How to Leverage Local Businesses in Multifamily Marketing

Are you feeling the burn of trying to promote your community on limited time and resources?

Sure, online ads, social media posts, and building up a top-notch, optimized Google Business Profile can help. But getting old-school by turning to local businesses to help spread the word is an inexpensive win-win.

The idea is to create a mutually beneficial relationship with other businesses to bring more exposure to your community.

Research shows that 71% of consumers enjoy co-branding partnerships, and there's no reason you can't take the same approach with your community.

Best of all, there are no ads to buy or team members to recruit. You can fold any of these ideas into your ongoing marketing strategy.

Cross-Promote Each Other's Business

Cross-promoting businesses takes little time and few resources to get started.

Trade coupons and flyers with local businesses happy to display your business and vice versa. For example, ask about including a rent special in your local dry cleaner's orders in exchange for leaving their flyers out in your lobby.

Truth 💣: Of course, the relationship needs to make sense. Promoting a mechanic when most of your residents take public transportation, and you don't offer parking space? Not the best fit.

You'll earn bonus points if you make it super easy for customers to access your website. Print up a flier with a QR code that potential tenants can scan to instantly hop over to your site.

Host Community Events

Are you already hosting happy hours, game nights, or trivia afternoons in your community?

Team up with local businesses to kick off a reciprocal relationship. Here are a few ideas to get started:

• Ask a restaurant to cater your event and offer to do some advertising in exchange for leaving flyers at their establishment.
• Tap a dog training company to give a free lesson in your pet-friendly courtyard. As they drum up business, negotiate to leave cards in their office or become one of their go-to recommendations for a dog-friendly community.
• Turn your courtyard into a private farmer's market for an afternoon and invite area businesses to sell their items in exchange for leaving flyers at their next neighborhood event.

Beyond developing a good relationship, you’ll also make your community events more fun and engaging for your residents.

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Turn to Your Blog

Leverage your community's blog to give love to local businesses.

Chances are no one is reading your blog if you're only talking about your community and posting sporadically.

Instead, make your blog a source of information and position yourself as a neighborhood expert by highlighting:

👉 Festivals

👉 Events

👉 New business openings

👉 Showcase notable business owners and their achievements

👉 Ask local businesses to write on a topic relating to their business that your residents would find helpful, like cleaning and organizing their space.

But hold up. There's more to do after you hit "publish."

Reach out to all the businesses mentioned, let them know they're included in your community's blog, and send along the link.

Tip💡: Make sure to tag the businesses in your post on social media to prompt them to reshare the article, which ultimately brings exposure back to your community.

Offer Reciprocal Advertising in Your Resident Email List

Your resident email list is a gold mine for reciprocal advertising opportunities.

Instead of sending out quick maintenance updates, turn your email list into a regular newsletter with helpful tips and updates while highlighting local businesses.

Of course, make sure the business you're sharing advertising with has a decent-sized email list comparable to yours. The businesses you mention should also hold interest or value to your residents, such as:

• Homeware companies
• Local restaurants and bars
• Home organizers or cleaners
• Pet sitters

In an ideal world, these local businesses offer your residents exclusive discounts. The business owners will get a clear sense of how much value you send their way and be more willing to continue the relationship or continue sharing your community by word-of-mouth.

Create a Business Referral Program

Entice local businesses to refer residents by sweetening the deal. A referral program that offers $25, $50, or even $100 per resident who signs a lease and moves in goes a long way to motivate business owners.

Small businesses are usually thrilled to have an additional source of revenue for simply spreading the word. But make sure to get all the details in writing.

What happens if the resident resigns from a lease? Is the referral fee just for one year, or will you pay them again?

✅ When will the fee be paid? After the resident pays the first month's rent?

✅ How will you keep track of the referrals? Does the resident need to mention the local business on their application? What happens if they mention the company's name a few months later?

✅ It's usually best to keep things as simple and transparent as possible, so everyone is on the same page.

Truth 💣: The last thing you want is a business that doesn't understand the referral program, feels slighted, and gives the side eye when the name of your community comes up.

Add a List of Preferred Vendors with Your Move-In Kits

Do you offer your residents a kit of paperwork, info, and resources? Add local businesses to the mix.

Create a one sheet of preferred vendors for everything from dry cleaning to insurance agents and cleaning companies.

New residents will have peace of mind about where to turn to, and local businesses will benefit from the added exposure.

Negotiate with your preferred vendors to gain some kind of equal exposure. Ask them to include your postcards in their orders or include you in an email or text message campaign.

Build Up Some Neighborhood Goodwill

Not every business-building opportunity needs to be transactional. If you're unsure where to start, focus on building some neighborhood goodwill.

Be the kind of community that supports local businesses. Buy lobby decor from local artists, serve coffee from the local cafe in your lobby, and stop by to celebrate when new businesses open.

When you're authentically promoting local businesses and showing up for your neighborhood, people take note. When they see your passion, they can't help but spread the word about your community to show up to see it for themselves.

Truth 💣: Your focus on the neighborhood does more than entice businesses to promote your rental community; it also brings in potential residents who admire what you stand for.

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