If you read our blog post from earlier this year, you may already know that in March of this year, Facebook announced that it would be making changes to its ad targeting tools. Now, as of this September, those changes have gone live and are already affecting both existing ad campaigns and new campaigns. You may already be working to discern what this means for your real estate marketing plan and wondering what you can do to adjust your Facebook ad campaigns to ensure you’re still getting what you need from this digital platform.
As you ask yourself those questions, we’re here to help. We’ve been hard at work familiarizing ourselves with the recent changes and leveraging our expertise to compile updated best practices. Rest assured that while these changes do limit the functionality of certain targeting tools, it’s still possible to use Facebook ads as an effective part of your ad mix—you just need to rethink your strategy.
Why Did Facebook Change Its Ad Targeting?
In case you missed it, this all started back in March when Facebook was sued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for violations of the Fair Housing Act. According to HUD and a number of other organizations who supported the charges (including the ACLU and NFHA), Facebook’s ad targeting tools limited the housing options being presented to certain protected classes by allowing advertisers to target ads based on age group, location, education status, and so on.
Facebook then announced that it would be making changes to these advertising tools by the end of 2019, but did not offer a more specific time frame during which these changes would go into effect.
How Did Facebook Change Its Ad Targeting?
This September, without prior warning, Facebook implemented a number of changes that had immediate effects on existing campaigns and new launches. Many housing and financial advertisers logged in to find their radius targeting reset or their campaigns turned off.
A word to the wise: if you haven’t checked the status of your existing Facebook campaigns since September, it’s a good idea to give them a look and ensure they’re live and working as intended.
The September changes include:
A number of interests have been removed from the targeting options for housing, employment, and credit ads. For example, many interests related to universities can no longer be targeted directly.
Lookalike Audiences are no longer available for housing, employment, or credit ads.
Demographic targeting by traits such as age, ethnicity, and income has been removed.
Radius targeting has increased from a 1-mile minimum radius to a 15-mile minimum.
The overall effect is that competition among ads is now higher because ads are being served to broader audiences, meaning more people are seeing a wider variety of ads. This makes it more imperative than ever to find ways for your ad to stand out from the crowd.
How Should I Adapt My Facebook Ad Strategy?
There are a number of best practices and work-arounds we recommend in the wake of these changes. These strategies can help you work with the options still available to you to approximate the targeting strategies that have been removed, and/or ensure that your ads still get qualified clicks and low cost-per-click despite targeting limitations.
First, a disclaimer: while Facebook has an option to declare that your ad is a housing ad, you can’t get around these restrictions simply by not declaring. Facebook also has sophisticated AI that will flag housing ads even when they’re not declared by advertisers. Better to declare and work within the restrictions given from the start.
Get Crafty with Interests Targeting
While a number of interests have been removed from the targeting options, you may still be able to target by relevant interests that will create a qualified audience for your ad. For example, student housing brands may find that, while many university-related interests have been removed, there are still targetable interests such as Greek Life that indicate an individual may be a current college student. Take a look through the remaining interests and see if any are uniquely relevant for your target audience.
Place your Targeting Radius Strategically
In some cases, you can still meaningfully target by location, even with the 15-mile minimum targeting radius. A trick that may work for your location is to center your target over rural or less densely populated areas so that only the outer portion of your circle includes the area you actually want to target. This reduces the number of unqualified prospects your ad is served to while still allowing you to target the desired location.
Switch to a Cost Per Click (CPC) Model
Facebook allows you to choose between a cost per click (CPC) or a cost per thousand impressions (CPM) strategy. The targeting limitations mean that, even with some adjustments, your ad is likely to be served to a broader audience, translating into more impressions. As a result, we recommend switching to a CPC model if you haven’t already. This means you’ll only get charged for clicks on your ad rather than on how many people see your ad, which will likely result in less ad spend per lead.
Optimize Your Ad Copy & Design
With more ads competing with yours, it’s more crucial than ever that your ad has crystal clear messaging that will resonate with qualified prospects. In other words, it needs to be clear what you’re advertising and why someone should care. Ad space is limited, though, so stick to high-impact copy and simple, high-quality property images.
