of leads to good use with an eye-catching mailer will help you drive brand awareness and generate more interest for your new community. By reaching out to prospects to showcase your available units and announce your presence can lead to a full schedule of tours, and ultimately, help you lease-up faster. Use mailers to get prospects in the door before opening for pre-leasing visits or even hard-hat tours to generate more demand.

Promote Events

If you’re hosting events for your residents regularly, why not invite prospective residents, too? Send out a mailer to invite them to happy hours, meet & greets, or holiday get-togethers. Attending these events will give prospects a sense of what it will be like to live in your community and help show that your building is more than just a place to live—it’s about a community. Just be sure to send the direct mail marketing with enough notice that they can pencil you in ahead of time!

Leasing Promotions

Leasing promotions are one of the best times to send mailers to prospective residents. By letting them know they can get a free month, waived application fees, or even a lower deposit, you’re very likely to grab their interest and get them in the door for a tour. Be sure to showcase the promotion prominently on the front of the direct mail marketing piece so they won’t miss it and ask them to “bring in this mailer” to get the deal.

Mailer Design Formula

When you’re pulling together the information to include on your mailer, there are a few tried and true items that should always be included. Your logo, bedroom count, property photos, and contact information are vital to show off your community and let people know how to get in touch if they’re interested. Including key features and amenities of your community, the tagline and a short ‘about’ paragraph is a great way to provide more detail and really sell prospects on all your property has to offer. Be mindful that it’s best to keep text to a minimum so your mailer doesn’t become crowded with information. Working with professional branding agencies like zipcode creative to design your direct mail marketing makes it easy to be sure all of the essential information is included in an elegant and eye-catching way.

PRO TIP: Add a QR code on the mailer that leads to a landing page for your campaign or promotion. Doing so will enable you to better measure the interest your mailer created among potential leads! (Pro tip couretsy of Christine O’Toole)

Once your design is finalized, your local printer can print, address, stamp, and mail the mailers so you don’t have to worry about doing all of the legwork or adding another administrative task to your to-do list. Try sending out a modest batch of mailers to the warm leads in your CRM or target prospects by surrounding zip codes for the most effective approach.

If you’re interested in diving into direct mail marketing for your community, get in touch today!

Stats sourced from Compu-Mail.

property management social media property management social media

Property Management Social Media Tips for Success

Written by Stacey Feeney on January 5, 2021. Posted in All Articles, Marketing.

For apartments and property managers, social media can be a daunting task. Between all of the operational needs and maintaining the day-to-day, it’s easy for social media to slip way down your to-do list. But it plays a pivotal role in increasing resident happiness, appealing to prospective renters, and showing off all that your community has to offer. Kick-start your online presence with a few of our insider property management social media tips and tricks to get you going.

Consistency is Key

Across all social media platforms, posting regularly is the most important aspect of engaging your audience. Between finicky algorithms and shifting news feeds, posting at least a few times a week will ensure that most people are seeing the content that you spend so much time on.

Try posting at different times each day to see where your engagement is the strongest. Once you get a sense for when your audience is online, start posting around that same time to increase your likes and comments and drive engagement. Instagram and Facebook provide insights that will tell you exactly what days of the week and times of day your posts are getting the most engagement.

Create High-Quality Content

Scheduling posts isn’t just one-and-done in property management social media. To create quality content that will get you noticed, you need to think about how the photo, caption, and graphics all work together to tell a story and add value for your audience.

For your imagery, be sure to pick something that grabs your attention and will stand out in the sea of sameness across social platforms. Consider outsourcing custom branded social media graphics to zipcode creative for both your organic posts and paid ads to help you really stand out.

Once you’ve chosen your image, use your caption as an opportunity to deliver valuable insights that will spark a conversation in the comments or get your content shared with the masses. Finish it with a clear call to action so your audience always knows exactly what you want them to do next.

PRO TIP: The two most popular types of posts either 1. Provide a lot of value on a topic of interest or 2. Are real and authentic, ideally showing real people (your staff or residents)

Share What Residents Care About

No matter how high-quality your content is, you won’t see the engagement numbers you’re looking for if you’re not tailoring it for your audience. Pick relevant topics for your community and your staff—like Resident Appreciation Day/Week and Maintenance Appreciation Day/Week, resident event announcements, and rent due reminders (although they may not be happy about these posts!). Remember, it’s primarily residents and staff who follow you on social — highlight timely events and important updates for the people who follow you. That way, you’re giving them the info they need while also upping your engagement. If a prospecting renter stumbles upon your page they will see everything you have going on and realize how fun it is to live at your community! For their benefit, intermix plenty of interior and exterior property amenity pictures and talk about them in the captions. If you can nail down a solid hashtag strategy you will reach more people outside of your circle.

Prospect Focused Posts

If you want to cater to prospects, tell them all about your property! Seems obvious, right? Think of it this way – if it’s in your brochure, talk about it on social!

Plan Ahead

Posting on the fly never results in the kind of quality content your accounts deserve. Instead of snapping photos last minute or repurposing old materials, be sure to think about your social media calendar at least a week ahead—even more if possible. Quality over quantity.

There are countless free tools online that let you plan your posts and set a calendar to keep you organized and on top of it. Try Hootsuite, Loomly, or Sprout Social to streamline your process from start to finish. Alternatively, you can also hire a creative agency like us to manage your platforms for you and run point on strategy and planning, content creation and scheduling, and ongoing engagement.

Ready to get started on your property management social media plan? Work with zipcode creative on developing all of the social media assets you need to “wow” prospective residents and current tenants alike! We’re always here to design custom branded graphics for you anytime you want to take your posts to the next level. Get in touch today!

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