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Conventional Housing Conventional Housing

Attracting the Right Residents: Conventional Housing

Written by Stacey Feeney on July 6, 2022. Posted in All Articles, Marketing.

The first rule of marketing to prospective residents in conventional housing: know your target audience. Depending on your city and specific neighborhood, your key demographic can range widely, all the way from young professionals to empty nesters—and anything in between. When you’re crafting your marketing assets, it’s important to strategically tailor your materials to your specific audience.

And while there are some commonalities between what they’re all looking for, there are also a few things, in particular, you can do to set your community apart to these groups. Thinking strategically about your amenities and your community programming and speaking directly to your target audience is the best way to attract the right prospects. Use our guide below to help you get started.

Young Professionals

Because Gen Z and Millenials make up the majority of the country’s renters, young professionals are likely to be a large portion of your target audience. Whether they’ve just graduated from college and are looking for their first apartment or are more established and looking to upgrade their space, there are a few things that will immediately stand out.

Community Space for Remote Work

For many young professionals, their job is their primary focus. Whether they work in a corporate role, at a startup, or work for themselves, they likely spend the majority of their weekdays in front of a computer or on calls—sometimes working from home all week. Communities that have work-friendly spaces will likely jump to the top of a young professional’s list because it allows them to get out of their apartment when they need a change of scenery. A business center, resident lounge, or even outdoor area all provide the perfect opportunity for them to enjoy the amenities and get work done at the same time.

Convenient Location

For those commuting into an office, location is a key factor in choosing where to live. Whether your community is located near the main commercial area in your city or boasts easy access to main roads that enable a quick commute downtown, it’s vital to emphasize these details in your marketing materials. That way, prospective residents know this major perk of your community from the start.

Networking & Nightlife Opportunities

For young, single renters, access to networking and nightlife is often a big priority, too. From exciting resident events where they can connect with others in the community to nearby bars, restaurants, and event venues where they can enjoy their free time, they’re looking for ways your community can enhance their personal life. Consider adding a neighborhood map to your prospective resident materials so they can see just how close they are to nearby attractions.

Families with Young Children

For families with little ones, access to convenient play areas is a primary priority. Instead of loading up the car and driving across town or occupying their kids in the confines of their apartment, ample community space allows parents to entertain their children—all without ever leaving the property.

Playground & Outdoor Area

A playground is a major perk for families with children. The right playground space is ideal for children from toddler age all the way up to late elementary school, ensuring that it appeals to the younger children in your community. Perfect for the warmer months, it also allows parents to have some fun and get fresh air with their kids. And because it’s so convenient, they can go for just a few minutes—or spend all day outside—for maximum flexibility and enjoyment.

Pool

During the hot summer months, there’s nothing kids love more than splashing in a pool. If your community is outfitted with a pool and sundeck, it’s an amazing option for parents who want some fun in the sun and affordable entertainment for their little ones. The best part? They don’t have to worry about packing up a day’s worth of food, snacks, drinks, and supplies. They can easily run home to their apartment throughout the day to get what they need, making it a super convenient opportunity for family fun.

Nearby Parks & Attractions

Even if your community doesn’t have an on-site pool or playground, there are likely plenty of attractions nearby that will appeal to families. From larger playgrounds to museums to amusement parks, highlight all of the best that your neighborhood has to offer. Include it in your brochure, in your email marketing, and in your prospective resident materials, so that parents know all of the perks of calling your family-friendly community home.

Couples & Roommates

When multiple adults are living in an apartment, there likely are a few other things that they’ll prioritize. Instead of entertainment options for little ones, they’ll probably be on the hunt for amenities and opportunities to enhance their downtime—so be sure to tell them exactly how your community will deliver.

From outdoor areas like grills or lounge areas where they can enjoy a glass of wine to resident movie nights to a state-of-the-art gym, focus on the spaces that allow people to elevate their everyday. After all, when they move into your community, it’s not just about the apartment—it’s about the holistic lifestyle they’ll experience. So don’t forget to share more about what makes your community stand out!

