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Owners and Developers and Apartment Branding

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

Why Should Owners and Developers Be Involved in Apartment Branding?

 

Good business sense will help us let owners and developers in on a little secret: branding is a huge component of how your community is perceived. And if we know anything about reviews, testimonials, websites and logos, perception accounts for a whole lot of decision-making. The owner is the one with the hands on the pursestrings. This is their “baby” and they must have a say in the branding.

In short, it’s their company and it’s their money, so if the branding fails to impress, your community may not meet its goals in obtaining and retaining residents.

Why is branding important? Owners create a community with your blood, sweat, and tears. The branding is a prospect’s shortcut to how they’ll identify that hard work in building this branded community. But ultimately, the customer (prospective resident) will determine if it’s visit-worthy—based on the branding you put out there—and it will leave a lasting impression, good or bad.

Why’s Branding Important for Multifamily Owners and Developers?

The company behind the apartment building should be reflected in every bit of its branding. Represent your community well with branding that looks good and sounds good and makes residents feel good about where they live (or where prospects might live).

WHAT MAKES GOOD BRANDING?


Branding’s more than a logo. It creates recognition within your neighborhood, it builds trust and loyalty with your customers, and it creates a sense of community with your residents—particularly when you lean into location and understand the audience you’re trying to attract and the vibe you’re trying to fit in with. You can bump up your branding even further when you marry it with architecture and interior design. 

This is particularly true when you’re building a new construction or doing renovations, but you can also take cues from the existing design and patterns to help form a brand around something that’s recognizable. If your community has gorgeous Doric-style columns, see if you can incorporate a roundness to your fonts, and make your community stand out in a way that only you can.

NEW CONSTRUCTION VS. VALUE ADD

As we mentioned new construction properties above, branding is vital in the different phases of construction. Make sure you have outlined the brand before it all begins, because it should all work together, seamlessly. As far as your budget, tread carefully. It’s always a good idea to identify your property class and brand accordingly. Your C-class property doesn’t need everything the A-class property requires.

However, if you’re doing a value-add through renovations, you may be able to consider a bigger branding effort. Anytime you’re updating a property, that’s a great opportunity to dive in and rebrand or do a refresh of your brand. It may even be expected from some of your residents and in-the-know prospects. (Kind of like an “Under New Management” sign, or “Pardon our Dust” sign—this signifies that something better is coming.)

How Involved Should They Be?

GIVE THE VISION

When the owner or developer of a new community starts on their journey of construction or renovation—they have a vision. Of quality and appeal. Of full occupancy. And most of all: a vision of profits. To get there, branding will help. Most owners and developers have been in the market for some time, and they know what needs the community meets. They understand the market and how to angle the branding to differentiate the community from other competitors. By sharing the vision with your managers, and everyone who’s on the journey with you, you can create a brand that feels authentic instead of totally derived.

INVESTMENT

Investing in apartment branding is absolutely worth it and typically falls to ownership to foot the bill. It doesn’t cost $0 but when developed thoughtfully will provide great ROI even though it may be hard to track. How so?

Great branding sets you apart from your competitors.

Great branding helps gain trust and credibility with your prospective residents.

Great branding helps keep current residents through loyalty and culture-making.

Great branding can increase perceived value (making a higher price point seem reasonable).

When your branding’s on point, you can generate more signed leases and diminish turnover. As an owner or operator, that’s more than worth it. Ensure branding is in the budget this year and every year—because you’ll see if affect your bottom line either way. It might as well be in the good way. (Spend money, make money.)

When Should Owners and Developers Deal with Branding?

EARLY

At the beginning, owners and developers cast the vision, as we’ve said. It must start early in the process of the community, particularly if it’s a new construction, or if it’s a brand repositioning of an asset that they’re trying to revamp or get more leases in.

If a new construction—this branding should be dealt with before the groundbreaking event. (We’ve even broken down our branding by construction phase to make it easy for you.) If you don’t have time to read the full blog, here’s the general gist of it:

 

  • Construction drives timelines, so be prepared with your branding from the outset.
  • There are four phases:
    • Early Construction – This is when you come up with the foundational branding aspects and your apartment community’s name
    • Coming Soon – Get the marketing startup items in line with the branding!
    • Pre-Leasing – Business cards and other stationery should be ready to go now.
    • Now Open – Banners and signage should let everyone know they can move in!

OFTEN

Along with establishing your mission and vision, it’s good to do a little community brand check up every once in a while. Help your corporate-level operators all the way down to your on-site leasing agents know what to use and when to use it. Consistency is key because consistency fosters recognition in the larger community. Be clear about what is and isn’t your brand. Having your marketing team outline bad examples could be just as useful as good ones. The more specific, the less excuse there is for putting something out that’s off-brand.

Apartment Branding for Corporate-Level Operators and Marketers

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

Apartment branding for corporate-level operators and marketers can have a huge impact. Much of the branding that’s used in the community comes from the top down, and it’s your responsibility to create and keep a positive brand reputation. And that’s not all, really. Picture this: You’ve invested in professional branding development with a creative agency (like Zipcode Creative) or your talented in-house design has crafted a killer apartment brand. But what’s next?

Well, you’re also responsible for ensuring the branding tools are being used correctly and consistently by the on-site managers and agents. Put that beautiful new apartment brand to work!

Why Should Corporate Care about Apartment Branding?

REPUTATION

We’ve already mentioned reputation. In order to see growth in your community, you’ll need to create a brand that your residents can identify with. Branding is necessary to create something recognizable. In working with owners and stakeholders, branding can create something that’s achievable—something that can be grasped, even if only in parts at a time (logo, colors, etc.)

INVESTOR-READY

Your branding, if used effectively, can help sell your community as a package to investors. Seeing professionalism through a full branding package gives the impression that you’re ready to roll, and will help the investors trust you, and put a little more faith in you.

LEASING

Alternately, whatever you’re doing for this apartment building is about getting leases and keeping leases. And before that? Marketing and generating leads. Creating benefits for the property management company is the impetus for all that you do. Branding can help you get closer to getting the place leased up.

Bottom line: Branding creates a vision you can share with anyone—whether they’ll live there, or want to make a profit with a successful business.

 

Helping Teams Get Set

NEW PROPERTY MARKETING SET UP

Your team needs a lot of help, particularly with setting up property marketing. This is true of both new constructions or of takeovers. Branding items, from business cards to stationery to brochures to digital versions of the logo are necessary so everyone can do their job and do it well.

ON-SITE WORK

It’s a bustling community—and branding guidelines for your on-site leasing agents and managers will keep up appearances like no other tool in your belt.

Take a pulse and go through our mini-checklist here:

  • Stationery
  • Brochures
  • Welcome packets
  • Event Invites
  • Announcements
  • Email blasts
  • Mailers
  • Signage

Struggling to keep brand consistency with your onsite teams? Check out our blog on implementing on-site branding guidelines here.

Police-Branding

Chain of Command in Brand Consistency

TOP TO BOTTOM

If regionals are the deputies of brand “policing” (well, consistency) then you’re the chief of police! You have to, from the corporate marketing level, control as much as you can. All the outputs that require design should be ready to go, with the tools you provide. The bottom—or, the on-site management team, should be getting their marching orders from you. Make it easy for you and for them by using the brand assets and guidelines to allow them to DIY the things they’re responsible for, like social media, or last-minute flyers.

You’re at the top. And from the top down, there has to be clear, consistent branding for your community.

AT THE CORPORATE MARKETING LEVEL

Everything that goes out design-wise should have your go-ahead. Onsite, use brand assets, DIY as necessary, and make it easy for everyone on your team. The tools come from the top, and the brand look and feel should be aligned all the way down.

When you make it easier on everyone with solid, beautiful branding, you’ll be surprised at how well everyone falls in line. Easy color palette, easy fonts, consistency and clarity add up to brand development and recognition—something that will set you apart among other apartment communities.

https://zipcodecreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Multifamily-Branding-and-the_Leasing-Agent-1.jpg

Leasing Agents Onsite and Multifamily Branding

Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Branding, Graphic Design, Marketing.

What does multifamily branding have to do with leasing agents onsite? Loyalty built on trust built on recognition. Your branding has to be dialed in for that to happen. Where does branding show up for onsite leasing agents? Marketing collateral, signage and any printed hand out given to prospects and new residents.

Leasing agents onsite have a fair amount of DIY to their job. There are tons of pieces and plenty of marketing collateral that rely on strong branding. If these pieces aren’t consistent, the multifamily brand can lose out on brand recognition, trust, and loyalty.

Let’s break it down by the process of lead to lease. Every step in the leasing “funnel” has something to do with your ability to maintain brand consistency.

Start-with-Signage

Start with Signage

This is your first chance at a good impression. Leave a good one. Signage should reflect your brand with its colors, font choices, and messaging.

WALK BY OR DRIVE-BY

Curb appeal is a thing with multifamily communities as well. When someone walks by or drives by, they should know exactly what you’re offering, and what your style is.

DIRECTIONAL (LEASING OFFICE THIS WAY)

Make sure visitors can get to where they need to go. And ensure that the directional signage aligns with your other branded items, too. We don’t need any brand whiplash to happen as they’re walking to the leasing office!

INFORMATIONAL (ON THE INSIDE)

Clubhouse? This way. Leasing Office? Over here. Rules for the clubhouse? Here they are. Make sure posted rules, informational signage and other interior pieces look official, like they’re from the front desk. Easy way to do this? Use your colors, your fonts, and your brand voice to communicate all those rules.

SELF-GUIDED TOUR OF MODEL UNIT

Letting your prospects go on a self-guided tour? Ensure you have all your ducks in a row. Place table tents near special features. Put up framed designs that show off your smart home features, for example. Call out boutique countertops. Identify where the in-unit washer and dryer are located.

Next Up, Marketing Collateral

TOURING PROSPECTS

Your prospect has now told you they’re interested! Great. Now is the time to hand them an info packet. This will have your business card, brochure, a rack card, an amenity sheet, and floor plan sheets—either all in a branded folder, or clipped together. The beauty of this packet is seeing how everything looks all together. These collateral handouts are essential for the touring prospect sales process. It shows you have everything they need while you answer any other questions they may have.

P.S. If you’ve gone fully digital—that still requires great design! We can help make sure your designs for your floor plans and e-brochures are good to go, wherever and however they’ll be viewed.

WELCOME NEW RESIDENTS

“Welcome to our community, here’s our gorgeous welcome packet with maintenance contact, policies and procedures, and a little “welcome” note (on our very own branded stationery).” When you brand everything well, it just works. Again, this is one more signal to the resident confirming their correct choice in signing the lease. If done well, it helps answer any lingering questions, too.

Staying On Brand—Now That They’re Here

All this work to stay consistent isn’t just for prospects and future residents. It’s for current residents, too. Enabling loyalty through consistency and predictability can help your residents feel more comfortable renewing their lease and staying at your community.

If it’s not provided from corporate, use the tools that you have at your disposal to create items that work within your brand guidelines. Using Canva, you can upload your specific color palette, your fonts, and your logos to use in pre-made designs. If you’re rusty on your design rules, check out our post on the basics of multifamily graphic design here.

That—or you can hire a pro to help you with different pieces. Whatever you need, we can help. There are so many things that you’ll need design and branding on—and not just once, but every time you have a resident event!

RESIDENT EVENTS

You’re going to want to stick with your branding—even in the smallest ways—for any resident events you’re planning—and then advertising with flyers and email marketing. Place your logo in the corner, use some of your brand colors. A potluck, a pool party, an ice cream social—all of these should look like something you’re putting on.

ANNOUNCEMENT AND NOTICES

Speaking of being official—when you change the regulations around swimming hours, or if there is a planned water shut off for maintenance, ensure the letterhead yells “This is serious and official business” without yelling. Logo and proper colors will tell your residents just that however you are delivering the announcement.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Posting about resident events, planned water shut offs, and doing a few giveaways here and there? Again: keep it all on brand. Check in to see if corporate has created social templates that you can tailor—maybe an agency (like use at Zipcode Creative) has designed them. If these aren’t available (which are preferable) you may be able to use a program like Canva to create quick social posts and maintain your brand on Instagram and Facebook.

Brand-Guidelines

Last Thing About Brand Guidelines

You’re not a designer, but you’re expected to do a lot on-site. Sometimes it’s last minute. What are brand guidelines and what’s the best way to use them as an onsite leasing agent?

  • Get comfortable with the use of your logo—the one-color, the logomark, or just the name. Of course, branding is more than a logo—it’s visual and verbal; try to understand both.
  • The visual elements of brand guidelines will be used more than any other parts when you need to create something:

We know as an onsite leasing agent, your job isn’t easy. But you’re the boots-on-the-ground guard of the community’s brand. Stay within the guidelines and you’ll reap the benefits.


What is Graphic Design?

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

Graphic Design, Defined

You asked, we’re here to answer. Graphic design is the art of putting together text and/or images to communicate an idea. Designs are typically found on websites, in advertising, on marketing collateral, or through typography. Similarly to copywriting, graphic design is often used to promote or accompany some other content in order to persuade the viewer to take action—like buy, explore, or learn more.

WHAT MAKES IT GRAPHIC DESIGN?

It’s the arrangement of visual and text elements in a layout purposely created to direct the viewer’s eye to the content and information being presented, and includes colors, shapes and images. It’s used in media—both print and digital. There is a whole lot more that makes graphic design effective. Also similar to copywriting, there are a few things that the designer must keep in mind when creating. At its most basic, you might think of the 3 C’s:

Composition – this is how the items (images and text) are laid out in relation to one another

Components – this is the images (color, shape) and text that are used in the design

Concept –  this is the idea that the designer wishes to convey to the viewer through the design

TYPES OF GRAPHIC DESIGN

There are different types of graphic design, from packaging design to game design. But the ones that we at Zipcode Creative use are more common. Zipcode Creative’s graphic design for multifamily includes: web design, advertising and marketing design, and typography design.

Most often, you’ll find us using advertising and marketing design for your apartment brand.

WHAT GRAPHIC DESIGN IS NOT

Some things aren’t graphic design:

  • Photography
  • Painting
  • Physical drawing
  • Fashion design
  • MARKETING 

So about that last one. Graphic design isn’t marketing because it doesn’t analyze numbers and sift through data—it’s creative at its core. Now, design is there for a purpose, to communicate an idea, so it’s a marketing and branding tool. But it’s not all there is. And it’s not exactly the same as marketing.

Graphic Design for Multifamilies

All that explanation of what graphic design is, and you may still be wondering how graphic design is used in multifamily, specifically.

Graphic design is a big part of the brand, the visuals, and the overall vibe of your community. Like so:

BRANDING GUIDELINES

In our brand guidelines, we outline all kinds of goodies for your apartment community.
Among those that are graphic design items? Plenty. Here they are:

Logos – Primary logo, your secondary logo and any submarks (logo best practices here)

Colors – Your color palette, along with their identifying codes: Hex, RGB, CMYK and/or Pantone

Typography – Font styles, sizes, and spacing, as well as their specific hierarchy as titles, headings, subheadings, and body copy

Design Elements – Brand patterns, brand shapes, brand collage styles, and brand stamps

Imagery – Iconography (icons representing your amenities) and illustrations (large graphics meant for a website backdrop or large wall art) are helpful for residents to skim over your designs

Signage

SIGNAGE

Nothing like an attention-grabbing, big, beautiful sign. Apartments can benefit from an array of signage for branded curb appeal and attracting drive-by or walk-by traffic:

    • Yard/Bandit/Bootleg Signs
    • Banners
  • Table Tents
  • Posters
  • MDO Signs
  • Wall Murals
  • Window Clings

Honestly, that’s a lot, and amazingly, there are even more. Billboards, custom wraps, parking signs, A-Frames, your logo and name will be everywhere. Sounds like a lot of graphic design would come in handy, eh?

