Author: Stacey Feeney

Apartment Brand Design—Behind the Scenes

Written by Stacey Feeney on January 28, 2024. Posted in All Articles, Branding. 1 Comment on Apartment Brand Design—Behind the Scenes

Apartment brand design is a perfect combination of creative magic and being meticulous. From research to concepts to construction, your careful apartment brand design will help your company inspire while it innovates. And, with any luck, you’ll have fun doing it.

Bring function, creativity and artistry to your apartment community through the precise steps of brand conceptualization.

In one creative call, we listened to our client tell the history of the company’s late founder—his family’s background, his passions, his sayings. As we asked more questions, each of these details that we helped draw out created a well of inspiration. Of course, before we landed on a name that referenced the founder’s family ties, which makes for great storytelling, we had to ensure the rest of the brand could keep up. We’ll show behind-the-scenes of every step, so you can see what this looks like in a real-life brand.

Research & Discovery

LET THE IRP INFORM IT

Without research, you’re walking blind. Without discovery, you’re taking chances. Do the work not just behind the scenes—but even deeper. Find out who you want to attract by determining your IRP, your ideal resident profile. When you can identify who you want to reach, and get to know “who” they really are, you can tailor your brand to attract and retain them!

What does this research look like? Look at geographics, demographics, psychographics, and behavior.

CREATE BRAND VOICE CONCEPT

How are you speaking to your IRP, and how do you engage with them? The research you did to find their psychographics and demographics will help you choose properly here, too. What problem is your apartment community solving? Why do you exist? What are your mission, vision, and values statements?

When you create your brand voice, you also get to pick out the brand personality to help flesh out your brand, making everything about your brand easier to explain. Styles, habits, goals, priorities, and values all come to light with the mission and the personality outlined.

Logo Concepts

Collaborating on apartment brand design is a careful dance. Working with client preferences and using our expertise, we came up with a variety of logos for their team to review. (We’ll get to the corresponding color palettes, lifestyle stock photography, and textures/patterns in a second.) We always have our favorite apartment brand logo design—but we know we won’t make the final decision!

This concept had a solid, signet ring appeal to it. Classy and classic.

This logo concept offered a softer touch, with a breezier angle.

This concept felt a bit like “conventional, with a twist.” It’s fun to color inside the lines for a time, go a little wild and come back to order. A touch of fun.

Situated in the city of Wheaton, the logomark called out the location while keeping the typography modern and stately.

This one says “expect much more from your apartments—and we’ll be ready.” Serious and stylish.

Light, simple, easy, and beautiful. A sans serif with sweet curves attracts those looking for ease of living.

Each of these logo concepts, paired with brand visuals and brand style concepts is created with a slightly different vibe.

This approach offers so much more than only a logo could. A logo cannot bring out a full color palette. A logo cannot give insight into the lifestyle that your apartment brand (and its) design offers.

Brand Visuals and Brand Style Concepts

Visually, brands have to make an impression. To accompany the logo concepts, our team put together beautiful stock photography, corresponding color palettes, and textures and patterns that work with the possible architecture, interior design, and typography details. Each concept works with the interior design—so the color palettes are a little bit similar. Additionally, every concept is created with the IRP in mind.

Each of the brand visual concepts that we created for the team at The Faywell was made to attract working professionals with discerning taste. With patterns and with photography, we further focused the vibe, whether eco-friendly, street chic, or totally hygge-homebody. See for yourself:

THE BRAND STYLE VIBES BREAKDOWN

Concept 1

The leaves and the bicycle and the natural sage green featured in this concept tell the viewer: Embracing the calm of nature is still possible in the suburbs of Chicago.

IRP factor: Our IRP desired the calm of outer city limits while still staying stylish.

Concept 2

The rich tones of this brand style concept are focused on enjoying friends, going for scenic drives, and sinking into velvet sofas. The repeating pattern of subtle, soft, geometric leaves feels equally mesmerizing and soothing.

IRP factor: Suburbs for city dwellers can feel like social isolation—turning the focus to gathering and experiencing nature reframed the idea of getting out of town.

Concept 3

Nothing to see here but cozy, creature comforts. With soft neutral tones, this warm concept is welcoming, cushy, and appealing in a Danish sort of way (pastry or country, you decide).

IRP factor: Our IRP is likely a city commuter. Home should be a haven for them.

Concept 4

Welcoming city-smart commuters and appreciators of strong, sturdy patterns and structure, this concept is as sleek as it is sweet. Muted earthy tones along with shiny steel train cars offer a perfect balance between city and home.

IRP factor: Predictability should come standard for the resident who needs the train to run on time and wants an unfussy home, so we kept things strong and clean.

