While blogging might seem like something for big brands and influencers, it’s actually an effective way for any business to connect with its audience. Blogs offer property management companies a place to share long-form content that showcases your expertise, allows you to show off your communities, amenities, and neighborhoods, and connect with prospective and current residents.
4 Reasons to Start a Multifamily Blog
Starting a blog isn’t just for show. Over time, it will help you generate more leads, lease-up faster, and establish yourself as a multifamily authority in your region(s).
Increase Website Traffic
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a major factor that will help you increase web traffic. And one of the easiest ways to increase your site’s SEO value? A blog. Blogs are so effective, in fact, that businesses with blogs attract 55% more traffic than those that don’t.
Optimizing your website for SEO allows search engines to more easily find your communities. Creating valuable content that answers prospective residents’ questions about your property management company and about the multifamily industry, renting, or your neighborhoods will not only establish you as an expert but also make your site more likely to pop up in search results to drive brand visibility.
Generate More Leads
As your website has more and more leads, it will also increase your brand awareness and your opportunity to generate leads. Brands that prioritize blogging receive 13 times the ROI than companies that did not, making it an effective and worthwhile investment for multifamily developers and property managers.
As more inbound traffic comes to your site, your conversion rates will naturally rise, too. When writing your blog posts, be sure to include strong calls-to-action, offer readers exclusive and informational content, and even offer perks or discounts like rent incentives or referral programs. Adding all of these elements to your blog will help you increase your lead database for a larger group of prospective residents you can market to in the future.
Showcase Your Expertise in the Industry
A blog is an amazing opportunity to show off your knowledge. From discussing emerging apartment community trends to showcasing resident programming or upgrades, it is a one-stop shop for you to demonstrate your insights across multifamily topics. From industry trends to neighborhood round-ups, you can feature any type of content that establishes you as an expert in the multifamily space.
Don’t feel limited by text. A blog can be a multimedia platform that hosts photos, videos, and text—or all three in a single post. Use your creativity to come up with original angles and new ways of sharing information to keep your audience engaged and excited.
Keep Residents Informed
While blogs are effective for attracting new residents, they’re also an amazing way to stay connected with your current residents at the property website level. Use an apartment community-specific blog to promote upcoming resident events, community updates, or important news. You can even use it to spotlight popular businesses in your area, create neighborhood guides, or showcase staff or residents. Once you’ve published these posts, you can even send them out to your residents in a monthly newsletter or share them on your social media channels to generate additional page views, ensuring that the content ends up right in your residents’ inboxes.
How to Start a Multifamily Blog
Starting a blog is as easy as three simple steps.
- Choose Your Blog Platform
To start your blog, you must first decide where you will host your content. If your community already has a website, it’s often easiest to use the same platform for your blog content. Sites like WordPress or Webflow are user-friendly and affordable options if your current site isn’t capable of hosting a blog.
- Choose Blog Topics
Once you have your blog set up, come up with five to seven different content buckets. These could include things like resident life, community events, or industry trends. Brainstorm a few different blog ideas within each of these buckets to give you a solid foundation to start with. From there, you can keep a running list of blog topics to ensure you always have something in the queue when it’s time to write your next post. You can even consider adding a once-a-month brainstorm session to make sure it remains a priority throughout the year.
- Write Your First Post
Once the backend of your blog is all set up, it’s time to start writing! First, determine the main objective of your blog, whether that’s driving site traffic, increasing leads, or simply engaging existing residents. You should also choose how often you’ll post. Consistency is much more important than frequency, so pick a cadence and try to stick to it as much as possible. Finally, you’ll want to decide what action you want readers to take at the end of every post, whether that’s subscribing to your newsletter or signing up for a leasing tour.
Once you’ve answered all of these questions, you can start writing. Focus on creating unique content that adds value for your readers. Be sure to also use your brand voice and incorporate photos and info about your communities when relevant to help promote what you have to offer.
If you need help getting your blog up and running, consult the experts. At zipcode creative, we’re experienced in all facets of multifamily marketing—including blogging—and can help you with everything from the backend set-up to your content strategy and even copywriting each post. Reach out to our team today to get started!
