Many property marketers recognize that digital marketing solutions are an important part of their efforts to increase heads in beds. However, marketing directors may not realize how essential new media platforms are for reaching their occupancy goals. As one of the pillars of a holistic marketing strategy, properly planned and implemented electronic campaigns produce great fruit. And they’re especially beneficial when pursuing a student population.
Learn how to use digital marketing solutions to:
From e-commerce to Zoom meetings to Snapchat, it’s no secret that almost every aspect of our lives has developed a digital component. As society becomes increasingly mobile, we develop new ways to obtain information and stay connected.
Traditional advertising and on-campus marketing still have a valuable part to play in leasing campaigns, but technological solutions make it easy and affordable to engage with a wide range of prospective applicants year-round. In fact, digital marketing solutions are now non-negotiable in today’s modern marketplace.
To successfully engage their target audience, student housing marketing departments need to understand who they’re speaking to and what drives their audience to take action. How does your target market prefer to consume content? Interact with others? Receive brand messaging? Where do they spend their time?
Your marketing efforts will have the greatest impact when they reach potential renters where they are. Student rentals cater almost exclusively to Millennial and Generation Z audiences. These are digitally native demographics, shaped by the consumption of experiences evaluated in the virtual world.
Research shows that for Gen Z (which accounts for about a quarter of the U.S. population), the internet is their medium of choice and smartphones are omnipresent. In fact, approximately half of this generation spends 10 hours a day online while teens are on their smartphones an average of 3 hours a day. The digital landscape is where this group socializes, studies, shops and gets their news.
One of the best things about online marketing is that it’s easily shareable. And for teenagers and young adults, peer feedback greatly influences their decision making. By utilizing digital ad campaigns, social media marketing and other digital marketing tactics, you increase the range and effect of your promotional efforts.
“When people ask me what’s the ROI of Social, I ask them… what’s the ROI of Trust and what’s the ROI of Loyalty.”
- TED RUBIN
Everything from paid digital advertising to your website and social media channels falls under this category.
While we won’t deep dive into each of these categories here, we’d like to share some ideas for making the most of digital marketing as a student housing manager.
Your company’s website is likely one of the first places student renters will go to learn about your housing options. Take this chance to establish your brand, present an appealing picture of life in your buildings and showcase the amenities your properties provide.
Keep your website’s information up-to-date and use design and wording that draw your target market in. The same goes for content marketing, online brochures and other digital branding assets. These should be informative, appealing to the modern marketplace and share-worthy.
Digital ad campaigns, social media campaigns and influencer partnerships build buzz for everything your rentals have to offer. They also provide a broader reach than traditional ad campaigns, often at a fraction of the price.
The internet is more than just a place to inform and advertise. The generations you’re targeting typically prefer to communicate via text, email and social media. When you interact with qualified leads using the communication methods they favor, you’ll find it easier to build and deepen relationships, increase engagement and optimize occupancy. Touch base with prospective applicants regularly to keep your property top-of-mind.
Online, email and text marketing reach Millennials and Gen Z exactly where they’re spending the majority of their time – on their smartphones. Since 96% of adults in the United States ages 18 to 29 now own smartphones, it is especially important that companies know how to optimize their campaigns for a mobile setting and make the mobile shopping experience as easy and seamless as possible.
Videos are another key marketing tool, and are rapidly growing in popularity. With video, your marketing message can be effectively conveyed to a wide audience faster than ever before. Ads featuring virtual property tours are an incredibly effective way for leasing managers to make use of this technology.
While it’s wonderful to have so many options for engaging with your target market virtually, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the range of channel and strategy options. Here at MSSmedia, we’ve been providing real estate clients with successful marketing solutions for more than 15 years. We’re happy to share our expertise with you.
We know you have limited time, energy and funding to devote to digital marketing. To reach your occupancy goals, it’s important to focus on the strategies that are proven to provide maximum return on investment (ROI). We find a full-funnel digital and campus marketing strategy focused on paid advertising to be most effective when it comes to increasing engagement and ultimately, heads in beds.
Using location specific geo-targeted advertisements (local Pay Per Click) ensures that the digital impressions you’re paying for reach the candidates you’re pursuing.
A holistic campaign will encompass display, video, search and social advertising. For paid digital ad campaigns, we utilize the following digital marketing solutions:
Digital advertising’s wide reach is excellent, but precision is necessary for ROI. By employing multiple digital touchpoints layered with demographic profile targeting and geo-targeting, we successfully deliver the results our clients desire.
Would you like to learn more about how to create a successful property marketing campaign for student housing? See our complete guide to property marketing in the student housing sector.
Here at MSS Media, Inc., we’ve been providing Education, Government, Real Estate & Lifestyle clients with succinct, optimized, and successful marketing solutions for more than 15 years. Consider MSSmedia a full-service, one-stop shop for all your Media and Public Relations needs. Your goals are our motivation. And our mission is to propel your message, further and faster, to achieve the outcomes you’re looking for. If you found this blog post helpful, please share!