Concept 5

Totally classic like a Fender hollow body electric guitar. White linens, wood walls, tailored pants all go together to create a scene that’s ideal for the keep-it-cool crowd.

IRP factor: Just because the IRP isn’t living in the city doesn’t mean they’ve lost all their street smarts. Creating a luxuriously beautiful.

Concept 6

An easy going, enjoy-every-day vibe is happening here. Planning out your day with podcasts and enjoying a small glass of wine with your new pageturner, simple joys are the foundation in this take on The Faywell.

IRP factor: The hustle and bustle of the city isn’t for everyone, but having a predictable, reliable, and comfortable home is for this IRP.

Conversations Around Concepts

COLLABORATE AND CONVERSATE

After we presented each brand concept with the team at The Faywell, there were plenty more conversations to be had. Using the concepts, visual or verbal learners among the stakeholders (VP, marketing director, or owner) could easily process each concept and collaborate in conversation with us, the creative agency.

After you speak with the stakeholders, you can unite behind a singular concept when you determine which one will speak to your target resident while you represent your company (and its vision) clearly. The name, the logo, the photos, the color palette, the typography, it must all work harmoniously to give your prospects the most idealized version of your brand and your company’s priorities for their future residents.

THE POINT OF APARTMENT BRAND DESIGN CONCEPTS

Everything you’re investing time into now is meant to be a shortcut for you in your marketing, and to help you become a fully fledged apartment brand. When you start with the idea behind the vibe, the trajectory of the brand you’re building is a lot less bumpy. Branding involves a lot. Put in the work now to create a solid brand today and in the future.

We look forward to seeing how The Faywell continues in their brand journey.

Naming Apartments for SEO and Intrigue

Written by Stacey Feeney on January 21, 2024. Posted in All Articles, Branding, Writing.

Naming apartments is a tricky game—and creating it to be one-of-a-kind is the NAME of the game, pun completely intended.

What Can an Apartment Name Do?

The purpose of a name? It’s shorthand for who your brand is. It gives a snippet of an idea. A name is the first thing that can grab attention (if it’s a good one), keep attention, and if it’s interesting enough, it can allow the prospect to ponder its meaning a little bit.

Your apartment name can tell a story, evoke a feeling, and emphasize your branding—when you follow our guidance.

TELL A STORY

Names that make for the most fun in the process are the ones with a story. If there isn’t one, we create it within the brand guidelines. Have you ever met someone with such a unique name that you wanted to say, “Wow, that’s cool! Can you tell me more about your name?” There’s typically something even more interesting than the name—and it’s the story behind it.

EVOKE A FEELING

The vibe of your community—whether for retirees or for young professionals—will be bolstered by a solid name. There are certain sounds, colors, words that create ideas and stir up emotions within us. The emotions that come to the surface should be positive. Positive and fun. Positive and elegant. Positive and avant-garde. Positive and peaceful. How you name it helps bring your reader/prospect/resident to that frame of mind.

EMPHASIZE BRANDING

The vibe of your community again can be paired up with your branding through your apartment name. The name is the starting point, and then the brand is built up around that. It’s likely that you’ve already had the ideas of the design, style, audience and more, but the name is the first piece of the verbal branding. This aspect is foundational, setting off the rest of the branding: your logo, your style, your voice, so it can be seen and appreciated in its ideal form.

Why One-of-a-Kind Names for Apartments?

Naming your apartment buildings is not a decision you can make easily and forget about. It will impact your brand perception, how prospects find you online (or don’t) and whether your brand will stand out among your competition. Be careful in your approach to naming apartments for both SEO and intrigue.

SEO

If you want to be found through search engines, consider how many other things, even beyond apartment communities, may be named the same. How much competition will you have? A lot? This is the time to get inventive, because it won’t always go the way it did in Field of Dreams (“If you build it, they will come.”)

Now, does it have to be a completely new word? Not necessarily. But for higher ranking in Google, it must be more creative and outside of the norm.

Please don’t call it Oakview or Oakhill or Oakridge or Oak Grove Apartments. It’s been done.

INTEREST

Look for something more interesting about the property to inspire its name. Perhaps the history of the area, the street names, important figures in the city’s community, or a particular vibe that you want to create with these apartments.

MEMORABILITY

If it’s top-of-mind status you want, you’ll have to go a little off the beaten path. Not too strange, and not too un-spell-able or un-pronounce-able, but something that’s creative. So instead of Oakhill Apartments, you could go for CenturyWood Place, for example.

Apartment Name Examples

Now that we gave you one example, you’re probably hoping for a few more. We got you. (Keep in mind that these are all made up and we aren’t picking on anyone with these examples, good or bad.)

