I was surprised by the lack of marketing knowledge…and for that matter, the lack of creativity. I heard the same 3 “best practices” from a majority of the groups: Generic signs and balloons for drive by traffic, generic Craiglist ads and monetary resident referral incentives. I heard questions like: ”What do you say when you’re marketing to a business?” and “It’s ok to send thank you cards and gift baskets to businesses who refer someone to you?” Leasing agents and PMs who had no knowledge of free additional ILS marketing template tools like VFlyer and Postlets, who had never thought past posting a flyer with a resident referral rent credit in terms of using residents as a marketing tool, and those are just building blocks. It’s as if they were told that marketing is something only a rocket scientist can figure out.

First let me say I’m not exactly saying the 3 best practice items listed above are crap, I’m simply saying that they shouldn’t be IT.  Also, I’m in love with social media and believe it’s an insanely valuable tool, however 1. It was not my topic to discuss and 2. I also think that personal touch and those face to face human interactions through outreach marketing and resident appreciation events are valuable, and combining the 2 forms is fabulous! (Read Urbane Media’s QR Codes blog). But I’m not sure I believe you can be effective with social media if you don’t even know the basics of effective old school marketing tools. And if no one is teaching or motivating their team on the basics of marketing, then I doubt that there is any social media marketing in place anyway.

So I guess what I’d like to learn from this eye opening experience is: Am I way off base in believing that some old school marketing techniques are still a valuable tool in the industry? Is someone teaching your staff about marketing? Do you believe that one can effectively use social media tools without ever having learned/practiced old school marketing strategies?

Title courtesy of Melissa DeCicco

Photo credit bloggingoutloud

Clarity trumps persuasion. – Dr. Flint McGlaughlin

I have written about the subjects of brevity and clarity on a number of occasions. The concept came to me from a senior leader at Equity Residential some years ago and has stuck with me ever since. At the time I had the propensity to provide reports that were beyond the time necessary to digest them and I had the knack of going on and on in my descriptions of strategies and results. That is despite all the customary body language queues that would have guided me otherwise; had I been paying attention to them.

Principle: Brevity and Clarity

When thinking about apartment marketing, exercise the principle of brevity and clarity in your print ad copy, website copy, brochure offerings [if you still do this sort of thing], Facebook posting, blog posting and the such.

It’s not sage or unique advice but nevertheless a good reminder; we live in an attention economy. As such, we have to be compelling in our remarks and mindful of the clarity in our brevity.

I am even more intrigued with their brand as a result…

How about you? Good? Bad? Indifferent?

Tell them about waking up on a crisp fall morning and taking a run in Forest Park just one block over from your apartment. Tell them about stopping back by Velocity Coffee Shop to have a cup of coffee – served by a friendly Barista named Tracy who rarely smiles but wants to. Tell them about the free copies of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the St. Louis Dispatch. Tell them about the free wifi. And, oh – it’s a bike shop too with cool bike motif everywhere. The bathroom even has a cool chalkboard where you once drew a giant dragon that looked as if it were eating the giant flower someone else drew.

Tell them about Papa John’s pizza and Subway at the end of the block where Tony and Charles remember your name and serve you with a smile. Tell them about Atlas Restaurant located in the heart of the neighborhood and the amazing food and desserts that they serve. Tell them about The Loop and The Central West End [very cool Saint Louis neighborhood hangouts] being just one mile away and don’t forget to mention the friendly cab driver resident who will drive you over while entertaining you with great conversation. Tell them about all the fun nights you had in those neighborhoods.

Tell them about Mr. and Mrs. Wang who own the dry cleaners right next door to Papa John’s and how they wash and fold clothes for $0.75 a pound. Tell them how much you love the fact that each Christmas they give your children big canisters of candy as a thank you for your business.

Tell them about the dog park even if you are not a pet lover – not even in the least.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, this is the neighborhood that I fell in love with in Saint Louis. Oh yeah, and I lived in a great apartment that overlooked a tree lined street that looks amazing in the fall.

Tell them with conviction how much you love the neighborhood the rest will fall right into place.

I have read both sides of this issue and have taken the position that if you disclose that you are paying for and or giving something away in exchange for an endorsement then frankly it’s okay. It really comes down to what is in the eye of the beholder.  And, I think, at the end of the day, if a person really wants a product/experience they will go and get it/have it despite the persons of influence in their lives. They may read and listen but if they want it – they want it, period.

