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Apartment Branding – What Makes it Good?

Written by Stacey Feeney on January 18, 2023. Posted in All Articles, Branding. 2 Comments on Apartment Branding – What Makes it Good?

Developing good apartment branding is just like creating a solid relationship—it takes time, trust, and effort. While you can create a beautiful logo, eye-catching website, and other impressive marketing materials, developing strong bonds with your target residents should always be your top priority. Keep reading to learn more about how building a strong apartment brand is like a relationship.

Be Trustworthy and Honesty

A solid reputation is everything to an apartment brand. And the only way to develop a stellar reputation is to be trustworthy and honest at every turn. It’s important to never overpromise and underdeliver. Instead, you should always be true to your brand, your services, and your level of quality when communicating with residents and prospects.

Over time, this will help you build a high level of trust and confidence with your audience. Instead of second-guessing or feeling skeptical, residents and prospects will know that you stick to your promises.

Be Consistent and Clear

Consistency is key when developing any brand. The reason that customers know and love certain brands is because they know exactly what to expect.

In N Out Burger, for example, always tastes the same—which is why customers come back again and again. They can rely on the high quality of the food and the overall experience; the brand always behaves in a way they understand and expect.

It’s important to create that same consistency within your apartment community. The level of customer service, aesthetics of your apartments, and dedication to quality should always be at the same high level so every customer, resident, and prospect receives the same experience.

Share Your Beliefs and Values

Help people connect with your brand on a deeper level. Sharing what drives you and what you’re passionate about can help prospective residents and partners more interested in what you have to offer.

Defining your vision, mission, and values at the very beginning of your brand building is integral to creating a strong brand. This helps to ensure that you’re not only creating a product that prospects will love, but also one that they can understand and feel good about supporting. Include your brand statements, like values, on your website, and in your brochure to make them easily available for your residents, staff, and prospects. That way, they’ll know what you stand for from the start.

Be Considerate, Listen, and Anticipate Needs

Friendships are a two-way street—and developing a strong brand is the same way. You need to understand and listen to your resident’s needs and help deliver exactly what they’re looking for. To go above and beyond, you can even anticipate their needs before they do themselves. For example, if you live in an area with a lot of young professionals, a business center or resident lounge would be the perfect place for those working from home. Offering this amenity ahead of resident demand shows that you’re considerate of their wants and needs.

Good apartment branding is also judgment-free and supportive. Offering equal opportunities to housing for all is vital to creating a strong brand that sticks to its values.

If you need help creating apartment branding that resonates trust and reliability and are looking to create beautiful, consistent marketing materials, a seasoned creative agency could be the right partner for your community. At zipcode creative, we have worked with countless communities to help them not only create their visual branding, develop marketing materials, and establish effective strategies, but have also helped them gain—and maintain—the trust of their target audience. Reach out today to learn more!

2023 Apartment Branding Trends

Written by Stacey Feeney on January 17, 2023. Posted in All Articles, Branding.

Your crystal ball just called! These 2023 Apartment Branding Trends are must-haves for your multifamily community’s future branding and design choices. Take the zipcode creative trend challenge, and pick 3 to work on this year!

#1: Storytelling

Get ‘em right in the feels. A well-written story connects to your audience on an emotional level—and they can start imagining themselves in place of “Kara, 29, with a dog and a marketing job who found the perfect apartment to make friends and build community.” Try sharing your brand’s history, values, and mission through every channel you can: social media, email campaigns, even print brochures. Residents can smell a sales pitch a mile away, so resist that urge, and beckon them in with a hint of “Once upon a time…” When apartment brands tell a story, they can count on getting a rapt audience. Not a storyteller? Get a copywriter. (Pro-tip: We have those at zipcode creative.)

#2: Authenticity

But don’t get too “fairytale” on us. Those same residents that can smell a sales pitch can also suss out if your brand is being authentic. Latch onto content that doesn’t originate in your own office—get reviews, get testimonials, get real people who live in your apartment community, and ask to share. Another way to pull back the curtain is to integrate your resident events and your prospect events, and help residents experience the community with every one of their five senses. Doesn’t hurt to plant a few extra-happy residents in the mix, too. Also: Social proof is totally a thing. Rentgrata offers a way for current residents to connect with prospects, helping you get an inside scoop on what they’re looking for, and helping seal the deal with a real person—not just a chatbot.

