Avoiding Property Management Marketing 'Fails'

We love to hear about property management successes—but sometimes it's good to look at some ways in which we can also fail. Knowing what not to do is as important as knowing what to do. When you make mistakes in your property management marketing, you affect not only your current client base—but also your potential for future clients.

You are also putting your marketing budget at risk every time you commit to a strategy, so knowing what not to do is essential to ensuring every dollar is well-spent. Let's look at several ways in which property managers fail at marketing.

1. Failing to Understand the 'Buyer Persona'

To be successful with your marketing spend, you must understand your 'buyer personas.'

• Who is it that you are trying to connect with through this marketing campaign?
• Are you looking for accidental landlords or seasoned portfolio builders?
• Perhaps you are looking for both to fill out your property management portfolio?

Knowing who it is that you are trying to reach will define your marketing strategy.

Know your focus: In the property management business, your marketing should be directed at your ideal property owners. Generally speaking, the goal of property management marketing is to increase your doors under management. Your revenue comes from having the right type of clients—and plenty of them—who trust their investments to your expertise. Marketing specifically to these clients is essential to maintaining a healthy volume of business for your company.

It is equally important to know who you don't want to market to. If you want a more hands-off type of property owner as your intended client, you won't want to talk about how accommodating you are to multiple small requests that go over this line. Knowing who to avoid means you can craft your message to ensure you subtly tell that client to move on before you ever interact with them.

2. A Marketing Strategy That Lacks Cohesion

Come up with a strategy and stick to it: 'random acts of marketing' can waste both time and money—which are the two most important aspects of your business. 

• Your strategy should have a purpose and be built on SMART goals, so all of your marketing elements work together to help guide the investor through the journey of getting to know you, deciding you meet their needs, and getting in touch.
• Once you have a viable strategy, give it enough time to take effect and pull in the clients that you are aiming to gain. Not all successful strategies show immediate results: you may have to give your marketing time to produce the results that you are seeking.
• If you've given the strategy plenty of time—but still aren't seeing the outcome you expected—then it may be time to take a look at different avenues.

If you don't stick with a single cohesive plan, it makes it hard to know exactly what part of your marketing strategy was working and which was not. This is especially relevant if you don't have advanced metrics tracking built in to your website to inform you of what was getting clicks.

3. Failing to Make Data-Driven Changes

You've made a persona and a strategy—but you're unsatisfied with the amount of traffic that your marketing is pulling in. Perhaps it's time to look into the data and strategically make changes.

Keeping up with the latest marketing trends and adjusting your strategy accordingly is one of the most important aspects of carrying on an ongoing property management marketing campaign. Failing to look into this data—and make the necessary changes—is one way in which many property management campaigns fail again and again.

• What were you aiming for with your marketing campaign?
• How far from this goal were the results of the campaign?
• How much traffic did the campaign see from web pages, email, and social media?

This is the data that you should be considering when looking into why your campaign failed—or even when your campaign succeeded. Knowing your strengths and your weaknesses is vital to understanding why your campaign succeeded or failed. This information will help you when launching your next marketing campaign.

4. Lack of Urgency and Individualism

Marketing for property management should include both a way for the client to take action and a sense of individualism. Giving your potential clients a reason to join your team as soon as possible keeps that idea fresh in their minds. If they know that they need your services right now, they are more likely to click the link and browse your company's website.

Setting yourself apart from the other companies is a must when it comes to your property management marketing decisions. A client who sees a unique company is more likely to click the ad than one who sees the same tactics on repeat. Find your individualism and use it to get those clients!

5. Poor Review Responses

Reviews are one of the first things that clients look at when deciding which property management company to go with. The truth is, you can't make everyone happy all the time. Sometimes you have to compromise or make tough decisions. Sometimes, even the right decision can be looked down upon by the client.

In cases such as these, the client may choose to leave an unflattering review. Instead of replying to the review with arrogance or rancor, take this opportunity to apologize and explain your side. Doing so will show potential clients that you care about them—and want what is best for them and their business. Make them understand that their concerns are the number one priority of your property management business!

Knowing how to respond correctly to reviews or tweak your property management company's image in response to data isn't the only component of your property management marketing that matters. 

6. You Ignore SEO

When you ignore SEO, your digital marketing doesn't have the chance it needs to succeed because it won't be seen. SEO is constantly changing with Google's algorithm updates, so it is important to continue to seek out information on new changes and adjust your marketing to remain compliant.

To have great SEO, your website needs to be regularly updated and evolving along with it—which brings us to our next fail.

7. You Have an Outdated Website

• When was the last time you changed more than a couple of paragraphs on your website?
• When was the last time your site was checked for accessibility?

Old websites are easy to spot, especially for younger generations that grew up with the ever-evolving web in their hands via smart devices.

Over time, trends change: little things such as how a menu is accessed can send signals that your site is old, and to most consumers 'old' means 'outdated.' Attention spans for marketing are short, and the value of online aesthetics is high. As your competitors update their websites, so should you to remain competitive. 

Think of your website like the outfit you are wearing to your first interview with a client. You will want it to present the same level of professionalism and style that shows you are the right choice for their investment.

Has it been a while since you've updated your site? Let us help!

Updated and republished 7/23/2020.