Posts filed under ‘Apartment Marketing’
Rentals Posted to Twitter Will Soon Show Up in Google
Are you tweeting your available apartment rentals and house rentals on Twitter?
Some may argue against this, but with the recent announcement of the Google-Twitter search deal and the Bing-Twitter search deal, tweeting your available rentals will now deliver one heaping advertising advantage — search engine exposure.
Let’s take a closer look:
If Google and Bing search results are now going to pull in tweets, don’t you think it’s a good idea for you to get your rental listings in Twitter? For example, if a renter searches for “San Diego Apartments” in Google you may now see some tweets in the Google search results that relate to this search, similar to what you see here http://search.twitter.com/search?q=san+diego+apartments. It will be interesting to see how Google displays the rental specific tweets in their search results. Will the tweets display within their regular search or will it be a side option? Will Google be able to filter out all the spam such as what you see in the hijacked Twitter trending topics? I hope so.
So, if you are not already tweeting your available rentals, now’s a better time than any to start.
Remember, RentShout offers a 1-click social network sharing option that allows you to easily share your rental listings on Twitter and other social networks.
Are Online Apartment Marketing Services Useful?
There is a growing trend of apartment marketing services online for people wanting to find renters for their apartments. Let’s face it, finding a suitable apartment is much more convenient by searching on the internet. So for people who have apartments they want to rent out, they need to use online apartment marketing services. But the question is, are these apartment marketing services effective?
Let’s put yourself in the shoes of a renter. Your current rental contract is due to expire in a few weeks and you have to move out. Unless you’re computer illiterate, the first thing you do is search online for available apartments that are in the area you want to rent in.
You can either look for apartments by using the search engines or visit a rental directory which you’re familiar with. Many renters do this when they are looking for places to rent. Since the internet is such a popular place to search for apartment rentals, if you’re not advertising online for your apartment, you’re not marketing properly.
There are many apartment marketing websites where you can list your apartment in their database, and use their service to get your message out to interested renters. An example of one of these websites is RentShout at http://www.rentshout.com
If you have an apartment that you want to rent out, RentShout should definitely be one of your first choices to get the word out.
Their services include:
- submitting your apartment details to rental directories
- syndicate the details of your apartment on popular search directories including Google and Yahoo
- create videos with apartment images you provide them with, and distribute them to video sharing sites such as YouTube
- publish your apartment details through their social network including Facebook and Twitter
Looking at the list of services, you can see that RentShout has covered almost all the possible websites where you can market your apartment. The important thing here is targeted traffic.
This rental advertising company has started to become one of the main websites for apartment owners to fill their vacant apartment units quickly. They are continuously adding new rental directories to their network to provide the best exposure for their clients. Without a shadow of a doubt, apartment marketing websites are effective in helping owners find renters quickly.
Track Renter Leads Online and Offline
Tracking renter leads is one of the most important things you’ll do in your rental marketing efforts. Why? Two (very important) reasons:
- Discover where the fish are. Have you ever heard the sales quote, “Fish where the fish are”? It means that in order to get a successful return on your marketing and advertising efforts, you need to be delivering your message to people that will respond positively (people that respond negatively, or don’t respond at all, are not “fish”). If you’re not tracking the response to your advertising (where leads are coming from, how many from each source, etc.), then how will you know where your advertising is effective and where it isn’t? The answer: you won’t. This is why it is so important to have a system in place for effectively tracking renter leads.
- Be prepared when you contact leads. Which scenario do you think is more effective? The answer should be obvious:
a) A potential renter sends you an email saying they are interested in the property they saw advertised, not mentioning address, unit, or location. They have no idea that you are also advertising 20 other properties at the same time. You call them back, but get their voicemail. You leave a message asking which property they are interested in and request a call back. The lead receives the message, but doesn’t remember the address or where they saw the ad. They either call you back and you play phone-tag for who knows how many days, or they don’t call back at all.
– OR –
b) Every rental advertisement you place has a unique email address assigned to it. When a potential renter sends you an email inquiry about a property you’re advertising, you’ll know exactly which one they’re interested in. You can call or email the lead back prepared, ready to close the lease in no time.
So, are you tracking your renter leads effectively? Are you fishing where the fish are? Are you calling leads back prepared? We hope so.
