Having a rental unit that stays vacant for several months is the bane of being a landlord. In a market where the supply of rentals outstrips the demand, you must find creative ways to attract tenants.
This is where property marketing comes in handy.
Marketing increases the visibility of your property to prospective renters, but to achieve optimal results, you must use the right marketing techniques.
If you'd like to know how to market your rental like a pro, keep reading!
1. Understand Your Target Audience
Anyone can be a tenant, but this doesn't mean you should market your rental to everyone. The first step to effective property marketing is to identify your target audience.
If your rental property is located near a college campus, for example, it's a no-brainer that your target audience is college students. If it's located in a retirement community, you're targeting the boomers who want to live in the area.
Your target audience will influence, or determine, some of your marketing decisions. With college students as your primary target market, for instance, you'd be more inclined to adopt a digital marketing strategy.
2. Create a Website for Your Rentals
Building a website for your rental property might not be top on your marketing to-do list, but it should. Gone are the days when renters used to walk from neighborhood to neighborhood looking for a vacant unit. Today, they turn to Google and other search engines.
A website that's optimized for search engines will make your property visible to these searchers. Once they land on your website, they can check out photos and videos of the property, make an application, and contact you for more details.
3. Leverage the Power of Social Media to Find Tenants
80% of renters use social media to find their next rental.
This tells you that marketing your property on social media will help you find tenants in a challenging market. The only problem? Every other landlord is marketing on social media, so standing out can be tough.
The secret is to identify social media channels that will give you the best chance of reaching your target audience. If you're targeting college students, don't waste time advertising on Facebook. Gen Zers are using TikTok and Snapchat, which is where you should run your social media marketing campaign.
4. Referral Marketing
Your current tenants are a reliable source of new tenants. They know people who are looking to rent, and they can refer them to your properties. You just need to incentivize them into doing so.
For example, you can run a referral program that offers a 20% discount on the next month's rent whenever they refer a new tenant who passes your screening. The incentive will eat into your rental income, but in a tough market, referral marketing might be the only way to keep your occupancy rate high.
Leave Property Marketing to the Professionals
These property marketing tips can help you find tenants in a competitive market, but they need time and expertise. As a busy landlord, you probably have neither.
Why not hire a property management company and let them do the rental marketing? If your rental property is in Menifee, CA, count on PMI Warranted to handle all your property marketing needs.
