Preparing to launch a new property can be overwhelming; however, having a location-specific digital marketing strategy in place helps you get ahead. Lease-up properties often require more legwork than taking over an already established community. Preparing month-by-month in advance of your launch generates buzz and allows you to pre-lease apartments before the doors have even opened. 

Importance of Location-Specific Digital Marketing Strategy

Like all communities, lease-up properties can take advantage of a variety of techniques to increase their online visibility and throughout search engine results pages (SERPs) by optimizing for local search. Location-specific digital marketing strategies extend beyond SERPs and include social media and brand awareness. Fast-moving customers expect highly relevant, immediate, hyper-personalized, local information, which speaks to the importance of having a location-specific digital strategy, especially in primary markets where competition is fierce.

Maintain Consistent Online Citations

Before launching your website for pre-leasing, it’s important to create and maintain your citations, which are instances where your brand name, address, phone number, and website (NAPW) appear online. Creating your Google My Business (GMB) page is the most important citation needed when preparing to lease-up a new property. Your GMB should include a business description and links to your website. Here you will categorize your business, upload photos, include a local phone number and address, add your hours (if applicable), and eventually get real reviews from your residents.

Ensure your NAP appears consistently with the exact same details throughout the Internet. Consistent citations help increase your presence on Google, helping you build trust and providing searchers and search engines with the most accurate information about your property.

Use Social to Drive Brand Awareness

Drive brand awareness by connecting with your audience on their favorite social media platforms. Social media allows you to visit groups and pages where your audience spends their time. Leave comments in these places and share content in these groups. Simple engagement and audiences seeing your brand markings day after day help you attract attention and drive brand recognition. If your lease-up property is located in Portland, Oregon, for example, try posting in Timbers soccer fan groups and commenting on the photos of local restaurants. Seeing your engagement helps drive brand awareness in a new neighborhood with less resistance. 

Reinforce Your Brand Using Instagram

Instagram helps your brand stand out from other properties in the local community, allowing your marketing team to be more casual and community-oriented. Sharing your pre-leasing journey on Instagram keeps potential residents up-to-date on your brand, your activities, and your building progress in advance of your opening date. Focus your content on the customer experience for success reinforcing your brand on Instagram.

Digital Advertising Campaigns Drive Conversions

Start your digital advertising campaigns three to six months in advance of your property launch in order to drive pre-leasing. Digital advertising campaigns should include display, search, social and remarketing ads for you to generate inquiries from the most qualified prospects. Given that pricing is one of the most important considerations for people searching for apartments, it’s smart to display pricing in ad text to help drive higher-quality conversions. Using Dynamic Ads with real-time pricing and real-time availability aligns with your revenue management strategy by generating more phone calls from highly qualified renters. 

Control Leasing From the Outset

Establishing a digital marketing strategy for lease-up properties in advance of your launch allows you to control leasing from the outset. Hit the ground running by ensuring your citations are consistent across the Internet. Use social media to drive brand awareness. Engaging on the platforms where potential residents spend their time helps your inbound marketing strategy and leaves an imprint on the minds of consumers. Hyper-personalized ads and an overall location-specific digital marketing strategy will help you pre-lease units before opening day and continue that momentum into the future. 

Download this case study to see how G5 increased marketing efficiency for our top 15 performing multifamily customers.