Should You Use Texting In Your Multifamily Marketing Campaigns?

Are you thinking about exploring text messaging for your community?

Texting, or SMS marketing, is more than just a nice-to-have marketing tool; it could help you dramatically raise your brand awareness, outreach, and retention efforts.

Research shows that Americans check their phones 96 times a day or once every 10 minutes, showing a 20% daily increase in 2019 compared to two years prior.

But just because texting could prove a savvy move in your marketing strategy doesn't mean it's the right option for your community.

Here's what to consider before you make the next move.

What About Your Demographics?

Before launching a text message marketing campaign for your multifamily business, it's essential to ask yourself:

Is my demographic texting? Am I even targeting the right audience?

If your community is near a college, your demographic is already checking their phone nonstop.

Truth 💣: Research shows that 68% of Americans ages 18 to 24 are more likely than other Americans to limit their phone use, and 76% of millennials prefer texting as a way to check messages on their own time.

Baby boomers are texting too, but not at the same rates. You may find email marketing and old-fashioned sales support via phone may convert better.

Tip💡: If you do target boomers, keep it simple. They want consistent, transparent information to take action on and need a reason to trade in their loyalty to other brands and communities.

Offer Value in Every Single Message

There’s no point in launching an SMS campaign just to stay competitive in the industry.

Without a clear, valuable message, your text could just get swallowed up in the marketing noise.

Just like you offer value in your blog or email marketing, make sure you’re offering something word reading in your text messages. Here are some ideas:

• Rent specials, including waived application fees
• Move-in specials
• Community events

Of course, how you plan to use your text message marketing will shape your content. If you only want to target new residents, make sure it’s designed around specials, tours, and amenity updates that matter most.

‍

Consider the Costs

Text message marketing can be a cost-effective way to promote your multifamily business, but it needs a strategy.

Blowing up your marketing list with tons of phone numbers, only to realize they’re not motivated to convert will only drive up your costs.

For example, you may have amassed numbers from a recent rent promotion, but many of those prospective residents have moved onto other communities.

Tip💡: Regularly check your platform’s analytics to determine who is clicking through on your texts, who is responding, and who has been sitting on your list for months (or years) and never taking action.

Make weeding out your text message marketing list part of your ongoing process to maximize your time, resources, and budget.

Don’t Forget Your Current Residents

There’s nothing wrong with marketing to new residents, provided you’re taking care of your current ones to retain their business.

But text message marketing can also be a win for current residents and help increase satisfaction and increase on-time rent payments.

Instead of just using text to tell residents when a repair is happening, use the platform to make their lives easier:

👉 Send rent reminders with a link to your online payment portal

👉 Announce updates or new amenities

👉 Promote your referral program that rewards your residents

👉 Remind residents about community parties and happy hours

Beyond making your residents happy, these types of texts raise the street cred of your community and show it’s well run.

Truth 💣: When residents feel like the building and your business is well-managed, they’re 3x as likely to renew their lease!

Weigh the Pros and Cons

As with any marketing strategy, there are always pros and cons to any tools or campaigns you explore.

The wins to SMS marketing are impressive:

• High open rates - SMS has a 98% open rate, compared to email's 20% or less.
• Timely - Most people open their texts within 90 seconds of receiving it.
• Cost Effective - It's possible to launch a text campaign for less than a penny per message.

All those encouraging statistics could be a big win, but there are cons of text message marketing to considers:

• Message length limitations - Unlike marketing methods like email, text messages are limited to just 160 characters or you'll need to pay more to deliver more content.
• List length - You may find prospective residents are more willing to give up their email address than their phone number to receive your marketing messages.

At the end of the day, the pros and cons are going to be unique to your business. You may jump at the chance to send short, sweet and to the point texts that don’t take much brainstorming.

Or you may decide a short, motivated SMS list is better than an unruly email list where hardly anyone is opening your messages.

Tip💡: There’s no rule that says you need to take an all or nothing approach. Test out a text campaign and see how many prospective residents are interested in signing-up.

You may find texting works for a specific demographic, promotion, or rental seasonality that helps your business attract and retain superstar residents.

‍