Congratulations everyone for making it threw the busy leasing season into the slow season. But don’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet because now is the time to start marketing for the next busy season. I’m very sorry to bring you this sad news that you will not be able to take a big breath & relax or be able to catch up on some things we neglected. Now is the time where we should be marketing more than ever our property so that come the pre-busy (Mid Feb-May) and the really busy season (June-October) we are jamming with prospects and not twiddling our fingers wondering what the heck happened. To help us all out with this I have some great marketing ideas that I have personally used as a Leasing Agent on Affordable Communities. Grab your running shoes & put them on because it’s time to run with these ideas!
Candy Canes Anyone?
1) The month of December is a magical month that brings joy to everyone. We can be Santa Helpers with providing Day Cares with Candy Canes for when Santa comes for a visit. The past two years I have gone to the Dollar Store or Wal-Mart picked up a bunch of Candy Canes, I really mean I bought out the whole shelf; yes I got lots of really funny looks. Each candy cane had a ribbon with a cute little business card attach advertising what our current special was. The candy canes were then delivered to the Day Cares to be given out when Santa Clause came. Another great place to market using candy canes is your local mall. Every year Santa visits the malls and photography studios. This is a great place to get your community notice by large masses of potential residents by donating candy canes. Every town will have a Christmas Tree Lighting Program and yup you guessed it Santa will be there and towns will need someone to donate a goody for the kids to have after visiting with Santa. With the technology we have today simply incorporate a QR code on the business card this will get the kids asking the parents what the funny square is and who can resist a QR Code?!?! Look for places that Santa will be at and volunteer to donate candy canes with your community information attached.
Santa Makes A Great Human Directional & Paint Ball Target: Using
2) We are always looking for a way to draw attention from the drive by traffic to our communities and what better way than to have Santa Clause as a Human Directional! I remember about two Christmases’ ago at a property I was working at we convinced our grounds keeper to put on the Santa Clause costume & hold our sign that said “We have Hot Chocolate & Great Rental Rates” out on a busy road by the mall. He did this for two hours every day and would even sing holiday songs and shout out “Merry Christmas” to those driving by. I will never forget the day when he was shot with a paintball gun while standing outside as Santa. That was one of the luckiest days our community had during that month, his being shot by the paint ball brought in prospects because they felt sorry for him and they moved in February!
Photographers Can Be Your New Best Friend:
3) Portrait Studios are really busy this year; see if you can contact your local Life touch studio to see if you can strike up a partnership with them. Tell the Portrait Manager that will you take their coupons and put them on all your residents’ doors. Remember to make sure they have your property name on them so the manager knows where they are coming from. Don’t be afraid to ask the Portrait Manager if you can stuff the flyers in the portrait packages or tape to the envelopes. In regards to the flyers try to use a flyer that speaks warmth as it will be cold & dreary for many when they pick up their packages. Also if you post an expiration date on the flyers make sure it is over a 60 day period as many wait a month to pick up pictures to avoid the crush of people. The last thing you want to do is eliminate a potential customer with an expired special.
ATM’s & Clubs Are a Great Place To Meet People:
4) New' Year's Eve is the busiest time for ATM’s, clubs, bars & liquor stores. These are all great places to reach large masses of potential residents. I know you are thinking seriously Jolene you really think we are going to give up going out to party just to market our community?!?!?! No I'm not, but here is what you can do to tap into the mass majority of people. If you are going to a club take some business cards and tape them to the back of the bathroom stall doors - this really does work. During the day take all your promotional flyers or business cards and tag the heck out of the ATM's close to busy areas like the clubs or shopping centers. People are going to need money New Year's Eve and New Year's Day; what better way to reach people than at the ATM. Please make sure you have permission from your management company to do this. I have been posting on ATM’s for two years and have seen great results especially on holiday weekends!
Bandit Signs Can Be Your New Best Friend:
5) Bandit Signs are a very inexpensive way to market your community. Your bandit signs should be put everywhere that is going to be busy during the Holiday's- you know those places where you sit in traffic for 30 minutes to turn into the mall. The key is to get people to see your name and remember you. Keep the signs simple and your phone number large. Stick them at major intersections of shopping centers and the Highway. Also look at the zip codes where you are getting approvals from on your Credit and Criminals, Core logic has this capability to show you. Target those zip codes & branch out of your general area.
Tax Season:
6) January is 1 month closer to Tax season....yea!!!! This is a great time to tap into your H&R Blocks, Jackson Hewitt etc. Set an appointment with the regional to see what marketing partnership you can strike up. The key is to make sure you have a special that is exclusively for their customers. Every year I do this I average about ten leases off of this idea and we only did this with H & R Block, they put us in ten different locations in Jacksonville and Orange Park. In-exchange we invited them to talk to our residents and put there flyer's in our newsletters.
Super bowl Weekend:
7) Super bowl Weekend= Pizza and Taco Beal! These are probably one of the greatest ways to reach a large number of people in one night alone! It is going to take some planning about 4 to 6 weeks to secure your of in these stores but it is worth it. Taco Beal that are franchise will put your marketing material in their bags for free. All you have to do is become a business partner of theirs. Taco Beal has the mega box deals that go fast for Super Bowl Parties & are great for using a sticky note flyer! Remember super bowl Weekend is the busiest weekend for these two restaurants. On average, Papa Johns on Sunday night will sell over 5,000 pizzas. Get in touch with the GM and see what you can work out as far as cross promotional for both companies. This is a perfect time to use these two ideas as you are about to enter your pre-busy leasing season and people will remember seeing your marketing material.
Hearts Are A Blooming For Your Apartments:
8) Valentine’s Day is coming and hearts will be blooming at the stores. Get a bunch of those small heart boxes tag a fun note saying" become our sweet heart at Smith Apartments with a $299 Move In! Call 904-767-6889 TODAY. “Hit all the local business with these fun really inexpensive items and give to the employees. This is a great way to incorporate Valentines in your marketing and this will remain in the prospect's head.
Remember this key point: we as human love to use our sight for everything. Our sight is what helps us decide on what to eat, drink, buy and guess where to LIVE! So if we want prospects to come to us then we need to make sure they can see us! The best thing you can do for your property & owners is to start marketing over the next few months aggressively. Remember you’re not just marketing apartments you are marketing a life style. Now I have shared some of my best secrets for direct outreach marketing during the slow season now it’s your turn to put those running shoes to the test & hit the pavement running- on your mark get set go!
Jolene Sopalski
Assistant Community Manager & Owner of FLY Apartment Leasing Idea’s on Facebook!
*originally posted on Multifamily Insiders on December 1,2010*
Great idea about H&R Block and tax season!
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