The Branded Landlord, Part Three: How to Share Your Brand

In Part 3 of this series on the Branded Landlord, we move from defining your brand to sharing your unique offering with prospective tenants. Not sure why you need a brand? Read part 1 of this series to learn 3 ways brand-building will boost your rental business. Ready to build your brand but need a starting place? Check out Part 2: Finding and Creating Your Brand.

So you’ve defined your brand and identified what sets you apart from other landlords – it’s time to get that message out to your ideal tenants.

Here are four tips to put into action – from finding where your ideal tenants spend their time online, to choosing a combination of channels (like email newsletters or Facebook ads), and creating content that will catch the attention of prospects. Dive in below and start getting brand exposure, so your properties all read “No Vacancy.”

Find Your Audience

First, think about who you want to attract and where they spend their time online. Do you want students, retirees, or professionals as tenants?

You can find your audience on social media, through email newsletters, digital advertising, and property listing websites. With all of the social media channels out there, it can feel overwhelming to know where to put your efforts. Depending on your target audience, there is typically a channel that aligns with each age demographic or interest.

Instagram is great to reach a 20–30-year-old market and is visual-heavy, so if you’re comfortable with a camera and hashtags, this is a great place to start. Instagram ads let you target a very specific audience, and they have excellent reach.

Facebook reaches an older demographic (35–60-year-olds) and is relatively easy to use, especially if you want to target your ads to specific locations.

Pinterest has a massive home decor, design, and architecture base, so it could be the right channel if your property has standout design features.

Do some quick research to find out where your target audience is spending their time online and focus your efforts there, instead of spreading yourself (and your budget) thin.

Choose Your Channels

Start small and choose one channel to experiment with, then work your way up to using additional channels if you know they are relevant to your target tenant.

If you’re already a Facebook user, kick things off where you’re familiar. Create a Facebook page for your buildings and upload photos of the interior and exterior. Invite existing tenants to join the page, or applicants who wanted to stay in touch to hear about future vacancies.

When vacancies pop up, create a shareable post, with a call to action like: “Share this unit with someone you’d like as your new neighbor!” Encourage members of the building to tap into their network. You can also share news about building improvements and community events to keep the page active.

When you feel like you’re comfortable with one channel, trying using the same content (words, pictures, and video) on an additional channel. You could create an email list for all existing and prospective tenants and send a monthly roundup of news by packaging your Facebook posts into an email newsletter. Encourage existing tenants to forward the email to anyone they think would be an awesome fit for the building.

Create Great Content (it’s easier than it sounds)

Once you’ve decided on your channels, start creating content that shows off your brand message. Start with bright, high-resolution photos of your spaces, and detailed captions to tell the readers what they can’t see in the photos. Use adjectives to your advantage and describe how tenants might be feeling or what they might be doing in the space. Help them feel like they are right there experiencing it with their own eyes.

Rather than just describing what they can see, like: “downstairs living room,” describe what makes the room special. “Bright morning light shines through the skylights while you enjoy your coffee on the couch.” Then share this across channels to reach different audiences. Use hashtags for the city (e.g. #austin or #calgaryrentals), neighborhood (#lowereastside or #trinitybellwoods) and other specific features like #skylight or #naturallight, to connect with audiences searching for these terms. Both Facebook and Instagram have video features, so sharing a virtual tour of your units can be done in minutes – they pack a huge punch.

Pro Tip: Pendo’s property listing websites let you share your vacancies on multiple channels with just a couple clicks, right from the listing page.

Keep in Touch

Once you start building a following, keep track of it. Each social channel comes with analytics. Use that information to find out who is engaging with your content. When tenants apply, ask if they’d like to opt into your email newsletters to be the first to learn about new listings.

With all of the connecting you’ll be doing with prospective tenants, more and more applications will be coming your way. Use Pendo’s online rental application feature to keep every application in one central place. When you choose the perfect tenant, just convert their application to a rental agreement and start earning back your brand investment.