Marketing Collateral

MARKETING COLLATERAL

So, is your community the epitome of modern-luxury-meets-classy-timelessness? Or are you going for more of a trendy-urban-upscale vibe? 

Your graphic design pieces from your logo to your color palette to your typography should all underscore the idea that you’re going for. There are so many pieces that require graphic design—and if you only need one, that’s all you should pay for. That said, all the marketing collateral we provide includes:

  • Stationery (business cards, letterhead, envelopes!)
  • Rack Cards or Direct Mailers
  • Brochures
  • Price Sheets
  • Flyers

There’s plenty more where that came from, too. And don’t forget your event booth stuff, too (tablecloths, branded promo products, booth walls.) First impressions mean a lot—more on that later.

DIGITAL DESIGN

Graphic design covers everything online as well. Emails, websites, digital ads, graphics for social. You’ll want to make sure your website specifically (which is the biggest marketing tool you have) is aligned with your brand. The best way to do that is to hire a graphic designer to professionally design it—and then a copywriter to write it.

MAPS

This one gets forgotten sometimes. But honestly, where would we be without maps? (I’ll see myself out.) Graphic design is necessary for all your floorplans and maps. It ventures into architectural design territory, but we’ve got it covered. For the following, you’ll need graphic design:

  • Property Sitemaps
  • Location/Area Maps

Why is Graphic Design Important for Apartment Communities?

You might be hesitant to hire a pro graphic designer for all the needs at your community. 

Isn’t a logo enough? Never. Logos can’t carry an entire brand on its shoulders—there’s plenty an apartment logos can’t do. We also want to make sure your community is branded according to your property class and we want to make sure you’ve got all your bases covered. A la carte menu options for design? Sure thing. 

We know that not all creative agencies work the way we do, so we’re ready to have you take the lead. We’ll guide as needed. Here’s why we think graphic design is important for apartment communities:

FIRST INTERACTION

It won’t be in-person, that first interaction. It’s more likely they’ll see a digital ad or a flyer. Whatever they see, it will be designed. And it will have one of three effects: 

  1. They’ll want to know more.
  2. They’ll be meh.
  3. They’ll never think of it again.

So make that design a good one. And make sure it lines up with the rest of your brand. (Handy thing is, if you hire a graphic designer to do it all, it will have a much better chance of being similar and aligning.) Tell one visual story.

BUILD CULTURE

Design elements can come together to tell a story and give a better sense of community. Similar to messaging that offers up the ways you’re different from your competitors, your visual identity helps build up your brand’s culture. Use it to attract your residents.

HIGHLIGHT REEL

We’re good at what we do, including graphic design for multifamily. We’re expert problem solvers, too—we are, after all, creative.

The idea that you should always be communicating with your graphic design:

 

HERE IS HOME.

Visually, you can do this through the message you convey and by offering up solutions to their problems and pain points. So, pick your best side and graphic design it up!

What is Copywriting and Why Does Multifamily Need It?

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

Copywriting, Defined

What is copywriting? Copywriting is promotion, through words. These words can be persuasive or interesting, and they prompt the reader to use a business, a service, or an organization. Copywriters have to create text that can be adapted for any number of channels: print, radio, website. Copywriters also need to be able to adapt the copy (also sometimes called content) to different audiences.

 

BRAND VOICE VS. BRAND TONE

 

Brand voice is your brand’s personality, through words. It can be mature or youthful, jovial or serious, succinct or verbose, mysterious or open-book. Every way you would describe a person, can usually be used to describe a brand as well. Your brand attributes help create your brand’s unique voice.

Your brand tone is how you approach different scenarios. Similar to what we said above, the copy should be able to be adapted to meet the requirements of that particular time and place. A press release versus a brochure will have a different tone. But your brand voice will still be tucked in there.

Brand voice is WHAT you say.

Brand tone is HOW you say it.

 

COPYWRITING VS. COPYRIGHTING?

We do get this question. No, we’re not in the business of copyright law—and we never will be! You’ll have to find a law firm for that.

Copywriting means using words to promote a business.

Copyrighting means to register and mark an original piece of work as your own, with the © symbol.

We don’t do that last bit at Zipcode Creative. But we do plenty of copywriting for multifamily.

Copywriting-vs-Copyrighting

Using Copywriting For Multifamily

How can multifamily benefit from copywriting? First let’s look at how it’s used.

COMMUNITY/APARTMENT/ASSET NAMING

Naming multifamily assets is fun, and has long-term impacts on your brand. Hire a place that can do the research and guide the decision. It sets the tone for the rest of your brand, since it’s how people will refer to you—and can steer the direction of your logo and style.

BRAND GUIDELINES IN MESSAGING

Brand guidelines will get you places you’ve never been before. It’s a little like a superhero power card as if your brand were a person (or a Pokemon?)—but everyone at the company can see it. Once your brand voice (alongside your brand statements) is established using research and discovery and determining your ideal resident profile (IRP), you can go on to create some pretty sweet things like:

Brand Tagline – Like a slogan for your community—garner interest with your words summed up in one short phrase. 

Brand Headlines – More catchy things to say about the community that keep your prospects reading or scrolling.

Brand Vocabulary – Naming your amenities creatively or strategically can help create a sense of interest, intrigue, and brand loyalty among your residents. 

Each of these are part of the brand guidelines that we’ll create to keep your brand on track. Our copywriters take care of the verbal parts. Our designers take care of the visual parts. We put it all together to create a singular, beautiful guide to everything Your Brand. 

Also: Your taglines and headlines simply HAVE to grab attention. Sometimes that’s all anyone will ever read, of alllll the things you’ve written. Sad, but true. Make sure you’ve got a few of these up your sleeve: Tricks for Better Taglines and Headlines.

 

MULTIFAMILY COPYWRITING FOR EXTRA CREDIT

Hoping for a few bonus pieces of copy? There’s plenty more.

Website & Brochure Copy: Headlines, subheads, paragraphs, calls-to-action, it’s all copywriting. Make sure it’s good.

Campaign Copy: Whether it’s a moving campaign or pet-friendly campaign, ensure the words you’re using really sell the deal.

Email Copy: First your readers have to open the email—get them with a good subject line from your favorite copywriter.

Social Media Copy: Writing captions that fit in your brand voice is harder than it sounds.

 

CORPORATE COPY 

Mission / Vision / Values: Writing these clearly and having them out in the open—it’s more for internal purposes, but will help guide your client-facing brand. (It’s not easy, but that’s why we’re the professionals.)

Team Bios: Your experience and personal approach to property management should shine in your bio—and help you connect with the reader.

Client/Owner/Investor Messaging: We’ll make certain your message is geared to your client. Seal the deal whether seeking investors or presenting your management acumen to owners.

Taglines Headlines

Why is Copywriting Important for Communities?

Copywriting for community brands can = SUCCESS

Spell it with me: S-U-C-C-E-S-S. It has a nice little rhythm to it.

What do you most want from your efforts in your community? 

Success…which comes from signed leases. 

Which comes from prospects that turned into leads that turned into residents.
How do you get from prospects to residents? By connecting, showcasing, and converting.

Copywriting in multifamily communities is key to those three things.

CONNECT

Make an emotional connection by establishing your brand voice and telling a STORY.

SHOWCASE

Show what you have and how it’s the answer to their problems through clear and enticing communication.

CONVERT

Give them a reason to click the “Apply Now” button. You’ve gotten them this far, now convert leads with your brilliant copy (including amazing CTAs.)

When you have a resident—you want them to stay. A strong brand, which is BOLSTERED by excellent copywriting, will be able to maintain loyalty and retain residents—possibly even turning them into your own influencer-style, walking-word-of-mouth-ad brand advocates!

A Professional Copywriter vs. Your “Good Enough” Colleague

If we haven’t convinced you yet, now’s the moment. You’re considering having your colleague who’s “pretty good at writing” pen some copy. For your brochure, for your website, for your social. There are a few places where this could be…fine. Not great, but fine. Social media doesn’t require a huge amount of writing chops—but it could still impact your brand negatively if it’s not up to snuff.

If your colleague really is a good writer, great—use them. But also be aware that because “copywriter” isn’t likely their job position OR in their job description, they won’t be prioritizing the writing you’ve asked them to do (and all the research that has to go into it). Additionally, it’s not the best use of their (or of your) time and will take them longer than a pro.

A professional copywriter for multifamily, like the ones we have at Zipcode Creative offer three things that your “good enough” colleague may not:

EXPERIENCE

A professional copywriter is just that. They have processes that they’ve developed over years. They’re in the know with copywriting trends, as well as what is most likely needed for each job. 

Your “good enough” colleague will probably know your audience’s challenges and pain points, but those can easily be communicated to the copywriter as part of their research prior to writing.

EFFICACY

A pro copywriter for multifamily can create an emotional connection. They know what builds bridges, what entertains, and what kind of copywriting grabs attention. Keeping it short, tight, and compelling are all in a day’s work.

Your colleague of “decent writing chops” may end up writing too formally or casually, or worse: ignore your brand voice completely. All that work on the brand guidelines, for nothing!?

EFFICIENCY

A copywriter working professionally for apartment communities can easily follow your requirements. You’re the client, they’re the hired help. Pros also tend to know what needs to be done without being asked—even in a niche field like multifamily copywriting.

Your colleague—bless their heart—might not know the basic rules of copywriting, and therefore, waste time and money and energy on something that falls flat.

The best kind of copywriting for apartments tells a story, creates emotional connections, and helps build up the brand’s value. That sounds like a happily-ever-after to us.

Creative-Brand-Messaging

Creative Brand Messaging for Apartment Marketing

Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Marketing, Writing.

Start injecting personality into your brand messaging. Make your marketing sing a little bit. There are so many run-of-the mill marketing messages. It’s all information and no spice. “Now Leasing” is like white rice without a hint of anything else. Certainly nutritious / informative. But basic. Friendly reminder: apartments are brands, too. Creative brand messaging is useful to help your community stand out and be different. So, grab some of our ideas to boost your marketing messages from boring to brilliant and you’ll find the best possible way to say “resort-style pool” instead of…that.


Let’s start with amenities.

Creative Brand Messaging for Apartment Amenities

When you craft your website, brochures, and online ads, you want to draw your prospective resident in with the way you solve their problem. What does this look like?

“Spacious Floorplans” vs.
“Your Netflix Account’s New BFF”

Introducing apartments so cozy, you might just cancel your plans and spend all day binge-watching. With a living room that’s practically begging for a popcorn bowl, it’s a staycation paradise where comfort and entertainment unite.

Why this works: Having enough space is a selling point. Connecting the dots for your prospect helps drive the point home.

“Walk-in Closets” vs.

“Where Wardrobes and Dreams Expand” 

Our closets are like Narnia portals – step in, and you’re in a world of endless possibilities. With enough space to host a wardrobe party (if that’s your thing), your clothing collection will live its best life here.

Why this works: It gives color and excitement to…a closet.

“Gourmet Kitchens” vs.

“A Kitchen to Make Gordon Ramsay Jealous” 

This isn’t just a kitchen; it’s a culinary playground. Whip up gourmet creations, sizzle like a master chef, and become the star of your own cooking show. Ol’ Gordy might just be begging for your secret recipe!

Why this works: Rather than finding a problem to solve (which is also helpful!), your apartments are a make-dreams-come-true opportunity.

“Comfortable Community Spaces” vs.

“Gravity-Defying Chill Zones”

Say goodbye to mundane sofas and hello to lounges that defy gravity—metaphorically, of course. Sink into cloud-like cushions that have been known to cause spontaneous naps. Warning: You might need a teleportation spell to leave.

Why this works: Making community spaces sound fun and comfortable could invite a little more action to the area.

“Endless Possibilities” vs.

“Art Gallery Meets Apartment – Your Canvas Awaits”

Your apartment isn’t just a place to sleep; it’s a canvas for your personal masterpiece. With walls crying out for your artistic touch, you’ll wake up to inspiration every day. Picasso who?

Why this works: They’ve heard “home” enough times at this point in their search. Hit ‘em with the one, two, paint!

“Patio or Balcony” vs.

“Sunrise Serenades and Moonlit Concerts” 

Your personal outdoor space is more than just a pretty face. It’s a stage for your private concerts—whether serenading the sun in the morning or composing under the moonlight. Your patio or balcony, your arena!

Why this works: Patios or balconies may come standard, but give your prospects a few daydreams, too!

“Quiet Living” vs.

“Zen Garden Morning Strolls – With Coffee in Hand” 

Skip the hustle, embrace the Zen. Imagine starting your day with a peaceful garden stroll, coffee in hand, and the world at bay. It’s not just an apartment; it’s a tranquil escape from the chaos.

Why this works: Your prospect doesn’t know what quiet living could look like. Paint the picture!

“Ample Amenities” vs.
“More Amenities Than Socks in Your Drawer”

Who needs 50 shades of socks when you have 50+ shades of amenities? From rooftop gardens to resident lounges worthy of a royal gathering, your apartment isn’t just a home; it’s a kingdom of indulgence.

Why this works: Humor catches us off guard, and it’s a great tool to connect emotionally. Use it.

“NOW LEASING” – You’re Always Leasing!

It’s important to let you know that you’re taking applications, putting folks on waitlists, or “now leasing.” Plus: Everyone is ALWAYS Now Leasing. They’re never not leasing, seems like. But let’s get creative with the brand messaging, shall we?

  • “Apartment Hunting Sucks. Our Tours Don’t.”
  • “Warning: Your Current Place Might Get Jealous. Come Compare!”
  • “Tour, Swoon, Lease: Your New Home Awaits!”
  • “Skip the FOMO: Book a Tour, Thank Me Later!”
  • “Tour Like You Mean It”

 

It’s good for your residents to know there’s a human behind the messaging, and that your brand has personality.

Messaging for your IRP

Fully researching your Ideal Resident Profile (IRP) and developing your brand voice will allow you to craft creative brand messaging that will reach them. 

Need an example?
Let’s say your IRP is a 28-year-old single female in a mid-level office job. She works from home two days a week, has a creative side hustle with plants, and her cat is her fur baby. She loves to go to spin class, and frequents a Thursday happy hour with friends—in walking distance from her apartment.

Given this information, you know you can write something that will grab her attention unlike any other apartment community:

 

Designing Spaces as Unique as Your Cat’s Personality!

“We’re all about crafting spaces as unique as you and your feline friend’s quirks. From vibrant designs to cozy corners for your fur baby, we’ll help curate a home that celebrates your personal journey.”

Or you could do something about the amenities, like in-unit laundry:

 

Pawsitively Convenient In-Unit Laundry
“Between chasing deadlines and chasing your fitness goals, laundry can be a real boo-hiss situation. Having an in-unit laundry setup is like having a self-cleaning litter box for your laundry duties—convenient and fur-tastic!”

The bottom line here is: Take into account who you’re talking to. Get creative with your messaging. Don’t go off the rails—use the research on your IRP to fully inform your content. And then enjoy the connections that get made and the prospects that come in!

9 Ways Resident Demographics Influence Branding

Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Branding, Marketing. 1 Comment on 9 Ways Resident Demographics Influence Branding

Discovering your ideal resident profile (IRP) is the best way to create a community that can align its branding with its audience—and be successful. But how can you determine your resident demographics? Why do you want to spend the time doing it? What’s the IRP really for?

How to Dive Into Resident Demographics

Ready to understand the thoughts behind every decision of your enigmatic residents? Behavioral demographics and psychographics during the Research & Discovery phase are the most important stats we can obtain from customers (residents in our case). It’s what drives your brand message—or should, at least.

