Using Social Media to Market Your Rental Homes

There is a big difference between a rental real estate mogul and someone who manages a handful of properties they rent to local residents — especially when it comes to marketing. Real estate corporations and investors with dozens of homes in their portfolios are marketing all the time. They have invested in fancy websites and constant social media campaigns because there is always another unit to fill and another tenant moving out in the near future. For local landlords and property managers, however, you could go months or even years between times when a home is empty and in need of marketing.

What this ultimately means is that you need efficient, unique and fast-acting advertisement strategies that get your message out to locals when homes are available, and not when they aren’t. In addition to the popular home-listing sites, social media is perfect for this approach. It gives you fast, widespread access to locals who may be looking for new homes and helps you make use of any online networking you’ve already done. Let’s explore a few social media techniques that can draw attention to an available home in a friendly and welcoming way.

Change Your Page Banner

For many social media platforms, you can set a personal page or channel banner image that shows a large picture on your profile. As an individual, you may have used this for pictures of family, travel photos, pets or a hobby you’re involved in. But when you’re tenant-hunting, try a different approach.

Replace your page banner with a picture of the home from the perspective of your “for rent” sign. Try to get an attractive shot that makes it absolutely clear that the home featured is available for a new renter. There will be no confusion that anyone interested in renting should contact you through your social media account.

Pin A Gallery Of Photos

Several platforms allow you to “pin” a favorite recent post and essentially stick it to the top of your feed or profile page to share with everyone who comes along. When turning over a rental property is the perfect time to update your active pin to showcase more pictures of the home. Start with a picturesque outdoor or living room shot, and include a few of your best interior photos — as many as the platform will allow.

Include a small, simple caption that says the home is currently available for rent and how to contact you. Making use of your current personal social media account is a great way to get the word out to friends, family, contacts and tertiary contacts who may be interested.

The Right Tags And Hashtags

Tagging is how people on social media find new content from people they haven’t met and connected with before. Someone who wants to see discussions on their favorite TV show will look up the corresponding tag. Likewise, people looking for a rental home will check the tags and hashtags associated with renting and their region.

Depending on your platform, the best way to use tagging can be to create a connection with venues and local landmarks you want to reference when marketing your home. Tagging the community parks, local restaurants and neighborhood schools is a great way to get attention from people who are already involved and interested in your community.

Share Vacancies

While it might be obvious why connecting with potential renters is valuable, there’s also a strong advantage to joining a few landlord and/or property manager social media groups. These online communities often share each other’s listings. Landlords and property managers can work together to expand your group’s total networking reach by liking and sharing the listings other members post to the group. This can ensure that your properties are seen by a wider range of people and can give you an insight on the total rental market in your region.

Combine Online And Real-World Networking

Don’t forget that connecting with locals online is the path to real-world connections. Use social media to meet people in person. Invite local renters to join you for open houses or private showings. You might consider asking a few of your real estate industry professional contacts out to lunch. This can significantly strengthen your connection and give you a good idea of how much you can rely on each relationship.

People who really want to meet you in person are more likely to be eager and ready to take action, but be considerate of introverts who can be decisive but not social. You may also consider becoming a part of community events, both sharing information online and attending the event to casually meet more locals.

Respond To Messages

Finally, remember to check and answer every message you get on every channel. Watch your phone, email and private messaging system on every social media platform. There may even be messages on your property listing websites. Interested potential tenants can come from any direction, and you need to be responsive to win their confidence in the home itself. Don’t delay by more than 16 hours or a reasonable weekend to respond.

Try to give a polite answer to every message you get, and have a quick way to send them a copy of your application — ideally via text or email, as online applications can greatly streamline the process. Be ready to answer questions, provide links to photo galleries and send next steps to people as smoothly as possible, no matter how they contact you. And most importantly, be responsive and friendly. Remember that you’re also interviewing to be their new landlord or property manager.

Social media marketing for your rental properties needs to be a careful balance between a big splash and a polite invitation. By featuring your property on your page, reaching out to the community and meeting connections in person, you should be able to cast a wide net and find a tenant efficiently.

Source: forbes.com