Is Apartment Branding Worth The Cost?

Written by Stacey Feeney on June 20, 2023. Posted in All Articles, Branding.

Apartment branding certainly costs money—but is branding worth it? Quick answer: Yes. Good branding is definitely worth the investment for apartment communities. Branding can help any business be more successful, especially in the multifamily business.

What’s Involved in Apartment Branding?

Apartment brand guidelines are a good place to start. Having an idea of what’s involved will help you get a head start—and it will help you better understand a cost that makes sense. (Plus, you’ll see what goes into it, so you know if an agency is putting together a full package that will work for your apartment community’s brand.)

How much does Apartment Branding Cost?

The cost of custom branding projects depends on exactly what you need and who you’re working with. Both of those factors can make the cost estimate vary wildly.

Let’s say you get a quote for $99. That’s cheap. And you’re going to get what you pay for.

Or, maybe you’ve found a high-end agency, and they’ve given you a quote for $100k. That’s going to get you something pretty spectacular, but realistically you don’t need that many bells and whistles – just enough to stand out above the competition.

Look for something in between. Perception counts for something—if the branding looks high-quality and intentional (consistent, a color palette that makes sense) then your prospective resident might still spring for a higher monthly lease cost over your competitor, because you look more put-together and attractive.

Since branding is how you look and how you make people feel, it’s completely worth the time and money spent, if done properly.

Why is Apartment Branding Worth It?

1. Branding sets you apart.

The demand for apartment living is at an all time high with ever-increasing rates in the housing market. And that means the competition is getting tougher. Set your community apart with a well-defined brand. Your unique identity should show the real you (or at least the most ideal version of you). This means that when you have competitors who are in the same market as you (with similar features, location, and target audience) you can begin to stand out through creating a lifestyle that speaks to how you’ll improve the lives of your residents. Creating a strong brand, you increase the chance of attracting and retaining your residents with culture and sense of community.

What it’s worth: Think about how much income you’ll receive from just one new lease being signed? In terms of ROI, it adds up.

2. Branding helps you gain trust and credibility.

A brand that’s well-built helps stack up trust and credibility with its residents—whether current or future. If your property has a positive reputation, you’re known for quality and reliability. People want to live there when they feel like they’re a part of something—it’s that culture thing again. That positive word-of-mouth marketing stemming from online reviews and friendly recommendations come from satisfied residents. That’s all part of who you are (remember: how you make them feel!)

What it’s worth: You don’t have to pay for word-of-mouth. Free benefits add up.

3. Branding helps establish loyalty and keep current residents.

When more people want to live there, it becomes an attractive option to everyone, including the people who already live there. (Ooh, people want in? Well, I have it, so I should hang on to this valuable thing!) The only thing better than a signed lease is a renewed lease. It’s a lot easier to keep the residents you already have (as long as they’re current on their payments) than one that you have to go out and pound the pavement for.

What it’s worth: Lease renewals cost significantly less than acquiring a new resident.

4.Branding can help justify premium pricing.

Luxury lofts, eh? That won’t be believable if your branding work is all over the place: inconsistent, unprofessional, and downright outdated. Keep things classy and make sure your branding is telling your ideal resident that “You’re Worth It.” Because if they’re not convinced of your status, they’re not going to be willing to pay a premium for it. Turn their desires into reality with exceptional branding that targets your ideal resident.

What it’s worth: Perception is everything, branding can justify higher rents when quality is matched with the property’s features and amenities.

5. Branding helps keep a good thing going.

We also like to call this success inertia. Branding is the initial burst of energy that helps you onto the scene. After that positive word-of-mouth goes around, you’ll spend a lot less time attracting leads because of your loyal current residents’ referrals to friends. Brand recognition will also help reduce marketing costs and efforts over time when brand presence establishes in the market.

Now, you’ll be able to spend more time growing the portfolio. Show your lease-up rates to investors interested in reputable property management, and you’ll find a pattern of growth and expansion to develop or acquire additional properties.

What it’s worth: Brand recognition leads to better reputation, which leads to faster lease-ups and company expansion.