High-impact copy typically includes the word “apartments,” “living,” “housing,” “townhomes,” etc. and the location of the property. Alternatively, you might specifically reference “2-bedrooms” or “$100 off your first month’s rent.” Whatever you do, just be sure it clearly communicates your product and what’s great about it.
Reconsider Facebook’s Role in Your Ad Mix
If you make adjustments and you’re just not getting the results you want, it might be time to reconsider the role Facebook plays in your overall ad mix. For example, even if Facebook ads don’t work well when targeting new prospects, you may still get a lot of bang for your buck when using Facebook for retargeting ads. That’s because retargeting ads target users by behavior (visits to your site) rather than by demographic, so those who are served your ad are already a qualified audience.
These are just some of the strategies you can use to adjust to the new Facebook ad targeting changes for real estate ads. For more Facebook ad insights and other digital marketing expertise, contact a Threshold team member today. We’d be happy to be your guide for all things digital marketing!
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, after asset management companies rushed to implement quick digital marketing solutions, Property Management Software have become more ubiquitous than ever, but so has the demand for strong agency/client marketing partnerships. With this surge in demand for digital real estate marketing, knowing the recipe for a great agency partnership is more important than ever. As real estate marketing agencies work to prove their worth, knowing these strategies for excellent partnerships is essential. Likewise, as asset management teams seek out ways to stand out from the crowd of competitors using the same PMS marketing tools they are, an agency partnership that honors their unique needs and goals can be particularly rewarding. For a timely comparison between Property Management Software marketing solutions and the advantages of a strong marketing agency partnership, check out the Pros and Cons of Relying on Property Management Software for Real Estate Marketing.
If you’ve read our blog post on How a Strong Agency/Client Relationship Can Make or Break Your Real Estate Marketing Plan, then you know just how important a healthy agency/client relationship is. Not only is a bad relationship unpleasant to deal with, it also impacts your bottom line (for both clients and agencies). But it’s easier to identify a bad relationship once it exists than to build a good relationship from the word go. What strategies can clients and agencies use to develop relationships that work for them?
Whether you’re a client looking for cost-effective marketing results or an agency looking to wow clients and encourage loyalty, today’s blog post will help you craft relationships that are mutually beneficial. So let’s get into it, shall we?
Emphasize Mutual Success
Your relationship isn’t just about contracting services and exchanging deliverables; it’s about partnership. As you make plans, launch campaigns, and review performance together, bear in mind that each party is made stronger by the other, and each party’s success is intertwined with the other’s. When you emphasize mutual success, you foster an attitude of working together (rather than simply performing transactions) that not only creates a better experience for everyone, but also creates better marketing results.
Acknowledge Uniqueness
Each client and each agency is unique—they are made up of unique individuals, have unique needs and areas of expertise, and experience unique challenges. A partnership works best when each party understands the other fully, and neither has a one-size-fits-all attitude toward working together. Cookie cutter strategies not only underperform due to their imperfect fit, they also communicate a lack of investment in the partner you’re working with.
Set Clear Expectations
When you don’t set clear expectations, needs go unmet and frustrations are inevitable. In order for work to get done together smoothly, everyone needs to know what is and is not expected of them, and when. Be honest and upfront about the limitations of what you can provide, and ask for clarification on what others need from you. Don’t wait until things are going wrong to have these conversations.
With clear expectations set, your projects will suffer from less scope creep, fewer disappointments, and a consistent plan that helps work get done on time and on budget.
Respect (And Take Advantage Of) Expertise
Neither the client nor the agency knows everything they need to know to create excellent marketing results—and that’s okay. In fact, it’s crucial to recognize where skills and access to information differ so that everyone can come together to inform your big-picture real estate marketing plan. That said, it’s not enough to ask for the input you think you need, you have to also put some trust in the expertise of the other party. Neither the client nor the agency should be—or even can be—dictating every single detail of the work you create together. Take advantage of your partner’s expertise and trust them to inform the areas where that expertise is relevant.