My real point here is that the above tweet implies that it’s okay to give away a  Flip in exchange for an endorsement. Moreover it specifically states that it’s better than giving away free rent. On that point I ask: What’s the difference? – give away free rent or buy 20 Flips to give away – either way you hit the bottom line. Sure buying the Flip is cheaper and brings along a novelty that escaped the free rent give away long ago but it’s still an expense. It’s just a different form of currency. Marry it with a “you get the Flip free “if” you give me an endorsement and you have really marred the picture but I will leave that for future conversation.

For now – I really wonder what the community thinks – Is the Flip, used in this sense, a form of currency that could be construed as purchasing feedback? If so, is that okay? Would it pass a Yelp sniff test? Do you think the masses really care? Would you give equal stage to people who would speak conversely about your brand experience? Is it better than free rent? If so, why?

Because a party should be a party w/o shop talk I’ve included a few bullet points below for your review.  You can expect me to not talk about work unless you truly want to.

RentWiki is a brand new Internet Listing Service that provides peer advice on where to live, social networking, and the latest and greatest in apartment advertising on the web.

• WE upload all of your content for free; YouTube videos, any virtual tour, and unlimited photos and floor-plans
• Facebook and Twitter integrated; bringing more content, connections, and social networks to your prospects allowing them to answer questions and give neighborhood advice so you don’t have to.
• Free Widgets including Walk Score and contributed content sharing for your own corporate or property website

And you only pay $10 for every LEGIT renter lead.  That’s right… the least expensive cost per lead in the industry (you’ll pay $40+ per lead elsewhere)!! 

• We review EVERY lead, eliminate the trash and duplicates, and only charge for the true legit renter lead
• Why do we do this?  So you don’t have to!!  Our goal is to deliver quality not to inundate you with a ton of leads to filter through in order to find the legit ones.
• Set your monthly lead limit, change it at any time you wish, and come and go as you please… WE HAVE NO CONTRACTS!

Anyway… looking forward to hanging out with you at The Lucky Strike on Thursday night from 7-10PM!!!!

Feel free to call w/ any questions!!!   Seriously… I love to talk about work but I know you wont at a party!!!!

–
Steve Wiley
WikiDirectorDudeman, National Sales
www.RentWiki.com/blog
http://twitter.com/WikiWiley
c: 404-771-7302
f:  770-458-2522
support:  877-458-2520  support@rentwiki.com
wiley@rentwiki.com

Rentwiki, AIM, Multifamily Marketing

and turn the typical apartment web site on its head, and created an Experience Site, that acted and felt more like a Social Media Site and less like a apartment web site. A site that was so cool, hip and added value to the resident or potential resident, that looking at the available apartment was secondary to the experience of visiting, and participating in/on the site, and that we were able to evoke Emotion and Engagement with the resident/potential resident, so that when/if that potential visitor ever needed, wanted or otherwise was going to rent an apartment, they picked you without even considering the other guys, and you created Your Own Blue Ocean.

While walking with Gus this morning, our mostly wonderful little Bull Terrier friend, strolling through the local neighborhood, I happened to see a guy working on his chimney cap, which diverted my attention to what has become as extinct as the dinosaurs, a TV Antenna. I remember as a kid my Dad getting a new a antenna, then a new rotor, then a really big tower for the antenna, all in the name of getting better reception for those handful of channels we were glued too most of the time, all four or six of them. Well, how many of those ole antennas do you see now? At least in our neighborhood I didn’t see anymore. And, I bet that antenna sales people, antenna tower installers        and the like never imagined that would all go away, heck every household had one, and every strong wind blew them down so it was a fat cat business, right, but,…………………………………………………….…not anymore, they are mostly all gone

What if Apartment Marketing were changing, right now, and evolving just the way the antennas left us, full service gas stations left us and all the other things that evaporate into a new way of doing business, Are You prepared, is your property prepared, do you have the training in place to meet and embrace Social Media, or do you just not believe it and are passing it off, maybe we all should pay a little closer attention, as the way in which products, including apartments are being marketed today IS changing, with or without our individual approval.