BORING

That Oak Anything Apartments example falls into this boring category. Not imaginative. Sounds peaceful and completely…forgettable. Here are a few more apartment names that you can forget about completely after reading them:

31st St Apartments

Oak Glen
Shady Lane

Laurel Estates

We get it: There’s shade. You’re on a street. There’s trees. For the love, get more interesting!

UNIQUE

Take inspiration from the management’s founder. The history of the area. Or the style of the building. Don’t be too on the nose, like Brickhouse Lofts, but consider using a red color in the name, like Vermillion Views.

THE STRANGELY FAMILIAR

Today, there are plenty of made-up words that have become household names—even regular, daily verbs. Why? Because they’re memorable. Just Google it!

Google was a re-spelling (which was more phonetically appealing) of googol, which just means the highest number in existence. This works great for the vast number of search results you can receive with a few keystrokes.

Etsy was a made up spelling after the founder closely watched (and listened to) a Fellini film. Having heard “et si” multiple times, he decided this combo of words that means “oh, yes” was the perfect term for his new website.

Zillow is a little more out there. This massive house listing giant has combined the idea of comfort and vast amounts of options (“zillions” and “pillows”—where you lay your head) would be the ideal name for a space to find your next property.

What to Consider When Naming Apartments

As we’ve seen above, some brand names are more thought out than others. It’s okay if it’s stumbled upon, but it’s stronger and more relatable if there’s a good story to go with it.

MEANING

Why is it called that name? If it’s chosen at random, that’s not going to initiate very good conversations. If you can come up with history, inspiration, or reasoning, that will go a lot farther in your branding guidelines than “it sounded cool”. However, we know that sometimes, that does lead to success. But it might be easier to have a goal to create a name based on some deeper meaning—it’s at least an easier starting place.

BRAINSTORMING PROCESS

At Zipcode Creative, when we’re thinking through naming apartments, we go for broke. We write down anything and everything that comes to mind, and then have a thesaurus handy. (You never know when you’ll come up with something that will spark interest and be super-original.)

While we’re going about the naming process, we consider things like:

Your ideal resident profile (IRP): what are they looking for?
The type of apartment community it will be
The vibe of the surrounding area
The history of the town/city/area you’re in
The history of the building
The architecture style of the building
The names of the surrounding streets
The local flora and fauna

Take all of these into account, and we’re sure to find something that will strike a chord that will please the SEO gods and the future residents of your homes. We’ll also try out different sizes, lengths, and formats of the winsome ones to land on something worthy of your community. Most of all, we’ll aim for meaning and originality.

RESEARCH

However, before you get too deep into the weeds of apartment naming, make sure it’s actually viable. Look at your competitors. Consider your audience. Google the name and see what comes up. At Zipcode Creative, we have a few considerations (or tests, if you will) to find out whether the name could possibly work:

Business Name Search
Trademark Registry Search
Available URLs and social media handles
General Google search

Again, this is where due diligence and uniqueness will help you out. The hard work of building your apartment brand will be undercut by other brands if it’s not a standalone idea (or has too much competition).

Need help with your apartment naming? Reach out today.

Apartment Branding that Creates Culture and Movement

Written by Stacey Feeney on January 14, 2024. Posted in All Articles, Branding, Marketing.

Creating culture and movement with apartment branding is easier said than done. A few tips can make a framework that’s a little easier to follow. Read on for the 7 ways to help bring your Class-A lease up or new construction apartment brand into the “mover and shaker” category.

#1 Brand Development

IT’S A WHOLE LIFESTYLE BRAND

Branding for apartment communities is far more than logos—you’ve heard us say this before. Brand development should go wider and deeper than just the visual. Since your apartment community is where your residents will live, make memories, enjoy hobbies, build friendships, and experience so much—you should lean into this.

A lifestyle brand (or luxury brand) is one thing. It sets out to market a particular lifestyle that’s attainable through using the products or services the brand offers.

When you introduce an apartment brand as a lifestyle brand, you show your prospects what they can have (and enjoy!) and the problems they’ll solve once they begin living in your apartment community.

For example, when branding a 55+ apartment community, you will likely be focused on the ease and relaxation that’s involved with your no-maintenance homes. Your branding should also be tailored to show a well-connected life of residents in your community. Again—you’re selling the well-connected, social, and easy way of life after retirement

#2 Brand Personality

Don’t be vanilla (with no fudge?!) in a world of strawberry-balsamic and lavender-lemon ice cream. Get your personality pinned down.

WHAT’S BRAND PERSONALITY?

In short, it’s the same as with people. Some are eccentric. Some are unoriginal. Some are just plain fun.