#3: Experience Branding

Feels like everything’s becoming robotic these days. In-person events and customer service that knows your name can feel suddenly one step closer—like a friend. Try out experience branding with your leasing apartments through personalized emails, online content that’s tailored to them (different UX pathways!) or a resident event that brings your brand to life. Make sure your staff is an extension of your brand, too—a handwritten note from maintenance (on a branded card) can let them know who was there and what they fixed up. Associate your brand with a positive experience, and your residents will keep coming back for more—that’s one of the best 2023 apartment branding trends worth exploring.

#4: Purpose-Driven Branding

Take this trend to heart. According to Forbes, 45% of Gen-Zers want to work for a company that’s making a (positive) difference. So, it’d make sense that they’re more willing to spend money when they know their apartment community holds similar values. Even if your target resident isn’t just Gen-Z, bring your mission, vision, and values to the surface in a real way through your 2023 apartment branding. Highlight how you give back to the community, show your green side (do an energy-efficient campaign) and be vocal about who or what you support and how. The next generation demands it—but be sure it falls within our 2023 apartment branding trends #2 above: Authenticity. Make it a habit, call it out, and they’ll notice.

#5: Micro-Moments

Get quick on your feet. Split-second decisions add up, and with smartphones, everyone is looking for the answer to their needs in real time. Make sure you’re there when the need arises, providing value and capturing your prospective residents’ attention (because you are the apartment community with the answers). Try this idea with your website by integrating an FAQ, having a well-informed blog with timely topics, or simple video that shows off your favorite areas of the community—forgo a professional filmmaker and get super authentic with a smartphone video that’s decently edited. According to Statista, video has an online usage reach of over 90%. No wonder it continues to trend for marketing.

#6: Audio Branding

“Alexa! Play Spanish guitar dinner music.” Today’s consumer asks a lot of brands—out loud. How can you capture this segment of your prospective residents in your branding efforts, though? Develop content on your site that is optimized for voice search—Hubspot recommends doing this by targeting longtail keywords. Get specific and focus on high conversion so that you have the definitive answer to your audience’s specific need. Having an attractive brand is great. But also make sure your residents can find you, whether they’re typing in their query or wondering aloud, “Hey Google, where can I find a two-bedroom apartment that’s dog-friendly in Atlanta?” Show up where they are and talk back.

#7: Interactive Content

It’s nice to have someone tell us all the answers for a change. Offer your prospective residents a bit of valuable help through a poll, a game, or a quiz, and with their engagement, you’ll be rewarded with valuable insights, brand loyalty, and an increase in signed leases. Understand what your prospective residents are looking for by creating a quiz (ooh, fun!): “Which floor plan is best for you?” or “When is it time to move?” Here at zipcode, we like to ask, “Is it time for a rebrand?” or “Do you need professional graphic design?” Having content with interaction built in is helpful—and gives your prospective residents a reason to believe you’ll continue to be helpful.

#8: User-Generated Content

Remember what we said about reviews? And authenticity? Build it up with user-generated content. It’s easier than ever by leveraging social media—encourage your residents to create and share content about their experiences (that just happen to feature your community) thereby building brand awareness and driving signed leases. This can happen via social media challenges, asking for shares or tags within competitions, and provides a good amount of content you can funnel through your own social media to create an inside look. Feeling stuck? Check out zipcode creative’s blog on social media ideas around pets here.

#9: Transparent Branding

This is similar to authenticity and purpose-driven branding. Today it’s more important than ever to be upfront about your practices—where you’re sourcing your supplies, how you treat your employees, what materials and processes you use to build and maintain (or renovate) the community. Because your residents will be spending much of their time in the apartments, they may want to know that the materials being used are safe for the environment, made sustainably, and that the people who work there are from a local company, and treated ethically. You can post on social media about it, provide information via email to your residents, and let them know that you’re available for additional questions about any new projects. Transparency = trust.