Multifamily developers and owners like you can establish a strong market presence, generate higher returns, and position their properties for long-term success in the competitive rental market, all because you decided apartment branding was worth the cost.

Using Renderings for Apartment Marketing

Written by Stacey Feeney on June 9, 2023. Posted in All Articles, Marketing.

Using Renderings for Apartment Marketing

Renderings for apartment marketing could be the difference between scrolling past the website and a signed lease. Learn more about why using renderings for apartment marketing is important—and how best to put them to use.

What are renderings?

Renderings are realistic images of a building or space, generally prior to its construction or completion. It also offers up a visualization of what a unit may be filled with (i.e. a master bedroom with a king size bed, dresser, and nightstands.)

Renderings are extremely helpful for new construction lease-up properties since there won’t be a building to show off—or they can be useful in a property that has been remodeled or rebranded.

Types of Rendering Services

There are a few different types of renderings for apartment marketing. Each one serves a slightly different purpose. These services can include:

EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR STILLS

These types of renderings show the outside of your buildings as well as what the interior could look like. Generally, you’ll want renderings of the community spaces as well as the residential buildings, if different. It’s extremely important to have interior stills of the clubhouse and exterior stills of any pools, game courts, and dog parks, if applicable.

360 VIRTUAL TOURS

360 virtual tours are meant to allow prospects to feel like they’re in the middle of the spaces you’re offering. They may choose to use these 360 virtual tours if they’re moving into town from far away and can’t take an in-person tour, or this may be something you offer before construction is complete so you can attract more interest.

VIDEO FLY-OVERS

Stills are great to visualize. 360 virtual tours drop you into the place. But video fly-over renderings will give your prospects the full picture and the full layout of the design, and fully wow them. Seeing how it all fits together and what the landscaping around the area may look like is one more way to get them interested.

Why Do Renderings for Apartment Marketing?

SHOWCASE BEFORE COMPLETION

If you’ve tried to sell something without using visual aides, you know: it’s important for the final decision. Any new construction should be able to showcase the community before it’s completed. You can use the renderings on your website, your brochures, in your ads, on your signage. Any place you might have typically put a photo, you could place a rendering. This helps push the idea of the lifestyle you’re selling—because we both know that words can’t do everything.

HELP WITH PRE-LEASING

Rendering for apartment marketing should be on your checklist. It helps with pre-leasing if it’s done well: beautiful, photo realistic, high quality. And in that sense, it’s completely worth the investment.

SUPPLEMENT TO PHOTOGRAPHY

Once you’ve completed construction and you book photography for your units, your common spaces and some pretty architectural shots, the renderings you have can still work as your “hero image”. Why? Because it will always be perfect weather in the virtual world, and all of your plants are alive. And sometimes a photographer might not get the exact shot you want—but the renderings can give you precisely the angle you’d hoped for. Use renderings for apartment marketing before that photo sesh and after.

VISUALIZE YOURSELF HERE

Seeing is believing—without a building to show off, it’s harder to get leases signed. The renderings also tell the prospective resident that you’re highly invested in attracting them, and they’ll be more attracted if the rendering is done well. Helping them easily envision themselves there gets them to sign a lease to live there for real.

Renderings with zipcode creative

Imagine it and be it! Our founder, Stacey, has a background in architectural photography. She knows that visuals are vital to securing a signed lease and building your apartment’s brand. She is passionate about renderings that are high-quality and photorealistic. If you have a rendering, it’s best if the viewer is asking, “Wait, is this real?” That’s when you know you’ve hit the nail on the head.

When you look for a marketing partner to get renderings for your apartment community, make sure you see what they’ve done in the past. Decide whether you want only floor plans, or if you need the whole deal with renderings from top-to-bottom. If you’re in the process of rebranding or remodeling, a decent rendering could change the game (in your favor).

What’s Included in Apartment Brand Guidelines?

Written by Stacey Feeney on June 5, 2023. Posted in All Articles, Branding.

Ever wish there was a roadmap for apartment branding? Meet apartment brand guidelines.