If you need help marketing to prospective residents—whether young professionals, families, or roommates—we’re here to help. At zipcode creative, we’re experts at crafting the perfect message to attract your target audience. From developing a full-blown marketing strategy to helping you upgrade your printed marketing materials or your social media presence, we can do it all.

Naming Amenities Strategically to Attract Prospects

Written by Stacey Feeney on July 6, 2022. Posted in All Articles, Branding, Writing.

To attract prospective residents, it’s all about standing out in the crowd. No matter the region, most renters look at five or more apartments before deciding where to sign their lease, so setting your community apart from your competitors is integral to convincing prospective residents that your community is the right fit. But it isn’t just about attention-grabbing events or eye-catching signage. Creating a memorable leasing and living experience is the sum of many different decisions and elements that you implement across your property. One that is very important—but often overlooked—is naming amenities for your community.

While it might seem like a small detail, the language you use to identify your community’s features can make or break the touring experience for prospects. Amping up your vocabulary and broadening your copywriting style will help you not only clearly describe your different amenities, but create a memorable experience for guests from start to finish.

Which Amenities Should I Rename?

Whether your community is preparing for its grand opening, you’re going through a renovation or rebrand, or simply want a little refresh, there’s no wrong time to reevaluate your naming amenities strategy.

First, think about the key things that prospective residents are looking for when they’re touring. Top amenities, like pools and barbecue areas, fitness centers, and resident clubhouses or business centers are often some of the main draws for residents when they’re weighing the pros and cons between multiple properties. But what if multiple properties have similar amenities?

Using language to set yourself apart is a key way to stand out. Just like when you’re naming your community itself, you should take several things under consideration:

Your Target Customer

Identify their likes and dislikes, so you can factor those in as you’re choosing a name. Factor in your typical residents’ ages, their professionals, and the other brands that they tend to gravitate towards. Use these as inspiration when brainstorming.

Your Community Branding

When naming amenities, you’ll want to be sure that whatever amenity names you choose fit the style and aesthetic of your existing branding. If you have a sleek, modern community, you don’t want to choose names that are too silly or unprofessional. If you have a more eclectic and casual style, on the other hand, you wouldn’t want to use names that are too stuffy or formal. Pick names that feel like your brand.

Name Availability

Do some competitive research on other communities in your area. Because the whole point is to use your naming approach to stand out, see what names other local communities are using. Think about how you can add your spin on it to make it more memorable—all while also using it as a branding opportunity to make it sound distinctly yours.

When naming amenities themselves, you’ll want memorable names that also roll off of the tongue. These names will often be said aloud by both staff and residents, so consider utilizing alliteration or rhyming to make it even catchier. For example:

Fitness Center becomes Fit & Flex
Clubhouse Kitchen becomes The Foodie
Dog Park becomes Bark Park

When you’re discussing features and upgrades both in-unit and in amenity spaces, luxury is the name of the game. Add descriptors that give more detail about each space, what it has to offer, and what sets it apart. For example:

Vinyl Wood Floors becomes Wood-Look Flooring
Sparkling Pool becomes Resort-Style Pool & Spa
Business Center becomes Co-Working Space

Thinking creatively and creating one-of-a-kind names will help you amp up your branding, attract residents, and create a memorable on-site tour experience. As multifamily marketing experts, we have extensive experience naming communities, their amenities, and their features to help our clients’ communities stand out. If you’re looking to overhaul your approach, reach out today to learn how we can help!

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

Staging Apartments for Summer Tours

Written by Stacey Feeney on June 28, 2022. Posted in All Articles, Marketing.

When staging model units and common areas for summer apartment tours, everyone loves a fresh and fun take on the usual. Bring a little fun to your spaces to show off your best side to your prospective residents with staging apartments for summer.