Establish Regular Communication
You’ve heard before that good communication is crucial to a healthy relationship, and that’s true for agency/client relationships as well. Calls and emails should happen on a regular cadence, not just when questions or issues arise (though they should happen then too). This ensures that all teams stay on the same page, issues are caught early, and a healthy rapport is maintained. All this translates to the marketing results you achieve together by encouraging steady progress through all your projects together, with fewer missteps along the way.
With these tips under your belt, you should be able to cultivate strong agency/client relationships that create mutual success as well as mutual happiness. If you’d like to learn more about agency/client relationships, or you’d like to start building a relationship with our team at Threshold, contact a Threshold team member today! We’d love to chat with you.
Your job, as an owner, manager or leasing agent, isn’t over when the prospective resident signs their lease. When key staff members consider their job complete after securing a signed lease, that property management company is going to have a hard time keeping residents happy —and an even harder time getting residents to renew for another year.
Creating a memorable move-in experience is one way to show residents that you’re prepared to take care of them even after you’ve secured their signed lease.
There’s no such thing as too much communication
Whether you’re marketing to students and parents at an off-campus community or communicating with young professionals and empty nesters at a luxury complex, it’s important to send emails explaining the move-in process. You don’t have to talk down to residents, but make sure to give them explicit instructions on what to expect come move-in day. Here at Threshold, we see hundreds of reviews come in on Yelp and Apartments.com from new residents complaining about the move-in process. Generally, they’re complaining about things that could have been resolved with a little more communication.
You can prevent negative reviews for your property by sending emails ahead of time. We promise, new residents won’t get tired of them. Everyone would rather be over prepared for a big-move than underprepared, and your new residents will appreciate the fact that you gave them all the necessary information.
Use move-in as an opportunity to brand your community
Student housing is unique in that the properties generally have everyone move in on the same day, but conventional apartment communities can have move-in days too, such as on the first day of the month or, for new developments, on the first day the property opens. If you’re anticipating lots of move-ins, take some time to create signage for your community. You can point people towards their building, parking, dumpsters and identify points of interest near the community. Here at The Anti-Vacancy Agency, we believe that properties should take advantage of branding their apartment marketing ideas whenever possible. People want to feel like they belong to a community, and branded signage is an easy way to help them feel that why while you promote your company.
Make it easy for residents to follow your property on social media
Move-in day is the perfect time to get residents to follow your property’s accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Have a computer open in the lobby so they can sign into their account and follow you as they pick up their keys. You can even offer free swag to everyone who takes a couple minutes to sign in.
The most successful properties engage residents with events, giveaways, free food and other promotions. The easiest way to let residents know about these promotions is through social media. Just tell residents that your property’s social media followers are the first to know about events and giveaways. Maybe even offer residents the chance to snap a picture while they’re moving in, and have it featured on the property’s social media pages. It’s all about driving engagement early on.
Make a memorable move-in day packet
Residents will appreciate anything you can do to make their transitional period easier. Consider assembling a move-in packet and placing it on the kitchen counter so they’ll see it when they walk into their apartment for the first time. In the packet, you can include magnets with helpful phone numbers (maintenance, front office, etc.), a list of nearby restaurants and coupons to those restaurants, and tips for local attractions.
It might seem small, but to a resident that’s just moved to the area, it can mean a lot that someone is willing to help them get acquainted. Make sure residents know how to access the event calendar for your community, or that they’re following you on social media so they can see when you’ll be having resident events. Most people who move into a new community are hoping to make some friends and meet their neighbors, so it’s important to provide them with the opportunity to do so!
It’s never too early for a renewal special
If you’re going to run a renewal special, it’s a great idea to do it within the first couple weeks after your new residents move-in. They probably have good feelings about their new place, and they’re likely tired of the entire moving process, maybe so much so that they’ll commit to living in the same place for the next couple years.