Quick exercise for you, reader.
Think of the most boring person in your life for a second. Nothing stands out. They’re just…there. Not particularly memorable.
Now, think of one of the most interesting person in your life. What makes them leave an impression like that? The way they:

Dress
Speak
Interact
Pursue life

Every bit of them makes an impact.

Find a way to have your brand make an impact in the same way. Leave an impression with the way your brand is presented: online, in print, and in-person.

Now that you know what brand personality is, next is how to create one for your apartment.

HOW TO CREATE AN APARTMENT BRAND PERSONALITY

Step 1: Ask the right questions.

Kind of like a personality quiz. (See this design sprint brand personality slider for more inspo.)

Step 2: Be honest and authentic.

A little bit of aspiration is okay here, but keep it in line with what you can honestly and authentically achieve and offer.

Step 3: Get buy-in.

Your staff have to get it and they have to be willing to reflect the vibe. This means it can’t be unrelatable (see Step 2 in terms of authenticity)

Step 4: Allow that personality to influence visual, verbal and marketing decisions.

(WWYCD: What Would Your Community Do?) Your brand personality is part of your guidelines for how you look and sound. Before you okay that ad, consider your personality and whether it aligns.

#3 Create FOMO

The ol’ Fear Of Missing Out! To be clear, are we asking you to incite jealousy and covetousness with your apartment brand? A little bit, yes. Enough to get your prospects and leads to research a little more and maybe even schedule a tour. If they want it, they’ll pursue it. But how do you create an “I’ve gotta live there” mentality? Three ways that we can think of (just off the top of our heads):

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

How does your apartment brand interact with the neighborhood around it? Are you at street fairs? Are you showing off local coffee shops and partnering with local spots for cross promotion? Are you helping raise money or supplies for local shelters? What is your apartment brand doing that puts it above the rest in terms of “doing good”? If you take care of the neighborhood you’re in, they may end of taking better care of you with referrals and general positive vibe and word of mouth.

UNIQUE EXPERIENCES FOR ALL

Whether a person is a resident or a member of the visiting public, there should be something to offer them. Are you hosting a craft fair? Do you have an “open swim day”? Will you have a holiday door decoration competition that you invite the public to judge (and/or enjoy)? Carve out a niche for your apartment brand by creating something that you’re well known for—and that folks would hate to miss out on, just because they didn’t live there.

SWAG

Yet another acronym…Stuff We All Get—yet, it’s not for everyone! The swag that you give out has to be equal parts clever and wantable. Useful is great, but also consider your ideal resident and their wants and needs (along with current trends). If you can find swag that works well with your apartment brand, even better!

Bottom line here: Visibility is far more than ad impression rates.

#4 Philanthropy

This falls in line with brand authenticity and community involvement. Philanthropy is a vital piece to any community. When your apartment brand is involved in making the neighborhood better, it’s a great way to make connections.

AUTHENTICITY

No philanthropy should be done out of a feeling of obligation. Generate a giving spirit from the top of your community brand and it will flow down through a healthy workplace culture. Soon, you’ll be known as the apartments that “always have a canned food drive” or “winter coat drive” or put together a volunteer group to serve at a shelter. (It’s better to give than to receive!)

INVITATION TO ALL

When you engage in community programming and assist your neighbors, it can create a positive culture within your staff, but also with your residents and those who are thinking of living in your community. When you’re involved, it’s like an invitation to everyone else to do better and be the change! Along with you, they too can make their mark in the world.

#5 Be Health and Wellness-Minded

THE MEANING OF HOME

Home is where the heart and hearth is. It exudes warmth and comfort. It’s focused on doing and feeling your best. Finding the balance between relaxation and energy. Similar to how you can focus your apartment brand into a lifestyle brand, you can exude the feeling of home to your prospects and your residents by focusing on the amenities that they want most: Safety with smart locks and doorbell cameras, health with fitness classes in the gym, and an on-site juice bar tells your residents what you value most: their health and well-being.

RETREAT!

Home is your residents’ own personal retreat. This means you should prioritize giving an ample heads up when there are maintenance calls, ensure new residents are comfortable after they move in, and that they have everything they need with their welcome packet—and feel confident that this is going to be a great living experience.

#6 Connection with Authenticity

WITH LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES

It’s not just lip service. Walk the walk and connect with other small businesses in the area. Become acquainted with the bookstore down the road, the brunch place next door, and the sweet gift shop across the street. Making those connections leaves a positive impression on the neighborhood and opens the way for better word-of-mouth marketing, possibly from folks who don’t even live there!

