As apartment marketers set their plans for 2023, it's vital that they put most of their focus squarely on their apartment community's website.
If they don't have one, that is the first and only agenda item, as owning a dedicated website is an apartment's best digital marketing solution.
If they do, it's key to conduct an audit to assess if the website is performing its duty of being that apartment community's top source of leases. Several apartment marketing metrics are available that help pinpoints whether or not the website is churning leads into leases, which provides valuable data for determining what changes are needed.
Renters have clarified their expectations for what they want to see on an apartment website; however, as the new year begins, every apartment community website must include rent price information, real-time availability, and floorplan-specific content. As more future renters take fewer in-person tours and become more comfortable with leasing from an apartment community site unseen, lacking those three features on a website will negatively impact leasing success and occupancy.
1. Rent Price Information
Affordability is an essential item every prospective resident needs to know before making the financially-implicating decision to rent an apartment. So, apartment marketers should include rent price information on their community websites.
But most apartment websites, even ones with rent prices displayed, tend to make things more confusing for future renters regarding affordability. Whether by fault of poor pricing procedures or legacy revenue management systems, displayed rent prices are more inaccurate and misleading than necessary.
A specific scenario where this happens is when no one has touched the website for weeks, and the rent price displayed still needs to be updated. Or, the displayed rent price for the 2-bedroom floorplan is broad, such as $1,200-$3,600/month. How can a prospect decipher what they'd have to pay per month?
The last thing any apartment operator would want to deal with is if the price listed on a lease application differs from the price shown on the website—that is a deal killer. So, it would be best to display clear, updated rent price information on an apartment website, especially in 2023, as renters deal with rising inflation and other economic pressures.
2. Real-Time Availability
Affordability is the most apparent assessment for future residents deciding on an apartment community; the closest second is availability. Will there be an available unit in their desired floorplan when they're ready to move?
Most apartment marketers can apply real-time availability to community websites through property management software integrations. Adding availability information to websites could instantly change leasing capability because future renters will act faster, knowing that only a limited number of units are available.
That said, the team at RentVision pointed out that there's certainly a right and wrong way to display availability information on an apartment website. It is best not to show availability in instances where a particular floorplan has a lot of vacant units, as that may prevent prospective residents from taking action immediately. The key to availability is using it as a lever to generate the leasing process.
3. Floorplan-Specific Content
Lastly, it's crucial to show floorplan-specific content on an apartment website as that best serves prospective residents in the digital landscape of 2023. Before beginning their apartment search, every renter knew precisely how many bedrooms and bathrooms they needed to be comfortable, so they're likely only looking for communities with that exact floorplan layout.
Yet, many apartment websites need more information about their specific floorplans. Typically, they cobble it on one page or photo gallery.
It would be best to have a website page dedicated to each floorplan with price, availability, and amenity information, as well as media content such as a video tour that shows only the inside of a unit in that floorplan. A floorplan-specific page serves the immediate needs of prospective residents by giving them the most straightforward depiction of the apartment unit they'd potentially rent. And that's paramount towards earning both their trust and their lease agreement.
Conclusion
Apartment marketers should make it a priority in 2023 to evaluate and enhance their community websites to give prospective residents the information they need to sign a lease. It's imperative to ensure that updated rent prices and real-time availability data are on the website and that it shows floorplan-specific content. These features will enable the community website to be the top lease-generating machine apartment marketers need—in 2023 and beyond.