Why is summer staging important? Staging is a vital piece of your apartment marketing because it gives a good impression. It allows you to bring your theme through (colors, values, and more) and it can elicit word of mouth—your prospective residents may be impressed with all the details you pay attention to.

When you stage seasonally, it helps indicate that you’re interested in keeping things up to date, and you’re aware that even the smallest efforts make the biggest difference. In addition, prospective residents who may be taking a tour for a second time in a different time of the year can see a bit of variety; it helps them imagine themselves in the space throughout multiple seasons. When it comes to summer staging for apartment tours, you need to make a splash. Let’s dive in.

Staging with “Fun” in Mind

HOT FUN IN THE SUMMERTIME
Summer is the season of fun. Vacation with friends and family. Time off of school and tanlines. Tap into that energy and line up your staging to be “summery” and fun. Put a sunhat on a hook. Put a pile of summer reads on the table. Most importantly, make sure your spaces and amenities are absolutely spotless. A clean apartment with fresh staging is a perfect way to help your future community residents imagine themselves in the space.

WELCOME WITH STYLE
Don’t confuse style with clutter. Make sure each part of the community is organized and welcoming, especially the welcome and entry area. Consider having a wreath with artificial citrus on it, or have a patriotic wreath on the front door for summer time, since there’s a flag holiday a few times during the summer including Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day.

Staging with Summer Flavor

WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS
If summer memories bring you back to simpler times, like lemonade stands and popsicles, you’re definitely on to something. Bring in some citrus (try placing them in a jar!) and offer lemonade as a refreshment. Make sure your space smells fresh and clean, too, with a little citrus diffused in the air, or use citrus in your cleaning methods. To your resident, clean = ready to move in!

THESE ARE FOR YOU
Fresh-cut flowers are inviting for any part of your prospective residents’ future home. Place them in a simple vase on the table, on the kitchen counter, or even on a tray on an ottoman or on the bed. Be sure to replace them before they wilt. Bonus points if you choose flowers that are lightly fragrant and eye-catching. (Roses are a favorite). Change the water out daily, and keep greenery out of the water to keep your blooms lasting a long time. If fresh flowers aren’t in the cards, place a few succulents in pots throughout the staged apartment so it feels like an actual living space (with living things).

Staging with Color and Contrast

MAKE IT COME TOGETHER
Keep things neutral and clean and light throughout your apartment. This adds airyness and the feeling of space to your apartment. For contrast, choose a few spots that could benefit from an accent color. This could include a painting on a wall, a throw pillow or two, and a small vase or plate chargers on the dining room table. Pick one or two accent colors (preferably one that works with your branding) and give your future residents a sense of the cohesion between your marketing materials and this beautifully staged apartment, and make it all come together.

Staging for Summer Dinner Parties

HOST WITH THE MOST
Summertime is synonymous with outdoor dinner parties and al fresco happy hours. Let your prospective residents see the versatility of the space with several areas set up specifically for summer entertaining. This is the time for your outdoor spaces to shine. Make the most of the space with nice lighting, charming side tables, and comfy cushioned chairs. If the space is bigger, consider adding some large outdoor plants and a fully-set table with cute summery patterns and colors.

If your outdoor space isn’t a realistic option, focus instead on the inside. Show off big windows and lots of natural light. Set up the dining area or breakfast bar with plates, glasses, napkins and cutlery to help your prospective residents imagine a group of favorite friends chatting until late in the evening. Ensure the rest of the apartment is set up for a movie night, a wine night, or a fun brunch bar—whatever you think your resident’s demographic will most be interested in hosting.

Summer Staging for Your Audience

SHOW IT OFF
You’re the apartment marketing professional, and you know who your desired residents are. Consider their favorite hobbies. Their biggest dreams and wishes. Tailor your staging to speak to those residents. Are you an active adult (55+) community? Put a yoga mat and light weights in the corner. Do you have a lot of students coming in for tours? Put an emphasis on staging a desk area, so they know they’ll have a comfortable spot for all those hours of studying and writing in the fall when school picks back up. Will you have a lot of families signing a lease? Showcase a beautiful family dinner spot with plenty of plates all around.