GET INTERPERSONAL

Whether we’re connecting residents to residents or residents to staff, it’s vital that they feel like home is a place of rest and connection. We’re not quite going to sing “Where everybody knows your name” at you, but that’s kind of what we’re driving at. The more familiar and comfortable your residents are, the more likely they are to renew a lease. How can you do this? Resident events. Transparency in your social media posts and your About Us page.

CONCIERGE-LIKE SERVICE

Consider how it feels to be catered to. Kind of nice, right? When your needs are anticipated and your problems are solved with a smile, it just makes your day a little bit better. A hotel concierge does exactly that—opening doors, figuratively. At your leasing office, you can help open doors (physical, literal, all of the above) and ensure your residents have everything they need. Being open to feedback and offering above-and-beyond service is certainly a way to stand out among the competition.

#7 Apartment Branding Must Be Memorable

Everything we’ve listed out above is a clear path to sticking in your prospects’ and residents’ minds. But how can you stay top of mind? Two ways.

CONSISTENT AND THOROUGH BRANDING

Everything you touch, everything that goes through your office, from corporate to on-site leasing office, should have something to do with your brand, and be recognizable as only yours. Logos, colors, fonts, brand voice—using the brand guidelines is a great shortcut to getting everything aligned and looking and sounding like your apartment community.

GO BIG BRANDS

Creating excitement through going big is a fun way to make your brand larger than life! Think: huge wall murals, full-length window coverings, and really cool wall art throughout the clubhouse. If you’re able to use an interior designer to select the right finishes from the start on a new construction or Class-A lease up, you’ll be able to make your brand a priority from the start.

Drive your brand straight to the heart of your ideal resident with sincerity and consistency.

2024 Multifamily Marketing Budget – The Creative Guide

Written by Stacey Feeney on January 10, 2024. Posted in All Articles, Branding, Marketing. 1 Comment on 2024 Multifamily Marketing Budget – The Creative Guide

New Year, New Budget!

Peace out, 2023. Same with last year’s budget? That’s in the rear view mirror, too.

But the lessons you learned from last year’s budget and spending and results…should be front and center as you prepare for spending for multifamily marketing in 2024.

With a new year comes a new budget. Can’t you just smell it? First off, you got through another budget review season. Congrats. It’s approved and you know what to do next. Right?

First, you’ve got to take a look at your goals. What creative endeavors are you tackling first for your apartment brands?

We’d like to make a few simple suggestions.
1) Better branding for multifamily.

2) More branding for multifamily.

Basically…increase quality and quantity—they’re not mutually exclusive.) Especially now that you have the money to spend in 2024!

How to Spend Your 2024 Multifamily Marketing Budget

Think bigger, think better. Your branding has to be up to snuff and catch up with your competition this year (and with the ever-changing technology around us). You won’t see growth in your leasing rates unless you address your out-of-date logos and inconsistent brand. Perhaps you’ve got some branding under your belt—you could always do more. Keep sharpening and keep growing.

BETTER BRANDING

Our first bit of advice around your apartment brand: Make it personable, relatable, imaginative, and innovative.

Our second? Hire professionals. Especially the ones that know multifamily inside and out—Zipcode Creative has been at this for years, and is ready to help you with any multifamily project, of any size.

MORE BRANDING

Logo? That’s not all!
Don’t rely on your logo to do it all. Your logo is one piece. An important piece, but not the end all, be all. There’s plenty a logo won’t do—it won’t capture attention, increase engagement, and it certainly won’t lease up more units…on its own.

Think bigger.
Add brand identity.

Add brand messaging.
Add brand-cohesive copy.

And how does your role fit into this “more branding” idea? Read about your branding responsibilities broken down by role:

BRAND VOICE

Find your apartment brand voice and use it everywhere you can.

What’s Your Brand Voice?

Is it serious? Playful? Mature? Young? Does it make jokes every chance it gets? Hire a professional to help you both develop this brand voice and make it shine in every bit of copy you (or they) create. When you craft the perception of your brand through your words (and tell people who you are by what you say) you can start building up your brand in their minds. They’ll be thinking about you—finally.

Your 2024 Vision Board

Do you ever miss those inspirational posters that were highly popular in the 90s? Do we even dare to tell you to “Be the bridge” and “Strive for excellence”? Get beyond the black and white words and the cheesy photo and begin to envision what your year could look like. Think about the results you could create with a little more calculated effort AND with your 2024 multifamily marketing budget at the ready

On our vision board…for you, we are seeing:

Websites
Whether you go fully custom or use templates is totally up to you. Even though you could choose either option, make them work well for you by maintaining brand consistency with your color palette, fonts, and brand voice.

Your website is your digital domain; it’s where the newest leads will look for your community, searching for the information they need—availability, interior renderings or photos, and contact information. Make sure it looks and sounds like you—and attracts rather than deters.

