My Experience As a Property Manager Was the Driving Force to Make Marketing Easy for On-Site Teams
Just thinking about the moment puts a knot in the pit of my stomach.
I was sitting across a large conference table from an intense and intimidating person.
He was the CEO of a huge multi-family management company, and today he was on a warpath.
Greeeeeeaaaaat…...
He was FURIOUS at his on-site team, saying, “Why can’t they manage their communities?! Why aren’t they hosting sexy events?!” (I know...his words, not mine).
“Why can’t my managers create killer social media strategies and dive into google analytics regularly? They have plenty of time!!”
I felt AWFUL for his managers. Having been a community manager for years, I know this stuff doesn’t come easily, especially with more and more demands placed on community managers’ shoulders every day.
It’s not enough anymore for a manager to run a multimillion-dollar asset. Now, they have to have an innate knowledge of social media practices, Google analytics, and the marketing and retention strategies required to promote a community across various platforms. And then let’s not forget to add COVID-19 to the mix.
Do you feel the pressure as a multifamily professional?
Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed by the growing demands of running an apartment community?
I GET IT.
In fact, that’s why I partnered with my BFF, Lauren, to create the Sprout Marketing Membership.
You see, I was a property manager (just like you) and I was struggling!
When I hear feedback from our Sprout Members, I can’t help but smile from ear-to-ear.
“I love Sprout! It was the first thing I asked for when I got here! I think everyone needs it” [Manager, Wiregrass Apartments]
You see, I wanted to be the best property manager, but I had a lot stacked against me. For one, I was just a kid.
I was twenty years old (not even old enough to drink) and only got the promotion because the current manager had a medical emergency and didn’t think she would be coming back. The higher-ups needed to fill the role. Guess what, I was a warm body.
If things went well, I was told, I could keep the new position (and the pay).
If things didn’t go well, I could go back to my previous role as a leasing consultant. I’d lose the title and lose the raise. They’d find someone else given some time. “No harm, no foul”, they said.
(No harm, no foul. I kept repeating those words to myself.)
It was go-time for me. They didn’t know it, but there couldn’t be any going back.
I needed that income more than they would ever know. I was newly married and had moved four hours from home. This had to work.
There was so much to do. So many residents. So many prospects. So many maintenance issues. So many budget issues. Such high occupancy goals. Crime. Demanding owners. A supervisor that was awesome when I was a leasing consultant, but slightly terrifying now that I was the manager.
Go outreach marketing, but also be around for your residents. Walk property, but don’t close the office for too long. Have fun events, but only spend $2 (slight exaggeration).
Huh? Was this real life?
It was.
I wanted to be the best property manager, but I also wanted to be a good wife. But after I got home from working at my property, I had very little to give to anyone else. I was so overwhelmed and thought there had to be a better way.
I’m not special and my experience isn’t one-of-a-kind.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed at trying to tackle your to do list as a property manager?
I know a variation of this story might be your story because I’ve seen so many managers nod their heads in agreement when I tell this story. You might be sitting at your communities right now overwhelmed, overworked, and overcommitted.
You are not alone. And in case you haven’t heard this today, YOU DO SO MUCH FOR SO MANY!
I know the overwhelm is real.
That has been AND ALWAYS WILL BE the driving factor for creating the Sprout Membership and all of the other services that have evolved.
I don’t know how to solve every frustration for onsite teams. (I wish I did!) But I do know about marketing and retention.
One thing I’ve learned in my career in multifamily is that we will rise or fall by the systems and tools we use. The more complicated the system or tool, the less effective. That’s why we strive to keep it simple.
The Sprout marketing membership for multifamily professionals
As we were building out this program we knew two things:
The program had to DRIVE the right results - higher occupancy & higher retention.
It couldn’t take a lot of time. Property managers don’t have time to spare!
Making it easy to focus on foundational pillars for in-person & Digital initiatives
Drive traffic that leads to leases
Outreach Marketing
Follow Up
Referrals
Social Media Marketing
Resident Retention
Renewals
Events
Resident Engagement (In-Person & Online)
Resident Notices & Communication
Building your Apartment marketing plan: Start here>>
Your Monthly Apartment Marketing Calendar
The program is designed with the flexibility to work with your style.
Whether you like to plan weeks in advance or need a last minute idea, our Digital Marketing Calendar gives you something you can do every single day.
Simply go to the date, grab your resources and bring it to life - in minutes!
We also provide a downloadable AND FILLABLE PDF calendar (completely blank or with the Creative Holidays for the month) to build out your plan for the month.
Watch the quick video to get a preview. >>
SIMPly Social - making social media for your apartment community a breeze for busy property managers
When I was a property manager, social media wasn’t in full swing.
I can’t imagine trying to tackle it on your own while running a community. When are you supposed to post? In between showing apartments and taking maintenance requests? Talk about being pulled in a million directions! How can you do it all well?
We know that coming up with what to post can make you want to hit your head against the wall and we don’t want that. So that’s why we’ve included in the Sprout Membership access to our Simply Social Membership - a done-for-you social media posting plan.
The Simply Social plan includes 40+ caption templates (think MadLibs-style) that you can copy and paste in your feed and then customize for your community. We have a nifty “copy” button to save you even more time…every little bit counts when you’re a busy property manager. What about the graphics? Those are included too! No more hunting for license-free images that look good in your feed. We include all the graphics you need in the Simply Social Plan.
