Author: Stacey Feeney

Directional Signs and Maps are Vital to Apartment Marketing

Written by Stacey Feeney on November 17, 2021. Posted in All Articles, Graphic Design, Marketing.

It’s finally time to open up your multifamily community, or re-launch your next leasing cycle. The leasing office is welcoming. The grounds are tidy. The surrounding neighborhood is excited. From your marketing analysis to the move-in of your residents, every step is vital to ensure an easy transition to life in your community! In order to make sure your residents’ journey to their new door is as easy as possible, give them a crystal clear map of what to expect and where to find all the amenities and offerings they’re looking for with directional signs and maps.

Today’s residents rely heavily on word of mouth (do their friends like it?), impressive/cohesive branding and marketing, and online reviews. On top of that, residents want to make sure that they’re located close to the amenities they want, both within the community they’re considering, as well as the surrounding neighborhood. Beyond an outline of community and local amenities, practicality is key for prospective or new residents–no one wants to be lost, despite all those “Not all Who Wander Are Lost” bumper stickers floating around. That’s where directional signs and maps will be vital.

Directional Signs

Much like street numbers that are easily visible on a house, providing directional signage in the community is important to ensure a sense of welcome, ease, and expectation.

Bootlegs/bandits, which are also called yard signs, are helpful for giving directions to the leasing office for prospective residents, with a combination of text and arrows. (If a resident can’t find the leasing office, it will be difficult for them to sign the lease.) Make it as clear as can be with your directional signs.

When a prospective resident comes to your community, to find out whether they’d like to live there, signage should be clear, regular, and consistent. If the signs don’t match your typical branding styles, it may be confusing. If there are no signs, it can be a source of frustration. Just like a focus on customer experience with a website is vital, you should also focus on the customer journey through your physical community! Avoid wasting their time, causing them embarrassment, or becoming a source of frustration or confusion with well-branded directional signage.

If your community is multilingual, consider having your signs show two languages, so that everyone feels welcome, and can navigate without necessarily having to translate.

In addition to leasing office directions, having signs for parking can be a godsend. Not every visitor is confident in their ability to find parking, with some even previewing Google Earth to pre-plan their parking. Anticipate their needs, and have them saying “I saw the sign!”

Sitemaps

The custom property sitemap, one of zipcode creative’s specialties, is like the corner piece of the puzzle for many apartment communities. Though most everyone has a smart phone with a web browser, GPS, messaging functions and many other apps, they don’t have a way to navigate your community beyond the front door. The residents and prospective residents are relying on you to create a map that helps show them where the apartments are in relation to everything else in the community.

Perhaps they’re a young couple, and they’d like to be close to the pool area. Perhaps they’re a family with older kids, and the barbeque area is more important. Or maybe they’re a single person that wants to meet others, and being near the clubhouse is high on their list. Depending on what their needs are, they should be able to easily see where your community amenities are in relation to the unit they’re considering.

zipcode creative’s sitemaps can be formatted for your use in both digital and printed versions, so you can share the map on your website through an email marketing campaign, or through a printed apartment welcome packet. With our help, we’ll make sure to identify the most important aspects of your asset: the lease office, parking, unit buildings and numbers, landscaping, and your special amenities that may include clubhouses, pools, and barbecue areas that your residents desire.

Location Maps

Beyond the borders of your apartment community, your residents will want to know: “Where’s the best place to ________?” in the surrounding neighborhood. You can answer that question, no matter how it ends, with a custom-designed location map from zipcode creative. With our detailed and stylized neighborhood map, you can identify all the good stuff that’s just a couple of blocks away, including restaurants, cafes, conveniences, and other points of interest (stadiums, golf courses, oh my!) Your residents will be excited to move in because you’re close to their favorite grocery store, or within walking distance of a cozy coffee shop.

PRO-TIP: Partner with a local business, and give your newly-signed-on residents a gift card to a restaurant or coffee shop!

The location map can be tailored to your ideal resident. For example, if you’re a senior living community, you can highlight nearby golf courses, healthcare facilities, and shopping centers. In contrast, student housing communities may choose to highlight the nearby university, coffee shops (“this one has free WiFi!”), gyms, and have more of a focus on nightlife.

No matter who your resident is, it’s always helpful to center them with a simple “You Are Here” message. Directional signs will welcome them, while sitemaps and location maps help them feel right at home in your community.

Contact zipcode creative to roll out the welcome wagon today.