Using website templates for your multifamily community isn’t all bad. Templates aren’t perfect, though. Boost your template usage with better branding. Make sure your color palette is accurate and used throughout, creatively. Ensure your fonts are populating the way you expect. Add in a little more about your team or about your management company to give a fuller view of your company from the inside out.

Better Copy

Step one: Get all the good words. Step two: Use the good words. If only!
With your brand voice settled, now you can spin the threads of your community with one engaging idea after another. Why you exist—what you offer—what issues you solve for your residents. Getting professional help with copywriting for apartments will help everything go more smoothly, too.

Video Marketing

Video content helps increase engagement on social media. According to LinkedIn, videos on social media are shared 1200% more than text and image posts. So: Don’t sleep on it. It’s among our favorite trend predictions for multifamily marketing in 2024, and it could help boost your views on instagram or facebook!

Keep in mind while you’re creating:
1) Know “why” you’re making the video. (what’s the point?) Is it education, entertainment, or broader engagement?
2) Know the desired length of your video.
3) Have a plan that details your point, the length, and what should show up in the video.

Ensure your video is accessible, relatable and clear, and you’ll be well on your way to crafting a video marketing strategy that will help secure more leases.

(See also our blog post about apartment brand social media strategies here.)

Now that your 2024 multifamily marketing budget is set and ready to go, advocate for better (and more) branding. This is the best time of the year to do it! Whatever your setting your sights on for 2024, ensure your multifamily brand is ready to take it all on.

Multifamily Marketing in 2024 –Trends Galore

Written by Stacey Feeney on January 2, 2024. Posted in All Articles, Branding, Marketing.

Plenty of trends are coming for multifamily marketing in 2024—get ready with the list straight from the apartment branding experts at Zipcode Creative!

Mortgage costs have been going up with steep interest rates across the nation. Most homeowners aren’t selling, making for fewer houses on the market. And many cannot afford a down payment needed in order to buy a home. This means apartment home rentals are becoming more and more in demand. In order to stay competitive, you need to know what the trends in apartment marketing are.

If you haven’t already invested in excellent branding for your apartment community, make your resolution to do so now! Branding could be the very thing that causes your community to be remembered, propelling its culture and vibe to the forefront for the ideal resident you’re targeting.

#1 Target Residents’ Top Desired Amenities

Your residents could live anywhere they can lay their head. But they choose their home because they want the amenities being offered. Make sure they know all about them. Consider the top trending amenities across the nation today:

Creative working spaces
Pickleball courts
Deliveries
Wellness
Smart home tech
EV chargers

But what’s the best way to do this? Create culture and nail down your vibe through branding, make your physical spaces awesome, use events to have fun and show off amenities and build campaigns around your best offerings.

CREATE CULTURE THROUGH BRANDING

Your Ideal Resident Profile (IRP)
Find your ideal resident profile (IRP) through research. Create a culture with your brand that is tailored to who they are and what they want in their home life. The culture you create can be sporty and active, cozy and comfortable, social and spunky, or whatever you think will help create a great home vibe for your IRP.

For example, sports are always a great way to have a little friendly competition and bring people together. When you show off your pickleball courts, pit residents against staff or create teams and tournaments (with prizes)!

BRING EXCITEMENT TO PHYSICAL SPACES

Branding doesn’t have to stay in the 2D spaces. Bring your brand to the physical world! By weaving your brand through the building, you create another level of engagement with your brand for all visitors, prospects, and residents.

Murals
Murals are a breath of fresh air. Instead of bricks—a blast of color. Adding murals that fit into your branding and evoke a feeling are a fantastic way to up the ante visually in your less-exciting spaces. Find a wall that needs sprucing, and figure out what will work—whether it’s a repeating pattern from your brand guidelines, or an artistic rendition of a dog near the entrance to the doggy spa.

Directional Signage
Much like a mural, it’s nice for residents to have indications of where they are in the building. “Meet me by the pool” is a lot easier when you have clear signage that gets residents exactly where they need to go. Of course, ensuring the colors and font coordinate and work within your brand guidelines is a must. Additionally, having directional signage is like a tiny little advertisement for other amenities around the space, and can initiate a little curiosity in your residents. “I forgot we have a working space—I need to check that out!”

Working Space
Speaking of…these are still popular for the hordes of people continuing to solopreneur or work-from-home—even part-time. It’s nice to “get out of the apartment” every so often, and strike up a friendly conversation or two when you’re working to make every day a little less “same old, same old” and much more “Nice seeing you here again.” Market the space, what it offers, and call out all the things that make the space amazing in a campaign. When you call attention to the awesome design and useful space as some of the best things you offer, you’re answering the ever-present “why do I need to live here?,” confirming for your residents that you have their best interests, needs, wants, and desires at heart.