This…map won’t look like anyone else’s. Except for the main elements that are required for any map: scale, latitude, longitude, compass.

And When you have every piece of your brand guidelines all laid out in front of you, it’s going to be a lot easier to get where you want to go (the land of sweet success, the true treasure.)

Brand Positioning

WHAT’S BRAND POSITIONING?

Brand positioning is a quick statement about your apartment brand that tells the reader: This is what we are known for—or wish to be known for—in our industry, market, and to our target audience.

WHAT’S BRAND POSITIONING FOR?

Brand positioning is your company’s compass. Or, if you’re even more old-fashioned, your North Star. It reminds you of the direction you’re headed, and gives you something to measure up to, which could be business decisions, ad copy, partnerships, you name it. If it doesn’t align, it shouldn’t be considered the right choice, and it won’t feel authentic to your brand, either..

Brand Attributes

WHAT ARE BRAND ATTRIBUTES?

Brand attributes are characteristics that distinguish your brand. By using words that display the best parts of your brand’s personality, you can embody who you are, and put your best side in the spotlight. A fun way to think about this is choosing a celebrity that most embodies your brand—and why. (e.g. Julia Roberts—she has a sense of humor, is gorgeous, and is, in our minds, a spicier twist on classic.)

WHAT DO BRAND ATTRIBUTES DO?

Brand attributes are meant to set your brand apart. (You’re not like everyone else, right?) This puts the hard-to-define soul of your brand into literal words and ideas. By choosing 4-6 words, with a brief rationale for each, we can get a little closer to the heart of your apartment community’s brand.

Ideal Resident Profile

WHAT IS AN IDEAL RESIDENT PROFILE (IRP)?

An ideal resident profile is your key audience. It will help your brand speak directly to the very residents it wants to attract. By taking in the data from your product offering (luxury apartments? 55+ condos?) and from the market you’ve placed yourself in (bustling city life vs. quiet suburbs) you can better identify exactly who your brand sets out to serve. The IRP is based on data

WHY DO I NEED AN IRP?

An IRP gives you a resource when you’re determining your best targeting or marketing strategies. In the same way that your apartment’s brand positioning statement is your compass, your IRP is where X marks the spot. Your goal. Your target. Who you’re reaching for.

Brand Voice & Tone

WHAT IS BRAND VOICE AND TONE?

Now that you know who you’re taking to (IRP) you’ll have an easier time getting your brand voice and tone tightened up. Channel your brand attributes when speaking to your ideal resident profile while you recall your brand positioning (you remember, right?: what you want to be known for). Bring it all together in your content and you’ve got a brand voice and tone.

HOW DO I IDENTIFY MY COMMUNITY’S BRAND VOICE AND TONE?

A few ways.
Brand identity statement:
Summarize your brand’s full identity with statements that tell who you are and what you offer, in a few paragraphs. Write your brand identity statements in a way that will appeal to your IRP, keeping in mind their biggest desires, fears, and hopes—that you fulfill.

Tagline:

Grab attention with something short and snappy that sums up who your brand is—kind of like a slogan.

Headlines:

Keep that attention with shorter phrases that can be sprinkled throughout your content to intrigue your current and future residents with more hints of who your brand really is.

Brand Vocabulary:

Distinct to you, it’s your own language—a set of phrases and words that are in your brand’s go-to dictionary. With interesting names for your amenities, you create a culture all your own for every piece of your community.

Logo Mark

What’s a logo mark?

A logo. With a few variations—mostly there will be a dark background and light background version of a primary and a secondary. Primary logo marks should be used most often. When needed, the secondary can fit in smaller spaces or simpler applications.

WHY IS A LOGO MARK IMPORTANT?

This allows you to have your logo be consistent and recognizable. When you do something good, you’ll get recognition—because your logo was on it.

Logo Usage

WHAT’S LOGO USAGE?

This is the rule book for how your apartment community logo may be used. It usually includes rules against tight spacing, strange angles, stretched or skewed logo marks, and incorrect combinations of the primary and secondary being used at the same time.

WHY IS LOGO USAGE IMPORTANT?

