How Property Managers Can Leverage Localized Social Marketing
Social media is a powerful tool in your marketing toolbox. With 72% of brand engagement happening on the local level, developing social media marketing campaigns that target your property’s local community is a must. With the right know-how, a locally-focused social media strategy can expand the reach of your brand, while creating genuine connections with your followers.
So, why does this kind of localized content work? One reason is that it carries with it a sense of individuality. You aren’t showing your followers the same content that every other property page is showing. Rather, your property pages contain customized content for each apartment community, from the building itself to its neighborhood, surrounding businesses, and local events. Ready to get started? Here’s everything you need to know to build your property’s localized social marketing strategy and start maximizing your social media presence.
Identify Your Goals
Whether starting fresh or refining an existing social media marketing plan, it’s important to take the time to identify your goals. From building your following to creating a sense of community and boosting overall engagement, keeping your goals in mind is key. It will not only help you determine the right metrics to measure, but will also allow you to test different tactics and adjust as needed. With your goals well defined, you’ll reap the benefits with:
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Consistency: For a digital strategy to be part of a well-rounded and powerful marketing program, consistency in your social media’s look and tone is key. When posting images, writing text, or replying to a comment, every touchpoint you have with the public should reflect your brand’s tone and voice.
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Optimization: When you know what you are measuring you can focus on where to improve results.
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Waste Reduction: Clearly determine which sites and initiatives work and those that don’t. Well-defined goals allow you to work on what is most important and scratch the distractions.
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Ability to Scale: Identify the areas where you need to put in extra effort in order to scale and improve ROI.
Ensure Your Content is High-Quality
Social media marketers are constantly hearing about the importance of posting “quality content.” This phrase doesn’t just refer to high-resolution images or well-written copy, however. Quality content must also provide value to your audience, be engaging, shareable, and credible. Include content your audience can use, such as eye-catching images of available units and interviews with your property’s team. Leveraging topics that are relevant to your local audiences, such as local news and events, will give them a reason to like, follow, and interact with your social pages.
How to Measure Localized Social Marketing
The most effective social media marketing strategies are consistently measured and optimized over time. When assessing your property’s social media strategy, consider your audience’s engagement. Which posts are receiving comments and being shared the most? Are there posts with zero engagement? Take note of the metrics that are most valuable to your campaign and create a tracking plan that aligns with your goals.
If you aren’t sure which metrics to monitor, these are the most common goals and corresponding metrics to consider when creating a trackable social plan:
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Local Participation/Adoption: Measured by the number of local businesses engaging with your property’s social platforms.
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Overall Reach: Measured by the number of active pages, page followers, and/or likes.
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Brand Sentiment: Measured through your property’s average ratings on local social and review sites, including the sentiment of the comments left on these pages.
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Response Time: Measured by the amount of time it takes your property management team to respond to consumer reviews, comments, and questions.
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Brand Engagement: Measured through high-valued touchpoints with your local pages and content such as comments and shares.
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Brand Presence and Consistency: Measured through establishing an active local page presence and the consistency of the messages promoted via these pages.
Localized Social Marketing Strategies
With a goal in mind and metrics to measure, you can start developing your localized social strategy. Here are some tried and true ideas to get you started.
1. Use Facebook Local Business Pages
Localized content can engage audiences in specific communities, and, with Facebook Local Business Pages, you can create one Business Page for your property management company plus individual Local Pages for each individual property. These local pages are a prime investment since over 70% of audience engagement happens on Facebook Local Business Pages.
For maximum reach, engage local businesses from your Facebook Local Business Page. Reach out and offer small business partnerships at your property’s community events, such as a pizza night with the local pizzeria. With both you and the pizzeria publicizing the event on social media, you are sure to expand your audience.
Measure this increase in interaction with Facebook Insights. This tool lets you monitor how and when your audience engages with your page. It will also help you determine the best day and time to post, the type of content that resonates best with your audience, and how they interact with each post. This data is essential to developing your localized social marketing campaign, and with Facebook, it’s completely free.
2. Post about resident events and news
Whether it’s a resident pool party with local food trucks or a happy hour at a nearby brewery, posting about these resident events helps to build a sense of community at each property in your management portfolio. This content provides value to your followers, is shareable, and encourages engagement as your residents comment on photos, tag their friends, and invite their network to your property’s events.
Additionally, you can share building-wide news with your residents. Will the fitness center be closed for renovations? Are you updating the lobby? Keep your residents up to date and involved by sharing this information on your social platforms.
3. Post about neighborhood events
Your property’s social media feeds can be useful resources for followers to keep up with community news and events. From festivals to restaurant openings, your property can keep residents informed and involved in the community with relevant social media posts.
If you’re sponsoring a local event, let your community know and invite them via social media. It can be hard to cut through the noise on your residents’ social media feeds, but these informative, current posts help you grab their attention while providing information they might go on to share with their network.
4. Leverage local micro-influencers
You can harness the power of influencers without having to find a local Instagram celebrity. Examples include highlighting a resident of the month, profiling a member of the leasing staff, and reaching out to local businesses to develop co-marketing partnerships. These micro-influencers may not have massive social media followings, but they can share your post with the followers they do have, and expand your base of impressions. That said, social media marketing is most effective when you can find influencers with at least 500 followers, so keep that in mind as you seek out your next micro-influencer.
As a property manager, much of your marketing efforts target the people who live in the communities surrounding each of your properties. With localized social content, you have multiple verticals and outlets to reach both potential and current residents. Now that you know how to amplify your social media strategy with localized content, you can start attracting more potential residents, while engaging and retaining current residents.
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