You are the property manager, and all the success of the rentals under your wing is on your shoulders. You do not want to blow it, because that would be an expensive waste of time and money, so it is important to get clever when thinking about ways to market these rental properties. You may have some idea that online marketing is a good place to begin, but how to leverage marketing strategies may not be so familiar to you yet. Here are a few marketing tips to help you get a good deal of responses so that more leases get signed.
Do Not Forget Word of Mouth Marketing
With the world all a glow with online marketing, many property managers have lost their perspective when it comes to valuable offline methods of marketing. A great way to generate some solid leads is to offer a discount to tenants who get others to sign a lease with you. By knocking $100 off the price of their monthly rent for three months, for example, for getting someone to sign a lease with you, this becomes a huge win-win situation for both you and your current tenants.
Blogging
You may not realize it yet, but countless people are online right now looking for information on the best deal in town for a rental property. Not only are they looking at all the major rental sites, but they are also reading blogs that are put out by property managers like yourself. The important thing about blogging is that you must not only upsell your rentals, but you must convince potential renters that you have something of genuine value to offer them to sweeten the deal. Always be clear that a renter is looking for a deal, not to get gouged. So, in your blog, be careful about how you talk about pricing, and consider finding creative ways to use the word “free” to attract attention to your blog.
Keep It Interesting
There are a million ads online for rental properties. The fortunate thing for you is that most of them are dry, boring and lifeless. You should be creative and funny in your ads to help them stick out. Also, it helps to provide a link to a YouTube video to give your ad traffic a virtual walk through of your units or homes for rent. This way you can expand on the good things about each unit in an active way. This is far better than a dry ad that just gives some obscure pictures with no real explanations.
Conclusion
Marketing rental properties is an art. You not only have to reach out to a potential tenant, but you must appeal to their desire to have that one place they can call home for a while. Remember that your audience matters when marketing, and certain rental properties will be better suited for some leads than for others. Also, do not be afraid to cut a deal to get a long term renter. There is no shame in giving to get something in return in the rental game.