The rules are there for a reason. Keep things consistent, and appealing—the graphic designer knows best and has worked with the marketing portion of your team to dial in your brand visually, for the best chance at brand recognition and loyalty. Don’t touch the dials.

Color Palette

WHAT’S A BRAND COLOR PALETTE?

A brand color palette in your apartment brand guidelines indicates precisely which colors are to be used in your marketing—your website, your mailers, your banners. It will typically include 3-6 colors, all with the four color codes included for exact matching (RGB, CMYK, PMS, AND HEX).

WHY DO I NEED A BRAND COLOR PALETTE?

Consistency through color is a major precursor to brand recognition and loyalty. Your colors are another visual reflection of your brand—color psychology is definitely a thing. Keeping them consistent means that you are predictable and reliable—to your residents.

Typography

WHAT’S TYPOGRAPHY?

Fonts. Typefaces. You can choose 2-4 fonts for different purposes. For example: headings, large text, small long text, and callout fonts can all be different. This is also called “typeface hierarchy”: a general guideline that helps your designers and marketing team ensure the content they’re publishing and/or printing is clear and easily understood, thanks to the fonts used for each section (i.e. heading, subhead, body, an accent uses).

WHY IS BRAND TYPOGRAPHY IMPORTANT?

Every typeface that your brand uses (again, ideally no more than 4) is another way to reflect your brand visually. When you use fonts consistently, it will help reinforce your brand to your IRP, especially if you’re in tune with how fonts make us feel.

Design Elements

WHAT ARE APARTMENT DESIGN ELEMENTS?

Apartment design elements are additional visual cues to clue your resident into the fact that you’re here, and you’re you. These design elements can include brand patterns, brand shapes, brand collage styles, and brand stamps.

WHY DO I NEED APARTMENT DESIGN ELEMENTS?

Community brand design elements are icing on the cake. It’s additional guidance for designers who want to do a little something extra for your website or printed materials. It makes it clear what is permissible in terms of design styles.

Brand patterns can help evoke emotion and recognition with patterns that repeat through the website background and on the borders or printed materials.

Brand shapes help create intrigue in brand graphics—a way to break up too much text or photos for better readability or scannability.

Brand collage styles are a suggestion of how to lay out photos and brand elements together in a way that works in tandem with the rest of the brand guideline choices. It can be used as a background or a design overlay.

Brand stamps are similar to logo marks. They should be used sparingly, and are generally useful for a hit of attention to strut your stuff where you most need it.

Lifestyle Photography

WHAT’S BRAND LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY?

“It’s a whole vibe.” Choosing the right style of stock photography for your brand is vital for an audience that is highly visual. They’ll want to see photos that inspire them, and photos that reflect the most aspirational parts of their psyche.

HOW SHOULD I CHOOSE PHOTOS FOR MY BRAND?

Choosing photos that fall within a specific color palette will help keep everything cohesive. Each photo you pick out should emphasize the attributes you identified early on in your brand guidelines.

Iconography

WHAT’S ICONOGRAPHY?

Who reads anymore? Hopefully you. But your ideal resident may not read that closely or carefully. Having icons is helpful—like a shortcut to an idea.

HOW SHOULD I PICK ICONS?

Make sure your brand iconography vibes with your content and copy, and clearly indicate what they are. Place them in your designs to help your residents (current and future) skim through your content to find what they’re looking for.

Illustrations

WHAT ARE ILLUSTRATIONS?

We’re talking brand illustrations. But they’re not wildly different from book illustrations in their purpose—they can be fun and playful to use for your community’s features and amenities.

WHERE SHOULD I USE BRAND ILLUSTRATIONS?

Large applications are best for these very specific brand illustrations, like wall art or on the background of a webpage.

Brand Examples

The preview is here. In your brand guidelines, having a visual that shows how your stationery will look, what your signage displays, and how your instagram feed can be laid out, helps you fully visualize the ideal version of your brand. Guidance is key—and we think you’ll rise to the occasion.

Need a boost to figure out your brand? Reach out to zipcode creative today to set up a call.