However, resident demographics aren’t as easy or simple as a one-page report. You also need to learn about your ideal resident. This will allow you to profile them completely, and predict their next move so you can be two steps ahead.

SURVEYS GALORE

Write up some quirky surveys and toss them into the digital wild and see what happens. Quirky? Ask about hobbies, dreams, and whether they think their pet goldfish can read minds.

Survey Tools: We like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey.

 

STALK VIA SOCIAL MEDIA (LEGALLY!)

Time to really go for the gold. Plunge headfirst into the social media abyss. Take a look and see what they like, share, comment on, and don’t be creepy about it. Just take note and try to piece together patterns. Think of it this way: It’s like investigative journalism in the digital age—and it’s helping your business offer them something they want, eventually.

Social Media Shortcuts: Searching location pins for nearby attractions can help you locate the people you’re looking for!

GOOGLE ANALYTICS WIZARDRY

Abra-ca-dabra! Unleash the absolute magic of Google Analytics on your website. When you’ve got the data, you’ve got the power. You can peek into the pages they frequent, the mystical paths they tread, and the secrets they’re seeking out. This means you can up the ante on whatever pages you see they’re visiting, focus on providing the answers they’re looking for, and finding ways to guide them where you want them to go. A little A/B testing on your site (think different CTA buttons) could be useful as a little practical magic, too.

Google Analytics Tips: This Google page on Google Analytics for beginners will get you off on the right foot.

INDUSTRY REPORTS

You don’t have to do all the research on resident demographics yourself. Look for reports in the multifamily housing realm. You’ve just hit a treasure trove when you pore over those juicy industry insights. When you know you’ve got reputable sources, you know you’ve got something useful and helpful in narrowing down the best versions of your IRPs.

Our favorite industry report sources: 

CUSTOMER INTERVIEWS

Like surveys, but less clicky and more chatty. Gather with your residents when you schedule some casual interviews. Find out more about their lives. Figure out what drives them, what their desires are. Ask about their favorite pizza toppings (keep it casual!) When you have a few customer interviews under your belt, you might see some patterns throughout the answers. It can help you determine how to reach your next group of prospects through targeted branding and messaging.

Tip: Our blog about stock photography use in branding cites a real-life focus group that led to some pretty interesting results.

ONLINE FORUMS AND GROUPS

If you thought social media was a weird little place, buckle up. Join online forums and groups to get an inside look where users bare their souls. Discussions will tell you a lot more than any one-sheet data page will.

Tools: Reddit and specialized forums on various sites, like Houzz are a treasure map.

PURCHASE DATA DELIGHT

Don’t duplicate efforts. You can go fancy and purchase resident demographic data from market research companies. It’s what they do, and their charts, graphs, and numbers will give you the special sauce for the branding efforts that will reach your IRP.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

Don’t just research your audience, or your ideal residents. Take a look at what your competition is doing. Be a savvy entrepreneur, and match or exceed what they’re doing. If they’re effectively wooing those residents who are so elusive, take a page from their book! You’ll be able to see where you’re falling short, where you’re absolutely killing it, and how your market functions.

Mailchimp actually has a pretty good work flow here for competitor analysis. Happy competing!

HANG OUT WITH THEM

Suddenly business and pleasure actually do work well together. Be a party crasher at local events. Blend in, strike up conversations, and play detective. Learn more about the neighborhood by actually visiting the hot spots in the area, and enjoy the schmoozing while you go around (lightly) boozing. Talk about the inside edition!

See our post on the importance of location in branding. It’s so hot right now.

What’s the bottom line here with the ideal resident profile? Do the work. Do the research. Have fun doing it (and find a few shortcuts along the way). And then apply it to your branding. When you know your audience, you can tailor your branding and messaging to meet their preferences, hopes, and dreams—and whether they’re a fan of dogs or cats.

Multifamily Branding Example Shines on a Custom Website

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

Multifamily Branding Example Shines on a Custom Website


THE STORY

Branding development can be beautiful when you find the right mutual partnership, as we learned with our friends at Viking Residential.

Viking Residential is a real estate investment, development and management company specializing in the multi-family industry in the Philadelphia Metro Area. Though they’ve been around since 1982, with a portfolio of both residential and commercial property management, they were headed into new territory with a new construction asset and they needed a guide.

Enter: Zipcode. 

We first met Viking Residential at NAA 2022 in San Diego at our booth. As first-time conference vendors, Zipcode Creative’s booth was in the New & Noteworthy section. After a few emails and zoom meetings  after the conference that delved deeper into Viking Residential’s needs, we found that this new partner needed branding development for their first-ever new construction lease-up community.

We love ushering companies into new avenues to see how they can stretch more than they thought possible (and look good doing it).

 

THE GOALS

For the success of this new construction lease-up community, Viking Residential needed to nail its branding and showcase it everywhere, starting with a website landing page. In other words, Viking sought to build awareness around this brand-new community by clearly showcasing the property’s offerings and surrounding area benefits to the ideal residents best suited for Wexford. 

So, Zipcode’s team set out to create conscious design, clear messaging, and consistent branding.

THE PROJECT

In order to properly build up the branding and create a website that spoke to the residents they most wanted to attract, Zipcode researched and developed the lifestyle vibe they set out to achieve for Viking Residential’s project: Wexford.

Wexford will be the first of its kind in rural New Jersey (Lumberton) just outside of Cherry Hill. The Class A level multifamily community solution (with proximity to Philly) has all the bells and whistles, and it’s set within a greater master planned community being built on historic farmland off of New Jersey’s Route 38.

 

THE PROCESS

This partnership was full of communication and collaboration and, most notably: trust. The teams worked together to determine the ideal resident and how best to speak to them through brand visuals and messaging. As the project progressed, Viking Residential leaned heavily on Zipcode’s team to advise in every area of creative design and branding, giving our team full creative reign within the process.

Research and Discovery

In order to develop the brand with informed strategy and an engaging story, Zipcode asked Viking to send over any and all collateral for Wexford, including full architectural plans, interior design concepts, applicable market research, and amenity details.

Tagline

Viking Residential’s team is highly communicative, and putting the tagline together for Wexford was no different. With their guidance on location and ideal residents along with their vision for Wexford, the process was more fun than it was work. After a little bit of collaboration, our teams landed on Sophisticated Comfort to echo the idea of higher-end touches meshing with the familiar.


Initial Design Concepts

Starting from scratch is almost always easier than pivoting a brand. That said, there’s still a science to it.

Based on market research and ideal resident profiling, our team worked toward a trendy, yet timeless vibe. The visuals/design and brand voice/messaging were all built to attract the IRP, who value small-town charm and traditions and are seeking an escape from bustling city life—while still staying close enough to go “into the city” whenever they wish. The aesthetic was aligned with the interior design plans, as well: simply modern, sophisticated comfort. We used clean lines and colors that paired with the modern simplicity of the interior design and communicated the balance between classic and trendy we were aiming for.

Success Secrets

Beyond the creative and messaging aspects of the project, we strongly recommended that Viking host the website with RESI, a platform specifically for multifamily hosted websites. RESI integrates with the client’s PMS to pull floor plan pricing and availability, and it’s easy to navigate the backend to make simple changes. When we work with RESI (our go-to partner for building custom websites like the one for Wexford) we oversee the direction of the design and look of the site to align with our created branding, while the RESI team develops, hosts, and manages the site.

Viking Residential also allowed us to take the lead in creative direction for Wexford’s permanent signage, which is being produced by a local sign company. With that connection, we’re able to ensure the branding stays on track and is implemented the way it was intended.

[et_pb_video src=”https://youtu.be/PPy6i-8HNBg” _builder_version=”4.20.2″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][/et_pb_video]

Services provided: 

  • Brand Development
  • Photo-Realistic Renderings
  • Floor Plans & Sitemap
  • Custom Website Design and Copywriting
  • Signage Design
  • Marketing Collateral and Digital Design
  • [Future:] High-end professional photography

MULTIFAMILY BRANDING RESULTS

Through Zipcode’s conscious design, clear message in the brand voice, and overall branding, future residents can see the value of Wexford living. As of Summer 2023, the community is in construction, and the project is progressing.

The landing page went live in great time, allowing Viking Residential to collect inquiries and gather an interest list to prepare for pre-leasing. The President of Viking Residential, Caroline Adillon, along with the rest of the Viking team, was impressed with our landing page—so much so, that she’s been giving our name to others in the multifamily space after our work on the project.

Sure, building a brand strategy can be done with just about any client. And the road goes both ways. But we’re glad Viking Residential chose us as a partner. Excellent communication and transparent trust from Viking’s team gave us space to make it pretty, fun and most importantly: effective.

Stock-Photography-in-Branding

Stock Photography in Branding and Its Impact Potential on Residents

Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Branding, Marketing. 1 Comment on Stock Photography in Branding and Its Impact Potential on Residents

martha-bader

Co-Authored by Martha Bader, Director of Marketing and Programming, Arden

Stock photography in branding and marketing has a significant impact on outcomes, connection, and inclusion. It’s natural to pick only the most beautiful, the most youthful, and the smiliest people for our brand’s imagery. But there’s a lot more to stock imagery than picking the shiniest, happiest people. It’s supposed to reflect your brand.

But what happens when the stock images you choose—that do reflect your brand, just don’t jive with the resident profile that’s supposed to be targeted?

Aspiration may—remarkably—turn into disconnection and frustration, and should be considered when selecting brand images.

A Deeper Dive into Stock Photography in Branding

We recently partnered with Martha Bader, Director of Marketing at Arden 55+ Living, who has worked with zipcode creative on multiple projects, particularly around brand voice and public relations. Perception is a huge part of stock imagery and we both wanted to know what really resonated with active adults and those that are 55+. The results have been eye opening! 

We hosted an in-person gathering to show participants stock photography and obtain their feedback to better understand how our use of stock imagery could portray what we intended, and foster an ideal perception from the viewer. They were then encouraged to describe their initial reactions to and feelings around these images, which resulted in a lively discussion around some of the questions below.

The answers might be surprising to you, but Martha knew exactly what to expect, having spoken with thousands of people 55+ across the country over the last six years to better understand this growing demographic.

1) How old do you consider yourself (versus your actual age)?

Note: Participants were all 55+.

quote

“At least 15 years younger, if not more!” 

“I am not old, I think about what my parents looked and acted like at my age, and I feel so much younger than them.”

“It depends on the day, sometimes 15 and sometimes my age.”

2) What do these images make you feel?

Elderly Friends Posing After YogaiStock-1352619757quote

“I know that these are not real residents and they look fake.”

“These people mean nothing to me.” 

“I feel worse about myself because I don’t look like that.”

“I know that this is for senior living because of these posed pictures.”

“Please don’t use people in ads—it reminds me of my age.”

3) What is your initial perception of 55+ communities?

quote

“They feel very exclusive.”

“I wonder what will happen to me if I am the oldest person there.”

“Great idea.”

4) What does being “active” mean to you?

quote

“Taking care of my health.”

“I love doing things and going places.”

“Being social.”

When choosing images, Martha believes that they should be like a permission slip to dream of what life can look like and shouldn’t be overly prescriptive or overpromise things like ‘If you move here, you will then your life will look like this, and these will be your new friends.’ Martha says, “In the age of photoshopping, we want to continue to celebrate all walks of life, and make sure that we are not excluding people or they are not self-selecting out of exploring what a 55+ community has to offer because they don’t see themselves in the images portrayed.” While studies have previously shown that using faces in imagery builds connection, it may not be the type of attention that you want. 

Another thing to keep in mind: Watch your third-party brands—they may use stock imagery that has a negative impact, such as an on-demand fitness app used in the fitness center, making health goals feel even harder or less likely to reach. Ask if their apps or AI can be modified to represent your residents and not exclusively young and extremely fit models  that could be problematic or triggering to  your 55+ residents. Take an extra minute to reflect on what the resident experience might be to ensure engagement and inclusivity for your residents!

Martha adds, “It is a fine line to walk of realism and possibility and we continue to engage with prospects on what grabs their attention and compels them to make decisions.”

Choosing Stock Photography in Branding and Marketing

There are five ideas that should be considered when selecting stock imagery for branding and marketing materials for your apartment community’s brochures, websites, signage, mailers (and plenty more).

Representation – Follow fair housing laws. Get diverse with your representation through your photos. This includes a variety of ethnicities, genders, ages, body types, abilities and cultural backgrounds. This will help show that your brand values everyone from everywhere—because you may not be sure who you’re excluding, even unintentionally, with your selection of stock imagery.

Stereotypes – Ensure the photos that you choose for your brand do not perpetuate stereotypes or biases. Choose visuals that allow for the full spectrum and breadth of abilities and e experiences. Keep in mind that stereotyping/bias could be conscious or not!

Accessibility – This is particularly true for stock imagery that you place on your website. Screen readers will need to be able to indicate to anyone with visual impairments or disabilities what is happening in the photo. For this reason, provide alternative text descriptions for your images. Beyond this, every image you choose should be clear and high-quality.

Authenticity – Make your photos relatable. Choose stock imagery in branding that will represent people accurately rather than being props for diversity. A stock photo that attempts to show an interesting story and perspective will have deeper meaning than a photo chosen simply because it fills in the gaps of your diversity spectrum.

Emotional Connection – Your audience—or ideal resident—will relate to your brand partially based on the stock images that you choose. Choose wisely, and you may be able to evoke emotions and create a connection to your brand. If you can offer up photos that remind your audience of themselves (ones that feature folks that look like they do) this can be the bridge to long-term loyalty.

Risks When Using Stock Imagery With People


It can be difficult to choose stock imagery with people in it. Keep these risks in mind when you choose to use stock imagery:


ACTIVE ADULTS

Depicted Too Old, They Feel Younger – “What? This isn’t for me. I’m still spry.” This might be what your 55+ community demographic is feeling when the pictures show elderly folks in wheelchairs. They’re not looking for a retirement home—they’re still active adults. Look out for the “too old” photo pitfall!

Depicted Too Young, They Can’t Relate – “Oh my, I can’t keep up with these youngins. I’m not going to like this place.” This might be what your 70+ residents may be thinking when they see an (attractive!) salt-and-pepper man backpacking up a mountain. Look out for the “young and having fun” pitfall, too.

STUDENTS

Ah, college students. This is possibly the most judgy age (besides tweens) that any person is at any point. Make sure you depict people that are a little beige. Not too preppy, edgy, lazy, or goodie-goodie. Find students that look pretty—to put it in terms you’ll understand: Normcore. Totally normal. Nothing particularly stand-out. (It does help if they’re attractive, though.)

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS

Where paths diverge: younger professionals. There’s a reason there is white collar and blue collar nomenclature. If you depict someone working remotely on their laptop in a coffee shop, the service worker may feel unconsidered. If you show only young couples enjoying a night out, a single mom may feel forgotten, because she never gets the opportunity to have a happy hour with friends. Share the love, consider the imagery that may get overlooked. Try to level the playing field with your images.

Arden-Diff-Lifestyle-Image-02Arden-Diff-Lifestyle-Image-03Arden-Diff-Lifestyle-Image-04 (1)

Inclusionary Practices


Images that are inclusive can help broaden your customer base because you’re reflecting a diverse target audience. Inclusion is good, all on its own. But it’s also helpful as a business move because you can connect with even more people who may be interested in becoming a resident in your community.

BOOST YOUR INCLUSION WITH THESE PRACTICES

1) Abstract Depictions

Get a little less specific and capture the feeling you want them to have while living the lifestyle that’s quintessential to your community. What do we mean? Instead of trying to figure out who exactly to include in your images, instead opt for photos of:

  • A close-up of a shimmering pool on a bright day
  • A linen curtain blowing in the breeze
  • A group of different cocktails on a tray
  • Dogs!

