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January Marketing Ideas for Property Managers

Posted on 14. Jan, 2010 by Heather Blume in Marketing

In the multifamily business world, January is a notoriously difficult month for us. Whether it’s the propensity for snow, the cold wind, or the fact that USA and TNT keep running excellent marathons of TV shows, we just have a hard time getting foot traffic in the door. Don’t let the blustery weather cool your renting power! Below are 3 marketing ideas for property managers to try out this January.

1. It’s just the start of a new year, which means New Year’s Resolutions haven’t yet been discarded in an insatiable moment of Haagen-Daz desire, so why not tap in to a resolution that 58% of Americans made this year to improve their health? Tie your current concession (and you know it pains me to say that word!) to their desire to live healthier. Why not do a deferred concession, wherein the residents get their move-in special when they meet a weight loss or health goal? You would have to do a baseline goal, such as 25 pounds or dropping cholesterol 25 points, etc. but you could then reward your residents for every so much that they get beyond that goal. Teaming up with a local fitness center or health food store could make your program even stronger.
2. Try teaming up with a local daycare center by holding a coloring contest. You can easily make a coloring sheet of your property by taking a picture and either using a Photoshop filter to make it outlined in black and white, or, for a more kid friendly look, you can do the old trick of taping the picture up on the window and then tracing over the top of it with black sharpie, being a selective about how much detail you put in. The older the kids, the more detail you can do. On the back of the sheet, you want to print out directions to your community and any other information about the contest. Remember, that’s valuable real estate back there, so think hard about what you want to put there. A $100 college savings bond is a pretty good enticement for mom and dad to swing the picture by your cabana and drop it off.
3. 2009 was a year of record cutbacks for everyone, both professionally and personally, so that deprivation leaves consumers open for tantalization by luxury items that they would otherwise not buy for themselves. The caution here is not to pick something so luxurious that it isn’t reasonably useful, so a flat screen TV or a Netbook laptop would be good, but offering a shopping gift card to Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus might not hold as much perceived value in a society that is experiencing a shift in fundamental values. I recommend anything that is central to having at home entertainment, so Wii and Xbox might be good friends for you. And frankly, buying any of those things is probably much cheaper than any rent reduction or concession would be.

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Tags: Marketing, resident retention