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“Oh no! We are 8% vacant!”A tragedy? Maybe. That might be too many vacants considering the recent high-demand market. But don’t forget something very significant. You are also 92% occupied! Yes, you have a lot of residents who have chosen to call your community their home. Listen to their stories! The best apartment marketing strategy focuses on occupied units, not the vacancies.
Vacancies can’t talk! Focusing on the vacant apartment homes will be frustrating and a waste of time. Of course, you want them perfectly ready to show and properly priced. Yet, these vacants don’t tell you much about creating your market strategy. “Talk” to the occupied units. Here’s how:
- Make sure every prospect traffic is fastidiously tracked. Ask phone prospects, “Where did you find our telephone number?” This is the starting point for building an accurate traffic source database.
- Go back to your last 30-75 move-ins and determine the initial contact method (internet, email, phone, drive by, etc.) and exact source of traffic. Listen to their story.
- This data will quickly tell you which traffic source produce the results you really want from your marketing efforts – Prospects that lease AND move in.
- Now you know those traffic sources that produce the most move-ins. Double or triple your efforts and exposure in those venues or sources.
As you work to identify the marketing sources that produce the most move-ins, you also begin to see the traffic that might be wasting your time. Eliminate the marketing and traffic sources that merely produce “activity” but not move-ins. Now you are moving toward GREAT apartment marketing:
Less Traffic producing MORE Move ins!
