Top Findings From SOCi’s Modern Marketing Conversation With Waterton

The world of property management is constantly changing, and while many property management companies (PMCs) understand the importance of digital marketing, it can be challenging to keep up. SOCi hosted a Modern Marketing Conversation with Waterton’s AVP of Marketing, Tina Miserendino, to take a deeper look at these changes. Waterton has had great success when it comes to localized marketing. Throughout the conversation, Miserendino highlights what has changed in localized marketing and some of Waterton’s secrets to success. This blog breaks it down. 

Importance of Localized Marketing for PMCs 

As a multifamily marketer, the fundamental goals of your marketing efforts include, but are not limited to: 

• To be discoverable on the sites and apps potential residents leverage when looking for places to live 
• To answer the needs of potential residents seeking information about your properties’ offerings 
• To present those offerings in a compelling manner that helps your PMC win more leases 
• To maintain and grow a loyal audience of residents that keep occupancy at the highest levels 

In order to help your PMC and its local properties reach these goals, localized marketing is a must. Digitally native Millennials and Gen Z are the renters of today and the future; 89 percent of Gen Zers say they use the internet almost constantly or several times a day. With this increase in more digitally focused renters comes the need for your PMC to step up its digital presence. The data speaks for itself. For instance, 3 out of 4 consumers say they discovered a new local offering based on recommendations and posts on social media. So what can your PMC do to optimize its digital presence? Waterton has the answers. 

Secrets to Localized Marketing Success from Waterton

While there’s no secret formula your PMC can leverage to find localized marketing success, there are some tactics that have proven to be effective. If your PMC isn’t leveraging these tactics to their fullest potential, think of the signed leases you could be leaving on the table. 

1. Add More Details to Your Local Listings 

Local listings of your properties are essential in local search and social sites like Google Business Profile, formerly known as Google My Business, Facebook, Yelp, Instagram, and more. While claiming local listings across these channels is essential, it’s no longer enough to list your properties’ basic details like phone number and address. Miserendino explained that local listings need more rich content to increase visibility on Google.  

If your PMC is unsure of what type of content to include in its local listings, consider the following: 

• Photos of your property 
• A CTA to schedule an apartment tour 
• Ratings and reviews of your property 
• Q&A section that answers your property’s most frequently asked questions
• Attributes that provide additional details about your property are essential as well, for instance, details about handicapped accessibility
• Description paragraph can capture any details relevant to your target audience

The more details your properties include in their local listings, the better. Consumers crave convenience and will be pleased to find the information they want to know about your local properties without having to dig for answers. 

2. Build a Loyal Following On Social Media 

Social media is another excellent way for your PMC to differentiate itself from competitors. Currently, 80 percent of apartment seekers look at social media before choosing their next rental. Building a loyal following on local social can be challenging, but it’s worth the effort. Is your PMC’s local social strategy up to par? Data from our Top Property Management Companies in Localized Marketing Report provides insight. 

The report looked at the top 25 PMCs and examined how they appeared in local search and local social. When looking at local social, property management companies have a good location presence and reasonably high posting frequency. This means that potential residents will easily find properties on social channels and will likely see recently updated content when they do.

• On Facebook, 62 percent of the properties we examined were actively creating new social content regularly.
• On average, PMCs post seven times per month on Facebook, which equates to a reasonably high volume of 1-2 posts per week. 

Is your PMC meeting or exceeding these averages? While a presence on local social and a consistent posting frequency is necessary, Waterton emphasized that the type of content your local properties post must be engaging as well. Potential residents need to find properties easily on social channels and be engaged by the content they discover. Check out our Localized Social Content Guide for more insight into what it takes to build a strong and engaging content strategy. 

3. Get Buy-In from Local Teams 

Your PMC can have the best local social strategy planned and the most updated and detailed local listings, but your efforts won’t be worthwhile without buy-in from local teams. Waterton discovered that to get buy-in from local teams, they had to convince them of the importance of localized marketing. Providing case studies highlighting how localized marketing efforts can help your properties beat the competition and win more leases is a great way to get buy-in. 

Waterton also realized that the property managers at their local portfolios would need the proper training and tools required to execute a marketing strategy. That’s where SOCi came in. With the help of SOCi, Waterton was able to have a single tool that helps their local portfolios manage a variety of localized marketing efforts under one login. Rather than learning multiple tools and remembering countless logins, property managers just had to learn how to use SOCi. If you’re a PMC looking for a platform to help increase buy-in, remember, the fewer logins, the better! 

Start Building a Winning Localized Marketing Strategy 

After following Waterton’s secrets to success, your PMC should be equipped to create a winning localized marketing strategy. It’s time to meet renters where they are, and that starts with localized marketing. Many multifamily marketers are overwhelmed with the thought of managing localized marketing efforts across all local properties, but SOCi is here to help. SOCi provides one central place to scale your marketing efforts, and makes it easy for your local property and corporate teams to respond to reviews, engage current and future residents on a local level, and ensure that your properties’ reputation is protected.

From local social to local listings to ratings and reviews, and more SOCi has you covered. Request a demo today for more insight into how SOCi can help your PMC crush the competition and win more leases!