Summer is the time of year where there’s a lot of movement in the apartment community—make sure that your prospective residents know how good their home can look with your fresh take on summer staging, suited just for them.

Pet-Friendly Apartment Marketing Strategies & Campaigns

Written by Stacey Feeney on May 23, 2022. Posted in All Articles, Marketing.

If you’re a pet-friendly apartment community, you already know: it’s a big draw for many of your residents. Capitalize on this special offering, and build up your residents’ confidence in your community’s pet friendliness through both creating a pet’s paradise (and marketing it like the total gold mine it is). With more than one-third of all American households owning a dog, and over two-thirds of households owning a pet of any kind, it’s no wonder that being a pet-friendly community will work out in your favor. The benefits of pet-friendly apartments are clearly there, for both the manager and the resident: You can improve your reputation, broaden your audience, make a little extra money with pet rent, and encourage more lease renewals.

Start seeing the locals “sniff out” your apartments (and settle in) in no time.

Step 1: Show You’re Pet-friendly

SHOW, DON’T TELL

You can say that you’re pet-friendly until you’re blue in the face, but ultimately, you need to show it. Make sure that every pet amenity is exactly what your residents (including Fluffy) need.

PRIMP YOUR PET AREAS

Make sure your dog park is totally inviting: complete your dog park package with a dog waste bag dispenser and waste receptacles. This not only encourages your residents to pick up after Fido, it also gives them a specific place to put that “pile.” Once the day at the park is complete, is your dog wash area ready for use? Advertise it! Make sure every resident knows that there’s a self-serve dog wash area just for your furry friends.

At every turn, it’s important to remind your residents how much you love their pets. Have pet treats at the front desk; you can even give out pet birthday treats. The residents will be honored that you thought of their little companion, and will probably brag about it to their friends!

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

Even if it’s clear that you’ve got all the pet-friendly amenities, keep up that energy. Did you put a water bowl out for thirsty visitors near the front desk? Do you have a few veterinary offices you can recommend on hand? Keep up and make sure you stay at the top of your game with your pet-friendly reputation.

Step 2: Create a Pet-Friendly Marketing Campaign

SHOW YOU’RE PET-FRIENDLY IN SOCIAL MEDIA

Everyone loves puppies and kittens. Photos of them are no different. Posting photos of your four-legged residents can attract new leads to your apartment community (just because they’re cute) and it can help show off how pet-friendly you are. You can schedule in a “pet of the week” or “pet of the month” feature into your social media calendar, and ask a few questions of your furry friend:

What’s your name and how long have you been living here?
How old are you?
What’s your favorite treat and your favorite activity?
What do you like most about living in our community?
What’s your human’s name?

You can either create a drawing for “pet of the month” or you can request the publication of the photo and answers in exchange for a special pet treat. Be sure to capture a photo of the pet in their apartment, in the dog park, or looking out the window of the community, to fully paint the pet-friendly picture for those scrolling through social media. Additionally, make sure you grab a testimonial from the owner about the pet amenities in your apartment community.

Additional social media pet-friendly apartment marketing ideas:

IG Stories: Create engaging Instagram stories with multiple choice “Guess the Name of this Furry Resident!” or other fun guessing games
IG Reels: Create fun, easy videos with trending audio clips to show off your cutest residents out “in the wild” in your amenities (with the owner’s permission, of course)
IG Saved Stories: Save IG stories in one spot on your instagram, labeled: “Pets at ______ Apartments” so visitors to your instagram page can always find it
Hashtags: Use hashtags #petfriendly #furryfriends #petfriendlyapartments to be easily found
Share testimonials from pet owners about the amenities at least once per month.

If you’re running out of ideas, look up trending instagram ideas, and see how you can apply that to your next pet-themed post!