#10: Niche Branding

More and more brands are learning that you can’t be everything to all people. Pick something and represent it well. Stand out in your field and build up a loyal following. First, do careful research, and develop a brand voice and tone that will stand out and attract your dream residents. Next: Target that specific demographic, interest group, or geographical group; it may be more likely that you narrow down into a particular resident avatar and approach “solving problems” for that avatar specifically. While you’re narrowing the funnel, you’re also making the conversion rate a little higher—if you’re doing it right.

Thanks for the 2023 Apartment Branding Trends—Now What?

In this economy? We get it. You’re worried about balancing the apartment marketing trends of 2023 with the tried and true. It’s good to be on the cutting edge of things, but it takes time (that you might not have.) The zipcode creative crew consistently looks to many of these trends when we’re developing property management company and apartment community brands. Reach out, and we’ll help you sort through what will work best for you right now.

Apartment Taglines and Headlines That Grab Your Residents

Written by Stacey Feeney on January 5, 2023. Posted in All Articles, Writing.

Writing apartment taglines or headlines isn’t as tough as you might think. All it takes is a touch of creativity and a few tried-and-true guidelines. Work within our handy tips and you’ll be writing memorable taglines and headlines for your community in no time!

Before you dive in, a few things to keep in mind about taglines: Make sure it still communicates clearly and concisely and it stands out. For headlines, the most important role is telling the reader what the content is about—and it should draw them in to read more.

Determine your Headline or Tagline Goal

Are you aiming to educate, solve a problem, enumerate for easy reading, grab attention with your weirdness, or ask a question everyone is asking (and give an answer)? These are different headline types that can amp up your audience’s attention:

Solve a problem: “How to Hit 100% Lease Up Before Your Doors Ever Open”
Educate: “How to Manage Your Resident Events Using SignUpNow”
Make a list: “10 Ways Your Signage Stops Lease Signing”
Get a little controversial: “The Good Housing Market is Great for Rental Communities”
Give a “how-the-sausage-is-made” heading: “The Marketing Team: Behind the Scenes”

Each of these serve a distinct purpose, and it will be up to you to determine what will keep your desired audience reading from the title and into the content.

Clever or Clear or Both?

Ever wondered what would happen with your content if your headline was too clever? Get too tricky with your headline, and you could sacrifice the time and energy you put into content that will never be read by your ideal audience. Always make sure your message can come across. Seek to draw in, but also to push forward into the main content.

Figures of Speech in Apartment Taglines and Headlines

Idioms are a fun way to grab attention. Metaphors can help paint a picture. Proverbs can help your reader feel like they’re in the know. Using a catchy figure of speech can enhance your brand message, and inject a dose of personality into your content (see what we did there?) When you do use a fun figure of speech for your apartment marketing tagline, make sure the message is still able to come across!

Tip #1: Alliteration

This is one of our favorite tagline tips. Alliteration is a pattern of speech that uses the same letter or sound at the beginning of two or more words that are close together in a statement or a phrase. Many companies or authors use it to etch a reminder in their consumers’ minds. Think: Mickey Mouse, Coca-Cola, Severus Snape, Gilmore Girls. These are all catchy in their own right, and remarkably easy to remember. Aim for subtle alliteration. More than two words with the same beginning sound in a row, and it becomes silly rather than sleek.

Example: “A Lifestyle for Real Residents Like You”

This tagline example imbues personality and a touch of memorable luxury into the phrase. If you have a phrase you’re already keen on, break open the thesaurus and see what might work instead to amp up your next apartment taglines with alliteration.

Tip #2: Anaphora

Similar to alliteration, anaphora is a language tool that takes it one step farther—it repeats the first word or group of words at the beginning of each phrase. This makes it easy to read, and rolls off the tongue. Apartment taglines and headlines that are easy to read will be even easier to understand and believe. Anaphora is widely used in writing because it stops us in our tracks and makes us pause. “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” “Go big or go home.” “I wish I may, I wish I might…” These are all perfect examples of anaphora. If you can use it well in your apartment marketing headlines, you’ll certainly catch the attention of any reader.

