Published January 15, 2021. Updated July 7, 2023.
We love inbound marketing for property management here at Geekly Media! There are plenty of ways to bring in leads, and while inbound isn't a fast method, it is one that will continue to pay returns once you put effort into establishing your presence.
This is why we write so much about inbound marketing strategies for property management companies.
We have the data, we know it works, and we want to share those results with the property management industry that we support every day. So, keep reading for our guide to inbound!
As former property managers, we know what questions your leads are asking — and how to answer them.
That basic process — using content to answer the questions your leads are asking — is the foundation of inbound marketing. However, "inbound" is a lot more than just answering questions if you want it to produce great property management leads.
Here's how it works (in the simplest explanation possible):
Answering questions brings traffic to your property management website.
From there, you use more great content delivered in a relevant and timely manner to your contacts to nurture them, build trust, and prove you're the property management authority in the area.
Inbound marketing brings leads to you — so you're not just stuck cold-calling expired listings and praying for a miracle.
What are some critical components for successful inbound strategies? Property managers need a high-conversion website and the right CRM (customer relationship management) system to attract, convert, and nurture leads.
We know you want leads right now, and inbound strategies will provide bottom-of-the-funnel leads.
You also want leads next month and down the road. So, nurturing your top and middle-of-the-funnel leads is the key to always having a full (and predictable) pipeline.
We understand that nurturing can seem like it takes forever, but when done correctly, it's worth it!
So many DIY landlords take a LOT of convincing to sign on for property management services. Using a property management marketing automation solution with inbound strategies gives you the data that tells you exactly how long they'll need to be nurtured so that you can make those long-term plans.
Inbound helps you ensure leads become your client when they're ready for everything you have to offer, but how?
Applying inbound efforts to your property management marketing plan:
Keeps your brand at the top of their minds through timely content
Helps you learn about your contacts and provide them with answers
Works best with automation so you can work smarter and not harder as a company
Creates full-funnel solutions that turn into a flywheel so you can continue to reap the benefits long term.
We've tested our inbound marketing strategies across nationwide markets. We've learned what works and continually work to learn more as SEO (search engine optimization) and inbound strategies change.
Inbound mastery should start with a lot of research! One of the best places to look for the questions that need answering is in your data that we know you keep (diligently).
When utilizing your CRM to analyze data:
Look at your service tickets, website submissions, and emails from clients.
Find a way to keep and categorize this data even if you aren't running inbound yet. This gives you plenty of material when you're ready to get started.
Be sure to use a CRM and set it up to collect as much information about your leads as possible.
Collect their biggest pain points, send them helpful information, and create content on how to solve them. If you don't have a property management blog yet, you now have topics to start one!
Remember: when creating content, your inbound content offers don't only have to be used as downloads. They should be so helpful that your sales team can find value in them as well.
Measure your results and continuously make data-driven changes. Our team monitors results using monthly, quarterly, and yearly data to focus on not only the "now" but also the long-term results of our clients.
We've mentioned it, but we want to emphasize a crucial aspect of inbound success. Starting a successful inbound program and generating the leads you need starts with content.
We're talking consistent, high-quality, helpful, and optimized content that helps Google and other search engines send new leads your way because your content is everything they need to answer their questions!
The content you need starts with optimized content throughout your website. So, if your property management website is outdated or isn't current with SEO standards, it's time for a strategic update.
Then, you need to build a property management blog. We mentioned topics, and this can be as simple as answering those big pain points you find in your data with helpful, optimized blogs. Then, promote your content on your socials and to your email contacts.
You can also use one blog in multiple ways to get more out of the same content. Turn it into infographics, downloads, and short videos to post on YouTube.
As your content repository grows, don't let it also grow stale! Revisit existing content from time to time and make strategic updates to keep it current and helpful to your target audience.
We said this at the start, but it's worth highlighting again: we believe inbound is "the" best way to generate the leads property managers need to grow their businesses long-term — but it's not an overnight solution.
It will take time for your audience and search engines to discover your content and bring leads back to your site. However, it will be worth it when you enjoy better quality leads in your pipeline that are more receptive to your nurturing efforts for more closed deals!
We call this blog an "ultimate" guide, but we really can't put everything a property management company needs to know about inbound marketing in one blog.
So, we'll close by telling you that the Geekly Media marketing team knows how to get results through inbound marketing, paid ads, and automation mastery! We're a group of property management professionals turned marketing experts. We also have some amazing marketing talent from other industries to help keep us well-rounded and on top of our marketing game.
We're continuously learning and improving our results for you. Schedule a chat with our team to learn about it—and if you haven't already, subscribe to our blog! We constantly pump out (what we hope is) helpful content for property management marketers to help them grow their businesses.