The Evolution of Search and Social: Marketing Predictions for 2025 (Part 2 of 3)
The Property Manager’s Guide to Local Social
The Property Manager's Guide to Local Social
With 1 out of every 3 minutes consumers spend with media on a social network and 78 percent of purchase decisions influenced by social media, making your presence known on these platforms is now more critical than ever. As a multi-family marketer, navigating the world of localized marketing can be tricky, especially for local social media. You may question how often you should post, what type of content your residents or potential residents will like, and how to incorporate content from corporate. You’re in luck because we have answers for you! Within this blog, we’ll cover all things local social and explain how you can leverage it effectively to put your local properties in the spotlight and win more leases.Develop a Content Strategy
One of the first things you need to do when getting started with local social is to develop a content strategy. As a property management company, all of your local properties must be on the same page regarding a content strategy. How often are you going to be posting per location? Which social media channels are you going to focus on? These are questions to answer right off the bat. Data from our 3rd Annual Localized Marketing Benchmark Report found that Facebook and Google My Business (GMB) are the two most important channels to leverage when considering the frequency of local social posts. Not to say that you shouldn’t also leverage additional social channels, but if you had to choose where to focus your efforts, Facebook and GMB are essential. The report dove deeper and looked specifically at benchmarks that property management companies currently meet regarding local social. For instance, on average, property management companies post seven times a month on Facebook and two times a month on GMB. Similarly, property management companies have an average of 51 percent of their local properties posting on Facebook and 40 percent on GMB. If your property management company isn’t meeting these benchmarks, there is room for improvement. If your current posting rate is on point, good for you! There are still opportunities to enhance your efforts. While posting seven times a month on local Facebook pages is excellent, you should aim for three to four posts per week if resources allow. When it comes to the percentage of local properties posting, 100 percent should be the goal. Even if you’re already meeting the industry standards, why not push your property management company to be the best? With content strategy expectations set, it’s time to start thinking about the actual content.Maintain Brand Guidelines
Before we get into the types of content that perform best among current and prospective residents, it’s essential to understand that brand guidelines are a must when developing content. Property management companies should consider the following best practices:- Voice: Is there a specific tone you want your local properties to leverage? Some companies might prefer a more formal style, while others may like something more conversational. As long as it’s consistent, either option works.
- Profile pictures: All of your local properties should have similar profile pictures on your local social channels. Do you want all of your local properties to have an image of the actual property as a profile picture or include your corporate logo?
- Content imagery: Think about what types of images you’d prefer your local properties to use. Some property management companies may choose lifestyle imagery, while others prefer more branded images. Again, consistency is vital. It’s also important to consider including pictures from your local properties so prospective residents can get a feel for the property before they tour.
- How you engage with users: We’ll get more into this later. Still, your property management company should be consistent when responding to comments or questions you receive on your local social pages, along with responding to ratings and reviews.
Create Engaging Localized Content
After you’ve established brand guidelines among your local properties, you can start the process of creating localized content. When developing local content, it helps to understand what types of content drive the highest engagement. Our Localized Social Content Guide does precisely that. It breaks down the best engaging content types for local social and provides you with examples of each. The guide found local content that tends to perform best includes:- Community based/local stories
- Cute or funny content
- Feel-good stories
- Stand out content
- Short videos - less than 30 seconds
- Authentic imagery that’s not overly produced