Example: “Live Actively. Live You.”

This tagline example eases into anaphora with a semi-generic phrase, and then drills down into a more call-to-action style statement with “Live You” beckoning the reader/prospective resident to find out more about how they would be able to live their life in their own way. Use anaphora to create opposing thoughts, or to create big picture/small picture ideas for your residents.

Tip #3: Hyperbole

If you don’t follow this tip, everything you do will fail! Just kidding, that’s just hyperbole. Hyperbole (pronounced high-PER-buh-lee) is an exaggerated statement for effect, and isn’t meant to be taken literally. Similarly “I’m starving!” or “My feet are killing me!” or “I’m the king of the world!” are all hyperbole and are just emphasizing a point. Sure, they could have said “I’m hungry” or “My feet hurt” or “I feel successful and super important” but where’s the fun in that? Turn up the passion and bring the point home using hyperbole in some of your next apartment taglines.

Example: “Kitchens that Promote You to Executive Chef”

This example is hyperbole that gives an aspirational call out—haven’t you always wanted a kitchen that has ample countertops and storage, a big, beautiful sink, and a convection oven? It’s a great way to win over those who might be on the fence by showing up in their daydreams. Try it for yourself, and make sure your hyperbole is a positive one.

Tip #4: Personification

Personality and charm go hand-in-hand with this figure of speech. Personification is the art of giving human-like characteristics to non-human or non-living things. Like: “The sunshine dances over the water in the pool, and the shades shimmy in the gentle breeze.” Personification endears specific aspects of your apartment community to your prospective and current residents. It’s fun to create descriptions of your spaces, making it really come alive with hints of personification sprinkled throughout.

Example: “Living Spaces that Hug You Back”

In this apartment marketing tagline, the reader gets to assume what “hugs” mean to them: cozy, soft, inviting, and warm. When you apply that human characteristic to what could be simply “cozy” and “inviting” the personification calls out to the resident to fully engage with the idea more deeply.

Tip #5: Similes

This is a popular one. It’s as easy as pie. Similes compare two different things using “like” or “as”. Can you float like a butterfly and sting like a bee? Probably not—there’s only one Muhammad Ali. But you could certainly brag like The Greatest. When it comes to your apartment community, marketing it with taglines and headlines that offer up similes is going to be your bread and butter. Take the familiar and put it in a new context.

Example: “Do Home Like You’re on Vacation.”

Again, take the familiar and put them side by side in comparison. Your resident knows home. Your resident knows vacation. But a home that’s like being on vacation? Maybe too good to be true—but certainly a claim interesting enough to make it worth taking a tour of the community.

Think outside the Box with New Taglines

Often, coming up with a creative tagline doesn’t have to mean starting from scratch. A few of our favorite methods from POP! By Sam Horn are:

Contraband – State the opposite of whatever is true / go against the grain: “There’s no Way it’s as Good as it Looks.” -The Other Guys
OnoNAMEopeia – Think Pop-Tarts or Roomba or Ziploc—the sound and the action go together
Meaningful Metaphors – Think of ways your community’s qualities can give it meaning to your residents: “Our community opens new doors.” (See our section on Personification)!

Create apartment taglines that bring something new to the table, and watch as residents start lining up. Need help sounding professional – we’ve got you covered. Copywriting is one of our primary services at zipcode creative.

What Makes a Strong Apartment Brand Name?

Written by Stacey Feeney on December 20, 2022. Posted in All Articles, Branding, Writing.

Your apartment brand name is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. The brand name is featured in your logo, on every piece of marketing material, and will be used in everyday conversion by your residents, staff, and prospects—so it’s important to put a lot of thought and consideration into the naming process.

But choosing the perfect name can be easier said than done. Use these tips and tricks to help narrow in on the name that best represents your brand.