2) Groups of People


When it does make sense to include faces in your imagery—select carefully. Candid and natural shots will always win out over dated, posed shots. Get a group that has multiple ages and races in one photo to keep the diversity going.

    3) The Property

    If done well, you can’t go wrong with photos of the property, or beautiful, photo-realistic renderings for apartment marketing. This is the actual product that your ideal residents are looking into “purchasing” (okay, leasing), and by showing off the architectural lines, details, colors, and spaces, you let the community speak for itself!

    All in all, it is absolutely impossible to find imagery that relates to everyone—and someone will inevitably feel excluded based on their perceptions of the stock imagery in branding that you’ve chosen. However, being aware of the risks (including with any third-party businesses you use) and conscientiously choosing imagery to be inclusive and best reflect your biggest target population or majority target renter demographic can help make a positive impact for your brand and for your number of signed leases.

    Using Renderings for Apartment Marketing

    Written by Stacey Feeney on . 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.

    Renderings for Apartment Marketing 2

    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 for Apartment Marketing 3

    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).

    Outsourced Branding and Specialty Design for Multifamily Marketing

    Written by Stacey Feeney on . 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:

    1. 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.

    2. 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.

    3. 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.

    authentic-branding-in-multifamily

    Authentic Branding in Multifamily in 6 Steps

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

    Authentic branding in multifamily can truly create a difference in your resident retention and loyalty. Like most things in life, the proof is in the pudding. That means: the goals you set, the relationships you build, and the people that you bring in as part of your staff are actually what makes residents’ dreams come true. Delivering on promises made is authenticity.

    Marketing (and research and discovery) gets you to a certain point in preparing for success, but it can only take you so far. How does authentic branding in multifamily come about?

    1. BE REALISTIC

    Create attainable goals for your brand. Make a mission you actually believe in—not just one that sounds good. And whatever apartments or lifestyle you’re “selling”, make sure you’d buy into it, too. When you convince yourself first of the value of your community, you’re better positioned to speak to those exact values to someone who needs to hear it. 

    Scripted or not, reality TV is a booming business. Because people want reality—or at least some form of it. A voice, a personality, a brand they can relate to (or see something of themselves in) is ideal. In fact, reality and authenticity is expected. The FleishmanHillard 2021 Authenticity Gap study showed a significant gap between what consumers expect of companies and what they provided: 95% of the industries studied aren’t meeting expectations when it comes to providing customers better value. And when residents find something out of alignment, it’s more noticeable. Be honest. Be realistic. Be transparent. Follow through.

    2. FOCUS ON RELATIONSHIPS

    It can be an arduous journey to get to this point in your brand building. You’ve worked hard on creating long-term goals, an aligned mission, vision, and values, and messaging and visuals that work hand-in-hand. What’s next? People over profits. Community over competition. Be genuine with the way you start and maintain relationships with your residents—or really anyone who comes in contact with your brand. (More info on good apartment branding here.)

    3. GO LONG

    Have you ever met someone who knew exactly what they wanted to do since they were young, and then did it—and didn’t let anything stop them? Be like that, but in brand form. Taking a long hard look at your brand goals (1, 5, 10 years out) is helpful to pinpoint what your priorities are and where you want to go. Your community shouldn’t be treated as here today, gone tomorrow. Put down some roots and invest in those around you. By building relationships over time, you have a better shot at creating a full 360-degree brand that looks consistently authentic from all angles.

    4. LEAD NURTURING

    People like to be wooed and pursued (within reason). The market is saturated with options and everywhere they turn, there’s an ad that feels tailored to them. The internet is full of research and search engine results, and finding authentic branding in multifamily will stand out and offer transparency and grab attention. And once you have that attention, nurture, nurture, nurture. Figure out your best “prospect” journey, and stick with it. (Relationship building, remember?)

    5. HIRE “BRAND AMBASSADOR” EMPLOYEES

    You have to hire the right people. Get current staff aligned with your brand message (post it, say it, bring it up in meetings). Create trainings around how to treat residents and prospects—your bread and butter. Ensure that every opportunity is taken to deliver fantastic customer service, along with honesty and transparency in interactions. Keep your reputation nice and clean. Encourage your staff to play the long game, and get to know the people they’re talking to on the phone, via email, or in person. Remembering details adds the authenticity of a human touch to your apartment brand.

    6. AVOID SALES-SPEAK

    You can close sales without being “salesy.” Instead, seek to provide value through:

    • Helpfulness – “Here’s our most popular floor plan. Folks love the open concept kitchen and living space. But we do only have a few of these left.”
    • Encouragement – “Moving can be so stressful! Let me know if there’s anything I can help with.”
    • Patience – “Whenever you’re ready to talk move-in dates, let me know—I’m available via phone or email.”
    • Kindness – “Is this your first apartment? How exciting!”
    • Gentle reminders – “Just wanted to quickly remind you that our leasing special is over at the end of the week. I’d be happy to give you another tour. Let me know how I can help!”
    • Tours are key for excellent first impressions.

    Friendliness and genuine interest from staff shift your apartment brand into Authentic Mode. That’s the space where sales happen and leases get signed.

    Authenticity in Branding

    That certainly covers the customer service portion of your brand, which is essentially your messaging proven true. Branding with consistency is key to authenticity, because it makes something expected, predictable, and worthy of your residents’ trust.

    Branding is the starting point of those promises, those relationships and the solutions you offer. When you begin with knowing your audience, you can tailor your brand voice and tone to reach the audience you want to build said relationship with. When you create messaging that’s helpful, you can start solving problems. When you create imagery, fonts, colors that are a visual representation of your brand, your staff can extend that “brand” to every interaction your resident has with your community.  Authentic branding for multifamily starts from the very beginning, when they first see your sign or contact you, all the way through to their maintenance request as a resident.

    Staging Apartments for Summer Tours

    Written by Stacey Feeney on . 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.

    charity-beth-long-_PaXoN4_2s0-unsplash

    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).

    khloe-arledge--dvGLb5aOTE-unsplash

    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 . 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.
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    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.

    Print Marketing’s Not Dead!

    Written by Stacey Feeney on . 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.”

    Business card and name card mockup

    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.

    brochure-copy

    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.

    brochure-photos

    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.

    Rebranding Apartments? Ask These 5 Questions First.

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

    Rebranding apartments can be a huge undertaking in terms of time and money. If the rebrand is done successfully, you can enjoy lasting effects, such as better visual and verbal branding alignment, along with improved brand recognition from your current and prospective residents. 

    However, before you launch a rebrand, it’s important to get to the heart of the reasons behind the “need” for a rebrand. Ask Yourself: Why is a rebrand necessary? What will the rebrand do for our apartment community? How will this rebrand be accomplished (who will do it, and in what way, with what funds?) 

    To get those answers, there are a number of more specific questions you should put to you and other decision makers that are requesting the rebrand.


    Question #1: Do we need a fresh start?

    NEW COMPANY TAKEOVER
    Is your property management company taking over an existing community? Consider this your opportunity to start fresh and announce “new management” from every angle of your branding. Out with the old and in with the new; leave every bit of the old brand in the dust and make a new name for the community.

    REMODELING: OUTSIDE AND IN
    If you’ve spent significant time and money remodeling your apartments, it’s a perfect time to re-brand and show off all your assets. Rethink your mission. Revamp your marketing materials. Find a way to match the rebrand to the remodel—a complete refresh, with those updated units front-and-center.

    A SHIFTING TARGET
    Has your target resident or current resident profile changed? If yes, then it’s definitely time to reassess how you meet the needs by offering a solution; and if within changing the way you solve your resident’s problems, you determine you’re in need of a rebrand, keep plugging away at the process. Another way to approach the shifting target: Have your company’s goals shifted? Are you trying to solve a different problem or reach a different resident group? Are you trying to improve the quality of leads (and residents) you get rather than the quantity? If you’re nodding right now, it may be time to lean into a different approach to get a different outcome.

    EXAMPLE:
    Your brand was formerly targeted for middle-class families, but you’re finding the neighborhood has changed, and the population in the area is now upper-class individuals. Your apartment community branding may need to evolve and shift to match any new goals you create for your community.

     

    Question #2: Have our competitors updated?

    Is our logo looking old-fashioned? Are our methods out of touch with today’s (or our target) audience of residents? Do we have a good way to stay front-and-center or top-of-mind with those we need to matter to? There are a lot of ways to approach this question. But the end result must tell you whether you are okay staying the way you are, or if you must evolve in order to stay relevant.

    This can be a slippery slope, however. Trying to keep up with “the Joneses” (the competition in this case) may put you in an awkward position of scrambling to rebrand just because it seems like the right thing to do. Take your time to get the rebrand right. Keep asking the important questions that will give you the answers to an effective rebrand rather than a compulsory one. Only you and your company can determine how and when a rebrand should occur, while you keep an eye on the competition.

    EXAMPLE:
    You can throw a rock in any direction and hit competing apartments that have a modern look and feel with distinct storytelling capabilities thanks to (what seems to be) a successful rebrand. Your logo has been around since the beginning, and most of your content doesn’t feel consistent with the rest of your verbal or visual branding. It’s probably time to rethink your approach.

    brand-devel-mica

    Question #3: Does our brand tell the story we want it to tell?

    Perhaps your brand has been around for a while. Does it still tell the same story it has always told? Are your residents tired of that story and ready for change? In order to determine what story your brand is telling, take a look at your original brand guidelines. (Tell us you have one, please.) 

    Your brand story should answer a handful of questions. Yes, more questions. Hang in there with us. The questions it should answer (accurately and the way that you want): 

      • Who you are
      • What you do
      • Who you do it for
      • Why you do it
      • How you do it

    Once you answer these questions, determine whether they measure up to the way you are being perceived. Do they align? Or is there more work to be done in getting closer to telling “the truth” of your multifamily community’s brand? Yes? Keep reading.

    EXAMPLE:
    Your brand is one of historic value, with locals creating a community that is welcoming for all. While this is heartwarming, good, and was perhaps successful in the past, you detect that your current and prospective residents don’t connect with this family-run/family-owned business angle any more. It’s probably time to tell a new story–one they haven’t heard before.

     

    Question #4: What’s next after this rebrand?

    A rebrand can either be a means to an end or it can be the “end” itself—the rebrand can either function as a stepping stone to get where you want to be, or it can be the ultimate goal in terms of your branding. With this in mind, you can either spend a significant amount of time completely zeroing in on how you want your brand to be for the long haul, or you can make more room for evolution, with an idea for where you may want to go after the initial rebrand.

    EXAMPLE:
    It’s possible that the goals for your community are so different from your current approach (for example, changing to a luxury apartment complex from something approachable and affordable) that you will need to take a few steps to complete the rebrand from start to finish. Find the right middle ground so that you can make your rebrand believable at each point, rather than slapping a different logo on a brand that has no trust or audience. 

     

    Question #5: How will we accomplish this rebrand?

    This might be the most important question you ask. The persons responsible for taking on your community’s rebrand should have a combination of leadership skills, determination, and vision for your multifamily apartment. Beyond selecting who will handle the rebrand, you should also be asking how they will get it done. A good rebrand will include visual elements (such as logo designs) and just as important, verbal elements: messaging and positioning through professional copywriting.

    EXAMPLE:
    You have a team that wants a rebrand but no one has time to accomplish it, much less lead the charge. It’s probably a good idea to partner with someone (like zipcode creative) to get focused and ultimately: get rebranded.

    Rebrands require time and money (like a lot of things) but the success of a rebrand can well make up for the residents you can retain or attract. Just start by asking the right questions first.

    If you need a partner in your rebrand strategy, talk to us.

    Writing a Call-to-Action: Everything You Need to Know

    Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Writing. 2 Comments on Writing a Call-to-Action: Everything You Need to Know

    If you have a marketing strategy, a distribution plan, and your community branding all ready to go, you’re well on your way to having your marketing department up and running. But while you’re looking at the bigger picture, be sure not to overlook the smaller details that make a big difference, like call-to-action.

    What is a Call-to-Action?

    A call-to-action, or CTA, is an element of any piece of marketing material that tells the reader what to do next or moves them toward a particular action. A call-to-action can come in many different formats, depending on the collateral, including:

    • A button
    • A hyperlink
    • Plain text

     No matter which form your CTA takes, it’s important to include it in every single piece of marketing you create. From direct mail postcards to your website to social media, you always want your audience to have a clear understanding of what they should do next. A few examples include:

    • Learn More
    • Check Availability
    • Schedule a Tour
    • Lease Today
    • Click Here

     What you use as your CTA depends on the context, the materials, and the objective, but there are a few best practices that remain the same. Learn how to craft a compelling call-to-action to help increase your conversions and get your audience to move through the sales funnel.

    Mockups Design

    How to Write a Call-to-Action

    Though a call-to-action is typically short, that doesn’t mean they’re easy to write. Writing a CTA requires blending the right words, a sense of urgency, and clarity to get users to click. 

    Keep it action-oriented
    The perfect call-to-action makes it clear exactly what the user should do—which usually requires some strong verbs and action-oriented language. Though you don’t want to sound bossy, a well-written CTA is very strongly ordering them to do a certain action. For example:

    • Download Now
    • Sign Up Today
    • Book an Appointment
    • Contact Us

    Each of these CTAs begins with a strong verb so they’re super clear and concise. 

    Create a sense of urgency
    When you’re writing your CTAs, you’ll also want to try to add a sense of urgency. There’s nothing that people hate more than missing out on a good deal or opportunity, so your CTA should make them feel like they have to act fast to get in on the action. Urgent CTAs are especially relevant when you’re running leasing incentives or referral promotions because they have a firm end date. Try a call-to-action like:

    • Book Now
    • Visit Us Today
    • Get a Month Free

    Using time-oriented words like “now” and “today” helps infuse these CTAs with a subtle sense of urgency that can help prompt a higher conversion rate.

    Keep it short 
    When writing CTAs, readability reigns supreme. You want to be sure that your call-to-action is short, clear, and concise so people know at a glance exactly what you want them to do. While two- or three-word CTAs are ideal—especially when using buttons or hyperlinks—you don’t want them to be any longer than about 10 words. Otherwise, it’s harder for readers to get a fast and clear understanding of what their next action should be, which will lead to lower performance. 

    On the flip side, don’t prioritize a shorter CTA over clarity. CTAs like “Go,” “Next,” or “Click here,” are ambiguous and vague, so you’ll want to avoid making them too short. It’s all about striking the right balance.

    Prioritize a single CTA
    While it can be tempting to throw a bunch of CTAs on one piece of marketing collateral, picking one call-to-action is vital to your marketing success. Giving your audience too many choices can cause confusion—and confusion leads to a lack of action. Pick your top-priority next step, whether that’s visiting your website, booking a tour, or downloading a brochure, and only use that CTA on your piece of collateral. That way, you’re driving everyone to the same place for more conversions and higher-performing content. 

    Consider Your Button Design
    For digital marketing assets, like paid ads or marketing emails, you’ll also need to think about the design of your CTA buttons. Be sure the text is large and legible, so it stands out on the page. Consider the button shape—often a rectangle or rounded rectangle—the button color, and the placement. All of these factors can impact the performance, so consider A/B testing a few different options to see what works best with your target audience.

    Postcard_MeraVintageParkNow that you know a few CTA best practices, try implementing them across your marketing materials and watch the increased conversions roll in.

    We know that crafting the perfect call-to-action can be tricky. If you’re struggling to get it just right, it may be time to enlist some help. At zipcode creatives, we have experience in marketing strategy, copywriting, and design for the multifamily industry. From helping you get your email marketing off the ground to redesigning your website to writing a high-converting call-to-action, we’re here to help.

