Developers of multi-family properties understand the importance of social media strategy to effectively communicate with their tenants while addressing comments and posts regarding customer complaints. Today, it is essential to create a strategic, well thought out social media plan to address both tenant likes and dislikes that are posted daily, if not hourly, on various online platforms. Monitoring and responding to these tweets and posts is a 24/7 job that can grow brand awareness and fan advocates, or have the exact opposite effect.
Real estate review pages have become a primary source for prospective tenants to research and find the perfect community for their needs. With the proliferation of sharing and commenting, both good and bad experiences, rating sites are a source of valuable, honest feedback for potential renters to use when making a decision about which apartment to select. Reviews are the word of mouth marketing tool social media provides. There are numerous rating sites that provide instant, real-time feedback that can and do impact a renter’s selection process.
One commonly used social media site is Yelp. Sites like Yelp not only allow for simple access to other tenants’ experiences but also provide more details about a company’s customer service, maintenance response time and even information about safety issues. It is critical that property managers address bad experiences immediately to position themselves as a hands-on, proactive company that genuinely cares about tenants and is willing to correct any issues that arise as quickly as possible. Review sites require a competent management staff to monitor negative online comments and prevention strategies to avoid low ratings on Yelp and other rating sites.
Additionally, social media’s most used platform, Facebook, has implemented a mandatory star and comment review tool on all business pages essentially centralizing word of mouth marketing effects in one location. This poses a large risk to businesses, especially multi-family communities, as Facebook is already a top search engine harnessing a third of search engine traffic.
“Online reviews, especially across social media, will either make or break your rental and referral rates. Because incidents like unhappy residents are bound to occur, it is imperative multi-family communities have a strategic crisis management plan in place that all social media contributors are properly trained to implement." – Chelsea Smith, Social Media Strategist, infinitee Communications, Inc.
In order to increase customer satisfaction ratings, many property managers have adopted incentive programs to encourage tenants to leave positive reviews on their most referenced social media platforms. Some of these incentives include entering a lottery for a gift card, participating in a raffle to win a trip or a chance to win other desirable items. This interactive marketing tactic of gamification and rewards is a great strategy that many companies are implementing to enhance positive engagement.
For more information on how to promote positive online comments about your multi-family community, contact our Atlanta real estate advertising agency today.