Branding and Marketing Corporate Multifamily Real Estate

Written by Stacey Feeney on May 18, 2023. Posted in All Articles, Branding.

Multifamily branding and marketing is fantastic. We love it. But it’s not all we do. We also work on branding corporate property management companies. All that to say: we speak your language, regardless of which side of multifamily you’re on, be it management, ownership, or development—or all of the above.

Zipcode creative is happy to serve everyone in multifamily communities, from the leasing office all the way up to the investors and owners, including the corporate side of things.

We work with:

Third Party Management
Owners and Operators
Developers

Before Branding and Marketing Corporate

Your multifamily real estate company—even if it’s behind the scenes—is a brand, too. If you want to make a name for yourself, grow, and attract investors, a solid brand is key.

There are a few questions you’ll want to ask prior to branding and marketing the corporate side of your multifamily company:

Who is your target audience?

This question helps identify whether you need to speak to investors, if you need to reach the owners that are seeking third-party management, or perhaps you do it all in-house and the end customers are the residents at your communities. The answer to this question will make your message very different.

What is your goal?

When you answer this question, it can help determine the tasks and steps you need to take to achieve what you’re setting out to do. For example, if you’re hoping to develop and manage an apartment community until it’s leased up and then sell it, your tasks will vary greatly from if you’re trying to be resident-facing and be a sort of mini-ILS with your portfolio of communities on a website.

If you purchased a community to rehab it, a rebrand is the perfect way to make it very clear that it is under new ownership and management, showing that staff is helpful and interactions with residents are positive!

When we partner with the corporate marketing team at your company, we consider your audience and goals first. That sets the stage for what kind of branding and marketing you should ideally be doing—and how MUCH of it you should be doing.

How much attention do you want or need?

If you’re hoping to stay behind the scenes, then doing the whole kit and caboodle with branding and marketing may not be what you need. But if you want your brand to be known and recognized, you need to work on visibility and consistency.

At zipcode, we get your multifamily real estate company from all angles. Asking these questions can help us get you where you need to go.

Details of Branding and Marketing Corporate

Depending on your answers to the questions above, you may have a couple of different options with your logo and usage. When you’re looking to bring your corporate brand to the community level, you’ll need to determine whether you should:

Stamp the corporate logo on all marketing materials, use your color palette, and create a standardized logo design for all your communities so they’re recognizable as “one of those Easy Street Communities”

OR!

Simply place the corporate logo in the footer of all marketing materials, and let the communities stand completely on their own with unique branding.

It’s a choose-your-own-adventure type thing, but make a decision and stick with it.

If you want to be known for your beautifully branded communities, relocating residents can look for one of your communities—“you know, the ones with easy online leasing renewals.” Once you get to be known for something (if it’s positive) you want to keep that good thing going.

DON’T FORGET

Branding and marketing corporate also means you need to create and brand the culture you offer to your employees (and prospective employees). You want to attract the right talent for corporate roles and roles on-site.

When Branding Your Corporate Side Won’t Work

Branding the corporate multifamily real estate company isn’t for everyone. For example, if your portfolio niche is C minus communities with less than desirable reputations, you may not have the bandwidth and budget for corporate branding (Think ROI.)

If you’re the owner/operator of a long-term hold and you’re managing your own assets, you might not feel the need to brand because you don’t have big growth goals. That’s fine, too. (Although, a beautiful brand will still be appreciated.)

Keep in mind: If you’re trying to acquire and purchase or grow and develop, you’ll want to dial in your company’s true brand, and then market the heck out of it for possible investors. When all of your communities are on the same page, it looks like it’s a tightly run ship—which is always a good sign to investors.

Depending on your needs, we can find a branding and marketing solution that pushes you toward completing your goals.

Outsourced Branding and Specialty Design for Multifamily Marketing

Written by Stacey Feeney on May 15, 2023. Posted in All Articles, Branding.

Is it better to get the job done or not do it at all? Consider outsourced branding, for instance. Even if you don’t typically turn to an outside agency for help, you may eventually find that your marketing team is slammed. That’s when outsourcing the work could be just the thing you need.

