When it comes to real estate, we know the decision to start marketing on social media may seem daunting at first. With so much change and evolution constantly happening in social media, staying atop the most impactful trends, tricks and even basic platform navigation know-how can seem daunting, particularly when your team has a million other things to do in order to get a property built out and fully occupied. While these concerns are valid, with a little strategic planning and expert help, social media can be a highly impactful tool for successfully marketing a property. Like all social media marketing efforts, finding the right balance of sharing what you are ultimately selling and being conversational is key. You cannot expect to grow a following of engaged followers by simply posting images and copy that are blatantly “salesy”. There is a time and place, of course, for posts which highlight all of the bells and whistles a property has to offer, but that alone cannot carry a successful campaign. At the heart of a successful campaign is content that provides value to the viewer and can fall into one of two buckets, content that is either entertaining or informative. When worded properly and paired with appealing visuals, posts can both promote a property and its amenities and offerings while at the same time hitting one or both of those viewer appealing theme buckets.
With real estate, specifically apartments and condominiums, a key point of importance is community building. Even before a condo or apartment building completes construction, community building can be a key tactic in building an audience of engaged followers that in time, have the potential to convert to future renters or owners. Photoshoots in the neighborhood where the building is being constructed can showcase the lifestyle future residents will enjoy when living there. User generated content from local businesses can be an impactful share as well and a way to build up your community partners for future activations like open houses or resident appreciation events. By using social media to paint a picture of the life someone that lives at the project will enjoy, your followers can experience a taste of being a part of the community you are selling before it even exists. Ultimately, what this equates to in a bump in pre-leasing and pre-sales. In the third and fourth quarter of 2021 most projects we were working on in the San Diego multifamily market were reaching the 40% pre-leased mark prior to being ready for first move-ins.
Another important aspect of social media marketing for apartments and condos is strategic advertising. The targeting belt has been tightened on social media advertising the past few years and real estate particularly has felt the cinch. The new rules ultimately are in the best interest of the industry and the social media user and while what you can and cannot do may feel like a bit of a Tetris puzzle, our team of advertising experts love a good challenge and take delight in finding new tactics to navigate the ever changing ad world with ease. We also have the Facebook help desk on speed dial so anytime we need a little insider info or assistance we are quick to go straight to the source for advising.
Even after a property is leased up, your social media channels stand to be an ideal platform for resident retention and for attracting new owners or leases. Sharing property events and activations both in live posting and recap posts allows us to showcase the property experience. As your occupancy levels fluctuate posting frequency and ad campaigns can be revved up or paired down accordingly.
Ready to take social media management off your plate and level up your apartment or condo marketing campaign? Shoot us an email at info@shineblumecreative.com to learn more.