By Patrick Freeze
We live in a digital age—one in which prospective tenants, especially those who are of the younger generations, value social media more and more. The greater the presence your property or rental group has on the web, the more credible you look. By tapping into the needs and expectations of today’s renters, you can draw more people to your property—helping you reduce your turnover rates and costs. With this in mind, let’s explore a few ways social media marketing can help your rental property business.
1. Incorporating Chatbots
Chatbots used to be the wave of the future, but they’ve quickly gone from sci-fi to needed-now. Chatbots enable you to interact with potential tenants 24 hours a day without adding customer service people to your team. Chatbots utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to respond to commonly asked questions by way of a script that’s given to them. Because bots don’t sleep, take lunch, or need vacations, they’re always available to answer your future tenants’ questions.
Today’s technology is so sophisticated that people often have no idea they’re talking to bots; the computer takes on a language that simulates real human beings. This means you’re not only interacting with people in real-time—whenever it’s best for them—but you’re also gathering important lead generation information that you can utilize when you contact the people who inquired about your properties during regular business hours.
According to G2.com, chatbots boast a 73 percent satisfaction rate among customers. Hubspot states 71 percent of people are willing to use messaging apps to get customer assistance. As a landlord, this should be an important statistic for you because your chatbot can field inquiries, set up maintenance repairs, tell your renters who to contact if they need help, and answer dozens of other questions. The more you’re able to adhere to your audience’s needs, the happier your tenants (current or future) will be.
2. Sharing Photos
You don’t want to waste your time talking to people who won’t qualify for your property. The same holds true on the other side of the coin; potential renters don’t want to waste their time seeing a place that doesn’t work for them. You can make everybody’s life a little easier by showcasing social-ready photos that display the attributes of your property.
Remember, you’re not only showing them off for potential renters, but you’re also trying to grab the attention of people who might see your photos and share them with friends and family members who are looking for a new rental. Photos aren’t as easy to share on a website as they are on social media, which is why it’s essential to keep your social status rolling with great photos that put your property in front of lots of people.
3. Using Live Videos
Pictures can only do your property so much justice. If you really want to engage with your audience, create videos so people can feel like they’re walking through your space from the comfort of their computers. This enables them to see what kind of rental you’re offering without necessitating a showing. If all looks good, they can set up an appointment to see the property in person. If it doesn’t look like what a potential renter is going for, no time or money was lost in the endeavor.
Videos are also a great way to get yourself in front of an audience that relies on visual references before they make decisions.
4. Engaging with Prospective Tenants
“More property businesses are embracing tools like TikTok, Instagram video and other streaming tools. It’s never been easier to create decent quality videos to promote one’s business,” comments Ruban Selvanayagam of Brit-Based Homebuying Company Property Solvers.
Speaking of engagement—photos and videos alone aren’t going to sell your property. You need to interact with people who might have questions, comments, or feedback about your space. You can’t do that if you’re hiding from the world, but you can easily access this type of information when you go social. However, it’s not just about answering questions, It’s also about showing that you’re a landlord worthy of renters’ financial investments. People pay attention to the way businesses interact with people online. As a landlord, you are a business, and people will definitely notice how you talk to people, handle issues, and deal with complaints.
The engagement process begins by creating conversations. Your reputation can instantly be boosted if you handle your social media engagements correctly.
5. Hiring a Property Management Company
Professional property management firms know how to make the most of social media engagement on your behalf. If you’re unsure how to take on your social media efforts, or if you don’t have time to adhere to best practices, consider hiring a property management team to take care of your social sphere for you. After all, they’ll know the ins and outs of the business and be able to answer questions you might not even know how to approach.
Property management companies are part of your team, helping you achieve optimal ROI with minimal effort or output.
Are you a rental property owner who’s found benefits from using social media? If so, we’d love to hear your stories. Share what’s worked for you (and what hasn’t) in the comments section below!
