Get More Leases with These Creative Apartment Marketing Strategies
Are you a property manager that is short on apartment marketing ideas? Let us let you in on a little secret. Real mail, not bulk mail, still gets our hearts pumping! In a world of texts and emails, it's easy to forget about direct mail community marketing.
For hard-to-reach businesses or for a special follow-up, regular mail can be a very powerful marketing tool. Many busy property managers have limited time for in-person outreach marketing, which makes outreach marketing that you can do from your desk even better. That’s why Sprout put together these ideas that are guaranteed to capture the attention of your prospective renter. We think you’ll flip for the first one!
Marketing strategies for leasing apartments:
A few years back, I found out that anything 13 ounces or less could be mailed without packaging. I immediately wanted to find a way to use this in apartment marketing.
We discovered that flip-flops (and coconuts) are one of those great items, especially during the summer, to mail for your follow-ups and outreach marketing!
Bring This Apartment Marketing Idea to Life in a few steps:
Purchase bright-colored flip-flops. I love to check Old Navy, Walmart, and The Dollar Store for discounted items. You could also order custom flip-flop cookies from a local bakery as we did in the photos.
Send a flip-flop with your “You’ll Flip for…” message written on it.
Weigh it and add the appropriate postage directly to the flip-flop OR seal it in a clear envelope.
Does this work? YES! I've done this and have gotten such great responses. It’s unexpected, so it makes a big impression on your prospective renter. Check out how we put an entire initiative together below.
I guarantee that if they get a flip-flop in the mail, they're going to remember you, they're going to talk about it, and they might even post about it on their socials. You're going to create a buzz and your marketing is sure to lead to more qualified traffic, more leases, and ultimately higher occupancy.
Make your marketing Stand Out!
Whatever you’re doing on the outside (outreach, follow-up…), make sure you add as many touchpoints as possible! Consider getting flip-flop bandits signs and placing them throughout your community. One community even planted a “lawn” of flip-flops along their tour route. That is just apartment marketing GOLD!
If somebody is driving by, they see it. If somebody walks by your office, they're seeing your same marketing message. If they check out your social, it’s there as well. That's what grassroots marketing is all about.
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THREE WAYS TO USE YOUR TRIAL PACK
Start small by incorporating one marketing effort into your daily routine. Outline that one effort on your monthly marketing calendar to stay organized.
Use our social media checklist to get social media scheduled quickly. Our checklist covers the bases for marketing, retention, engagement, and more. Get your apartment’s social media posts scheduled in half the time by following our checklist.
Get creative by incorporating some fun creative holidays into your plan. Our monthly marketing calendar has the top creative holidays outlined so you can mention them in a post on social media, have a quick event, or have inspiration for a goodie for outreach marketing.
Click here or on the link to get started.
Ideas for Preferred Employer Marketing
An old favorite that was also shared years ago at an apartment association conference is sendaball.com. This is for those very difficult-to-reach places and at roughly $20 per ball, you’ll have to use this marketing tactic selectively.
Would work great for:
Large corporations
HR Departments
Hospitals
How does it work?
Go to sendaball.com , order a ball and customize it with your message. Boom! That’s a simple apartment marketing idea!
Why do we love this apartment marketing idea?
Because of the size, it has to be hand-delivered. This will generate buzz as a mailperson walks down the halls personally delivering a ball to someone’s work.
Want to go a step further? Send some "Have a ball with us” Sprout Membership designs separately- think multiple themed touchpoints! sendaball.com is a way to start that conversation and get your foot in the door. Marketing should be fun, because fun is memorable. So go ahead, have a ball!
Apartment marketing strategies that get our stamp of approval
Apartment marketing doesn’t always have to be complicated to stand out. We love this idea from Jay Levinson's Guerrilla Marketing, 1984.
He recommends putting a ton of stamps on a letter just to catch the eye. What do you think you’d notice more - a letter with 1 stamp or a letter with 10?
Another angle is to buy stamps with a little personality.
Little, but mighty: Get your mail opened
Now guys, if this isn't your cup of tea, and you're like, umm, I don't want to do all this work to get lost in the crowd - there are ways to stand out with a different style. You can go big by going tiny.
Bring this apartment marketing strategy to life
Go to Amazon.com and order these teeny, tiny envelopes. I would say they are about 1/8 of the size of a regular envelope.
Put an untraditional follow-up message inside!
Add a key with a slogan - “Keys to your dream home await!”
Add a puzzle with a slogan- “You’re our missing piece!”
When people go to check their mail and all the envelopes are about the same size, yours will stand out! It’s bright, it’s tiny and people are sure to at least look at it and give it a little bit more time than they would just a regular envelope. Whatever path you choose, you have to stand out!
Sprout’s Keys for successful apartment marketing
People are bombarded with THOUSANDS of marketing messages. Make sure your apartment marketing stands out.
Use fun slogans to add to your tangible marketing pieces - like the flip-flop!
Take a little time to look at your apartment marketing and ask yourself how you could do one thing to differentiate yourself from your competitors. It could be with your words, your personality, the color of your pen, or the number of stamps you use. There is no ONE right way, but there is ONE you. Bring you to all of your marketing efforts.
NEED MORE IDEAS FOR YOUR RESIDENT EVENTS?
8 Heartwarming Events to Keep Your Residents Falling in Love with Your Community
Unique (and easy) Resident Appreciation Ideas for Your Apartment Community
12 Fun and Easy Resident Event Ideas to Show Resident Appreciation
Episode 53: Building a Sense of Community in a No-Touch World
See how Sprout Members are bringing Resident Events to life at their apartment communities!