Why Should I Be Outsourcing Branding For Multifamily?

BENEFITS

If you’ve never outsourced branding before, it might sound a little scary. According to Hubspot, “the best time to outsource [marketing] is when internal talent is stretched thin and in-house teams are struggling to get campaigns over the line.” There are quite a few benefits to outsourcing some of your (or most or all—we’re here to help, not judge) marketing for multifamily to an outside agency.

The best reason why you should be outsourcing branding for multifamily is, at its most basic, a good business decision. It can help you:

Expand coverage: If your team is slammed and there’s no one to take on extra work (see also: emails from the boss that begin with “We need to get new signage up on-site for takeover and we close on Friday!””) This means that you can say “yes” because you’ve got someone to turn to for those last-minute projects…or you can offload something else to an agency so you can tackle the things that are due sooner. Having a backup team gives you not only the capability to prioritize, but also the ability to keep saying “yes” to whatever pops up in your inbox. Here’s to a bigger bandwidth.
Extend capabilities: You’ve got talent on your team, but they may not be able to complete the job in the way that it needs to be. Some skills like branding design and copywriting take time and experience to get right, and you don’t have the luxury of either. In that case, outsourcing can extend your capabilities and give you the ability to create even more beautiful things.
Bolster your brand: Making things pretty is what we do at zipcode creative. We know that it takes a lot of focus and time to really make your brand shine. And when we work as an extension of your marketing team, we make sure that everything looks fantastic.

Stretch your budget: Hiring full-time creatives for your staff can’t always work out. Calculate the cost of a full-time graphic designer, copywriter, social media manager, ad specialist, plus their benefits and you’ll see some red on your bottom line. Hiring for those roles isn’t necessarily realistic for every company. We’ll step in and be an extension for whatever you need.

Best Things to Outsource

IN-HOUSE TEAM

What are your current in-house team’s capabilities? Where could they really use help? What are they constantly pushing deadlines out on? Start with the squeaky wheels—the areas where you need more time, more help, or more expertise, and outsource branding to an agency.

WHAT WE CAN HELP WITH

Sometimes, you need a list to run down and see what needs to be covered. Here’s what zipcode creative can cover when it comes to outsourced branding in the form of a checklist to help you maximize efficiency in your marketing department.

Why Outsourcing Branding Could Work

It’s tempting to avoid outsourcing your marketing for multifamily. Keeping it in-house seems cleaner, less risky, possibly cheaper. But there’s a ton you could be missing out on, if you outsource with trusted partners:

KEEP YOUR FOCUS

Now you can focus on the essential responsibilities within your role instead of being spread too thin and worrying about getting it all done on time and done well. If you have a marketing team that’s running strategies to increase occupancy, resident events, social media, managing public relations, and crafting the next campaign, they probably don’t have time to create a mailer for your lease-up special. Don’t make them do that, too. Let them keep their focus on the big picture, and outsource the graphic design of a few marketing collateral pieces.

PLAY TO STRENGTHS

Graphic design, for example, isn’t everyone’s specialty. Maybe digital ads are, though. Find what you’re good at, and absolutely nail it. For brand messaging: voice, and persona, and for graphic design: logos, palettes, fonts, and related marketing pieces (and more), let someone help you. Wherever you’re going to spend more time learning how to do it, and then doing a C+ job, hire someone else. (And stay away from Canva.) We’ve got our specialty—we make things look pretty!—and you’ve got yours. Nothing wrong with learning, but sometimes it’s faster and easier to stay in your (multifamily) lane. Bottom line here: The best work being accomplished toward your marketing efforts and goals happens when you play to your teams (and your) strengths, and you allow your contracted partners to do what they do best, as well.

BRAND CONSISTENCY

If you have a brand style guide, awesome. If everyone on your team follows it, even better. Those colors, fonts, logo options and graphic design rules are there to keep things consistent. But we’ve got even better news for you: When you partner with an outside agency, we’ll be even more strict about brand consistency, because we have no reason to do otherwise. After all, consistency and cohesiveness is our number one goal as an agency, aside from creating attention grabbing messaging and visuals, of course!

