The season is hot (no pun intended) – new buildings need residents and Yo-Pros are looking for some new digs. To make sure you get in front of prospects after your launch, you need to keep a few things in mind that can help establish your brand and get your first bunch of residents in the door. Ideally, if you have a plan in place a few months prior to opening, it can help you penetrate the market more quickly than you’d expect.
Get Your Website in Order
There’s a lot that goes into your website – it’s a big undertaking surely, but it is the lifeline of your property. Just keep a few things in mind that your prospects will enjoy when they find your site:
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List your concessions front and center. Being a new building, make sure to list your concessions for new move-ins. These can be big qualifiers for people looking to move. Sometimes you can capture a group that may be able to afford your rent once the concessions have been applied (that weren’t able to before).
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Make sure your website is freaky fast (or as fast as you can get it)! Not only is this a ranking factor (and will be one of the big boys when it comes to mobile ranking), but it’s just a requirement nowadays with your audiences. If your site is slow, you are much more likely to lose your prospect to one of the other hundreds of sites for apartments in your area.
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Focus on local! Make sure your content is focused on local – think of nearby areas, shopping, restaurants, and any other details that people may want to know. This is great for commuters, millennials and friends, families, and for search engines. If search engines can recognize that you are 15 minutes from the neighboring downtown, you are more likely to show for people searching in that area too.
Claim Your Google My Business Listing
When a future resident searches in Maps or on Google for “apartments near me” or “apartments in Denver (or your city)”, we want your site to show up. Google My Business makes it so that your property can be found front and center in search results or in Google Maps. It’s quick and easy to set up:
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Visit Google My Business’ website.
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Put in your NAP info – Name, Address, Phone Number
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Finish the claiming process by submitting one verification method (usually this is a postcard – just make sure you can receive mail at your address listed!)
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Wait 5-7 days and input the code from the postcard
It’s as simple as that! Want to add the cherry on top? Something to make your listing stick out and for prospects to learn more about you? Here are our top recommendations:
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Add at least 5 high-quality photos to be displayed for searchers. You can now add videos too if you want to be fancy – and we know your new residents will appreciate them. This is incredibly important for lease-ups since you may not have real images of your layouts just yet. Just make sure your renderings look nice – people can get incredibly turned off by blurry or incredibly photoshopped images, or worse, something that looks nothing like the real thing.
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Put up a Google Post. We talked about this in a recent blog. It’s free, and it is another place to connect with your Yo-Pros. Running a great special for 6 weeks free? Be sure to put up a Post with a snazzy video or picture to show your future residents.
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Write a business description. Think of this like your online dating profile. The more information you put up about your property, the more likely you are to land a date!
Prepare A Paid Campaign
Paid campaigns evolve and change as apartments are open for longer, but with lease-ups, branded traffic is going to be the heart of your business. You’ll be grabbing at strings to make sure that renters in the community know your name over your comps. A few helpful hints here include:
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Focus on branded traffic and set your targeting for the city you are in and nearby neighborhoods. Make sure to focus on your own name so you don’t lose your spot to a competitor or an ILS. You want to ensure you show up first, as the most relevant result for your own building!
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People actually want to know about your pool (and other amenities). List em out! This is a big one for newer buildings since you may have brand-spanking-new things to offer your future residents that your competitors won’t.
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List your layouts. It seems simple, but people want to make sure that you have a studio that’s cozy to share with their fluffy friend or a 4 bedroom fit for their growing family.
Lease-ups are exciting for a community, and making sure you’ve got a marketing plan in place is essential for a successful launch! Need a helping hand? We’re here to lend one.