GET “PET-FRIENDLY” IN PRINT

As for print marketing: keep it general, but informative—market the pet-friendly amenities that you have, and be sure to include photos of each amenity. Include at least one testimonial that speaks to your apartment community’s pet-friendliness. Along with testimonials and amenity descriptions (along with stating whether there is pet rent or a pet deposit, or any breed restrictions) make sure you have a photo of pets in your community, either with their owners or out in the dog park. Showing your pet friendliness in action is key.

Additional pet-friendly apartment print marketing ideas:

Create eye-catching signage with all your brand guidelines incorporated: font, colors, style, logo in the corner, and don’t forget to announce it from the rooftops. Simply: “WE’RE a PET FRIENDLY community!” That should say it all.
Make a mailer/postcard featuring your pet-friendly amenities prominently (and proudly)!

ADVERTISE SPECIAL OFFERS FOR PET OWNERS

If you’re able, offer a leasing special for your pet rent or pet deposits. This can be especially helpful if you’re trying to grow that aspect of your community. People with pets will certainly be appreciative, and once they become residents, they’ll appreciate your community even more. (And they’ll tell their friends. Organic reach is a beautiful thing.)

DON’T SLEEP ON DIGITAL DESIGN

Your website should have plenty of opportunities to be found in SEO results for “pet-friendly apartments [City State].” This is what pet-owners will be searching for, and it’s best if you know how to appear in the first few results of those keywords. Use “pet-friendly apartment” and “pet-friendly” and “pet deposit” throughout your website, but especially in headings, special text (bold, italics, bullet points) and in photo captions and meta tags. If possible, creating an entire page for it will garner some additional attention from website crawlers as well.

Your email subscribers/leads will need to be reminded that you’re pet-friendly. Feature it in every email, whether it’s a brief mention of an upcoming event, a link to your latest social post about pets, or a reminder that you love pets in your community. Set yourself apart.

Additional digital marketing tips for your pet-friendly apartments:

Make pet-friendly themed ad sets (and consider making a specific pet-friendly landing page with all the deets). Need help with PPC? Ask zipcode.
Make sure your pet residents make an appearance in your promo videos.

Step 3: Test Your Pet-Friendly Results

SURVEY SAYS

Sometimes you only know what is going wrong with your community’s amenities because of complaints. Surveys can help you address issues before they become a bigger problem. How pet friendly your community is may be no different. Send out a survey to all the registered pet owners in your building/community. Ask them a handful of questions:

How often do you use our dog park? (Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Usually, Always)
How often do you use our dog wash facility? (Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Usually, Always)
Do you find our community to be pet-friendly? (Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Usually, Always)
Is there any way we can improve our pet friendliness?

Just a few tailored questions can give you better insight into what your next steps should be.

CREATE COMMUNITY

If you’ve found that your residents need to make more friends, start brainstorming pet-friendly events and put them on the calendar! Advertise a matching dress-up contest. Host an adoption event. Partner with local pet shops for giveaways. Host an outdoor movie night, showing Lady & The Tramp or another pet classic. Bonus points if you do a raffle giveaway at the end or during an intermission!

All told, pets are part of our families. And families need homes—it should be your apartment community. Make it easy for current and prospective residents to choose you, because you’re the ones that offer the most for their whole family.

It’s important to build a pet-friendly marketing campaign to capitalize on more residents and more leases signed; employ a multi-faceted approach for your pet-friendly apartment marketing, from added brochures to special social media features to custom designed a-frame signs. At a loss? Contact the pros at zipcode creative if you need a boost creating your next campaign!

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

Web Forms for Multifamily Lead Capture

Written by Stacey Feeney on May 23, 2022. Posted in All Articles, Marketing.

Get web visitors to convert by thinking more strategically about your forms.

In a sea of competition, sometimes it can be tough to generate those leads you’re looking for. If you’re getting good website traffic, but your visitors aren’t converting into leads, it might be time to start digging into the “why.”

