42% of property managers say that they want to adopt new technologies to keep their properties relevant to today’s market. And for good reason; 67% of U.S. renters are under the age of 35. If you haven’t revamped the customer journey for your tenants, the competition is probably beating you.
It’s time to focus on converting more of your web traffic into tenants. Take the following steps to stand out from the competition and win tenants online—without feeling spread too thin across various platforms, softwares, and communication channels.
Evaluate the customer journey with a tenant survey.
Before you start a completely new approach to converting more tenants, consider your current conversion rates and cycles. Where and how do tenants first hear of your property management company? What were their hesitations before committing? Based on the data you have from current marketing efforts, what and where are the hold-ups or obstacles that keep tenants from converting?
Consider sending a survey (via text) to your current tenants with some of these questions. You’ll gain valuable insights from those who are most familiar with the process. With that feedback, you’ll have a more realistic idea of tenants’ experiences and expectations throughout the conversion funnel.
Improve your ranking—ask for reviews via text.
To boost your ranking in Google searches, you’ll need strong (frequent and positive) reviews on your Google My Business listing. The best way to accomplish this? Texting. The majority of customers will write a review if you just ask. And 89% of your consumers prefer to interact with your brand via text anyway.
You can even automate review requests to be sent after tenants sign a lease or finish a contract. In-person or through the texting conversation, explain how reviews help you and what type of feedback you’re looking for. Pick a logical time for the review request to be sent, and watch how quickly the volume of reviews increases. The higher and more frequent your ratings are, the better your listing will rank in qualified searches.
Add webchat to your website.
You can’t be there to help convert every possible lead who lands on your webpage. But a texting bot could do exactly that—provide a personalized experience for every lead (24/7), help them find what they’re looking for, answer FAQs, serve as a website directory, and speed up the process to conversion.
So many of the questions that potential renters need answers to before converting do not require a human response. In this way, webchat can do much of the heavy lifting to sell your leads. The conversation can begin online and continue via text. While tenants are waiting to hear back from contact forms for each of the properties they were interested in, you can reach them first via text. Tenants are comfortable in this familiar channel and you can respond in real-time.
Include tenant testimonials on your website.
Your website is another important place to display your glowing reviews—84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Embed positive ratings from Google or other review sites to assure web leads that you can be trusted and that your tenants are happy with your services.
Video content, specifically, has proven to be more memorable (and preferred!) by customers than reading web text alone. 70% of homeowners prefer to list with an agent who uses video marketing to advertise their home. Strong video testimonials from your tenants could serve to attract new renters and decrease the amount of uncertainty future tenants face in the road to conversion. Every renter comes with expectations of your property management company—prove to them early on with testimonials that you can meet and exceed these expectations.
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Text to schedule a tour.
In an increasingly competitive market, speed matters. The easier it is to reach you and schedule a tour (in-person or virtually), the better for you and your future tenants. Make sure customers know (from your Google listing, your website, or social media) that you’re available via text. Renters spend an average of over 10 weeks searching for an apartment. Finding the perfect rental property is hard enough—convenient communication and quick response times can go a long ways in removing friction along the journey to conversion.
Try remarketing ads.
96% of customers aren’t ready to convert the first time they visit a website. Remarketing campaigns serve to target people who visited your website or interacted with a previous ad you ran. With Google Ads, you can choose remarketing tactics on YouTube, search ads, or display networks for highly specific audiences that appeared to have high buying intent. As with other digital advertising, you’ll be able to track how effective retargeting campaigns are and adjust as necessary.
Add picture and video content of your properties.
One sure roadblock to keep tenants from converting is a lack of relevant information about your properties. Add as much information as you can about your properties and the services you provide—complete with pictures, videos, links, and explanations.
Floor plans, specifically, are highly pertinent in the search for rentals. More than 50% of customers say they’ve “wasted time viewing properties they’d have otherwise skipped if they understood the floor plan.” In 2019, the top 10 amenities renters requested were air conditioning, in-unit washer/dryer, dishwasher, on-site laundry, assigned parking, central heat, furnished, balcony, garage parking, and hardwood floors. Think through every detail someone would want to know before converting and include what you can on each property listing.
Zillow reports that “just under half (49%) of buyers under 40 feel very or extremely confident about making an offer while only seeing it virtually.” Including as much information as you can online will smooth out the conversion process on both ends. Customers will be enabled to self-serve and your staff will field fewer emails, phone calls, and DMs—saving time and money.
Since many renters are interested in converting before in-person contact or tours, consider enabling tenants to make down payments or even pay rent via text message. The payment can be requested with a secure link that customers can complete in seconds from their mobile device. Especially when conversations with potential tenants are already taking place over text (to schedule virtual tours, answer questions, etc.), it makes sense to add payment methods to that conversation.
The conversation could look something like this:
- Thanks for the virtual tour this morning. We would like to rent this apartment as soon as it’s available. What’s our next step?
- You’re welcome! We’re happy to hear that. We can send you a link to complete the down payment and sign the lease from your phone. How does that sound?
- Perfect, thanks!
- (Podium payment request for $1200)
- Done!
Converting more web leads for your property management company is possible (and necessary). See how Podium’s centralized inbox can help you accomplish this (and more) from one intuitive platform. Request a free demo today.
See additional tips in The Definitive Guide to Converting More Leads.