Merrick, Areum, and Rize artwork is ©Fairfield Residential | Work executed by Stacey Feeney, owner of zipcode creative, while under creative direction and employment at Fairfield Residential.

Multifamily Marketing Through Local Partnerships

Written by Stacey Feeney on November 17, 2021. Posted in All Articles, Marketing. 1 Comment on Multifamily Marketing Through Local Partnerships

When your residents decide to live in your community, they often aren’t doing it only for the apartments. The surrounding neighborhood and community typically play an important factor in where they decide to live, too. Create a more dynamic experience for your residents and help them engage with other local businesses by creating a robust local partnerships program that benefits you, your residents, and other local business owners.

Leveraging local business owners to cross-promote your offerings is a win-win situation for everyone. Consider these different types of creative partnerships that will help engage your residents and create stronger bonds with your neighborhood.

Restaurants

Reach out to nearby restaurant owners to create a special discount for your residents. From a percentage off of their meals to different coupons for discounted items, you can help to encourage your residents to bring more business to these local hotspots.

You can even commit to partnering with specific restaurants for prospective resident events or other community events to build stronger ties. In return, encourage the restaurant to promote your community to their customers through flyers or signage. That way, you can begin to build brand awareness and more easily promote your community through the word of mouth of local partnerships.

Animal Shelters

Local animal shelters are an important part of every community, so it’s an ideal opportunity to do some good and promote your available apartments. If your community is pet friendly, partner with a local shelter or rescue and host an adopt a pet event.

The event will allow you to meet local pet owners and pet lovers and be able to showcase all of the pet-friendly amenities that you have to offer residents, from a dog park to dog grooming services. Even if event attendees aren’t currently in the market for a new apartment, they’ll be able to spread the word to their network and are likely to keep you in mind as an amazing place to call home for both themselves and their furry friends.

Movie Theaters

Bring movies right into your residents’ backyards! Partner with a local movie theater to host an outdoor movie in your community courtyard or even a movie-pool party event. Offering exciting resident events will help encourage community engagement and increase resident happiness, all while helping the movie theater get its name out there.

Instead of one event, consider making it a monthly series to give residents something to look forward to during the warmer summer evenings. Be sure to also promote the event or series using email marketing, signage, and other collateral to get the word out there.

Classes & Demonstrations

Local partnerships with businesses like grocery stores, food shops, fitness studios, or bookstores to host a demonstration or class for your residents. Whether you offer a free yoga class, a seasonal cooking event, or even a book reading or signing, there are countless ways you can leverage your community partners to engage your residents. Your partners can even offer residents additional discounts or other incentives to encourage repeat business, making it a beneficial way for them to expand their customer base.

Preferred Employer Programs

When it comes to marketing partnerships, think beyond events! Develop a rent incentive program for certain local companies or specific professionals, like doctors, nurses, and teachers. That way, you can encourage faster lease-up while also offering a preferential rent rate to those who are making a positive impact in your community.

Ready to promote your partnerships? Work with a creative agency, like zipcode creative, to develop multichannel marketing assets that will help you spread the word. Get started today!

Capriana brunch flyer is ©Fairfield Residential | Work executed by Stacey Feeney, owner of zipcode creative, while under creative direction and employment at Fairfield Residential.

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Curated Stock Images Will Capture Your Residents’ Attention

Written by Stacey Feeney on November 3, 2021. Posted in All Articles, Marketing.

Every marketing director knows: branding is important–it tells your ideal future resident what you’re like, what to expect, and how seriously to take you. Curated lifestyle stock photos can help you build your brand while painting a picture for prospective residents to help them imagine what it would be like living at your community. But we’re not just talking about any stock photo. Since there is a wide assortment of images available to be used, we’ll help you understand why picking the right one (or set of images) can make or break your apartment building’s brand. Let’s talk about using stock photos, and using them well.

Why should I use stock photos for my Apartment Building Marketing?

Stock photos are key in helping you save time, save money, and keep your marketing materials fresh. It’s well known that “photos are worth a thousand words.” Another fun fact about images from Brain Rules by John Medina for you:

Three days after hearing information, you have a 10% chance of remembering it. Add an image, and you’re 65% more likely to recall the same information.

Think of it this way, too: when reading a chapter book to a child at bedtime, they’ll likely want to see pictures (if there are any). They can imagine it more clearly, and understand more of the context. Adults aren’t all that different–if you can help them picture themselves in your apartment building or multifamily community through an apartment marketing brochure, that’s all the proof they may need.

