18 Apartment Leasing Marketing Ideas

Are you tired of spending money on newspaper advertising that just doesn’t seem to lower your vacancy rates? Do you get frustrated by the results you get from a listing you’ve put on Craigslist or other free sites? An effective marketing plan can help make apartment leasing a simple task to do and will have people begging you to become tenants. You’ve simply got to provide potential renters with the information they need to see the value in what you have.

The beginning of this journey starts when you make the effort to be honest about what your leases provide. No one likes seeing “Pets are negotiable” and then be told that only one small dog will be accepted no matter what… and the prospect has a cat. Save time for your prospects and you’ll have them want to start a relationship with you!

Great Apartment Leasing Marketing Ideas

1. Find out what the most stable jobs in your community happen to be and then directly market your apartments to the people who work in those jobs. That will be your most reliable method of keeping vacancy rates down.

2. Discover who is hiring in your community and give them a preferred renting status so that you can form relationships with the employers who are providing people with secure jobs. Job security means fewer worries about the rent being paid on time each month.

3. Create a survey for your renters to take so that you can determine what is most important to them about living where they do. You can then take that information and market their answers towards your prospects so they can see the value too.

4. If you have a website, create pages that are employer-specific so they’ll want to share this page with their employees and even on their social media sites. Show the incentives clearly on this employer page and you’ll create a powerful tool that will encourage prospects that might be relocating from out of town to consider your apartments first.

5. Donate to charity teams that are represented by the secure employers in the community so that you’ll create a relationship that benefits everyone when good things happen. How much good could you do with a $100 charitable donation for every renter one of your secure employers is able to send your way.

6. Marketing is about being different, so do something that other apartments aren’t doing in your community. Sign twirlers, billboards, or even a mascot that people see wandering around town are all ways to gain attention in a way others might not be doing right now.

7. Consider advertising in unusual places, like the grocery store. With an advertisement placed on a shopping cart, for example, people will see the name and contact information for your apartments a number of times while they pick up lettuce, potatoes, and proteins to stock their fridge.

8. Host an event that allows people to explore their artistic side, such as a photo scavenger hunt or apartment tour to show off the unique designs of your unit. The more people that see your units, the more likely you are to get a future tenant.

9. Free stuff is always something that people love, so create fun marketing items like t-shirts, guitar stickers, or even little pins for a baseball cap that put your name on display so that people can walk around and market for you while feeling like they look good in your stuff.

10. Do something special for your residents when they decide to renew, like bring them lunch one day to finalize the rental agreement. Anyone can send a form letter. Not everyone adds the personal touch to the renting experience.

11. Utilize the seasons to provide discounts on the first month of rent or on the required security deposit so that prospects can see that there is value in having one of your apartments. In the summer, hand out fliers at the pool. In winter, hand out fliers where they won’t get ruined by potential precipitation.

12. A lot of marketing efforts are focused on bringing people into the rental office, but what do people see once they step through your doors? If you give your prospects a terrible first impression, then they’ll likely bail on you faster than you can blink! Take some time, make your place look great, and you’ll create a winning first impression that people will love.

13. Be nice. It might be a business relationship, but it’s also a personal relationship. Eliminate any negative encounters and people will spread the word for you that you’ve got a pretty awesome place to rent.

14. Get a radio station involved with your rental pushes and consider hiring them to do a live broadcast from your site. You’ll have people come out to meet their favorite radio personalities and you’ll get regular exposure all day for the event.

15. Get QR codes designed for people to see throughout your community so they can scan them with their phones or tablets. Curiosity is always going to get people to scan a mysterious code and you can even include certain discounts when a QR code is used to eliminate a vacancy you might have.

16. Install a business center at your apartments so people can stay productive without having to pay for a broadband internet cost. Add a camera and people will be able to Skype for free, which is an attractive feature for many in low-income situations.

17. Have a pet park if your apartments accept pets so that pet owners can be social with each other and you’ll eliminate the little surprises that people can find while walking to their car for work.

18. Solicit testimonials from your current renters and make it worth their while: a small discount off of their rent for a month is often all it takes for them to give you a good soundbite or a few words of text that you can use to market to your prospects.