How to Promote Rental Properties With Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool that can be used to build your rental property’s brand recognition and reputation in an effort to attract new tenants to your community. From Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest to LinkedIn and Google+, all of these networks, when used effectively, will serve as funnels to drive traffic back to your website … which is right where you want your potential renters.

Check out these five uses of social media that can increase your website traffic instantly:

Pin to Pinterest

Pinterest is currently the third largest social media site in terms of traffic. Behind Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest has over 100 million users, the majority of whom are female. This network can be thought of as a virtual bulletin board whereby you can collect ideas that are relevant to you, your industry, and your followers. In the collection process, you can then organize these ideas into groups called “boards” to make it easier for your followers to find what they need and ultimately view your account as a reservoir of information.  To consumers, Pinterest’s value lies in the visual appeal of each “pin” and the ease of finding so much information all in one spot. To business/property owners such as yourself, the appeal is in its ability to drive traffic back to your website.

How to Use Pinterest Effectively

• Build a library of pins – Begin by following other users who pin ideas or concepts that would be of interest to your current renters, potential renters, and your staff. These can include decorating ideas for small spaces, apartment living tips, and recipes. As you come across ideas you think would apply to your audience, start building your own library by pinning them to the appropriate board on your account.
• Build a board(s) with property photos – Next, build a board of visually appealing photographs of your property, including images of your amenities and well-staged interior shots. Each of these pins should be linked back to a corresponding page on your website, preferably a page setup with a lead capture form.
• Build boards with original, quality content – If you have a blog, Pinterest is your chance to make your post go viral by posting an eye-catching photo, along with a sentence or two of text from the article, that is linked back to the full blog post on your website. 

When these 3 Pinterest strategies are implemented, you have not only positioned your property as a one-stop resource for ideas and content, but you’ve also used the platform to gain new website visitors that otherwise never would have even known about or seen your site.

Let Google+ Drive Traffic

Google+ (G+) is Google’s version of Facebook and is much like other social networks in that you can share content with your followers just as your followers can with you.  However, because Google is the mecca of search engines and holds a level of power that other platforms like Facebook and Twitter don’t have, they take it a step further and use your posts to help boost your search engine rankings as well.  While Google in general is a very complex machine to try to understand, if you take advantage of all of its smaller moving pieces, you can benefit quite easily.

What will potential renters see?

• Make sure your location, office hours, phone number, and website are set accurately.
• Include your property’s best photographs.
• Stay on top of reviews, so that you can address any negative feedback quickly.

Go viral on YouTube

YouTube users span almost every demographic, millennials in particular. Businesses, including rental properties, are taking advantage of the fact that consumers are watching and sharing more videos on social media than ever before. Posting a YouTube video of your property to your social media pages can catch the attention of many potential renters.

What should I record?

• Smooth, well-lit walk-throughs of available units
• New and existing amenities, especially ones that your competitors do not have
• A panoramic look at your property’s grounds
• Current residents enjoying your property
• Shots of your resident appreciation events
• Your office’s contact information and a brief rental application “How-To”
• Friendly greetings from office staff members

Start a Blog

Blogs are a popular way for businesses to share knowledge with current and potential customers. By offering valuable information in each and every blog post, your apartment community not only puts forth a more authoritative image, but it also incentivizes people to share your content on social media. And when people share your content, they are essentially directing people right where you want them–your website!

What information should our blog provide?  

• Local news items that affect your residents
• Tips for how residents can enjoy their apartments and community at large
• Tips for how residents can save money

Link Up on LinkedIn

LinkedIn continues to be a major hub of professional activity, enabling companies and individuals to strategically network with one another. It can be a great way to connect with potential residents and employees as well as other property managers.

What should your LinkedIn profile include?

• Connections to your residents and other contacts
• Posts of articles that would be of interest to your contacts
• Updates in your community

Although these five social media platforms are fairly easy to navigate, you may experience some difficulty with the advanced features. In this case, set aside time to scour available instructional tutorials so that you can maximize the results of your social media marketing efforts.  

And while it can sometimes be tricky to gauge the number of direct leads that you generate through social media, it can’t be denied that having a positive, active presence on social media platforms increases your property’s overall visibility, both on and off the web.

Share your social media marketing ideas and success stories in the comments below.  

Before you go, check out our post on What You Should Know About Renting to Millennials.