    Avaire Email Image is ©Fairfield Residential  |  Work executed by Stacey Feeney, owner of zipcode creative, while under creative direction and employment at Fairfield Residential.

    social media connects social media connects

    Social Media Can Connect Residents and Prospects to Staff

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

    Social media can create familiarity and comfort with your brand—your community, in this case. But only if you know how to use it the right way. While some may think social media divides and distracts us (which it certainly can) your business can employ the right tactics to make residents feel more comfortable to engage with your brand, both online and in-person, especially as it relates to your community’s staff.

    When you use social media to create credibility, familiarity and access, it makes your brand one that sets your residents at ease.

    Social Media Creates Familiarity

    FIRST-NAME BASIS

    Putting a face to a name is a typical human desire. If your residents have just moved in, and they don’t know anyone, being the one staff person they recognize and can call by first name is a big win. Keeping your staff names handy on social media, through Meet the Staff or behind-the-scenes type posts will help your residents recognize the person behind the front desk or the person sending them emails about upcoming events.

     

    WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME

    For your staff, having residents familiar with them can help break the ice and allow comfortable exchanges when it comes to getting moved in, asking for help, or even scheduling service for their unit. When they know the repairperson by name (and even a little bit about them from your social media staff feature posts) they may be a little more at ease when this repair person is in their space, whether fixing the sink or installing a new thermostat.

     

    CREATING CONNECTIONS

    Creating Meet the Staff posts, as we’ve mentioned, can help draw the connections between residents and community staff members. These connections help your residents feel like they’re truly at home, because they now know both their neighbors and the people around them. Additionally, you can work on creating connections through any behind-the-scenes posts you make, highlighting the staff who may not be as visible. For example, saying “This is John! You might not know his face, but you’ve probably been in contact with him at one point or another. He’s our in-house Resident Services Coordinator and makes sure that if you request a repair, he dispatches help as soon as possible. When John isn’t taking care of your requests here at Cascade Apartments, he spends his free time reading mystery novels and searching out the best cappuccino in town.” When you post personal details about your staff (with their permission, of course) this gives your residents the opportunity to learn more about the human side of your community. And when you create those [positive] connections, it gives your residents one more reason to keep their lease with you.

    Social Media Creates Credibility

    THE PROFESSIONAL

    You likely know this, but it’s worth mentioning again: staying active on social media can do wonders for your community’s brand. You create an extension of your brand through high-quality photos, informative (and fun) posts, giveaways, and through drawing connections from residents to your staff. It helps your community’s brand look professional and reliable. (If you’re still not sure what kind of social graphics to use, we can help with that, too.) And typically, when a business looks professional, there’s a level of trust that occurs between the company and the client (or in your case–the community and the resident). When that trust is built, your resident, again, will be more at ease with your community—which feels more like home every day, thanks to you and your social media strategy.

    WHAT TO DO IF YOUR CREDIBILITY IS UNDERMINED

    Social media isn’t all peaches and cream. At times, a random internet troll or even a disgruntled former resident takes to social media to air out their dirty laundry and hangs your community’s brand out to dry with it. Is there any good news? Yes! Luckily, it’s rare, and those who know your brand well enough can see past this. Take heart, and know that there is a method to handle this sort of negativity. Read more in our blog regarding negative comments on social media and how to handle them.

    CONSISTENCY = BETTER REACH

    As with anything good, it takes some time (and energy.) With social media, regular posting helps you reach your residents, because the more opportunities they have to engage with your brand, the more your content will reach them. The tricky thing about algorithms is that it’s always changing. Posting regularly with helpful content is the most basic and best method to create consistency and improve your reach.

    Social Media Creates Access

    CREATE A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR RESIDENTS

    Social media is about connections. And today, thanks to likes, follows, DMs, and so much more, connections are just one click away and easier than ever. Using this to your community brand’s advantage isn’t just about posting—it’s also about responding. When your residents reach out and comment on or like a post, or dm you a question, responding to them helps them feel even more connected to you because they get near-instant access to you, rather than calling and leaving a message, or emailing and waiting for a response. It’s important to keep your audience in mind, and knowing how comfortable they may be with social media (and which outlets they’re most likely to be on). Focus on one or two social apps and leave the rest be, to keep it easy on yourself.

     


    HELP PROSPECTS DECIDE

    When you’re looking at a place to live, there is a lot to take into account, from the community culture to details on guest parking and clubhouse hours. Back in the “olden” days, access to management of a company was limited. And it still can be, but you can break down some of those barriers. Create a Live Q&A with your CEO or resident manager about your community, and invite all the prospective residents you can. Adding a “human touch” (to what can feel like an impersonal process at times) can help your prospective ask any and all the questions they have so they can better understand your community from the top down starting with management, is on board to create a home for them.

     


    To see more ideas about how to connect with your residents through regular content, check out our blog post on social media series. 

    Email Subject Line Email Subject Line

    How to Write an Amazing Email Subject Line to Grab Prospects

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

    Get prospects to open your marketing emails by grabbing their attention in their inbox. Email marketing is an important part of any community’s strategy. But once you’ve identified your different audience segments, outlined the content for each email, and started to build them out in your email platform, there’s probably one thing that you’re missing: an eye-catching email subject line. 

    The email subject line is one of the most important parts of your apartment email marketing efforts. While it may seem like just a small detail, it holds a lot of power. The subject line determines whether or not anyone opens the email in the first place, so it’s vital to draw your audience in from the first second they see the notification that there’s an unread message in their inbox.

    Learn how to write an effective email subject line that will help increase your open rates and capture your audience’s attention.

    Easy Steps to Writing an Email Subject Line

    Though email subject lines can be daunting, they’re simple, straightforward, and even fun to write once you learn the easy-to-follow process.

    1. EMAIL PURPOSE

    Before you start drafting subject lines, you need to first determine what the overall objective is of the email. That way, you can craft a compelling subject line that not only piques a prospect’s interest but also accurately reflects what’s in the body of an email. 

    Be sure to avoid generic subject lines that don’t hint at what’s inside. Doing so can turn recipients off or lower your open rate. If they don’t know what the email is about at a glance, they’re much less likely to open it and much more likely to unsubscribe.

    2. CALL TO ACTION

    Outlining your call to action up front is pivotal to increasing your conversion rates. For example, if you want prospective residents to schedule a tour, consider adding that language in the subject line. Alternatively, if you’re running a leasing promotion and you want them to sign a lease to secure the deal, add that to the email. These are two very different objectives, so it’s vital to differentiate the language you use in both the subject line and the body of the email, so they always know what you want them to do next. 

    3. A/B TEST OPTIONS

    More often than not, the first subject line you write won’t be the winner. Draft multiple options and review them objectively to choose the best option. It’s also best to A/B test at least two different subject lines to see which performs better with your target audience. 

    4. REVIEW RESULTS

    A day or two after the email has been sent, take a look at the metrics. Evaluate the open rate, click-through rates, and other data to determine whether or not the email was a success. If you A/B tested subject lines, you’ll also quickly see which performed better, which can give you insights into what type of language resonates with your audience. 

    Ways to Improve Your Subject Line & Increase Your Open Rate

    Adding certain language to your email subject lines can tempt your audience into action. There are three things in particular that are proven to increase conversations and get your message noticed in any inbox.

    URGENCY

    Creating a sense of urgency is vital in getting people to open your email. As of 2019, over 293 billion emails were sent each day. Standing out is half the battle to get them to click. Consider leveraging these words and phrases to make your message seem time-sensitive:

    • Don’t wait
    • Last chance
    • Hurry
    • Ending soon
    • Can’t miss
    • Almost gone
    • Limited time
    • One day only

    Using this type of language can help to increase the likelihood that your email will be read.

    INCENTIVES

    Promoting ongoing promotions, offers, and leasing incentives is not only good for business but good for open rates, too. Including discounts like rent concessions or referral bonuses showcase the benefit for the email recipient. If they immediately know what’s in it for them, there’s a higher chance they’re likely to want to learn more. Consider adding phrases like:

    • 50% off
    • One month free
    • Referral bonus
    • No fee

    Saving and making money are major motivators for everyone—and especially for apartment hunters!—so it’s an easy and practical way to entice prospects to take the next step. 

    PERSONALIZATION

    Adding your prospect’s name to your subject line is an easy way to up your open rates. 26% of readers are more likely to open emails when they see personalization, so it’s a fast and easy way to boost your performance. But you can also think beyond just using their name. If you know their age, their location, or even their apartment preference (like a one or two-bedroom or a ground-floor or top-floor unit), you can incorporate some of this data into your subject lines for a tailored message. Just be sure you have a clean data set so that your subject line is clear.

    Email Subject Line Best Practices

    Keep these best practices in mind when writing your email subject line to see the best performance possible.

    The Shorter the Better 

    When it comes to email subject lines, short and sweet is the name of the game. 46% of emails are read on mobile, so use fewer than 50 characters so it all displays on a mobile screen. Research shows that 41-character-long subject lines are the highest-performing, so try to keep it around there to maximize your results.  

    Segment Your Audiences

    Sending relevant content to your audience is a must to have top-performing open rates. Instead of blasting out the same message to every group, consider segmenting your audience so you can tailor your subject line even further. For example, if you have a group of prospects that you know are empty-nesters, speak to their specific wants and needs. Alternately, if you know they’re single young professionals, use different languages to appeal to this different demographic. Even if your overall email has the same message and call to action, adjusting the subject line can go a long way in driving interest.

    Don’t Forget Preview Text

    The subject line doesn’t live in a vacuum. Don’t forget to also write preview text to partner with the subject line and provide a little bit more information. Like subject lines, preview text gets cut off on mobile, so just be sure to keep it clear and concise.

     

    If you need help with your email copywriting or overarching multifamily marketing strategy, we’re here to help. At zipcode creative, we’re seasoned experts in developing 360-degree strategies that help communities lease up faster, keep residents happier, and make a positive impact on your bottom line. Get in touch today to learn more! 

    555 Ross Image is ©Fairfield Residential  |  Work executed by Stacey Feeney, owner of zipcode creative, while under creative direction and employment at Fairfield Residential.

    QR Codes for Apartment Marketing Success

    Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Graphic Design, Marketing.

    It’s easier than ever to use QR codes to your advantage when it comes to marketing your apartment community. Sure, QR codes used to get a bad rap. You’d need to have a separate app on your phone to read the QR code in the little black and white square. No longer. Now, all you do is open your phone’s camera app, hover over it, and click on the website that pops up. (Fun fact: QR stands for quick response—finally, the name matches the performance!)

    QR codes are certainly helpful. But, how should one use them? You don’t want to overwhelm every piece of your marketing collateral with QR codes, but they can definitely help your audience (whether future residents or candidates for new employees) take one step closer to your business goals. Instead of relying on your audience to navigate the website, jump around to different pages, and leave before completing a tour request, rental application, or employment inquiry, they’ll get directed exactly where you want them to go, with a call to action placed in the text surrounding the QR code.

    Top Ways to Use QR Codes in Apartment Marketing

    Apply to Lease

    Everyone’s favorite. You want residents in your community. They want to get it done as quickly as possible, so they can start the process. Direct them to the application page and get the party started!

    Apply for Employment

    You’ve been looking for the perfect fit for leasing agents–friendly, outgoing, smart, but no one seems to be finding your employment application. Problem solved. With a QR code that goes directly to the employment application, you can help cut out the extra steps between the home page and career page.

    Event RSVP/Sign-Up

    You’re designing a flyer for an upcoming resident event, and you want to know who’s coming. Add a QR code to your flyer, then attendees can quickly scan and submit their RSVP–no big deal.

    Schedule a Tour

    QR codes are like a tour schedule sign up sheet–just waiting to fill your calendar. Allow prospective residents to book a slot in one simple click, and move on with their day, happily looking forward to taking a tour of your multifamily community!

    Direct to a Web Link

    QR codes can direct your viewers straight to the details they want, including floor plans, photos and availability of your units, and the amenities included in your community.

    QR Code Placement that Converts

    Sure, those all sound like great ways to use the QR code, but where should one actually put those QR codes? Make sure they’re easily accessible, so that people can quickly hover over the QR code and get the info they need in a snap. Now that we have lightning-speed internet, we’re impatient to get the info we want right away (so don’t count on folks typing in your long website address–just use a QR code!)

    Signage

    Table Tents: Place a QR code on your table tents for visitors to scan while waiting for a tour to begin or waiting for their friend in the lobby.

    Banner Stands: Tabletop + Floor – Are you preparing for an event to obtain more residents? If you’re talking to one potential resident while another walks by, they can scan the QR code and come back around if they’re interested—it’s like you have a wingman!

    Bootleg Signs: QR codes can reach far and wide if you put them on your bootleg signs on the edges of your property. Passersby can easily scan the code to find out more about what your units look like inside, or click to sign up for a tour without even walking into the office.

    Bootleg-SignMailer

    Print Collateral

    Flyers: Let your QR codes give out all the fantastic details of your apartment community, so you can make the rest of your flyer attention-grabbing and lead-converting with text or photos.


    Postcards: Sending out a stack of postcards to your current residents about upcoming events? Place a QR code on the postcard so they can easily RSVP.

    Mailers: Mail has a fantastic open rate. Capitalize on it and place a QR code that goes to your available units or to schedule a tour.

    Office Hours Signs

    Just because the office is closed doesn’t mean your business is! QR codes can give you a little business boost by capturing leads that come in your off-time, directing them to your unit photos and floor plans!

     

    Final Tips for using QR codes in multifamily marketing:

    • Tell Me Why: Indicate what the QR code is for! If you don’t preface with: “Sign up for a tour today!” or something to that effect alongside your QR code, people are not going to scan it. If it’s unlabeled, it’s uninteresting.

    • Spice it Up: See if you can put a nice frame around the QR code. They’re not super attractive on their own, but you can place your logo near (or in the middle of) it with a nice coordinating frame. You can even change the color of the code to work with the rest of your design palette.

    • Don’t Overdo It: One QR code is enough for one marketing piece. More than that, and it starts to look like a robot parade. Choose the best single destination for your leads.

    • Call It Out: Draw attention to it. Say “scan me” or “view our units” with an arrow, or something similar, with a large enough code to be noticed.

    • Check and Double-Check: QR code doesn’t work? Bummer. But it can be fixed. Make sure your codes work (i.e the background isn’t shiny and presents enough contrast to be scanned) and go to the correct site before you put them anywhere on your materials

    QR codes, if used properly, can be a huge benefit to marketing your apartment community, through driving leads exactly where you want them to go–even if you’re not around. For more help in where to place them, and how to use them best, just ask zipcode creative!

    Know Your Selling Points: Appeal to Every Resident

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

    Apartment communities can have a very particular demographic, whether because of their amenity offering, their location, or the way they have advertised, apartment residents can be similar in age, interest, or needs. However, if you are looking for ways to expand your demographic, and attract all age groups and every resident, start zeroing in on the unique offerings of your apartment community, and pay attention to what groups are attracted by which amenity: When you find the right selling point, prospects will be lining up to live there!

     

    Consider Community Amenities As Selling Points

    Beyond the basics, every resident will have different needs. However, there are some amenities that will appeal to a broad variety of residents–be sure to capitalize on each and every part in your marketing.  

    Make Technology Easy: Have the WiFi password in a visible place in your clubhouse. Make your printers easy to connect to, and advertise your energy star rated appliances in your marketing materials, as well. Know which WiFi providers are available to your residents, and have current rates handy for when they ask. 

    Hit Refresh: The pool is a great space for everyone–to relax, have fun, stay cool, and stay fit. Show off your pool to any and all residents, and have a schedule handy of different pool aerobics classes, or anything other events that are based around the community pool.

    Pet-Friendliness: From single persons to senior citizens, many have a constant companion that is absolutely part of the family. Make sure they know that their pooch is not only allowed–but welcome. Show off any pet amenities you may have, from treats at the front desk, to a special dog area in your community. Read our blog on pet-friendly apartment marketing.

