How to Perform a Brand Audit for Your Community

Have you looked over your portfolio of communities lately?

Which ones are holding their own, and which ones need a boost?

If you don't have a steady stream of leads and applications coming your way, plus have low occupancy, branding, or lack thereof, could be sabotaging your marketing efforts.

There’s more to branding than a simple logo or color palette – creating a distinct and recognizable identity for your community.

Whether you inherited your branding when you acquired your community, or it looks dated and lacks a "wow" factor, you need something fresh to stand-out and resonate with prospective residents.

Branding is Lucrative for Apartments

Branding raises awareness and recognition around your communities. When people need to find a new place to live, they're more likely to connect with a relatable, cohesive, and consistent brand that resonates across all of your channels from your website to social media.

If your brand is never seen or heard, you have a marketing problem. But if your brand is out there and falls flat, you may need a redesign. What does it look like? Is it helping residents:

✅ Understand that your community is for Gen Z to millennial renters. (for example)

✅ Recognize your brand when they pass a billboard, see a PPC ad, or find your Instagram channel?

✅ Perceive your brand as fresh and eye-catching, or like every other apartment community??

When your branding is designed around a relatable and highly-recognizable look, you foster memorability and trustworthiness with your demographic.

Branding Enhances Your Story

Storytelling is a powerful way to create a sense of community and relatability. The goal is to eventually spark a visceral need to be a part of your community or deal with dreaded FOMO.

How? By selling a feeling.

Storytelling as a form of multifamily branding is all about selling a feeling, not just leases.

If you cater to residents who just graduated college and are building their careers, your storytelling and branding could include the joy of independence and finding a home among new, welcoming neighbors.

Truth 💣: The goal is to draw them in. Marketing may get prospective residents' attention, but storytelling and branding lure them in for the long haul.

From more leads to conversions and renewals, you want to find the right residents ready to stay for the long haul.

Who Should Perform a Brand Audit

It's always a good idea to consider a brand audit if you haven't done one in a while, but here are some compelling reasons to get started right away:

👉 New acquisitions and takeovers

👉 Value adds through renovations of your building or units

👉 Older assets that have never had an authentic brand or undergone an audit

👉 You want to entice a new target market, whether your old one isn't a good fit or your renovations and the neighborhood are attracting someone different from your community.

👉 Your community needs to keep up with the Joneses so your competition doesn't keep snagging the best of the best.

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Quickstart Steps Behind a Multifamily Brand Audit

You can spend the time and resources to do a more comprehensive brand audit, but there are also a few simple ways to get started.

Your Community Name

What's going on with the name of your community? Does it need a refresh to something more modern?

Tip💡: Sometimes communities need a new name due to a takeover or to help bolster their reputation. For example, it may have taken a hit of poor reviews when the neighborhood was still up and coming, but today it deserves more recognition.

Your Logo

Even if you're not a design aficionado, you can look at a logo or design and get a sense if it feels aged or modern. Some logos remain timeless and classic, but you may need something new if the current one vibes dull and uninspired.

Your logo should also be easily recognizable as its own superstar in the multifamily community. If it looks like everyone else's, you need something new.

First test of effectiveness: Does the logo actually represent the community?

Truth 💣: If your neighborhood is known for its stunning pre-war era and historic buildings, you probably don't want a design that looks ready to hit the nightclubs.

Font, typography, and the color palette also matter. There's a whole psychology behind color and selling.

For example, black is perceived as sophisticated, bold, and powerful, while white is associated with peacefulness, cleanliness, and simplicity.

Can we talk about fonts? Unless you're targeting only families with small children, it’s going to be tough to get residents to take your Comic Sans logo seriously.

Tip 💡: Instead, gravitate towards Serifs like Times New Roman or Garamond for something traditional. San Serifs are a modern and timeless option, such as Helvetica.

Or, if you want to get a little more creative, a Script font associated with handwritten whimsy is a good choice.

Your Design Elements

The design elements you choose should transfer from branding your website to your printed collateral and everything in between.

Make sure any patterns, textures, and shapes you choose align with the overall look and feel the brand is aiming to portray.

Additionally, the quality of photography signals your professionalism to prospective residents and helps set their expectations.

Who wants to see drab, uninspired property photos that make the pool look like it hasn't been graced since the 90s?

There's more to capture than property pics. Lifestyle stock photography can also help residents visualize themselves living on your property and reimagine what's possible for their lives.

Copywriting

It's common for people to think of branding as colors and design, but copywriting is also a significant part of the process.

Ask yourself what your Brand Voice, Tone, and Messaging say about your community.

Here's a quick breakdown of brand voice:

✅ Personality - Does your community's personality show through your tone, example: upbeat or peaceful?

✅ Style - Do you use descriptions of the units that reflect your brand's style?

✅ Clarity - Are your materials, explanations, and resources straightforward while still reflecting brand personality and style?

Part of your brand story showcases the behind-the-scenes; get to know your part of your community.

You can also develop a brand vocabulary as a style guide to outline how to use different phrases, language, grammar, punctuation, and what's off-limits in your content.

Does Your Community Need a Rebrand?

Is your multifamily community ready for a rebrand? Check out today's sponsor, Zipcode Creative, for your branding needs, and then team up with Flair to kickstart your marketing journey.

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