Keep it Short and Sweet

Some of the most iconic brands like Nike, Disney, Target, and Netflix all have one thing in common: short, easy-to-pronounce names. Brand names with eight characters or fewer and one or two syllables tend to be the most memorable. As a result, shorter names help you increase brand awareness and recognition in the long run. Whether you opt for a newly created word or leverage existing vocabulary, make sure the name is easily understandable and easily recognizable.

Make it Memorable

Standing out in a competitive housing market is vital to success for your community, and choosing a memorable brand name will help you separate yourself from the start. Using variations or twists on industry terms or common phrases can be a good place to start brainstorming to help you arrive at a name that is both unique and unforgettable.

While you want something original, don’t stray too far from the familiar. Changing spellings of common words, choosing hard-to-pronounce words or phrases, or choosing something that’s too niche can all lead to confusion among your audience. Avoiding these common pitfalls can help you settle on a name that will grow with your brand in the long run.

Use it to Tell a Story

Even if you opt for a fabricated word, your brand name should be more than just a word—it should also have a deeper meaning. Whether it’s a word that ties to your founding story or something related to your brand mission, having a name grounded in your positioning helps create cohesive community branding from the start.

You can also choose a name that evokes a feeling or emotion that you want to be associated with your brand, creating a stronger connection with your target audience. Try first identifying a brand trait or value that you want to emphasize, and use those words or phrases as a starting point to develop a brand name that’s grounded in a meaningful way.

Represent Your Community

Above all, your apartment brand name needs to authentically represent who you are as a community. Think about your community’s unique characteristics, your brand values, or important differentiators that you want to highlight. These factors are all unique to your brand, making them the ideal foundation for your community’s name. If your brand is modern and sleek, traditional and familiar, or cutting-edge and high-tech, your name should embody those traits and give your audience an immediate sense of who you are. That way, they’ll know what to expect from the start.

Keep Your Audience in Mind

While your brand name needs to represent your community, it also needs to resonate with your target audience. If you’re trying to attract Gen Z students, choosing a traditional and formal brand name may not be the best option. On the other hand, if you’re trying to target empty nesters or active seniors, a trendy, modern name may not hit the mark. Keep your prospects in mind and put yourself in their shoes—if you heard this name and had their values and priorities, would it be something you’d gravitate towards? Once you have your final list of potential names, consider conducting a few focus groups to help figure out which is the best option.

If you need help narrowing in on a name, expert marketing advice might be just what you need. At zipcode creative, our team has experience developing all aspects of apartment community branding, from naming to visual identity to website creation. We’ll partner closely with you not only to understand your brand, but identify the perfect name to embody your values, style, and audience. Get in touch today to get started.

Apartment Marketing Campaign Strategy and Concepts

Written by Stacey Feeney on December 8, 2022. Posted in All Articles, Marketing.

It’s time to stop flying by the seat of your pants and design an apartment marketing campaign that perfectly communicates the best you have to offer—to your target audience. Here are our favorite ways to develop and design a campaign to best market your apartment community:

The Basics of Designing an Apartment Marketing Campaign

First off, you need to identify your desired result. Is it to:

Create awareness?
Maintain resident loyalty?
Sign more leases?

Once you have that set, you can set your sights on your target audience, create a message that will resonate, and you can determine which channels will get you to your goal.

Be sure to measure your stats before and after the apartment marketing campaign to properly analyze your results—then you can replicate your successes and learn from everything else. Do this by using tracking numbers, QR codes, or a unique URL that goes to a campaign landing page. A (good) before-and-after is like a proof point for the next time you ask for a marketing budget increase or media spend!

Before Your Campaign Launch

Before you think about launching your apartment marketing campaign, be sure it’s clear and direct (and attractive). But how?

GET THE MESSAGE

What are you trying to tell your audience? Make that shorter. Make that snappier. And then you should have a well-crafted mini piece of copy that will work across multiple channels. Smart messaging is your bread and butter.

MAKE A LOGO

This might be our favorite part—creating a logo that works with the apartment marketing campaign. Take your message and turn it into a logo. This makes it feel real (because suddenly it is) and amps up the recognition so that anywhere it turns up (social media, brochure, leasing office signage) the reader might put two-and-two together. It’s like a limited-time-only type of brand recognition—exactly what you want for your next apartment marketing campaign.