Bad Stock Photos Are Worse Than Nothing

When is a stock photo a bad choice? Beyond the obvious pitfalls (“brings up more questions than it answers” or “doesn’t relate to the topic at all”), here’s what else to look out for:

1) When the stock photo is cheesy:

Ah, the bad stock photo. We’ve all seen it: the woman laughing uproariously while eating a salad or a group of blazer-wearing businessmen high-fiving each other in front of a backdrop. They’re absolutely posed and not believable in the least. This next generation of tech-savvy residents will notice it if you try to fake your way through.

2) When the stock photo is overused:

Ever shown up to a party wearing the exact same thing as someone else? Embarrassing. The same thing can happen when you choose the same overused stock photo as another company. Gen Z (and a couple of other possible residents) will notice, roll their eyes, and move on to another apartment community.

The key? Look for photos that are natural-looking, candid. Ones that don’t look posed. Try to avoid stock photos with white backdrops, since that’s rarely a background to anything in real life.

Save Time with Curated Stock Photos

There are an estimated 350 million+ stock photos available online. In case you’re not great with math, that’s a ridiculous amount, even if you have something particular in mind. To have to sift through that number of stock photos will take more time than it’s worth. And, as we all know in the business world, time is money.

Another good thing about curated stock images is that they can help you stay on-brand and consistent. When you look at a set of curated images, they can have all the same filter, effect, or style. You’re already saving time by not taking the photos yourself (and getting better quality, too, we’d wager). Keep saving time and money by hiring zipcode creative to compile and curate stock photo sets for you to use that fit within your brand style guidelines.

Keep on Top Of Content with Stock Photos

Content is still king–and the need for continuous, updated content has skyrocketed, but your budget probably hasn’t kept up with the shift. Stock photo costs can add up, and hiring a photographer can be pricey as well. Keep things fresh with relevant, perfectly curated photos that help showcase your unique apartment community or multifamily building. With calendars and a bevy of on-brand stock photos, you can engage with current and future residents through posts on social media, and anywhere else you think needs to hit the Refresh button.

Stay on track with your brand style guidelines with plenty of images to choose from. zipcode creative can help you sift through the wide assortment of stock images to get exactly what your apartment community needs for your next marketing material refresh.

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Grand Opening Marketing Campaign for Apartments

Written by Stacey Feeney on November 3, 2021. Posted in All Articles, Marketing.

When your community is first opening or reopening after a renovation, it’s time to celebrate! It’s an important milestone and an exciting time to show off everything you have to offer to your local neighborhood and prospective residents. Instead of flying under the radar when you open, make an impact with a thoughtful grand opening marketing campaign. By generating excitement, offering incentives, and broadcasting the event across different marketing channels, you’ll make your mark early on to increase brand awareness and name recognition.

Creating Your Campaign

Your grand opening isn’t the time to hold back. Think big to create a can’t-miss event that will have your entire local community buzzing.

Invite Your Community

To generate even more excitement around your event, invite people from across the local community. From politicians like the mayor or city council members to local business owners and their staff to residents of the surrounding area, welcome a wide range of people from across the community to your opening celebration. This will help you generate word of mouth and increase brand awareness, all while also ensuring that everyone has a great time!

Information Booth

Make it easy for those interested in learning more to get the additional info they need. Set up a booth or table at your event with flyers, brochures, and other information about your community. It’s also the perfect opportunity for staff meet-and-greets. From your property management staff to the building maintenance team, have everyone attend the event to build relationships and showcase the top talent your community has to offer.

Food & Drinks

Who doesn’t love a good spread of food and drinks? Be sure to cater your event with enticing food that will have people clambering to attend. Whether you opt for a theme or just offer light bites and cocktails, having food encourages people to linger and engage with your community even further.

Swag

You worked hard on your community’s branding, so it’s time to show it off. Create free swag giveaways for the event that help spread the word about your opening. From tote bags to pens to umbrellas, create different items with your distinctive logo or branding that attendees can take with them. That way, they’ll get to leave with some freebies for a win-win way to spread awareness!

Early Leasing Incentives

If prospective residents attend your event, incentivize them to their lease right then and there. Grand opening leasing promotions are a great way to increase urgency and help you lease up faster. From signage at the event to flyers you tuck into the swag bags, make sure you actively promote the incentives to encourage prospects to make the leap. Consider offering a free month, discounted amenities fees, and other cash incentives or other perks to sweeten the deal.

