Seasonality in Apartment Leasing and How It Should Affect Your Marketing

Ever feel like multifamily marketing is a big mystery?

Not sure what to do next or how to leverage those highs and lows you've noticed during the year?

There may be some areas in marketing that leave you guessing, but seasonality in your apartment leasing shouldn't be one of them.

Seasonality makes a huge difference in the:

👉 When

👉 How

👉 Why

of the leads you capture and leases you sign.

The good news? Because seasonality in the multifamily industry is largely predictable, and you can also shape your marketing around those recurring rental trends.

Not sure where to get started? Here's how your team can leverage seasonality in renting to maximize your marketing spend and earn better conversions.

Work on Lead Generation in Winter & LAG Measures

Winter months are notoriously the slowest season for renting. It's common to see the lowest rents in January, especially if your community is in a cold climate.

You can always run a rent special to get more prospective renters through your doors, but winter months are more unpredictable?

Why? Those cold months often attract window shoppers.

Research shows that renters contacting properties at the beginning of the year are likely to be planners who take their time and aren't necessarily ready to sign a lease.

Your leasing agents may feel discouraged by the lack of leasing activity, but winter is an opportunity to generate more leads before the busy season.

Here are a few ways to capture more leads for your community during the winter months:

• Set up virtual tours and require an email in exchange for access
• Ramp up your PPC ads designed for lead generation
• Refine your Google My Business profile and respond to all inquiries

Tip 💡: Once you capture a lead, make sure you continue to market to them with the help of email newsletters, retargeting ads, or SMS campaigns about upcoming rent specials or community news.

With more time on your hands, you can also focus more on your LAG measures to track your most important goals.

• Revenue
• Profit
• Long-term upgrades
• and customer satisfaction

… are all LAG measures that can fluctuate (or lag) as the year progresses and trends change.

With more time on your hands during winter you have the opportunity to measure how you’re performing and set new goals for success.

Ramp Up Your Online Ads During Spring

Apartment seasonality in spring is still sluggish, but more people are starting to search and the pace picks up.

Historically, the lowest rental prices are between January and March. You may find savvy renters looking for a deal in early spring.

With your winter lead generation efforts in place, the next step is ramping up your online marketing in spring. Online PPC and other ads are effective for:

• Raising brand awareness
• Generating leads
• Advertising rent specials
• Leveraging smart technology (i.e., smart bidding) to assess which demographics respond best to your ads

Tip 💡: As you amplify your ads and other marketing, make sure to do some spring cleaning with your CRM.

Your CRM will only take your rental property business so far. You still need to integrate data that happens offline.

For example, if prospective renters show up because a nearby festival is taking place, you can enter those details in your CRM to gather valuable insights about your demographics.

Stay Competitive During Summer's Searching Season

Summer is the peak searching season when renters are looking for new places to live. You'll see the most activity from May to August, although your market may see it extend into early Fall.

Rents are at their highest during summer, giving you more opportunities to stay competitive with the market and raise your prices.

Remember, despite the demand in the rental market, you still have competition. Savvy renters have their choice of multifamily properties and won’t hesitate to shop around.

Stay on top of the competition by:

• Launching competitor campaigns
• Responding to all online reviews
• Focusing on maintenance and repairs
• Reviewing your competitors' rents, amenities, and rent specials

The more prepared you are to align your marketing with what's going on in the marketplace, the more likely you are to convert prospective residents.

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Close More Leads Before School Starts in Fall

The renting frenzy starts to dip during Fall and hits its lowest point in winter. But you can still take advantage of signing last-minute renters before the school season starts.

In some areas, public schools start in early August. Yet area colleges may not begin until after Labor Day.

Whichever demographic you're trying to hit, you have some options to appeal to families, students, and faculty working in higher education.

Reinforcing up your reminder marketing is one place to start. But you can also use geofencing near schools, particularly area universities and community colleges.

In simple terms: Geofencing allows you to serve ads to visitors based on their location. Do you want 20-something students or faculty as residents? Geofencing can help you target them directly.

Be Prepared to Pivot

Let’s get real about 2023.

The normal rental trends could look a lot different in 2023 due to interest rates, inflation, and talks of a recession. Reports show that apartment inventories remained tight in 2022, even when rents increased.

As more would-be homebuyers got squeezed out of the market during the real estate craze, more people continued renting.

Don’t be surprised if you see some shifts in the trends as interest rates fluctuate and demand changes. Winter may not yield the lead generation you want. Summer may not be as busy as last year.

The anomaly in real estate trends could work in your favor. You may not need to fill as many units as less residents turn over their apartments.

Truth 💣: At the end of the day, it's not always possible to chase the trends in seasonality, but you can stay open-minded to what's coming and prepare to pivot.

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