MARKETING THROUGH EVENTS

Host happenings in your amenity spaces. Think different, go unique—ditch the tired old events and people will come!

A workspace mixer—but for entrepreneurs? Cool.
A pool party that includes both current residents and prospective residents? Hold it at the height of summer, where people need to cool off!

When you create events based around the amenities that you offer, you’re utilizing your spaces well, and showing off (or marketing!) exactly how awesome your amenities are. Not only are you listing it as an option in your brochure, but you’re including it in your flyers for events. This doubling down will help spread the word twice as fast.

MULTIFAMILY MARKETING IN 2024: CAMPAIGNS

There are a million ways to go when it comes to marketing your amenities. But which one will work best for your brand? Try campaigning your best features. You can craft your messaging to be so much more than “Now Leasing “Luxury” Apartments, friends!

Always start with your audience. Where will they be?
And always A/B test. And keep doing it.

Multi-platform Campaigns
Using print, digital, ads, emails, and signage in a combination that makes sense for your brand is a great way to spread out your budget and find the way that best works to reach your audience. And get creative to grab attention. If you’re able, creating a related but different style for each channel can help keep it interesting, especially if your audience will be seeing ads for your community on multiple channels. For example, if you’re showing off your smart home technology, you could create a multi-layered graphic to portray each piece of your smart home offerings, your digital ad can swap through the options, your emails can include bullet point benefits of smart home technology, and a video for social media ads can show someone getting into their building no problem, using a touchless entry system.

The more creative you are—the more likely it is to grab attention!

#2 Go Hyper Local when Branding Apartments

Because apartments are businesses (you know this!) it’s easy to forget that it’s your resident’s home where they’re making memories and enjoying their community. It’s where they are growing up, with their job nearby (or near their favorite attractions). This means that leaning into local and learning the best around the block can be a gamechanger for your branding.

MAPPING OUT YOUR BRANDING

Branding, if heavily influenced by your location can give you a leg up on the competition as a differentiator. It’s not a coincidence that you’re in this neighborhood and the same group of people that are headed to the local book store or coffee shop are also attracted to your building. Look around you and be inspired. Your branding should simultaneously consider the ideal resident profile (IRP) and the demographics of your area. Find something that is relatable for your ideal resident and zero in on it to create something that will feel like it’s created just for them.

Being aware of the area’s high points and low points and local knowledge gives you insider information, and helps you better tell the story through your branding and marketing. Your story can include the highlights of the area, why you are the right choice of community, and why your apartments fit right in with the rest of the neighborhood. When you know what’s “going on” locally or historically—or both—your story becomes so much more compelling.

#3 Using Branding to Capture Your Audience

DIGITAL DOMINANCE

Utter digital domination is the only way to go. What do we mean? Hopefully things you’re already doing online: a website, digital ads, email marketing, and social. In fact, a study by Shelter Realty revealed that 72% of respondents generally turn to the Internet first when searching for an apartment. They’re looking for the easiest, most streamlined way to find their next home.

Website
Your website is your biggest marketing tool. Certainly branding is vital in creating a website that is representative of your community—and is consistent—but the website must be useful. It should offer more about your community, your location, your events, and plenty of photos of the inside, the outside, and what units are available. If you don’t have a website (or a good one), you will lose out on a lot of leads. This is the hub of your online presence, and everything else that you put out should direct leads there. You can even create landing pages specific to digital ads you create to track the results. Make sure your website is recognizable as your brand—many website builders backends even have brand toolsets to upload color palettes and fonts.

Digital Ads
Placing ads on social media, as search ads, or even using retargeting can be an amazing way to capture
leads and drive them to—yes, you guessed it—your website. Work with a designer to ensure you have everything you need on the ad and that it fits within your brand guidelines.

Email Marketing
Grand openings, offers, and announcements should all flow through email. They can certainly end up on the website, but should be sent out to your email list—the emails should be worth opening and apply to the readers. Email marketing is the one way you have control over who sees it, so you can stay top-of-mind for your ideal resident. It’s also useful for your current residents for any reminders of events coming up, helping keep them connected and looped in.

Social Media
If you’re not on social media, you’re missing out! It’s fun, organic social is free (except for time) and it’s a fairly important piece of the puzzle for many prospects. Seeing what you post and recognizing your brand (and brand voice through the captions) is one more thing you can do to help engage with your residents and prospects.

Go where the people are—online. Target them with your ads. Speak to them with your perfectly branded emails. It’s a lot of work to be everywhere, but the digital landscape requires you to find your residents through every channel. When you’re in front of them regularly, with consistent branding, and marketing your best and most desired amenities, and giving them the inside scoop on what’s best around the block, you’ll shoot to the top of their list this year.