    Safety First: An aspect of safety is front and center for many residents. Make sure the elderly and your young new renters (leaving the safety of their parents’ home) know they have reliable locks, gates and codes to get into their spaces and community areas easily, while having peace of mind about their security.

    Community amenities make for great selling points.

    Apartment options

    Selling Points: Give Them Apartment Options

    Apartments of varying sizes will appeal to different groups–however, you can appeal to everyone when you emphasize specific parts of your community, especially as it pertains to the layout and number of bedrooms.

    Empty nesters who are coming from outside the urban area will be looking for beautiful, chef-style kitchens, with nice appliances, spacious closets, and plenty of bedrooms for guests. They are searching for a home that doesn’t require upkeep (like mowing the lawn or fixing the roof) while still enjoying plenty of time and space at home. They’re a great target for your larger layout apartments.

    Younger renters will likely go for one-bedroom apartment layouts that are close to their favorite community amenities. They will likely spend plenty of time outside of their apartment going to work, going out for dinner, and enjoying the night life.

    As far as options go, you don’t have to be everything to everyone. But only you know what will be most popular with your community. Stay on top of apartment and amenity trends, and keep your current residents in mind as you shift marketing to reach new residents with your unique selling points.

    Apartment activities

    Activities Bring Residents Together

    Resident events and activities are a fantastic way to appeal to a variety of people. A group may not appear to have much in common, but one good crowd-pleasing movie night can put an end to that. Beyond movies, food is another way to connect community members. Include any regular potlucks, special holiday food crafting, and food competitions to the calendar to show off to touring apartment visitors. 

    Outdoorsy Types: Also, getting outdoors for a group hike or organizing a 5K team could be just the ticket for your residents to finally come out of their shell and exercise with their community. Have the sign up near the front desk for future residents to see (and get excited about, if they like hiking or running!)

    Books: There’s a definite likelihood that you have a number of “bookworm” residents–get them to do a book exchange, or create a borrow/read/return corner with a swiveling book rack for residents to find their next page-turner. Have a coffee corner in the clubhouse. Sometimes it’s nice to gather around a cup of joe and chat with a new person, rather than going through a drive-thru, or having coffee at home.

    Classes: Consider also, what activities your residents may be interested in learning about, and see if there are any residents that would be willing to teach a class (or bring in a local expert!) Wouldn’t it be fun to learn how to crochet, how to make pasta, or how to do calligraphy? Learning new things will keep residents connected to each other through the classes, and will help them appreciate what the community manager does to create these events!

    Whatever you do, make sure the calendar full of activities, clubs, and nooks is obvious in the front desk area, the clubhouse, and is mentioned in your marketing materials.

    Ways to Reach Out to Prospective Residents

    Not every resident reads the newspaper anymore, so you probably won’t go for a print ad–unless you know that’s your demographic. You should work on varying your reach out method, keeping some physical and some virtual methods intact to reach farther into the community.

    Send Out E-blasts: Emails with attention-grabbing subject lines, chock full of information that will make your email prospects click can help you move them down the sales funnel.

    Help Them See the Signs: Signage will help them notice you while they’re out for a walk. “Now Leasing” is just the beginning of a beautiful relationship!

    Get Social: Social media is where you’ll find almost everyone. Facebook is ideal for older generations. Instagram and TikTok are ideal for millennials and younger. Use it to your advantage! Post entertaining and helpful content regularly.

    Guide and Delight: Make sure your website is easy to navigate for all visitors (young and senior citizens alike), and make sure all of your photos are updated regularly.

    The Full Package: Having details in hand will help steer prospective residents your way. A beautiful booklet or brochure with all the details they may need is like having a salesperson sitting on their desk, reminding them that you exist (and you might be a perfect fit).

    Diversifying your reach-out methods will enable you to reach all the residents you can handle. Be communicative about what you have, and make sure the message gets to everyone. 

    Your apartment community doesn’t have to be everything to everyone. It’s better if you pay attention to which amenities are appealing to which residents. From there, find your best selling points, advertise them well, and to the right prospect. Confidently offer your best–and reach the community you want. 

    Featured image and Talia flyer are ©Fairfield Residential  |  Work executed by Stacey Feeney, owner of zipcode creative, while under creative direction and employment at Fairfield Residential.

    grand opening postcard design grand opening postcard design

    Grand Opening Marketing Campaign for Apartments

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

    When your community is first opening or reopening after a renovation, it’s time to celebrate! It’s an important milestone and an exciting time to show off everything you have to offer to your local neighborhood and prospective residents. Instead of flying under the radar when you open, make an impact with a thoughtful grand opening marketing campaign. By generating excitement, offering incentives, and broadcasting the event across different marketing channels, you’ll make your mark early on to increase brand awareness and name recognition. 

    Creating Your Campaign

    Your grand opening isn’t the time to hold back. Think big to create a can’t-miss event that will have your entire local community buzzing.

    Invite Your Community

    To generate even more excitement around your event, invite people from across the local community. From politicians like the mayor or city council members to local business owners and their staff to residents of the surrounding area, welcome a wide range of people from across the community to your opening celebration. This will help you generate word of mouth and increase brand awareness, all while also ensuring that everyone has a great time!

    Information Booth

    Make it easy for those interested in learning more to get the additional info they need. Set up a booth or table at your event with flyers, brochures, and other information about your community. It’s also the perfect opportunity for staff meet-and-greets. From your property management staff to the building maintenance team, have everyone attend the event to build relationships and showcase the top talent your community has to offer.

    Food & Drinks

    Who doesn’t love a good spread of food and drinks? Be sure to cater your event with enticing food that will have people clambering to attend. Whether you opt for a theme or just offer light bites and cocktails, having food encourages people to linger and engage with your community even further.

    Swag

    You worked hard on your community’s branding, so it’s time to show it off. Create free swag giveaways for the event that help spread the word about your opening. From tote bags to pens to umbrellas, create different items with your distinctive logo or branding that attendees can take with them. That way, they’ll get to leave with some freebies for a win-win way to spread awareness! 

    Early Leasing Incentives

    If prospective residents attend your event, incentivize them to their lease right then and there. Grand opening leasing promotions are a great way to increase urgency and help you lease up faster. From signage at the event to flyers you tuck into the swag bags, make sure you actively promote the incentives to encourage prospects to make the leap. Consider offering a free month, discounted amenities fees, and other cash incentives or other perks to sweeten the deal. 

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    Marketing Your Campaign

    Before hosting your event, you need to make sure you shout it from the rooftops. Leverage strategic marketing materials to generate buzz and amplify the event for a few weeks before it happens with a grand opening marketing campaign. That will help to maximize attendance and encourage local partners, prospects, and the general public to stop by. 

    When it comes to marketing, it’s time to think big! Don’t limit yourself to just one or two marketing channels. Instead, opt for a 360-degree campaign that includes:

    Email Marketing

    Leading up to the event, be sure to send a blast to your email list with all the details. Consider sending a formal invitation and at least one follow-up reminder to make sure people mark their calendars.

    Mailers & Flyers

    Don’t rely on digital marketing methods alone. Printed mailers and postcards are a great way to reach your local community and can even be distributed in local shops and restaurants for a two-pronged approach.

    Signage

    Create signs specifically for the event, but also outdoor signage leading up to the event. From flags and boulevard banners to large building banners, the sky’s the limit to the type of signage you can create. 

    Handouts & Brochures

    Don’t let those who attend the event leave empty-handed. Be sure to have brochures, property sitemaps, and other relevant handouts handy for people who are interested in learning more about living in your community. You can even tuck them into the swag bags to be sure people will see them later.

    If you’re ready to get started on your grand opening marketing campaign, consult an expert like zipcode creative. We’ll work with you to create a cohesive and holistic approach to your event for the best possible experience for everyone!

    Get in touch today.

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

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    Marketing Collateral Must-Haves for Multifamily Branding

    Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Branding. 1 Comment on Marketing Collateral Must-Haves for Multifamily Branding

    Create a cohesive, branded experience for residents and prospects alike with strategic marketing collateral. For apartment communities, the prospect and resident experience is about more than just the apartment itself. That’s why it’s vital to build a cohesive experience from their first interaction with your community, through when they move in, and even until they move out. 

    By creating an improved experience at every stage, you’ll keep residents happy and pique prospects’ interest, all at the same time. Here are some of the must-have marketing collateral you’ll need to deliver an elevated approach to multifamily living.

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    Postcards & Mailers

    Even before you get prospects in the door, postcards and mailers can help you drum up interest and create new leads. Send out postcards with your eye-catching branding to nearby neighborhoods to generate interest in on-site tours. Give prospects a sense of what your community offers and what sets you apart through your marketing collateral before they even set foot through the door.

    Stationary 

    From letterhead paper to envelopes to business cards, customized stationery is the perfect way to incorporate your branding across your marketing collateral. Whether you add a subtle embossed logo or opt a full-color approach, there are nearly endless ways you can customize your stationery to suit your needs. Use it for thank you notes after on-site tours, to give to prospects after they visit, or to send notes to vendors and partners for a more polished and professional touch.

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    Brochure

    A brochure is one of the most important pieces of marketing collateral you can create for prospective residents. From showing off floor plans to emphasizing your wide array of amenities, a brochure often includes the most important information about your community. That way, they can reference it after their tour as a refresher of their favorite aspects. Consider using your brand colors and design elements in unique ways while keeping the brochure effortlessly blending in with all of your other marketing collateral. 

    Floor Plan Sheets

    Having a one-pager handout available with the floor plan a prospect is interested in is an easy way to send them home with a reminder showcasing exactly what they were looking for in a home. Prospects will be able to get a better sense for the different units, and can easily understand the different layouts. Try making your floor plan sheets the same size as your brochure. Then you can simply tuck in the extra floor plan sheet of their interest in the front cover of the brochure for an all-in-one info packet about your community! 

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    Sitemap

    Property sitemaps are based on your community’s architectural plans and feature a bird’s eye view of the property itself, while displaying the location of community amenities, units, parking, offices, and more. As a result, they’re the ideal way to give prospects a good sense of the community at a glance. Just like with your floor plan sheets, keep your sitemap the same size as your brochure so it’s easier to create an all-in-one package with everything that prospects need to know.

    Flyers 

    Creating a cohesive experience doesn’t stop after your residents move in. For resident events, renewal specials, or for referral incentives, create flyers that mimic your community’s brand. By using the colors from your branding and incorporating your community’s logo, it’s an easy way to create a put-together and unified look throughout your marketing collateral. 

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    Greeting Cards 

    Small touches are what distinguish the great communities from the good ones. Don’t forget to prioritize your residents’ birthdays and holidays with thoughtful notes or greeting cards. Infuse each card with your community’s colors and your logo for a thoughtful way to stay in touch with your residents for their entire lease. You can even add one in their welcome packet for a more personalized touch.

    Maintenance Card 

    Create a more elevated resident experience with the addition of maintenance cards. Design a business card or 4×6 card that your maintenance staff can leave on the kitchen counter or in the entryway to alert residents that they’ve been inside their home working on repairs. That way, your residents will be notified when someone has entered their private space and will also know that their issue has been resolved for a win-win solution.

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    “Leave a Review” Card

    Generating positive reviews about your community is one of the easiest ways to attract prospects and generate leads. Encourage your current residents or those or are moving out to leave a review of your community. Add a postcard to your marketing collateral and hand them out a few times a year to generate continuous new online reviews to increase your ratings.

    Need help crafting the right marketing collateral for your community? At zipcode creative, we’re experts in developing multifamily branding and translating that across materials for a cohesive and impactful experience. Get in touch today to learn more!

    Design examples in this post of Capriana, Exchange, ENSO, LORE, and Talia are ©Fairfield Residential  |  Work executed by Stacey Feeney, owner of zipcode creative, while under creative direction and employment at Fairfield Residential.

    Virtual Leasing Tools that are the Top 10 Must-Haves

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

    Over the past year, the path to leasing an apartment took a major detour.  Most companies had their preferred virtual tools to help move the leasing process along, but the pandemic forced a complete and total shift in the landscape.  Virtual leasing became the exclusive path, and many companies were scrambling to make up for any gaps in their virtual leasing strategy.  Whether you’re looking to sharpen your virtual offerings, or add a new arsenal to your toolkit, this article will help you find the virtual leasing tools that are must-haves for converting leases at your apartment communities.

    Top Ten Virtual Leasing Tools

    1 USING THE RIGHT CRM – RENT DYNAMICS & RENT TANGO

    A quality CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software is one of the most critical virtual leasing tools you can have in marketing.  This is where you house, manage and track all of your incoming leads.  As leads flow in, your leasing team can view and respond to each viable prospect.  The CRM tracks all of your lead management activities and allows for seamless follow up – calls, emails, texts are all performed through the platform.  Advanced platforms will also score leads for you so you spend your time harvesting only the most viable prospects.  As a marketing exec, the CRM is your most trusted ally in tracking marketing spend and ROI.  The reporting shows which leads are converting and which ad sources gave you those critical leases.

    Your property management system should offer CMS systems from basic to super savvy.  Top players in the multifamily space include Entrata, ILM Lead Management through RealPage and RentCafe through Yardi.  Rent Dynamics is a newer company in the space with a full suite of CRM products to match the industry vets and worth a try. Rent Tango offers the whole package plus some extras like listing syndication, for marketers, and broker access – a great solution if you’re looking for an all-in-one.  Many of the best CRMs out there don’t stop at the prospect level.  They’ll continue to help you manage communications well after the lease signing on the resident journey.

    2 CHATBOTS AS YOUR VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS – KNOCK

    Chatbots provide important answers to prospects’ most frequently asked questions. Website visitors ask questions and get immediate responses from the chatbot.  According to Knock’s data, their chatbot answered 96% of prospects’ questions, without even having to bother your leasing staff.  Chatbots also sync with your leasing calendar and allow prospects to schedule real (or virtual) leasing appointments.  This real-time technology turns your website into a 24/7 operation that is able to accommodate prospects at any hour.  Imagine coming into work with a calendar full of appointments and now you just have to convert on the tour. It’s ideal!

    Knock is a strong contender to the chatbot game, and they are showing a lot of innovation in their product offerings.  Anyone Home offers unique chatbot services that blend both automated and human interactions.

    3 WEBSITE LEASING WIDGET – PERQ

    Perq is a leasing widget placed on your existing property website to help drive conversions.  It acts as a chatbot and supercharged guest card all in one.  It asks prospective residents what is most important to them, stores that data and then allows you to email prospects by hitting on those top wish list items.  Instead of prospects wandering through your website narrowing down the floor plans that fits them best, the Perq widget proactively matches them to their next apartment.  Though Perq won’t be your first-touch advertising source, the Perq leasing widget pushes those leads through the funnel.  In a case study that comprised a lease-up and a stabilized property in Tampa, the Perq widget assisted over 38% of leases.

    4 RESIDENT REFERRAL TOOL – RENTGRATA

    Rentgrata is a sleek resident referral tool that allows prospective residents to speak directly to current residents.  Prospects are matched up on the website and have a chance to ask real questions about living in the community.  Prospects get authentic feedback, which is the gold star when it comes to insider info!  Residents are paid a referral fee if the prospect moves in and appreciate being in a VIP resident base that helps improve resident engagement. Rentgrata’s property management companies average a lead-to-lease conversion rate of over 40 percent

    5 VIRTUAL TOUR VIDEOS – REALYNC

    When leasing is virtual, video is key.  Realync makes video creation easy, professional and trackable.  Your leasing team is able to create virtual tours of apartments, in minutes, that they can email to prospects.  Pair your personalized video with your property site map to paint the picture of exactly where the prospective resident will call home.  All the videos are stored in the Realync app, and your marketing and leasing team will see which videos are converting and resonating with your audience.  The best videos can be showcased on your website.  Virtual tours, hard-hat tours, videos showing off the neighborhood vibe…all of these are simple to create.  With 1 in 3 prospective residents now preferring virtual tours over in-person tours, you’ll want to seamlessly offer both.