Threshold is the industry leader in student housing marketing and leasing marketing ideas. If you’re in need of creative work, promotional products or just some sound strategy for your property, give us a call to set up a consultation.
If you’re going to convince a renter to pay for luxury amenities, upscale finishes and detailed décor, your apartment marketing ideas need to be amplified by high end marketing materials. There are other ways to sway these types of renters towards deciding to sign a lease at your property, but it starts with professional, upscale marketing.
Standard communities are forced to justify their rates by providing features that are worth the price. Luxury communities, on the other hand, don’t necessarily have to justify the price. Truly luxurious brands are luxurious because they are only accessible by a limited portion of the population, and the price creates that exclusivity. All that’s left to do is match the exclusive feel in the marketing materials.
You’ll need to use emotive messaging, high quality images and superior design of course, but these elements only work when they’re created by apartment marketing professionals using professional printing services and inventive material structure.
The luxury is in the details
Minor elements like unique brochure structure, use of digital animation and high-end promo items make all the difference when marketing a luxury community. These small details let people know that there’s something special at your community; a community they can be a part of when they sign a lease. Every little detail should reinforce the idea of luxury. Even something as small as a typo in brochure copy will turn off luxury renters. They plan on paying for the best, so they expect something close to perfection.
High end apartments deserve high end production. You need bright, original images taken by a professional photographer or illustrated by an experienced graphic designer. You’re also going to want to use high end print production that leverages the industry’s most innovative printing methods and materials.
If you don’t decide to use professional services to amplify your leasing marketing ideas, your competitors will. High-end renters are used to high-end materials, and they know quality when they see it. For that reason, it’s a revenue-damaging mistake to cut corners on marketing materials for luxury communities.
Luxury isn’t for everybody — find your audience.
Understand the different wants and needs that a luxury apartment renter has, compared to a standard apartment renter. Make sure your apartment marketing ideas take an emotional angle. People who rent luxury apartments factor both practicality and appearances into their decision. Luxury renters want to feel like they’re buying something that will make them feel cool, suave, and elite. If you just lay out the basics of your apartment, they might be impressed, but they won’t be engaged.
It takes creative design and compelling copy to stir up emotion. At Threshold, we market luxury communities by playing up the lifestyle that accompanies the apartment, sometimes even more than we talk about the apartment itself.
Fine tune your messaging
People seeking luxury properties care about different things than those seeking standard properties. If you’re marketing to students and their parents, those renters want to hear about the amenities like an on-site fitness center, resort-style pool and Smart Home technology.
A family that’s just looking for a place to call home is going to care more about features like access to green spaces, neighborhood walkability and the reputation of the school district. You don’t have to have a luxury community to be able to talk about those things in your marketing materials, in fact, you don’t even need high-end marketing materials to talk about those advantages.
Threshold delivers detailed, impressive marketing materials for all kinds of communities, but we love creating an air of sophistication around our luxury communities. Contact us today for a free consultation to start applying luxury to your brand.
When you think of someone figuring out a name for your property, don’t imagine a creative-type at an advertising agency sitting up late at night, waiting for that perfect name to pop into their head. When Threshold names properties —be it a new or old community— our approach is never to just sit around spouting out names until we hear one that sounds cool.
That approach might work for startup tech companies, but naming ideas and marketing ideas for apartments emerge from a more nuanced approach. When property owners and developers come to us for a new naming project, they’re not only looking for a name. We certainly start with the name, but that name evolves into a color scheme, which evolves into a logo, which turns into tagline, messaging and whatever other apartment marketing collateral the property needs.
How a Name is Born
Before we can do any of that, our team needs to gather information about the property. The most important piece of information is the target market demographic. The property name must be geared precisely towards the target audience, because they’ll be seeing, saying and writing the name most often. Think about it; you wouldn’t assign a name to someone’s house without first considering who they are, what they like and where they work.
After we determine the characteristics of the community’s target resident, we consider the property’s other characteristics such as location, amenities, building style, and whether it will be considered a luxury apartment complex, a student housing community, or another kind of property. A name is only one or two words, but those words must be whittled down from a huge amount of information.