Change the Campaign Channel

As we mentioned above, it’s vital to determine which channel is going to be the most effective for your apartment marketing campaign. Our favorites are a combination of two or more, but that’s up to you (and depends on your audience)! For your multi-piece campaign, you can pick and choose from:

Social media
Campaign Landing Page Website
Email Marketing Series
Paid search
Digital Ads
Physical Signage
Direct Mailers

Finding your Next Campaign

Still feeling a little lost? Try a few different methods to get the creative juices flowing:

B IS FOR BRAINSTORM

Gather the troops for a quick brainstorm session. Guide the conversation by asking: What are our biggest weaknesses and how can we reasonably turn those into revitalized apartment marketing campaigns? Alternately, what are our biggest strengths and how can we highlight those even more? Are there any marketing trends that would be timely to capitalize on through a resident event or giveaway? Write it all down and see what sticks. Put in order of priority and what you can do right now.

C IS FOR COMPETITION

Take a look at your competitors (both in your area and outside of it)—put yourself in current or prospective residents’ shoes: what sticks out to you? What’s appealing? What could feasibly work to market your apartment community? See if you can model a new apartment marketing campaign after what they’ve done or show up where they’re lacking to stand apart.

D IS FOR DIG INTO THE PAST

Hindsight is 2020 (don’t throw anything at us; it’s still true.) What have you created in the past that was successful? What parts of it can you replicate? What can be tweaked to fit your new audience, or your new goal? You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time. Efficiency counts for something, too.

Apartment Marketing Campaign Ideas

If you’re still wandering in the wilderness when it comes to creating a campaign for your apartment marketing that will set your community apart, keep reading. We want to get you on the straight and narrow so you can make something that resonates with your residents (current and future). Working within particular parameters / categories can also help narrow the options down:

CORPORATE INITIATIVES CAMPAIGNS

Are your apartments pet-friendly? Is your community energy efficient or eco-friendly focused? Make sure corporate initiatives don’t get overlooked when it’s time to create your next apartment marketing campaign, as these are great selling points to draw attention to!

LEASING SPECIALS CAMPAIGN

Using every channel available to you, break out the bullhorn and shout that you’re offering something special at your community for any newly signed leases. Anytime you’re running a lease incentive campaign, make sure you’re communicating consistently and clearly and pushing it through every channel that’s applicable. No one in your prospective audience should say “How did I miss that!?”

MOVING IN CAMPAIGN

Moving into a new place can be exciting, overwhelming, and bring up all kinds of emotions. Helping your residents feel like moving in is easy with a move-in campaign or an accent wall program (pick your paint color!) may just be the “cherry on top” they need to make the move and sign a new lease at your community. Graphics (and signage) to accompany these were vital to communicate exactly what was being offered.

PRIZE/GIVEAWAY CAMPAIGN

This is a classic, and if you’re running stuck, grab a gift card to a local spot, and encourage your followers to like, share and tag friends in social media posts, or do a competition with unique hashtags: “Post a photo using #LoveLivingRanchoDelSol and tag us in it to be entered to win an OC outing!”

EVENT-BASED CAMPAIGN

There’s a touch of childhood glee that comes with any countdown, so when you have an event coming up, it’s a wonderful trick to build up excitement and anticipation, with a few sneak peeks thrown in for good measure. You can try this with a Grand Opening campaign or a Resident Appreciation event.

REFERRAL PROGRAM CAMPAIGN

Who doesn’t want to be neighbors with their friends? Add a special bonus with a referral program campaign that gives successful referrals a cash reward.

LIFESTYLE CAMPAIGN

Is your community the best one on the block? Or in the neighborhood? Or city? Capitalize on it, and don’t beat around the bush. This “Bragging Rights” campaign helped this apartment community highlight particular amenities (in a fun way) that visitors and family and friends alike would be impressed by.

Bottom line: Make your apartment marketing campaign fresh, fun, and new—make it attractive (AKA professional design services with zipcode) and choose the best channels to optimize your reach. When your campaign is complete, track your results and make a plan for the next one. Keep a good thing going.