    6 SELF-GUIDED TOURS – TOUR24

    The easiest way to practice social distancing?  Let prospects take their own self-guided tour!  Companies like Tour24 take the showing completely off your leasing consultant’s plate.  You’ll create the tour path you want prospects to follow.  The prospects are buzzed into the building when it’s time for their tour (with the proper ID of course).  They’ll follow the tour path, and as they hit certain predetermined amenities or vacant / model apartments, they’ll hear, on their phone, your marketing description of each area. 

    The self-guided tours help in markets where people have trouble showing up in the traditional office hours…and according to Tour24’s platform of users, approximately 30% of tours happen after hours.

    7 PHOTOGRAPHY, RENDERINGS AND VIRTUAL STAGING

    Photography and renderings are able to take the place of a traditional showing.  Pro-tip with photography, make sure you have both high-resolution photos for your marketing collateral and smaller web-resolution photo versions ready for easy emailing. If you’re new construction and won’t have photos ready yet, renderings are hyper-realistic and provide a picture-perfect representation of your property. 

    New construction, or even an older apartment that may not have the budget for a model, check out virtual staging.  Companies will take the photography you have and add furniture.  The furniture fills in the space to help prospects envision the apartment in a way that that prospects typically can’t with a vacant apartment.  Prices start at $30 an image and give you even better content to feature on your website.  BoxBrownie is a simple, all online, company where you just upload your photo, pick your furnishing style and go!

    8 EMAIL MARKETING – HY.LY

    Once you have all of these virtual tools in place, you’ll still need a way to proactively reach out to prospects.  Email marketing campaigns are getting smarter by the day.  If a prospect likes your ‘A3’ floor plan and wants to move in the next month, your email marketing can use those data points to accurately showcase the right apartment at the correct time.  Email specialists, like Hy.Ly, use the data in your property management software to send email drip campaigns with personalized content to each prospect.  If you’d rather manage all the emails in house, MailChimp and Constant Contact provide templated options and affordable package options.

    9 WEBSITE DESIGN & SEO

    Ahhh, the place where you house ALL of your digital assets. You can’t get anywhere without a great website to showcase it all.  Stunning photography, 3D floor plans, SEO-rich copy and all the technology tools should be carefully integrated within your website in a way that represents your brand and directs prospects through the leasing journey.  Website design is integral to both the branding and conversion.  Teams like zipcode creative (custom design) and Results Repeat (the apartment SEO specialists) balance the brand and the functionality to give you a top-notch website that aids your leasing team with every step.

    10 VIRTUAL LEASE SIGNING

    Now that you’ve converted all of those leads to real life residents, it’s time to make it official.  It’s a nice touch to go over the lease paperwork in person, but it’s not always feasible.  Prospect preferences are changing, and, many times, the client will prefer to read and sign the paperwork on their own time.  Property Management Software (PMS) systems give you the ability to generate the lease and forward to the prospect electronically.  Each leaseholder can sign on their own schedule, and it makes the document management a breeze since it’s all done through your PMS.  Yardi, Real Page and Entrata all have simple lease integration to keep it all paperless.

    It’s been a year of adaptability, and marketers are up for the challenge.  The bright side to all of this change, is that there is absolutely no shortage of virtual leasing options and companies to choose from.  The product suite offerings are getting better by the day, and now your hardest job will be selecting the best partners to achieve your company’s goals.

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    Create Video Content to Increase Social Media Engagement

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

    The way people use social media is changing. Instead of overly curated photos that are posted just to your Instagram feed, video content now reigns supreme. Outlets like Instagram Stories, TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit offer a more authentic, approachable way for people to get to know not just their friends, but brands, too. As a result, video content has now become the top-performing type of content across social media platforms and is the most likely to go viral.

    When you’re trying to market your apartment community or trying to lease up, consider adding more videos to your feeds to up your engagement, increase eyes on every post, and get more prospects in the door. 

    Ways to Create More Video Content 

    If you’re struggling to come up with creative video content to feature across your social media platforms, here are some ideas to get your started. 

    Vacant Unit Tours

    Show off your available apartments with quick walk-through videos. Your leasing team can narrate the tour, calling out the distinctive features, high-end finishes, and other must-haves like outdoor space, high ceilings, and natural light. That way, prospective renters can see the space before they even set foot on the property to help pique their interest. Film vacant unit tours to send to leads who have reached out showing interest and then repurpose the video by posting it on your social media channels! Win win.

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    Close-Up of Apartment Features 

    Show off your attention to detail. Instead of focusing just on the big picture, zero in on the small details that set your community apart. From the beautiful kitchen tile backsplash to the luxury faucets in the bathrooms, emphasize the tiny things that make your apartments a cut above the rest. Video content doesn’t have to be lengthy, in fact – the shorter the better to capture the attention of your audience on social media. Taking quick 15-30 second videos of these amenity details is an easy way to create shareable content for social media!

    Amenities Tours

    Prospects aren’t just interested in what’s inside the unit—they’re also interested in what your entire community has to offer. From doing a tour of the state-of-the-art gym to showing off the dog-friendly amenities like a dog park or washing station, create different videos for each amenity space. That way, you can give prospects a holistic picture of what it’s like to live there. Same rules apply – capture tour-like walk-throughs and quick video clips that showcase the details of your amenities, then share the videos everywhere you can! 

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    Staff & Resident Introductions

    Introduce your property management team, maintenance staff, and highlight stand-out residents with video content that introduces them to your social audience. Showcasing actual people will help to increase engagement and also give you an opportunity to discuss promotions, events, and resident reviews. That way, you’re adding a personalized and authentic element to your feed instead of just sterile photos of empty units. Think about offering a gift card to any resident who stops by and films a video review of the community with you – make sure to get their permission to publish the video.

    Tips for Filming Top-Quality Video Content

    If you’re a beginner at creating video content, try these tips and tricks to create a more high-quality final product. Professional equipment is by no means necessary – your smartphone will do the job just fine!

    video-content

    Use a Tripod or Stabilizer

    To add a more expert look to any of your videos, invest in a tripod or stabilizer for your smartphone. This will eliminate any shakiness or unsteady camera work, instantly elevating your videos from amateur to professional. That way, instead of focusing on keeping the camera steady, you can focus on more important details to really sell the space. Something simple with a smartphone mount is great!

    Embrace Natural Light

    Everything looks better in natural light—try to film your indoor videos during the brightest time of day and make sure to open all the blinds. Natural light will make everything look more beautiful and also ensure that colors and finishes look as true to life as possible. Keep your back to the window when filming, angling your camera away from the window – pointing it directly at a window may cause the room to look dark as your camera’s auto settings expose for the bright outdoor light. Avoid shooting videos at night—overhead artificial lights look harsh on camera and will create awkward and unflattering shadows.

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    Don’t Forget About Audio 

    While it’s easy to forget about the audio component of your videos because they default to mute on most platforms, many people watch Instagram Stories or Reels with the sound on. Make sure that you eliminate any background noise that may interfere before filming, the person speaking is no more than 5 feet away from the camera, and they speak loud and clear. Consider adding video subtitles as well for those who listen with the sound off or are hearing impared.

    Where to Post Your Video Content

    Social Stories

    Instagram and Facebook Stories allow users to share more real-time content with their followers. You can pick from both photos and videos to add to your Stories, and embellish them with question boxes, gifs, and polls for added customization. Each Story can be up to 15 seconds long, and if you post a video that’s longer, it will simply break it up into 15-second segments. Stories only last for 24 hours, so it’s content that must be consumed quickly. You can, however, add old stories to a Highlight on your profile, so people can go back and reference them in the future. 

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    Instagram Reels/TikTok

    Similar to TikTok, Instagram Reels allow you to create 15- or 30-second videos and set them to music. You can then share them to your Stories and on your feed, and they may even show in other users’ Explore Feed. Reels are the perfect opportunity to get creative thanks to the editing capabilities, so don’t be afraid to think outside the box! 

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    IGTV 

    IGTV is the perfect place to post longer videos of your full length model, vacant unit, and community tours. Videos must be at least one minute long, and can be up to an hour. With IGTV, you have plenty of time to go into detail on any particular subject to give more info and context for your viewers. IGTV videos can be shared to your feed with a preview, clickable to watch more.

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    Feed Posts

    You can always post video content to your Instagram, Facebook and Twitter feeds. Just like regular photos, these videos will show up in the feed of those who follow you. Try adding strategic hashtags to further your reach and get your content in front of more people. Just keep in mind, the max length is 60 seconds—if your video is longer, you’ll have to select a 1-minute clip. 

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    YouTube

    With more than a billion hours of video streamed everyday, YouTube is perfect to upload all of your video content in one place. Aggregate the content you share across Instagram, Facebook, and other social media channels onto YouTube to make it a one-stop-shop for prospects who are interested in learning more. Unverified accounts can upload videos up to 15 minutes long.

    Feeling overwhelmed by managing all of your video content? Instead of doing it yourself, outsource it to the experts. At zipcode creative, we offer full-service social media management so you can take one thing off of your to-do list.

    Get in touch today to learn more!

    Accent Wall Program 2-Step Marketing Campaign Strategy Accent Wall Program 2-Step Marketing Campaign Strategy

    Accent Wall Program 2-Step Marketing Campaign Strategy

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

    The apartment accent wall program model is growing in popularity—and for good reason. These programs give residents the opportunity to personalize their space to suit their individual style, helping them to create a welcoming environment to come home to everyday. A cozy apartment home with custom colors proves much more desirable than a sterile and impersonal all-white space. Especially when we’ve all learned what it was like to be in our homes 24/7 during a pandemic – renters are now putting apartment unit features and amenities top of their list from here forward!

    Accent wall programs can give your community a leg up over the competition with the added amenity of home customization. It might just be the perfect incentive to get renters who are on the fence to commit and sign that lease that they’ve been thinking about.

    Keep reading to learn exactly how to create an accent wall program and develop corresponding marketing support for your apartment community. Maybe you’ve started an accent wall program but are having a hard time generating leads, it might be time to take your marketing to the next level. Let us show you how to turn the program into a campaign that gets prospects and residents excited!

    Step 1: Designing an Accent Wall Program

    To get your accent wall program off the ground, partner with a paint store or specific brand, such as Sherwin Williams, to curate the perfect color palette. Pick between five and seven different shades that coordinate with your existing interior design and complement your community branding. That way, everything will still feel cohesive and aesthetically pleasing while also giving residents the variety of choices they want. 

    You’ll also need to identify which walls can be painted through the program. Pick at least two different walls for each floor plan. Consider more efficient options like non-windowed walls and be sure to include options in both the master bedroom and the main living space. That way, residents have even more ability to customize their home to suit how they plan to use the space.

    Step 2: Accent Wall Program Campaign Marketing

    Once you’ve hammered out the program details, it’s important to advertise the offering to entice prospective residents. A well-rounded campaign should spread the offer or message through a variety of platforms – both print and digital. Read on to see the strategies we recommend for building and promoting an effective accent wall program marketing campaign.

    Accent Wall Program 2-Step Marketing Campaign StrategyAccent Wall Program 2-Step Marketing Campaign Strategy

    Flyers

    Flyers are the perfect way to advertise your accent wall program with prospects, providing you with an easy and informational handout. Create a well-designed flyer that showcases all of the program details and visually shows off the benefits. Include information about the color options available, which walls can be painted, and in which units. That way, prospective residents have a comprehensive understanding of the program when they’re viewing different units and can better visualize what their living space might look like. 

    Email Marketing

    Leverage your lead database to create an email marketing program to showcase your accent wall leasing incentive. Email is a perfect forum to share more about the program thanks to the digital format. You’ll have plenty of space to describe the program, show off existing examples, and give prospects an idea of the different colors they can choose from. That way, they have all the details they need and can see what their space would look like once it comes to life.

    Consider creating an email marketing automated series instead of a one email announcement. That way, you can utilize a series of three or five emails to generate more interest among leads. They’ll get used to seeing your community’s name in their inbox which increases brand awareness and, over time, will help you lease-up faster. In the email series, feature the accent wall program, other amenities, property photos, and the most popular floor plans you have on offer to showcase information that will pique their interest and convince them to book a tour. 

    Signage

    Well-designed and positioned property signage will draw attention to your accent wall program before a visiting prospect even speaks with a leasing agent. Signage can also reiterate the benefits of your incentive program during a tour while helping prospects to visualize making the space their own.

    Strategic signs like banner stands and tabletop banners scattered about the property are effective ways to advertise this ongoing promotion. Use the signage to highlight the details of the program—including the color options—to give prospective residents a sense of what their space could look like if they decide to sign a lease. You can even use table tents in the model unit to draw attention to the specific walls that can be painted to emphasize the available color palette and make the program come to life.

    Direct Mailers

    Though direct mail is can be thought of as an antiquated marketing method, there’s a reason it’s been around for so long: it works. If your accent wall program is an incentive that sets your community apart from the nearby competition, include direct mailers into your campaign.

    From showing off amazing property photos to highlighting the paint colors available through the program, mailers will help you position the program to a broader audience. A custom branded direct mailer design can allow you to showcase the best  your apartments have to offer while helping drive traffic through the incentivized accent wall program.

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    Working with a professional branding agency, like zipcode creative, will help you strike the perfect balance between text, imagery, and white space to create the most effective marketing possible throughout your accent wall program marketing campaign and so much more. Get in touch today!

    Life in Color Featured Image is ©Fairfield Residential  |  Work executed by Stacey Feeney, owner of zipcode creative, while under creative direction and employment at Fairfield Residential.

    Direct Mail Marketing Direct Mail Marketing Direct Mail Marketing

    Direct Mail Marketing for Apartments That Will Drive Leases

    Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Graphic Design, Marketing.

    In our digital age, direct mail marketing pieces are often-overlooked in favor of flashier online alternatives. But taking it back to basics with a marketing mailer can be one of the best ways to generate interest among prospective residents. 

    From showing off property photos to advertising special promotions to highlighting your amenities, direct mail marketing is a simple and effective outlet to talk about what makes your community unique. If you’re considering marketing mailers to help fill current vacancies, try advertising a few key events to pique prospects’ interest.

    Direct Mail Marketing Stats

    • On average, Americans receive 605 emails and 16.8 pieces of mail every week.

    • For roughly every 36 emails you receive on average, you get 1 piece of mail in your mailbox.

    • The average lifespan of an email is 17 seconds, compared to direct mail’s average lifespan of 17 days.

    • 73% of American consumers say they prefer being contacted by brands via direct mail because they can read it whenever they want.

    • 58% of the mail American households receive is marketing mail.

    • 59% of US respondents say they enjoy getting mail from brands about new products.

    • 60% of catalog recipients visit the website of the company that mailed them the catalog.

    • Up to 90% of direct mail gets opened, compared to only 20-30% of emails.

    • Prospects are 15% more likely to respond to an oversized mail piece if they have never done business with you.

    • Per USPS, 98% of people check their mail daily and Americans spend upwards of 30 minutes with their mail on a single occasion.

    • 68% of marketing respondents said combining digital and direct mail increased website visits.

    • 60% of marketing respondents said combining digital and direct mail increased ROI.

    New Construction Grand Opening

    If you’re new to the neighborhood, putting your list of leads to good use with an eye-catching mailer will help you drive brand awareness and generate more interest for your new community. By reaching out to prospects to showcase your available units and announce your presence can lead to a full schedule of tours, and ultimately, help you lease-up faster. Use mailers to get prospects in the door before opening for pre-leasing visits or even hard-hat tours to generate more demand.