Of course, we don’t just collect information ourselves. We always sit down with property owners to talk about their vision for the property. At the end of the day, the client chooses from a list of names that Threshold provides. That’s why it’s so important to listen to the client’s ideas and incorporate them into the final naming considerations.
Be Unique. Don’t Be Weird.
Once we’ve compiled all the preliminary information, the creative naming process can begin. We look to bring out names that are unique, but not just for uniqueness sake. We’ll always consider the competition names, and avoid names that bear any similarity to other properties in the area. We want the name to stand out, but we also want it to make sense. Prospective residents should see the name and know exactly what their life will be like if they live there, or at least be intrigued by what their life might be like.
There’s no rule of thumb about whether your property name should be made up or be a real word. Each property is different, and each naming process requires a thorough investigation into which names will attract the most residents. There are rules about properties that are undergoing a rebrand, however. If your property is being rebranded, it’s probably for good reason. You don’t want to make the mistake of keeping certain parts of your old property name. A renaming effort requires total commitment to the new brand. That way, you’ll be able to attract people who are new to the market without any extra baggage that may have been associated with the previous property name.
Those are all the secret marketing ideas for apartments that we’re able to divulge today. When your property is ready for a new name, or if you’ve recently purchased a new property in need of an identity, Threshold has you covered with innovative apartment marketing ideas. We don’t do cookie-cutter and we don’t do boring —unless that’s what your target audience wants.
We get a lot of requests for rebrand projects from new property owners, especially those who’ve bought older properties. If you’re an owner taking over a property, you might want that property’s branding to fall more in line with the other communities you own. A rebrand makes a statement to the surrounding community that your property is serious about its image.
Recent renovations also cause property owners to come to Threshold for marketing ideas for apartments in the midst of a rebrand. The big payoff for big renovations is the ability to promote them. When you make renovations, and do a rebrand, you can promote your property in a whole new way to a whole new audience.
Finally, poor reputations can also cause owners to consider rebranding. Past a certain point, your property’s reputation cannot be saved, no matter how much time you dedicate to reputation management. If that’s the case, a rebrand can give your property a fresh start.
Obstacles to Overcome
Losing a name associated with negative reviews is great, but you’ll also lose plenty of equity in the community from people who’ve knew about your property’s old name. Online, you’ll have to take certain steps to combat the loss of domain and page authority that your website has built up over the years. At Threshold, we combat this by mapping your old URLs to similar pages on your new website.
There are a million moving parts to take care of when your property gets a new name, especially in today’s age of multiple online social media pages and apartment finder websites. It’s a complicated process to update every little detail, but it’s worth it—and entirely necessary— when launching a new brand into the market.
Your new site will have to build up trust with Google over time, no matter how much work your advertising agency does to combat the loss of SEO mojo from your old brand. However, property managers can drive traffic to their site right away by launching Google AdWords campaigns.
With AdWords, you can show up in search results right away because you’ve paid to be there. That will immediately drive traffic to your new site and speed up the trust-building process with Google.
Take Good Care of Your New Brand
As property managers know, renters care deeply about the lifestyle their chosen community projects. Sometimes, that projected lifestyle is even more important than the amenities or the square footage. Doing a rebrand can help your property show off an entirely different lifestyle than the old brand was putting out there. You can do all this without making major renovations.
We talked about changing the property’s social media pages to suit the new brand, but the voice and tone on social media should change as well. When we create new brands at Threshold, we don’t create them to be permanent. Instead, we develop brands that have the chance to grow and evolve as time goes on. We want our clients to be able to take ownership of their brand and wield it how they see fit. Social media is a perfect place to start trying out your new brand—your new voice.
A rebrand can involve anything from naming and a logo to a full-blown collateral update, including digital apartment marketing materials such as your website. We’re here with game-changing apartment marketing ideas when your property is ready for a rebrand. Whether you’ve just purchased a new property that needs to present a new face to the market, or you’re just sick of looking at a stagnant logo, Threshold can help.