Marketing Your Campaign

Before hosting your event, you need to make sure you shout it from the rooftops. Leverage strategic marketing materials to generate buzz and amplify the event for a few weeks before it happens with a grand opening marketing campaign. That will help to maximize attendance and encourage local partners, prospects, and the general public to stop by.

When it comes to marketing, it’s time to think big! Don’t limit yourself to just one or two marketing channels. Instead, opt for a 360-degree campaign that includes:

Email Marketing

Leading up to the event, be sure to send a blast to your email list with all the details. Consider sending a formal invitation and at least one follow-up reminder to make sure people mark their calendars.

Mailers & Flyers

Don’t rely on digital marketing methods alone. Printed mailers and postcards are a great way to reach your local community and can even be distributed in local shops and restaurants for a two-pronged approach.

Signage

Create signs specifically for the event, but also outdoor signage leading up to the event. From flags and boulevard banners to large building banners, the sky’s the limit to the type of signage you can create.

Handouts & Brochures

Don’t let those who attend the event leave empty-handed. Be sure to have brochures, property sitemaps, and other relevant handouts handy for people who are interested in learning more about living in your community. You can even tuck them into the swag bags to be sure people will see them later.

If you’re ready to get started on your grand opening marketing campaign, consult an expert like zipcode creative. We’ll work with you to create a cohesive and holistic approach to your event for the best possible experience for everyone!

Get in touch today.

MAVE Design are ©Fairfield Residential | Work executed by Stacey Feeney, owner of zipcode creative, while under creative direction and employment at Fairfield Residential.

A Resident Referral Program that Works to Sign New Leases

Written by Stacey Feeney on October 14, 2021. Posted in All Articles, Marketing.

When it comes to your community, your best advocates are your residents. As the people who experience all of the best of your community every day, they can vouch for the apartments, the amenities, and the overall living experience firsthand. As a result, resident testimonials and word of mouth are often the best ways to entice prospective residents to opt into your community. But instead of leaving it to chance, why not create a more formal resident referral program to incentive residents to help you lease-up?

The Benefits of a Resident Referral Program

Resident referral programs are a great way to create a thriving community that also positively impacts your bottom line. Resident referral programs can:

Lower resident acquisition costs. By encouraging your current residents to refer people they already know, you won’t have to spend as much time and money on marketing and advertising.
Minimize resident turnover. When residents encourage people they know to move in, they’re building a welcoming and thriving community. As a result, they’re less likely to move out, helping to increase resident retention and minimize turnover costs.
Lease-up faster. When you do have vacancies, filling them becomes much easier with a referral program. Instead of your staff working tirelessly on marketing materials or coordinating with leasing agents, you have a built-in network that makes word-of-mouth marketing easy.
Foster a stronger community. When residents already know their neighbors, it’s simple to build a strong and engaged community. From attendance at resident events to positive interactions in amenity spaces, this helps bolster both participation in your community programming and overall resident happiness.

How to Start a Resident Referral Program

Referral programs are incentive-based programs that reward your residents for referring friends, family, and acquaintances to your community. Because 92% of people trust word of mouth recommendations from friends and family over all other forms of advertising, a referral program is an effective way to encourage interest in your community.

When a resident refers someone to the community, they receive some kind of bonus when that person signs a lease. The program bonuses could include everything from a cash bonus to discounts on rent, or gift cards to local restaurants and businesses. To maximize the benefits, consider creating a referral program with no limit offering tiered bonuses that increase with each referral. That way, the more people a resident refers to move-in, the more their reward, making it a win-win solution for both you and your residents.

How to Advertise the Referral Program

Once you’ve determined your program details and identified what incentives you’ll be offering, it’s time to generate interest in the program and your community itself. While traditional marketing methods like emails, flyers, and signage are a great way to engage your community, you can also think outside the box to drive interest in your referral program.

Develop Program Positioning

First, come up with campaign positioning or slogans that will make an impact on residents. Consider a catchy name like “Friends Make the Best Neighbors,” or “It Pays to Have Friends.” You can then use this catchphrase across different marketing materials like flyers, emails, and social media posts to promote the program more widely to your residents.

Host Resident & Prospective Resident Events

You can also host resident events and encourage them to invite their friends and family. That way, prospective residents get an inside look at what it’s like to be a member of your community and can witness all of the perks and benefits firsthand. From barbecues to cocktail hours, these events are the perfect opportunity to encourage prospects to view your community in a brand new way.