FRESH PERSPECTIVE

Maybe your marketing team can’t get it all done, and you’ve had to reach out to a partner agency to help you make it all happen. That’s totally okay, as long as your partner is good! You’ve been looking at the same palette, logos, amenities, layouts, for a little too long. But outsourcing also gives your team the opportunity to see something new—a creative vision or opinion or idea. Now, a new set of eyes can see something you might have missed all along.

That’s completely worth it.

Brand Promise – The “Vows” of Your Apartment Community

Written by Stacey Feeney on April 29, 2023. Posted in All Articles, Branding.

What is a Brand Promise?

Everytime your brand shows up visually or verbally, there is a specific association with what your apartment brand offers as an experience to its clientele or residents. That’s the brand promise. Each time your brand messaging and visual representation show up, like an ad or a mailer, you’ve set up your brand to deliver an experience you have vowed (or promised!) to give residents…which they now know to expect. It’s not always spoken or written—but it is a form of mission and values and the feeling that your residents get when they think of you. It will certainly come out in different ways through your verbal identity.

In short, it’s a public benchmark. It helps recall why you’re doing what you’re doing in the first place, sprinkled with what you value most.

I TAKE THEE, COMMUNITY

Brand promises can get tricky, though. Like a marriage vow, you might not want to go fully traditional—because that’s not unique or interesting, per se. However, if you write your own vows, things can go a little off the rails.

Here’s some guidance for your brand promise that will have prospective residents flocking to your apartment community.

In Your Brand Promise, DON’T:

OVERPROMISE

When you overpromise and then subsequently underdeliver, that becomes an epic disappointment. It’s also a total misalignment of expectation versus reality. If you’re overpromising something, like “We’ll always make it right, no matter what” and then your service director or management staff aren’t trained with how to fix the problems at hand, you can count on a broken brand promise. Only promise what you can actually achieve—it’s not the time to be aspirational or overly inspiring. Be real. Be good. But don’t overpromise.

BE SELFISH

Wedding vows aren’t about the person speaking. Likewise, brand promises are not strictly about the brand itself. It’s what you offer. It’s what you’re promising as a service. Instead of being selfish, tell your residents what you can do for them. (A certain JFK quote comes to mind here.) Look outward instead of in, and you’ll have painted a better brand promise.

GO OVERBOARD WITH THE WORDS

Hey, here’s an idea! Make your brand promise easy to understand, read, and have it grab attention. Kind of like your other multifamily copywriting (if you followed our advice in this blog.) Don’t be flowery. Don’t be fluffy about it. Say what you mean and be clear.

DO WHAT’S BEEN DONE

More word advice here. When you use phrases that have been seen before, they don’t offer the same weight or meaning. Your residents and prospects will skim right over it. So when you say “unique solutions” or “outstanding customer service” they hear “blah blah blah.” That’s a bad promise.

Instead, it’s best to keep the focus where it should be: On the resident

In Your Brand Promise, DO:

HIGHLIGHT THE RESIDENT’S NEEDS

When you put the resident’s needs first, they feel drawn in. By subtly calling out your experience and differentiators, they don’t feel sold to, they feel their problem being one step closer to a solution.

WRITE “THE STORY” TO FEATURE THEM

The resident is the main character. They’re the hero of your story. And your apartment community is just the tool to help them get what they want. Once you pull your brand out of the top billed credits, you’ll have a better shot at creating a brand promise that’s focused on the most important piece of the puzzle: The Resident.

BRING THE BEST WORDS

Break out the thesaurus and find a new way that truly underscores what you’re promising—the feeling that residents can expect whenever they interact with your brand. Using the right words helps shape perception and gives you a direction to go.

How does one do this?
Try this on:

Example: Our caring staff and beautiful grounds will help you feel at ease in your new home, so you can fully relax—your biggest worry will be what to wear to the community mixer each month.

Just like a mission explains what you do, which is mostly for internal use, a brand promise is outward-facing, to tell your residents what you’ll do for them every day of your existence. Don’t break the promise!

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