Do you think in order to have a successful marketing strategy, you must always have your marketing campaigns turned “on”? An effective way to use your limited marketing dollars is to set thresholds that signal you to initiate a digital advertising campaign. This tactic allows you to scale your digital marketing strategy to meet the needs of your individual properties.

What is a Trigger?

A trigger is a situation that solicits an action in response to a certain event. A trigger can serve as a catalyst for companies to launch campaigns to reach existing and prospective customers. This can be done both manually and automatically. Here are 3 examples of trigger-based campaigns in action:

1. New Customer Triggers

An event, like becoming a new tenant, signals the simplest form of a trigger-based campaign: the welcome email. Welcome emails typically have a high open-rate, and provide an excellent way for you to introduce your company, set the relationship, and promote a clear call-to-action (CTA). If a customer has a positive experience with your company, this is an appropriate time to request a customer review. In this day and age, your online reputation is your reputation. That’s why collecting this type of user-generated content is highly valuable, and plays a significant role in influencing other customers’ purchasing decisions.

2. Behavioral Triggers

Customer behavior and their stage in the buyer’s journey can also spark a campaign. For example, you’ve noticed someone has spent a significant amount of time browsing your website, has clicked on your landing page, or has submitted a request for more information. Monitoring behavioral activity allows you to determine where the customer is in terms of their buying process and how you can help solve their needs. This might trigger you to launch a remarketing campaign, have a sales rep call them for a follow-up conversation, or send a direct mailer regarding the interested property. Responding to their needs and providing contextualized value leads to a better customer experience and a positive response.

3. External Triggers

For property management operators and marketers, an external trigger could be a decrease in occupancy that might “trigger” you to start, or re-launch, a marketing campaign. For example, say your occupancy is consistently at or above 95%. However, seasonality or unexpected turnover in tenants lowers your occupancy rate to 92%. If you are actively using trigger-based campaigns, this decrease in occupancy can prompt you to turn on specific digital advertising channels, such as PPC. By turning on your spend for PPC, you’re increasing your exposure and positioning yourself in front of the right leads when they’re ready to move-in. If you continue to experience a decline, this could prompt you to turn on an additional channel to expand your reach or capture a new audience through a different platform. This is a reactive strategy you can have in place as a way to deal with unexpected or seasonal impacts that negatively affect your business.

A G5 storage client, uses this technique to successfully increase their occupancy as soon as they start noticing a trend towards decreased occupancy. Anytime a property drops below 92% occupancy, they increase their digital advertising campaign spend to send more leads and leases to the properties that need it.

Next Steps…

If you have limited marketing funds, need a contingency plan, or just want to meet your customer at the right place at the right time, trigger-based marketing is an effective way to control your marketing spend and your results.

Not sure where to get started or how digital marketing can help your business? Let’s talk! Set up a time to speak with a G5 representative to learn more about how our data-driven marketing platform leads to better marketing and proven results for real estate companies.