If you need more ideas, reach out. We’re always happy to help.

Turn Down the Upkeep, Pup Culture, Skye Moving Incentive, Win an OC Outing, Baseball Game, and Bragging Rights are ©Fairfield Residential | Work executed by Stacey Feeney, owner of zipcode creative, while under creative direction and employment at Fairfield Residential.

The Golden Ratio in Design for Apartment Marketing

Written by Stacey Feeney on December 8, 2022. Posted in All Articles, Graphic Design.

Professional designers, like us, have many tools in our toolkit. From understanding color theory to strategically type-setting text, we are experts at creating designs that are aesthetically pleasing. And there’s also a few tried-and-true theories that we put to use, too—the Golden Ratio is one of the most pivotal to creating well-designed marketing collateral for apartment communities.

This all-important number allows designers to create attractive designs that will catch the eye of any prospect. Learn more about the Golden Ratio and how you can incorporate it into your next project.

What is the Golden Ratio?

To understand the Golden Ratio, you must first understand the Fibonacci sequence. The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers created by adding the sum of the two previous numbers beginning with 0 and 1. When adding 0 and 1, the sum is 1. The sequence then becomes 0, 1, 1, then 0, 1, 1, 2, then 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, and so on infinitely.

Ancient Greeks developed the principle of the Golden Ratio to better explain the Fibonacci sequence. The formula to calculate the Golden Ratio is A/B + (A+B)/A = 1.618.

When you plug in the values from the Fibonacci sequence into the Golden Ratio formula, it creates a logarithmic spiral called the golden spiral. This swirling shape naturally creates a guide that can be used when designing anything from buildings to sculptures to paintings. It was even the basis of some of the most iconic works of art around the world, from the Great Pyramids to the Taj Mahal and from the Mona Lisa to The Birth of Venus.

Though it may seem like a man-made creation, the golden spiral is also commonly found in nature. Seashells, leaves and petals, and even clouds feature this distinct, swirling shape. Even faces follow the Golden Ratio—those considered conventionally beautiful typically have features that adhere to this mathematical principle.

But the Golden Ratio isn’t only reserved for awe-inspiring masterpieces—design experts and agencies like zipcode creative can also leverage these principles to create a variety of marketing materials that help apartment communities attract prospective residents and lease up faster.

Web Design

By creating a balanced page and strategically sizing elements using the Golden Ratio, designers can create an eye-catching web page that is beautiful, informative, and effective at converting leads. Using it to inform the placement of images, text, forms, call-to-action buttons, and other page details helps to create a balanced and unconsciously pleasing design—and it also helps guide the viewer’s eye around the page. This ensures that they read your messaging in the right order, allowing apartment communities to better articulate all of the best benefits and perks to prospects.

Signage Design

From stand-up signs to building banners, designers can use the Golden Ratio to create a wide range of different signage for your property. It can be used for both vertical and horizontal layouts to create a clear, concise, and high-converting design. Whether you’re trying to drive prospects to book a tour, promote a leasing incentive, or generate brand awareness, we leverage this proven design principle to create a sign that helps you achieve your goal.

Flyers & Direct Mail

When we’re creating full-page flyers or direct mail postcards, we also leverage the Golden Ratio. We not only use it to structure the different zones on the page, but also use it to help determine where to put photos, headlines, and body copy, along with the CTA. It can even be used to inform text size, ensuring that the headline, body copy, and any other text all look proportional and work well together to promote your property or portfolio.

Brochure Design

The Golden Ratio principles can be applied to multi-page materials, too. Whether we’re creating single-page layouts or working on multi-page spreads, using the same approach helps to create a brochure that’s not only packed with important information but also beautiful. From designing the cover to laying out a clear contact page at the end, the Golden Ratio helps designers create a well-balanced and elevated brochure that will help your community stand out from the competition.

From creating new landing pages to developing your brochure, zipcode creative can utilize the Golden Ratio to create these assets—and more!—to help you attract your target prospects. Get in touch today to learn more!