What Multifamily Marketers Are Missing to Drive High Valued Engagement

If your property management company is spending time and effort posting on social media but not getting the results you're expecting, this blog is for you! In today's digital-first world, it can be challenging to stand out from competitors. Getting high-valued engagement, otherwise known as shares and comments, is hard to come by. High-valued engagement often boosts your property's online visibility, ultimately resulting in winning more leases. Within this blog, we'll break down the top three localized marketing tactics your property management company needs to implement to win more high-valued engagement. All of the tactics are easy to implement and will pay off in the long run.

Increase Number of Localized Posts

One of the easiest ways your property management company can drive high-valued engagement is to encourage your properties within your portfolio to post more localized posts. The more localized posts your properties within your portfolio have, the higher likelihood that they will receive those high-value, meaningful engagements with prospective and current residents. You may be asking yourself, just how many of my properties should be posting locally? While 100 percent is ideal, our 2021 Localized Marketing Benchmark Report provides current industry standards. When looking at property management companies, the report found that 51 percent of local properties are currently posting on Facebook, while 40 percent are posting on Google My Business. Is your property meeting or exceeding these averages? If not, it's time to step up your game. If potential residents notice that your property management company is taking the time and effort to post and share information at the local level, they will often repay the favor with high-valued engagement.

Increasing local properties leveraging local social media can seem challenging, but it doesn't have to be. If your property management company provides local property managers with an easy-to-use tool to utilize local social, it makes the task seem less daunting. That's where SOCi's Social Solution comes in. SOCi's Social Solution empowers corporate and local teams to publish localized content, manage content libraries, respond instantly to social engagements and analyze performance — all within one powerful platform. This solution will help your local properties elevate their local social efforts without adding a lot of extra work.

Strengthen Reputation Management Efforts

Your portfolio's properties are receiving ratings and reviews on Facebook, Google My Business, and Yelp, but what are the local teams doing with them? Eighty percent of residents consider reviews necessary to their property search. Similarly, 70 percent of prospective residents decided to visit a property with a higher online reputation. If your property management company makes reputation management a priority, more residents will notice your property online, which will, in turn, increase your visibility. Both prospective residents and the search platforms place ranking priority on those businesses who have a large volume of positive reviews. While reviews are an essential component of a property search, your property management company shouldn't ask for reviews. To gain genuine reviews, consider the following:

Make it easy for residents to leave reviews.
- Share links to review sites on your website or social media.
- Add a review option on surveys or other digital interactions with residents.

Use events as an opportunity for residents to leave reviews.
- You can have a tablet or mobile phone available at events for residents to leave reviews.

Highlight current reviews on your website and social channels. Sharing this user-generated content can help potential residents who are on the fence about leaving a review decide to do so.

Sit down and brainstorm a review strategy. It will keep your property management company accountable. Now that you understand how your property management company can increase the number of reviews received, it's essential to ensure your reputation management strategy is up to par. For instance, our previously mentioned 2021 Localized Marketing Benchmark Report found that, on average, local properties received two new reviews per month on GMB and only .11 new reviews on Facebook. Your property management company should ensure that your local properties meet this industry standard, if not exceeding it. The same goes for response times. On average, property management companies take 50 days to respond to a review on GMB and 143 days to respond to a review on Facebook. Even if your property management company is beating these industry standards, it's essential to respond to reviews as soon as possible. The more time and effort residents see your local properties putting into reputation management, the more likely they'll be to engage with your properties on both local search and social.

Strengthening your property's reputation management strategy doesn't have to be complicated. SOCi's Reviews Solution allows users to view every action taken on reviews and monitor every activity on social media. Now, your local, regional, and corporate teams will always know which reviews and social engagements are addressed and which ones still require attention to ensure the prompt responses residents expect, helping to boost your high-valued engagement.

Test Various Types of Localized Content

Testing localized content to see what resonates most with your target audience is another great way to drive high-valued engagement. Residents are craving a local connection more than ever before, and localized content satisfies this need. To fully harness the power of posting, your property management company should have all your properties’ local social pages claimed. After claiming your local pages, you can start thinking about how you can interact with your residents through localized content. The way one of your local properties would address a potential resident in downtown New York City is likely different from how you would speak to a prospect in Little Rock, Arkansas. Similarly, depending on where your properties are located, there are likely additional benefits about the location, amenities, and nearby events your property management company can highlight to help sell the property.

When planning what types of content to share at the local level, consider the following:

Special promotions or discounts are happening at your local property. Are you giving residents the first month free, or do current residents get an incentive for referring new residents?
Positive reviews from current residents. User-generated content can go a long way. If residents see that other people in their area appreciate your property, they will be more likely to trust it.
Pictures of your local property. Is the pool or gym area something that will help sell the property? If potential residents can imagine themselves at the property, it will help sell it.
Highlight current events that are happening in your local area. Is there a snowstorm headed your way? Did your city's sports team win a big game? These are things you can incorporate into your local content.
Ways your local property s is giving back to the community. Are you hosting a coat drive for the local homeless shelter? Are some of your residents planting trees in the neighborhood? If so, these are good things to share on social as well.

Increasing the volume of localized content across your properties will drive high-valued engagement. Residents will be more likely to interact with localized content relevant to them rather than generic corporate content. Not to say that your property management company should never post corporate-driven content, but there should be a balance between the two. The portfolio management company can provide templates and suggested posts to every property, which can be localized through editing text and modifying imagery. If your property management company follows all the tactics we've covered above, you should start seeing improvement in high-value engagement. A solid local social presence and reputation management strategy are critical to distinguish your properties from each competing property and lead the area in leases. As we've covered, SOCi can help your property management company manage both your local social efforts and ratings and reviews. SOCi can also assist you with other aspects of your localized marketing efforts. SOCi is the all-in-one platform for multi-location marketers and the central command for localized marketing. For more information on how SOCi can help your local properties win more leases, request a demo today!