Multifamily Branding – How to Get an Edge in 2024

Written by Stacey Feeney on December 18, 2023. Posted in All Articles, Branding, Marketing. 1 Comment on Multifamily Branding – How to Get an Edge in 2024

Maybe you’re working on wrapping up Q4 and your numbers weren’t what you’d hoped. Maybe they’re better and you want to keep that momentum—good on you!

If you truly want to get an edge in 2024 in your community, turn your focus to multifamily branding, the beautiful, well structured sister to marketing.

Where to begin?

Start here.

Reality: Brand Consistency Aligned with Property [Class]

We’ve written a lot about brand consistency. We’ve also written about aligning brand with your property class. It’s imperative that you’re realistic about how you present your community via your brand. Your prospects can’t be set up to fail right off the bat if you overdo it on the brand (or if you under-do it). Get your branding in order and keep it consistent.

How: Take your property class and figure out how best to brand it according to the quality and offerings of the community and the pricing and budget you’ll have. Our shortcut for how much branding for what level of property class is covered here, too!

Relatability: Creating a Personable Brand Through and With Its People

When we create brand guidelines for apartment communities, we like to ask: if your brand was a celebrity, who would they be and why? When you make your brand into something that feels more tangible, it’s easier to see what choices should be made next. And then, it’s easier to create a brand persona that is relatable.

Another way to inject personality into your brand is to use actual people. Your staff. Your on-site management team. Your marketing crew. Even your CEO. A little transparency through a few fun facts, and you’ll find people jiving with the experiences you’re sharing. Behind it all, humans are running the show. It’s okay to let them know that.

How: Do super-short form interviews with the people behind the scenes. Revealing the faces (and personalities!) behind the names is always a good move.

Memorability: Market the Experience

How can you market an experience? There’s a whole thing called experiential marketing. It’s exactly what it sounds like. But if that’s not clear enough, experiential marketing is when a group creates an experience that can leave a long-lasting impression on the resident (or prospect). The hope is that it’s talked about, and remembered for a long while.

You know what’s fun about memories? They’re better when they’re shared. That means when your prospect or customer experiences something out of the ordinary (positive or negative) they’re going to tell their friends and family. That’s immediate word-of-mouth marketing too. So: Make sure the memory is going to be positive.

How: Throw a prospect party! Include something different and creative. Invite anyone who’s interested and have a fun bash together.

Imagination: Tell the Best Story

Storytelling is vital to an impressive brand. Pick a topic and run with it. One of our favorites is location—why is your community such a game changer for the area? Who does it benefit, how does it make a difference, and why was it set in this precise spot? If you don’t have a good story—like any friend would have told you after you get a cast put on for tripping over your own feet—MAKE one.

Next, tell the story of your company. How it got its name. What you’re passionate about and why.

Then, create a story around the culture of your residents. They’re living life in your community, there’s plenty of fodder there. Include their positive experience, testimonials, and reviews in your marketing materials. Don’t have any? Ask for it! When your prospects see the real-life goodness that stems from signing a lease at your community, they’ll be one step closer to moving in.

How: Hire a content writer to really bring the story to life. Make your staff available for questions, since research and experience will plug directly into how real the story is. Get creative and communicate well.

Innovation: Using Unique Branded Moments to Make Connections

Going with some giveaways? Decide what would appeal to a fair percentage of your population and lean into a branded giveaway that will connect—something they would actually want or find clever.

Vibe check. What kind of space has your community set up shop in? Who would likely live in your apartment community?

And then: are your residents eco-minded? Go for reusable branded cutlery.
Retro-loving? Seek out cute pins of your brand elements.

Luxe above all else? Leather keychains for new residents (think a classic hotel experience)

How: Think about what branded items connected most with you—and why. Then translate that into an experience for your residents and prospects.

Loyalty: Award Ambassadors and Foster Lease Renewals

Speaking of hotels and airlines—they love to point out and thank their Golden Super Special Star Loyalty Members with all kinds of deals and points and special offers. At the end of the day, it was created to foster brand loyalty (we’ve got to rack up those points and use them) and to make their customers feel special.

When you can foster lease renewals, this will help keep turnover down, because you’re creating a desire to stay in the community through rewards. Plus, it can create excitement for those seeking out a place to live—benefits galore.

How: With your residents, you can replicate this kind of program. Create brand ambassadors by offering special access to certain areas at specific times. You could also create a referral reward program.

This year, armed with a variety of new ideas to try (or keep doing), 2024 Multifamily Branding is going to be yours—all yours.