By:  Megan Orser, Paige Perry and Dawn Ford, the Smart Girls of Smart Apartment Solutions

For many years, the fear of outreach marketing has caused those in the apartment industry to refer to outreach marketing as a four-letter word.  We budget for outreach marketing but can anyone say they have seen direct benefits from their communities outreach efforts?   When we ask clients and colleagues what their true feelings are on conducting outreach (and this goes for industries outside of multifamily) the facial expression says it all; fear, disgust and downright boredom.

So what is the point of outreach marketing?  Why are we spending time and money on flyers to the local diners, nail salons, and banks?  Truthfully, there is no point.  If this is your game plan regarding outreach marketing then the chances that you will actually see a return on investment is slim to none.  It is imperative to take the time to understand where your prospective residents are coming from and their wants and needs.  What works for one property may not be as effective at another, so identifying the trends is one of the most important aspects.  Another common truth about outreach marketing that it is about establishing synergistic relationships.

Identifying your customer

So how do you identify your target market, their wants, needs, and lifestyles?  The answer is there are several ways to obtain this information and we recommend that you diversify your efforts continually.  A suggestion is to start with your management software; in our industry, we pay big bucks for fancy software but don’t utilize this software to its fullest potential.  Sort your information by employers, past addresses, etc. with a watchful eye for trends.  More common than not, you may be able to tap into a hidden market of prospective residents migrating to your area for various reasons, a shift in employment hiring or socio-economic changes.

Working with two properties in Southwest Florida, we noticed a trend of prospective, current, and past residents moving from various locations in New York City.  Identifying this trend allowed us to dig deeper and utilize appropriate advertising venues to target this niche market.  One of the strategies to achieve promotion was placing a Craig’s list ad in New York.

Another valuable resource to put into your outreach toolbox is a free website, http://www.claritas.com/MyBestSegments/Default.jsp , which we use to get a glimpse into consumer lifestyles of people who live in particular neighborhoods.  Understand while this free glimpse is not a through analytical representation of the cross-segment of a neighborhood, it is an interesting

perspective, by zip code, in broad strokes, of a neighborhood’s buying trends.  With this information, we are able to identify synergies with neighborhood businesses and incorporate this valuable information into our outreach plan and marketing pieces supporting that plan.

Outreach Items that assist in building relationships

After you have a thorough understanding of the demographics of your prospective resident, your next action item is developing promotional items that will promote your business in the best light as well as being memorable enough that people will engage and compel them to keep the item.  One of the most effective outreach items is food.  Rarely have we found anyone that will reject food, and it is typically affordable for most budgets and using a cute play on words like “we chip in” on individual size bags of chips is effective and to the point.

The next step in the outreach process is to create a well thought- out outreach action plan.  This is a little harder than finding the niche markets, because you are categorizing the ideas and planning the when’s and how’s of putting the plan in motion.  Prior to this formalization, you are just looking at great ideas, but writing the plan is how you are making the idea a reality as far as your budget and labor of implementation are concerned.

Some ideas specific to the college crowd might be:

Work with your campus theater and sponsor an opening night of a much anticipated movie premier.  Use facebook, twitter, fraternities, sororities, and student groups to promote and invite students to the premier.  Negotiate an ad spot during the premier.  Consider purchasing reusable drink cups with your community logos; provide that upon presentation of the drink cup that students, for a specified period, can receive drink refills at a discounted price.

In our experience with student communities, you can never go wrong with free food.  Sponsor a pizza party at the campus or even a studying party right before finals.  College students spend hours hanging out between classes to study and are typically hungry.  We recently attended a college housing fair and rented a cotton candy machine with supplies for less than $50.00 and attracted over 170 people to the booth within a three-hour time frame.  The cotton candy machine created a memory point for the community and allowed the students to comfortably approach us and ask questions.  If you are planning to participate in a housing fair at your local college, make sure to have plenty of give aways because that is the expectation of this millennial generation.

Host a week long textbook swap at your community inviting students to swap their textbooks at the beginning and end of the semester.  The rollingbean.com is a traveling espresso/ fruit smoothie bar available to provide a smart interactive coffee party and is a fantastic edition to this event.  College students will flock for a chance to exchange their books and treat themselves with a much-needed coffee break.

Send out invitations to college sophomores to attend an open house at your community.  Schedule tour buses to make runs throughout the day with the destination being your apartment community.  Consider hosting the event in November prior to the fall rush.

Partner with a local tanning business and provide make-up remover towelettes with a sticker displaying your community name adhered to the package.

Make a plan and stick to it

One of the last steps in bringing the plan to fruition is implementation.  Many times, we will find that some of the best marketing ideas just sit on the shelves without finding the time to put the plan into action.  Setting the time aside and committing to it is the single most important aspect to making outreach successful.  We find that preparing your outreach items and mapping out your contacts the evening before is the most realistic; complete your outreach efforts before you step a foot in the office.  Usually the minute you step foot into your office you will find yourself consumed.  Pick a day each week and commit to that being your day, or half day, to be out of the office, soon you will find outreach marketing to be a part of your normal routine and you begin realizing the benefits of your outreach efforts.

Unnecessarily redundant tasks are like weeds in a garden, and eliminating them can help you become far more efficient. Here are a few tips to help you turn your staff into a “mean, lean, operating machine”!

1. Give each member of your staff a stack of index cards. Ask them to consider all the tasks that they perform regularly outside of their basic responsibilities, and other special projects that they’re involved in. Have them write each task on a card, with a brief description, and sign their name.

2. Arrange all the cards so that similar or redundant tasks are next to one another (You’ll need a large conference table or bulletin board for this review).