One often overlooked—but incredibly impactful—part of your website is the way you’ve designed your web forms. If you’re asking web visitors to enter their information to sign up for a tour, join your newsletter, or get in touch with your leasing team, take a closer look at the form design to determine if it could be the culprit in your low conversion rates. Capturing leads on your website is an important way to get prospective residents’ information—and making those forms as seamless and easy-to-use as possible is integral to high conversion rates.

Learn more about web form design and how to be sure you’re using best practices throughout your community’s website.

Why Web Forms are a Must for Multifamily Communities

Instead of just having hundreds of anonymous website visitors, web forms allow you to collect leads’ information, like their name and email address, so you can engage with your target audience in a more dynamic way. You can use forms in many places on your website, from the contact page to the homepage to specific landing pages.

No matter where you use the forms, once a visitor fills it out, they’ve converted into a lead. As a result, you’ll be able to market more effectively to them, from sending marketing emails to having your leasing team reach out about scheduling tours.

Steps to Creating a High-Converting Form

Whether you need to redo your existing forms or are implementing them for the first time, all it takes is five simple steps.

Look at Form Placement on the Page
If you have existing forms that aren’t performing, the first thing you need to do is look at where they are on the webpage. For the best performance, forms should always be above the fold—this means that the visitor shouldn’t have to scroll at all to see the form on the page. Instead, it should be one of the first things they see—if not the first—as soon as they land on the site. That way, it’s top of mind and they’re more likely to engage and enter their info right away.
Optimize for Mobile Visitors
Roughly half of all web traffic comes from mobile devices. To capture this audience, it’s important to think about your form design not only from a desktop perspective but from a mobile one, too. Because smartphone screens are smaller, you should remove any unnecessary fields from the form, making it as short as possible. Be sure the form is also responsive, so it automatically adjusts to the visitor’s screen size. And remember: when it comes to forms, simpler is always better.
Consider a Pop-Up
Pop-up forms, on average, have over a 3% higher conversion rate than static forms. These eye-catching alternatives draw the visitor’s attention and are often easier to fill out than other forms, making the barrier to entry much lower. You can even offer incentives, like discounted rent or free amenity fees, for those who act fast and enter their info into the pop-up to increase engagement even further.
Create a Strong Call-to-Action
Calls-to-action, or CTAs, are integral across your website—but they’re even more important on your forms. Creating a clear next step for visitors will make them more likely to engage, upping your conversion rate and increasing the odds that you’ll be able to connect with prospective residents.Like with CTAs in other places on your site, infuse your CTA with urgency. Use words like “now” or “today” and consider adding personalized words like “you” or “our.” This will help build a stronger relationship with the reader and make them more likely to submit.
A/B Test a Few Options
When it comes to digital marketing, there’s no more powerful tool than A/B testing. Creating two different versions of your forms and assessing which performs better allows you to get into the heads of your target audience. You can test everything from the colors and style of the form to the CTA to the available form fields. Just be sure not to only test one variable at a time, or you can skew your results.By following these steps, you’ll be able to transform your forms from clunky and ineffective to lead-capturing powerhouses. But if you feel like you need a little added help, let zipcode creative take the lead. From building community websites from scratch to overhauling the design and user experience, we’re seasoned at working in the multifamily space to help our clients increase conversions, lease-up faster, and cultivate amazing brand recognition.

Get in touch today to take the first step!

Print Marketing’s Not Dead!

Written by Stacey Feeney on May 12, 2022. Posted in All Articles, Marketing.

Is print marketing still relevant, or is it completely dead? Depending on your target resident and the marketing goals you’ve put in place, it could be your best-kept secret. If your ideal resident is able to hold something in their hands, understand what you offer, AND be attracted to your multifamily dwelling with a print marketing piece you’ve created, congratulations–you’ve created better brand (and more consistent) brand recognition. You’ve successfully catered to your target resident, especially if they’re visual learners or have become tired of screens.