Develop Local Partnerships

Expand your community network by partnering with local businesses you love. Offer staff incentives to these partner businesses when their employees refer residents to your community. From cash bonuses to gift cards, you can create a compelling way to encourage other community members to direct residents to your property. You can also promote their businesses to your residents for a mutually beneficial relationship, making it a win-win option for everyone.

Encourage Realtor Referrals

When it comes to referral bonuses, you can also think beyond just your residents and community partners. Opt to partner with local real estate agents to expand your reach and encourage additional referrals. While many realtors overlook multifamily because it’s not traditionally an avenue for commission, you can make it worth their while to refer their clients to your community. After all, the majority of real estate transactions come from referrals, so expanding your referral network is one of the easiest ways to lease-up faster.

Ready to kick-start your resident referral program? Work with multifamily experts like zipcode creative to develop your advertising materials and any other assets you may need to get it off the ground!

Get in touch today to get started.

Areum Flyer is ©Fairfield Residential | Work executed by Stacey Feeney, owner of zipcode creative, while under creative direction and employment at Fairfield Residential.

Flyers are Still Effective for Marketing Apartments

Written by Stacey Feeney on October 5, 2021. Posted in All Articles, Graphic Design, Marketing.

These days, when you hear the word “marketing,” your mind might jump right to flashy Instagram stories and virtual TikTok videos. But don’t forget about tried-and-true marketing methods, too. Printed materials like flyers are an easy and affordable way to reach your ideal customer. Branded marketing flyers are the perfect complement to digital marketing efforts, like email marketing or social media graphics. By combining the two approaches, you’re more likely to reach your target audience and make it easier for them to engage in your community.

And the best part about flyers? They’re one of the most versatile pieces of collateral you can create. From announcements to events and everything in between, learn how to incorporate stylish and strategic flyers into your marketing plan.

Flyers For Current Residents

Announcements & Reminders

Flyers are an easy, affordable, and effective way to communicate any updates with your current residents. From announcements about upcoming events to reminders about community news, you can display flyers in the lobby and property management office so they’re in high-traffic areas. For especially important reminders, you can even slip flyers under residents’ doors to ensure they won’t miss the news.

Upcoming Events

Developing a sense of community is vital to keeping your residents happy. Generate additional interest in your events, like happy hours, movie nights, and more, with a well-designed and eye-catching flyer. Include all the info that residents need; like the date, time, and location of the event, so it’s a one-stop place for everything they may need to know about your event. Events make it easy for residents to get to know their fellow residents, fostering community and camaraderie.

Community Services

Make sure that residents know about all of the available services that can make their lives easier. From concierge services and valet trash to online rent payments and a mobile portal where they can submit maintenance requests, a flyer is the perfect reminder to help them stay organized. Add it to welcome packets so residents can keep it on their fridge or on their desk, so they always have the info handy when they need to reference it.

Meet & Greets

Building a relationship between building staff and residents is one of the easiest ways to create a better sense of community for both groups. Organize community meet and greets where property management, maintenance staff, your leasing team, and other staff members can mingle with your residents. Promote it using flyers in common areas like amenity spaces, the building lobby, and offices. That way, residents will get to know the people who keep their community running smoothly.

Flyers For Prospective Residents

Leasing Incentives & Specials

Flyers aren’t only useful for delivering information to current residents. Leveraging flyers in the leasing process is a smart and effective way to engage prospects, too. Keep flyers in the office and on-hand for leasing staff to use to promote ongoing leasing incentives and specials. Add them to your brochure or any other printed materials that prospects already receive, so they have all the information they need to make the best decision.

Amenity Offerings

Apartment communities are about more than just the apartments themselves. Highlight all of your amenity offerings like reserved parking, storage units, garages, and more with flyers. You can tuck these into your brochures, add them to resident welcome packets, or use them at prospective resident events to generate more buzz about your property and showcase everything that you have to offer. Don’t forget to include less traditional amenities too, like a coffee station, electric car charging stations, or valet trash services.

Available Programs

If your community has ongoing programming, like an accent wall program, be sure to create a flyer to promote the option to both prospective and current residents alike. Place the flyers in the lobby, in the management office, and in the leasing office to help generate interest and excitement.

If you’re bursting at the seams with ideas for community flyers, it may be time to bring in the experts. Agencies like zipcode creative specialize in creating well-designed and eye-catching flyers that will help your community achieve—and exceed—their goals.

Get in touch today to get started!

Avaire “valet trash” and Berkeley Place “get up and go” flyers are ©Fairfield Residential | Work executed by Stacey Feeney, owner of zipcode creative, while under creative direction and employment at Fairfield Residential.