    Promote Events

    If you’re hosting events for your residents regularly, why not invite prospective residents, too? Send out a mailer to invite them to happy hours, meet & greets, or holiday get-togethers. Attending these events will give prospects a sense of what it will be like to live in your community and help show that your building is more than just a place to live—it’s about a community. Just be sure to send the direct mail marketing with enough notice that they can pencil you in ahead of time! 

    Leasing Promotions

    Leasing promotions are one of the best times to send mailers to prospective residents. By letting them know they can get a free month, waived application fees, or even a lower deposit, you’re very likely to grab their interest and get them in the door for a tour. Be sure to showcase the promotion prominently on the front of the direct mail marketing piece so they won’t miss it and ask them to “bring in this mailer” to get the deal.

    Mailer Design Formula

    When you’re pulling together the information to include on your mailer, there are a few tried and true items that should always be included. Your logo, bedroom count, property photos, and contact information are vital to show off your community and let people know how to get in touch if they’re interested. Including key features and amenities of your community, the tagline and a short ‘about’ paragraph is a great way to provide more detail and really sell prospects on all your property has to offer. Be mindful that it’s best to keep text to a minimum so your mailer doesn’t become crowded with information. Working with professional branding agencies like zipcode creative to design your direct mail marketing makes it easy to be sure all of the essential information is included in an elegant and eye-catching way.

    PRO TIP: Add a QR code on the mailer that leads to a landing page for your campaign or promotion. Doing so will enable you to better measure the interest your mailer created among potential leads! (Pro tip couretsy of Christine O’Toole)

    Once your design is finalized, your local printer can print, address, stamp, and mail the mailers so you don’t have to worry about doing all of the legwork or adding another administrative task to your to-do list. Try sending out a modest batch of mailers to the warm leads in your CRM or target prospects by surrounding zip codes for the most effective approach. 

    If you’re interested in diving into direct mail marketing for your community, get in touch today!

    The image of Areum Apartments is ©Fairfield Residential  |  Executed under creative direction of Fairfield Residential.

    Stats sourced from Compu-Mail.

    Marketing Strategies to Impress Prospects on Self-Guided Tours

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

    Improve the entire on-site experience to show off your amenities and turn prospects into residents with these marketing strategies to impress prospects on self-guided tours.

    As self-guided tours become more and more popular in our ever-changing world, there’s one question on everyone’s mind: What’s the best way to stand out to residents? 

    Without a leasing agent to showcase the best features and most popular amenities during an unattended tour, property managers and owners are being forced to think outside the box to adapt. Instead of relying on an agent to sell the space, it’s more important than ever to come up with creative ways to emphasize the unique elements of your property. 

    Instead of leaving residents unimpressed or underwhelmed, use these creative tactics to show off the best of what your building has to offer. 

    Easy & Efficient Entry

    After residents have booked their tour, you’ll want to make the entire process as easy and simple as possible—almost as if by magic! When prospective residents first arrive, create a streamlined check-in process that grants them all the access they need right away. That could mean they’re let in by a doorman and given each key they need, or you could install a smart lock system that sends a code prior to their arrival.

    Whichever method you choose, be sure to do a test run to ensure it all works exactly how it should. This is the first thing prospects experience when they arrive, so it’s important to double-check that it all goes smoothly to give the best possible first impression. A good first impression through ease of entry is one of the first marketing strategies to impress prospects on self-guided tours that shouldn’t be overlooked!

    Multimedia Walking Tours

    Your community has much more to offer in addition to the apartment units themselves – make sure to bring attention to the amenities and unique selling points of the entire building. While the apartment itself is likely what a touring prospect is most anxious to see in person, the community amenities provide an opportunity to set your property apart from the competition.

    To showcase amenity spaces, outdoor areas, or other unique features, try developing a multimedia tour of the entire building. Opt for using a map in lieu of the leasing agent to avoid unnecessary contact while also emphasizing the things that residents love most. Apartment tour maps have become one of the proven marketing strategies to impress prospects on self-guided tours during social distancing.

    Develop a personalized map with different destinations, so prospective residents can move about the building on their own and see each amenity space first-hand. You can even add an interactive element like a stamp at each stop, so they can check off each space as they visit. Incentivize them with a small gift, like a Starbucks gift card, from the leasing office if they mark off each amenity to help ensure they experience the best parts of the entire building. 

    Custom Signage & Table Tents

    If you want to keep things simple and straightforward for both you and touring prospects, there’s no better avenue than custom signage. Try creating custom table tents to place throughout the apartment and amenity spaces to highlight special features. That way, even without a leasing agent present, prospects won’t miss the unit’s best selling points and will learn more about the most impressive and notable aspects of their future home. 

    From top-of-the-line countertops or industry-leading appliances in the kitchen to elevated fixtures or high-end finishes in the bathroom, table tents or other custom signage is a great way to subtly call out details that prospects might otherwise miss. Whether you incorporate a short description, your community logo, or a custom QR code to learn more, the sky’s the limit to your creativity—which makes customized signage one of the most flexible and versatile marketing strategies to impress prospects on self-guided tours!

    If you’re ready to elevate your self-guided tour experience with custom signage, get in touch with our team today! From printed maps to door hangers to table tents, we’re experts at creating effective and elevated materials for multifamily communities.

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    Virtual tours are the new way to lease during quarantine Virtual tours are the new way to lease during quarantine Virtual tours are the new way to lease during quarantine

    Virtual Tours Are The New Way to Lease During Quarantine and Beyond

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

    You’re sitting on your couch binge watching Netflix trying to come up with some stellar ideas to get your properties seen by the outside world that are also just sitting on their couches binge watching Netflix. The answer is right in front of you…and everyone else…Since our social range has been restricted to a 10-foot radius from our computer screen and couch, you need to start strategizing ways you can get on their screens and get your properties seen right from people’s couch! Virtual tours are the new way to lease during quarantine.

    Virtual tours are getting such a good response that we are certain it will be here to stay well beyond this pandemic. Just think of all the DIY millennials – they love their technology and figuring things out on their own. Virtual tours are also a perfect solution for working families who can’t easily meet for an in-person tour during business hours. It’s time to pick up your devices and get filming, the new era has entered in.

    Here’s a list of ways that you can get your property to stand out and get prospects inside your properties without ever leaving their couch.

    Go Live, Or Get Recording.

    You should probably do both. Mix it up; people like options. Offer as many ways as possible for prospects to digitally view your property. All you need is access to a smartphone, tablet or computer. Of course, you can always go the professional route and hire someone to shoot the video for you, but considering the times, DIY is probably best.

     Here’s how you can make all that magic happen.

    1. Facebook Live Virtual Tours

    Never done it before? You should. Facebook Live videos experience three times the engagement compared to other videos shared on social media. It’s a great way to reach a large audience all at once. It’s more complex than just a simple virtual viewing using Facetime/Skype. There’s more pressure on the production side of things considering it’s quite literally a virtual event. The trick is to look comfortable and act natural in front of the camera, but at the same time be sure to come prepared! Here’s some way you can do just that!

    Private Broadcast

    Use this option to test out your lighting, pace, time and format before going live!

    Be Content Ready

    Have a script or an outline of topics you want to cover. This will help you stay within the time frame you set for the event. Also, it will help in avoiding awkward silences.

    Interact

    Respond in real time to comments people are posting. Read certain comments out loud and say the person’s name that posted the comment to make it more personal. Give emphasis to positive comments posted on the amenities as you’re doing the walk-through. If someone posts: “Oh what I would give to be swimming in that pool right now!” You can mention how even though it’s a cool day outside, she should be quite comfortable in your pool since it’s heated. Anything to set that conversational tone.

    Introduce And Reintroduce Yourself

    Be sure to continuously introduce yourself and give context to what is currently happening every so often when you see new people join the event.

    Provide Links

    Post important links for everyone in the event to see and be sure to announce it more than once that those links are available. For example- post a link to your online application, website, social media etc.

    Sharing Is Caring

    Be sure to remind people to follow you on your social media and to share your content. Perhaps offer incentives to do so!

    Close The Deal

    Give an option to have them schedule an appointment on the spot to speak to an agent to get further information and help with any online application questions. Virtual tours are the new way to lease during quarantine and beyond so be prepared for next steps.

    2. Video Conference Virtual Tours

    For example, Zoom is a cloud-based video conferencing service perfect for large audiences or even small gatherings using a split screen. This app is more like being in a standard teleconference, but slightly cooler.  In 2019, it was reported that over half of Fortune 500 companies used Zoom.

    All the same ethos for any virtual touring option applies here:

    • Find time to take Q&A’s. Personalize it by using people’s names when answering any questions.
    • Direct the group to links and your website throughout the video. 
    • Give them plenty of options for connecting with you and your staff when the video call ends.
    • Find ways to get people to leave their contact details in a private message.
    • Make them smile

    Hands down the best Zoom feature for giving live tours-prospects can record it! The whole thing. It’s the perfect feature for partners or roommates that weren’t able to join the live tour. Perhaps the only shortcoming is that Zoom isn’t as universal as Facebook Live, just yet, so not everyone has it or knows how to use it. But hey, if it’s good enough for the Prime Minister of UK, Boris Johnson, to use it to hold cabinet meetings, then it’s good enough for us! 

    If you check out 16 Advanced Zoom Tips for Better Video Meetings and What is Zoom and how does it work? Plus tips and tricks, you’ll get a fuller idea of all the sweet features that Zoom has to offer. Download Zoom now.

    3. HouseParty App

    It’s more like, well, a house party. More casual and candid. Check out Five Things You Should Know Before Using House Party, you’ll see instantly how different House Party actually is from Zoom. For starters, Boris Johnson doesn’t use it. Honestly, we recommend HouseParty as a fun substitute to WhatsApp. Although you can have multiple people join a video chat, if people aren’t muting their screens, it can get a bit too noisy. Perhaps this app is best for viewings with one prospect at a time, or if there will be multiple residents living together they could all join the video call on separate screens.

    Download HouseParty now.

    4. FaceTime/Skype

    These apps should be considered throwbacks because they’re so old. And we mean this in a good way. Most likely, everyone is already familiar with these apps and already have them on their device. Both are great for a more intimate one-on-one tour and allows you to give your prospects the undivided attention they deserve. 

    When you talk with prospects who have inquired online, offer to schedule a FaceTime or Skype call with them for a private virtual tour.

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    5. Pre-recorded videos

    I know. Sounds lame after hyping up all the cool stuff you can do with going live. But it’s not. And remember, you should try to offer both. Not everyone wants to be forced to hear your bubblegum machine commentary (I’m so sorry, of course they do. You have the best bubblegum machine commentary!). Biggest advantage of pre-recorded videos- you have the luxury of editing and prospects can watch it at their convenience. Virtual tours are the new way to lease during quarantine and the forseeable future, so here’s some advice:

    Amenities

    You got a pool with some cabanas and grills; flaunt it! Your fitness center is state of the art; get on that elliptical and show us how it’s done! Your showers have the water pressure of Niagara Falls; Prove it! (Keep it PG, people).

    Music

    You can really change the vibe and invoke feelings by simply adding the right music.

    Props

    Get your employees involved by having them decorate areas like the lobby. Be sure to have every flavor of latte out and displayed in an appealing way. If you have a Game Room, try and round people up to be in the middle of a pool game when you enter the room to give off that community vibe.

    Edits

    Offer a full length video of your entire property. You want prospects to see everything from the keyed entry at the gates, to the cookies and latte machine in the leasing office, to the pool, fitness center, community lounge, dog park and even inside of the apartment itself. Then you can also offer an option to view a small clip of each area and amenity. 

    Example of smartphone video tour of a unit by Belforest Villas above.

    Tips To Consider When Shooting Videos

     

    • Remember to put the toilet seat down before filming. Rookie move.
    • Make sure they can’t see you in the reflection of the mirror, especially if it’s pajama day at work.
    • No one wants to see Hairy Back Larry from apartment #7 laying out at the pool in his speedos. Pick a different time to shoot! (Sorry, Hairy Back Larry from apartment #7)
    • If you’re giving a tour of an empty property, throw out some ideas to the prospect as you’re giving the walk-through about what piece of furniture would look good here or there. You can say super witty things like, “And this is where your partner can put that hideous gumball machine…” as you open the door to your spacious closets. Let your viewer know that the bedrooms at your property can comfortably fit a king sized bed!
    • If you have a spare model home just lying around, go wild! Be interactive with all the wonderful aspects of your property. Maybe have some cookies ACTUALLY baking in the oven and go and check on them so when they’re finished your prospects can see how great the oven works. Maybe have an employee tucked all snug into the bed watching Netflix and eating popcorn so when you open the door to the large master bedroom, it looks like they just got caught. Then, smooth it over by saying how your properties are so cozy, it’s hard to resist. (The [corny] possibilities are limitless).
    • On a more photo technical note- try to use a tripod if possible and open the blinds and let in that natural light!

    Tips to Consider For Marketing Your Virtual Tours

    Use ALL your various social platforms and websites to let people know that you offer these virtual touring options. There’s no point in offering them, if your prospects don’t even know they exist! How do you let prospects know you’re the coolest kid on the block with “this many ways” to virtually view your property? Blast it front right and center on every platform you have.

     1. Use Your Homepage

    Of course you need to take all the usual digital marketing steps to get people to your website first and when they get there…WHAPOW! Now’s not the time to be shy. Let it be the prettiest thing to look at on your homepage. “Extra, extra! Read all about it. We’re going live on FaceBook and we’re gonna shout it!” Maybe don’t put that exactly. C’mon, you’re beddah than that (Boston accent). If it’s a fresh new website design you’re looking for, look no further and give us a holler!

    2. Social Content

    Now that you have pre-recorded videos on your website and you’ve hosted a few live events, reuse the content that you have! Share little video snippets of your amenities on your social media. You can design an entire social media campaign around posting these videos. Start a YouTube channel to host them all in one place so prospects can binge watch your videos and really get to know your property without ever stepping foot inside!

     3. The Dangle Affect

    Dangle incentives in front of your current residents to encourage them to get their friends to move in. It’s really in their best interest to live close to friends in case of a pandemic lockdown…right?!

    You could offer them a percentage off of their first month’s rent after renewing their lease if they get at least 2 people to join the Facebook Live event. You see what I did there. Not only do you get at least 2 new prospects looking at your property, but you also just locked down a current resident for another term. SCORE!

    If a resident refers a friend and they lease, you could offer a referral fee incentive or something like $200 worth of gift cards to shops in the surrounding community. You could even get the entire complex involved if you have multiple buildings at your property and turn it into a contest: whichever building get’s the most leases signed by a certain date (renewals or new leases) wins a pizza party paid for by you!

     The list goes on. Get creative. If referrals are completely a new concept to you, check out Six Ways To Reward Residence For Referrals. If you’re looking for a better understanding of how to build your referral program, check out 7 Tips For Building A Strong Resident Referral Program

     4. Advertising

    Don’t underestimate the power of a good ol’ fashion email. Or even a print flyer you can slip into the mailbox of current residents. You can mention your virtual tours with links to all your platforms and also mention the referral program you offer. The resident will be more inclined to share with their friends if at the same time they can easily see there is something in it for them. Have a big sign close to the street that reads, “Now Hosting Virtual Tours!”. It just so happens that these are all things we can help you with and customize to your branding.

    Submit a creative service request 

    Just so we’re clear, we really recommend you offer a combination, if not all, of these virtual touring options. This is the way forward. This isn’t just advice on procedures to follow for apartment viewing during Covid-19; this is the future. Virtual tours are the new way to lease! Happy touring!