5 Ways to Add User-Generated Content to Your Multifamily Marketing

If you're trying to increase your lease volume and earn more quality leads, the answer could lie in the content you create.

Research shows 91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, and Instagram is used by 65% of social media marketers, just behind Facebook at 67%.

But the real question is–how do you keep up with creating content to entice convert more leads?

Instead of starting from scratch and asking your busy leasing agents to generate marketing content, turn to your residents to create it for you.

User-generated content isn't new, but it's evolved to help shape our marketing strategies and the way we consume products and services.

From social media to blog posts, there's always a way to create and reshare content that gets results.

When used correctly, user-generated content could prove a valuable cornerstone of your marketing strategy.

• 79% of people say user-generated content highly impacts their purchasing decisions.
• Consumers find user-generated content 9.8x more impactful than influencer content when making a purchasing decision.
• Millennials trust user-generated content 50% more than content generated by brands.

Beyond its authenticity and ability to raise brand awareness, one of the best parts about user-generated content is how easy and cost-effective it can be to implement.

Here's how to get started and narrow down which method works best for your community.

1) Launch a Community Competition

A competition can quickly trigger a frenzy in your community, but only if it's well executed.

Launching a competition with multiple steps, conditions, and rules for the resident will quickly turn people off.

Instead, make it easy and fun to participate–all while showcasing desirable aspects of your community through:

👉 Apartment decorating contest

👉 Best Halloween costume and “yappy hour” for dogs in your pet-friendly community

👉 Fitness challenge for your on-site fitness center that showcases your community's amenities

👉 The adult dodge-ball tournament in your courtyard

👉 Community chili cook-off

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The prize you offer also matters.

You risk a lackluster turnout if you offer a free coffee at the cafe down the street or a coupon to the local dry cleaner. 📢 📢 📢

Pro Tip 💡: Send out a survey and ask what your residents would prefer. Discount on rent? Gift card? Free parking for the month?

The more valuable the prize, the higher the buzz and creativity of your user-generated content.

2) Offer an Ongoing Incentive

Instead of running a full-blown competition with an ultimate prize, you can also take a lighter approach by offering an ongoing incentive.

Whether it's a gift card or a free strategy session with an interior designer specializing in apartments, the right incentive can keep the user-generated content churning.

You can focus on a singular or multiple user-generated channels:

• Essays to share on your community blog
• Video testimonial
• TikTok post
• Instagram story
• Facebook post

Ideally, you're thinking about which channels attract your target market.

There's not much point in asking residents to post on Facebook if you cater to college grads that live, eat, and breathe TikTok.

It's also wise to look through your analytics to figure out how past residents found your community in the first place.

If the majority of your residents found you through your website or blog post, ask residents to create content accordingly.

Pro Tip 💡: Settle on the rules before you start offering your incentive. Can a resident only win one time? How are winners chosen? How soon do they receive their prize?

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3) Host a Community Event

There's no better way to show off your community vibe, residents, and amenities than with a community event.

✅ Host a neighborhood barbecue or keep it exclusive to residents and their BFFs interested in moving to your property.

✅ Turn your event into a series, like a first-of-the-month rooftop cookout or cocktail hour in your lobby.

✅ Take photos of your event and send out an email reminding people to share their content while tagging your community on social media.

Remember, residents may still need a reason to go through the effort to post their photos and videos. Sweeten the pot by picking a winner at random to receive a gift card to a local restaurant or pub.

4) Look Through Your Online Reviews

If you're not going through your online reviews and responding to them (both the good and the bad), make it part of your user-generated content strategy.

Responding to reviews establishes more trust and transparency when you take the time to respond and offer to resolve the issue.

Something as simple as, "You're right, the laundry room did have some peeling paint, so we decided to bump it to the top of our maintenance list. Thank you for the suggestion!" can go a long way.

Online reviews are also a goldmine for user-generated content.

You can pick and choose your favorite reviews, along with any attached images, to include on your community website.

Pro Tip💡: Online reviews can provide testimonials and valuable marketing content that could help drive conversions and establish more credibility for your community.

5) Make It Communal

Sometimes the easiest way to stir more user-generated content is to make it a communal experience.

Start by adding fun pictures or short videos of your staff, residents, and their pets to your social media channels.

Add the images to a bulletin board in your lobby that shows off all the fun your residents are having, and leave a note asking everyone to share their content with your leasing office to post.

Truth 💣: FOMO is real. Studies show that 69% of millennials experience FOMO, and 60% make reactive purchases to avoid missing out on events.

It's only a matter of time before all the dog owners looking at the picts of the cute pups you posted and want to submit their own photos

Make It Easy (and Ask for Permission)

Above all else, make it easy for residents to create and share their user-generated content in the first place!

Pro Tip💡: Give clear instructions on how you prefer the community to be tagged and on what platforms and make suggestions about what kind of content your community loves and why it matters.

… and above all else, ask for permission to use your resident’s content.

The goal is to make residents feel involved and like superstars in your community, not like you're putting the weight of your marketing on their shoulders.

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