Here’s the 1-2-3 of the Simply Social Membership
What kind of posts and graphics can you expect to see in The Simply Social Plan?
To Keep It Fun: Creative Holidays for the Month with Captions That Tie Back to Your Community, Neighborhood & Preferred Employers
To Make Sure You Hit Your Goals: Evergreen Posts for Renewals, Outreach, Resident Appreciation, Anytime Funnies, & More
To Make Sure It’s Always Relevant: Timely Seasonal Posts
For Instagram: Instagram Story Templates with Suggestions on Campaigns to Try
You guys, the whole point is to show up consistently. This program allows you to tackle social media by batching your time. You can set aside some time every day, week or month (depending on how you work best) and schedule out your content with your favorite scheduling app. There is no more in the moment pressure to post on social. By scheduling out relevant content for your apartment community in advance, you leave yourself the freedom to post live, in the moment stuff when you have the time and you’re in the mood.
Want a Deeper Dive Preview of Simply Social? Watch the video below:
Focus on Your Biggest challenge with the Sprout Daily dose & Search Feature
I know every community has a lifecycle and what you may be struggling with today, may not be your struggle tomorrow. That’s why we create the Sprout Marketing Membership to allow you to go straight to your current challenge.
The top navigation of the member site allows you to go directly to what your current challenge is and find an actionable plan with resources to bring your plan to life.
You can go from idea to execution in MINUTES! That’s what we love…efficiency & effectiveness.
We have built initiatives in each category through a method we call THE DAILY DOSE.
What’s a Daily Dose? A Daily Dose is a step-by-step roadmap or blueprint for how to execute a marketing idea.
For example: If you are hosting an event, we outline the steps to promote to your residents, what you’ll need to make it happen and provide the print and digital graphics you need too! It takes all the guesswork out of marketing and retention campaigns.
SCroll thrOugh to preview one Daily dose
Utilize Our easy Navigation
Step 1: Isolate your challenge
Step 2: Browse the Daily Dose Ideas To find one that meets your challenge
Step 3: bring that initiative to life through the daily dose. Watch the preview below.
quickly search all designs
What if you already have an idea in mind & Just need the right flyer or design?
Maybe you are hosting a Thirsty Thursday event and you need the perfect invite. Or maybe you need a reminder for residents to pick up after their pets.
You can search our catalog of designs and narrow your search by format and key words. In just a few seconds, you will have narrowed your search and now can pick a design style that fits your vibe.
Guys, we know you need more than flyers! That’s why we also have newsletters, calendars, business cards, postcards, sales sheets, trifolds, brochures, stickers, labels, door hangers, banners, bandit signs AND SO MUCH MORE!
There is a small customization fee that can get billed to you or you can add design dollars to budget for customization ahead of time!
A Budget-Friendly Solution
I’ve worked at many communities with a tight budget (like, really tight)! So I know not everyone has the luxury of spending hundreds of dollars on their marketing.
I still wanted the Sprout Membership to be accessible to every community - A, B, C, D and everything else! That’s why the membership is priced to fit any budget.
One of my favorite parts of the membership is we have a “Customize for Free” section full of great designs that you can get customized for FREE, ZILCH, ZERO, NADA! There is always a design that you can use for outreach, renewals, and referrals.
We want you to cover your bases even if you don’t have an endless budget!
Keep on sprouting through bite-sized education
Education is deeply personal to me. I attended every event I could at my local apartment association and through the National Apartment Association.
Once I started Sprout Marketing, I had the opportunity to speak at apartment associations nationwide and for The National Apartment Association four years in a row! During that time, I educated attendees on marketing and retention principles, customer service foundationals, and leadership skills. I had the opportunity to make friends with many other industry educators like Amy Kosnikowski Dilisio, Rommel Anacan, Heather Blume, Anne Sadovsky, Terri Norvel, Casey Van Zandt and Jackie Ramstedt.
As we built out the Sprout Training Library I included all of the programs that I’ve shared at apartment associations events, but I also share exclusive content to our Sprout Members. I’ve also invited my colleagues and fellow speakers to share some of their educational content inside of our membership platform.
When you’re feeling a little extra [add- ons & perks of Sprout membership]
Membership has extra perks, obviously!
Anytime you print with us, order signage, done-for-you bundles, or anything else, you get discounted member pricing. We appreciate our members so we are always looking for ways to make things extra special for our community.
Whew…we made it to the end, friend!
If you made it to the end…bless you:) I know it was a bit of a marathon.
I hope you can see just how much thought went into creating The Sprout Marketing Membership for busy property managers.
Every month, we look at the membership and ask, “How can we make this better? How can we make our property manager’s lives easier?” We know you have so much to juggle and having been in your shoes, we know how difficult it is to go at it alone.
A quote we often think about it, “Just because you can do it all doesn’t mean you should!”
We know you are superwoman (or superman) and at the same time we know you probably spend after hours working on some of your marketing and retention. I know I did. We’d love to help you claim some of YOUR TIME back without sacrificing results.
If you want to join a community of thousands of community managers that want to kick butt at their career, but still want a life outside of the 9-5, we’d love to have you.
xoxo,
Barbara Savona
Sprout Marketing Co-Founder & CEO