Be Seen

GET PHYSICAL
Remember when email was new-ish? And it was exciting to hear “You’ve Got Mail”? And now we’re all out here trying to zero our inbox and swim through the spam to find that one important email we missed. Digital fatigue is setting in and hitting hard. In our highly-technological and digital world, it’s time to focus on the physical, tangible things prospects and customers can hold on to. Take up literal space and start showing off your print marketing while you have their attention.

SET YOUR SIGHTS STRAIGHT
In a sea of digital ads, streaming television shows, 15-second reels, and even shorter attention spans, you want to be visible. Visibility doesn’t count for much when your company has a single instagram post that’s mindlessly scrolled by. Start thinking “old-school” and diversify your marketing efforts for print too. When you create print marketing pieces, whether it’s a direct-mail postcard, a brochure, or a full-on welcome packet, you’ve just guaranteed your prospective (or even current) resident’s full attention. They can’t read your print marketing piece and scroll their phone at the exact same time. They can’t look through your welcome packet and online shop at the exact same time. This is an all-eyes-on-you situation. Make the most of it!

BEFORE THEY FORGET
Finally, you’re in your prospective resident’s hands and sights, whether from the mailbox or straight from the customer service desk. It can sit on their counter, be placed in their planner, they can send a picture of it to a friend, they can use it as a bookmark. All-in-all, it’s a physical reminder of what they still need to do. And it will nag (in the nicest way) at them until they make a decision one way or the other. You want your customer to say “Oh, yeah, I need to schedule a tour with them! I should do that right now before I forget. Again.”

Grab the Bull By the Horns

IT’S OUR BRAND
It’s time to get their attention. Make the print marketing piece beautiful. Ensure that it has everything that your branding requires for colors, fonts and logos so that it’s clearly your apartment community brand. Every piece of print marketing that you send out should be a perfect extension of your branding, every time. And if you’re able, spring for good paper (Soft Touch coating, anyone?) We’re living in a material world—make the most of it.

OFFER TIME
Once you have their attention with all that lovely branding, it’s time to create an offer they can’t refuse. It’s especially impactful if you require them to “bring this card with you” to get a free gift, rent concession, or any other offer you have in mind. This means they’ll have to hang onto the print marketing piece (be it postcard or brochure) until they follow through on your call to action.

Make It Clear

WORDS MATTER
And now that you might have their attention, it’s time to take a look at what you need to make sure your print marketing says (and doesn’t say). This is a place to SAY NO to:

- Typos
- boring content
- unclear copy
- complicated offerings (or worse: too many words)

KEEP IT SIMPLE
Keep it simple. Get good copy. If you can, have a professional create the copy for you (we do that!), so you know it’s a slam dunk. Be highly selective with anything you place on your print marketing to make sure it gets attention and keeps attention. And don’t forget to always always always include contact information and a call to action. No matter what. Put a “Call us!” or “Book a tour!” or “Lease Today!” Your ideal resident has the info they wanted, and now you get to tell them what to do next. Don’t waste that opportunity.

Pictures are Everything

BIGGEST AND BEST
If your words and offers haven’t captured them, time to pull out all the stops. (You really should be focusing on all of the above, regardless: branding, words, offers, and photos.) Use your professional photography to show off your best amenities. Pick your biggest attractions, and focus on those. You have limited space, and you want the biggest bang for your buck—whether that means showing off a sparkling pool or placing your open concept kitchens on full display. Above all, make sure that your choice of photos and words align with your ideal renter. And for any print marketing materials you’ll have in stock for a while (like brochures) avoid seasonal themes or limited-time offers. That’s exactly how to keep print alive.

Print marketing isn’t dead—at least not on our watch. Sending your ideal resident home with a document or packet helps answer questions. It reminds them of deadlines and fees. Most importantly: it helps encourage them to seal the deal. More questions answered, more leases signed. Ready to make your print marketing work for you? Get in touch

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