3. As you categorize the tasks and descriptions, you’ll notice that a number of them connect, duplicate, or overlap each other. Kill the redundancies, consolidate them, or reassign them as necessary or appropriate.

This simple approach can yield tremendous results. Try it, and let us know how well this approach works for you!

For most of us, business cards are an indispensable way of providing our contact information to everyone we come into contact with in a professional capacity. It’s a “no brainer” that business cards are a fantastic way to help others get in touch with us when they need us.  Unfortunately, these valuable little tools are often overlooked as a means of advertising, and we rarely capitalize fully on their ability to communicate important and useful information beyond the typical name, title, address, and phone number, a fax number,website and possibly an email address. In fact, that little business card you carry around every day of your working life can serve as a:

• Billboard
• Mini-brochure
• Networking tool
• Recruitment tool
• Appointment reminder

Ways To Squeeze Extra Mileage Out Of Your Business Card

• Add a scent that supports your key marketing message. The possibilities are limited only by your own creativity. Avoid spraying oil or perfume directly onto the cards, because this might stain the paper. Instead, simply store them with a tissue or piece of cloth that has been treated with the scent, or place the cards in a box or bowl for a while with a nice subtle potpourri.

• Use both sides of the card or, better yet, make it double the usual size and fold it in half after printing. Put all the usual general information on one side, and a message on the other. At our communities, the inside of the card includes a brief list of community benefits.

• Use the card as a coupon to offer a special. For example, you might offer a $25 savings on the security deposit when the card is presented. Have the offer printed on the back of the card.
• Make the card 1/8" larger than standard size. It will be just slightly different from others in a pile, but not so much so as to be annoying. You can also buy a special punch tool to create a unique visual effect (I’ve even seen one in the shape of a house!)
• Allow space to add a short handwritten note. This warm, personal touch will make the recipient feel special.
• Place your card on every bulletin board you see. You’d be surprised at who looks at those boards. In some cities, there are even services that will put your card on all available billboards in the area (check the yellow pages under Advertising). You might also consider having a special flyer made to include small perforated tabs listing your community name, telephone number, and website address. This way people can just tear off a tab instead of having to write down the number.
• Leave small stacks of cards with businesses that can be helpful in sending future residents to your community. A good marketer will have hundreds of little stacks of these miniature "billboards" scattered around town. Many businesses encourage this by providing a special location for the cards. Are you always prepared to market your community whenever an opportunity presents itself?
• Make use of an instant camera (like 6an old school Polaroid) to take a picture of an available apartment or surrounding area and attach your business card to it. This very visual follow-up technique can increase your closing ratio dramatically!
• Attach a couple of cards to all invoices, purchase orders, and payments that your community or company mails out. It won't add to your postage costs, and the cards are inexpensive. When I have time (rarely, but nice when it happens), I like to add a hand-written post-it note asking the recipient to “Please pass these on to anyone who might be interested in finding a new home,” which can generate surprising interest and traffic from the often overlooked accounting end of your communications.

Visibility Test
Here's a fun and free way to easily test whether or not you have a distinctive card design. The next time you see a bulletin board crowded with business cards (start collecting cards, and create your own board to run this test), turn your back and have an associate or friend place your card on the board. Take two steps away and turn around. If you can't locate your card within 5 seconds, you should consider a redesign. Take another step away and see which ones catch your eye. Study the most eye-catching ones for clues on how your card can be made more visually appealing.

Creating Content-Rich Cards
Your card can contain a wide variety of information that’s of interest and use to the recipient. Here is a checklist to help get you thinking about how your card might be made more information-rich:

• Community/Company Logo
• Community/Company Name
• Prefix to Your Name (Mr., Ms., Mrs.)
• Your Name
• Your Professional Designations (CPM, RAM, CLP, ARM, etc.)
• Your Title
• Business Phone Number
• Phone Extension
• Fax Number
• Cell Phone / Mobile Number
• Emergency Phone / Hotline Number
• Mailing Address
• Email Address
• Website Address (URL)
• Social Media Sites
• Hours of Operation
• A Satisfaction Guarantee Statement
• A Mission Statement
• A Vision Statement
• Blank Note Space
• 5-Digit Zip Code
• 9-Digit Zip (Zip Plus Four)
• Recruiting Statement (i.e., “Thanks for the wonderful service! If you’re ever interested in a career in property management, please call me personally!)
• Appointment Reminder
• Bullet-ed List of Community Features / Benefits

What other ways can you add interest and information to business cards?

Have you tired the paperless business card Dub?

Check out 42 Awesome Business Card Designs (With Links to 100s More)

During the follow-up process, it is often difficult to make personal contact with a Future Resident.  Many times we will reach someone’s  voice mail.  The next time you get a recording instead of a living, breathing human being; don’t get frustrated and hang up.  As a Leasing Professional, you should leave a message on every call, if possible.  Why?  This is FREE advertising folks!  You are able to leave a 30 second ad for your apartment community!  Here’s an example of the marketing message you might leave on the next  voice mail system that you encounter:

“Tina, this is Tami from McNeil House Apartment Homes at (727) 784-9469.  We’re looking forward to having you visit our community again.  I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have, or email you any additional information that you might like to look over.  Our community specializes in making our residents lifestyle as carefree as possible, so please give me a call at (727) 784-9469.  We’re looking forward to serving you!”

What have we accomplished?

We’ve provided our telephone number twice, so she doesn’t have to replay the message.
We’ve stated the community’s commitment to service.
We’ve invited her back to the community.
We’ve offered to be of further assistance.

And it’s all “on the record”! Do you have a telephone tip to share?