With Millennials making up 56% of the rental market and Gen Z bringing in an estimated 44.4 million renters of their own, it’s time for multi-family to re-evaluate their engagement tactics when connecting with these prospects.
It’s undeniable that the Millennials and Gen Zs are big players in the rental market. These renters are digitally-powered, sociable individuals with high expectations for convenience and authenticity. Although both groups have distinct characteristics about them, they also share quite a few similarities. When considering how to get these individuals on board with your property, there are a few things to note from both groups.
Here are the top things to keep in mind when marketing to the new faces of renters:
Both Millennials and Gen Zs desire authenticity when it comes to businesses. It’s important to not be too salesy -- let your professional photos speak for themselves, and make sure the photos and descriptions are to-the-point and not overly embellished. Shorter attention spans mean you have to catch their attention quickly and leave a great first impression. According to recent reports, Gen Zers in particular note YouTube as their favorite website, so consider video tours when listing your properties.
Both groups believe that businesses should focus on more than just their bottom line. They want positive reasons to be loyal to a business, whether it’s sustainable practices, eco-friendliness, etc. That means you should show great initiatives that your business is a part of! For example, offering environmentally friendly recycling on-site, community printing, or energy-saving smart home tech will appeal to the 76% concerned about sustainability.
Both Millennials and Gen Zs are sociable groups that desire community. Providing co-working spaces and rooftop decks designed for socializing will definitely be a hit with these renters. When marketing your property, highlight access to local nightlife, restaurants, nature, etc. Since these groups are active and pay attention to fitness as well, be sure to highlight proximity to parks, hiking trails, and bike routes, or access to an amazing gym, too.
The most important factor for these digital natives is technology. Top-speed internet and wifi are a must, with feature-rich and immersive apps for greater connectivity. Highlight the convenience that your high-tech amenities add, whether it's easy accessibility on demand with your property using chatbots, or reaching out with social media DMs. Ensuring a strong social media presence with cross-channel marketing across popular platforms such as Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram will help attract prospects from the Millennial and Gen Z demographics overall.
It’s important to offer amenities that matter to Millennials and Gen Zs. Since it takes valuable time and money to attract prospects, it’s crucial that you use your resources wisely, going above and beyond to engage and keep these renters in your property.
Valuable tech amenities don't also have to be expensive or extraordinary. Even amenities like #printers can delight younger generations that are often still in college or require printing for work, taxes, applications, return receipts, and more. Learn more about PrintWithMe's convenient wireless printer station as a low-cost amenity that will be truly appreciated by this demographic, as well as your property staff.
Key steps you can take to prepare your multifamily properties for upcoming new resident data security regulations.
Did you know? New data privacy regulations are taking effect on January 1, 2020 that will set higher standards for managing resident data. These laws vary state-by-state and experts expect California’s CCPA to set a standard of compliance that many other states will follow closely.
The new laws are in response to consumers' demands to know the information a company has saved on them, and to know who their data is being shared with.
"As consumers become more conscious of their data rights across industries, we as real estate managers, operators, and developers, need to expand our policies to include dedicated sections on data protection," says Mark Zikra, Vice President of Technology at CA Ventures, LLC. "Furthermore, we need to know how and when our data is being used internally and/or externally and be able to speak to those uses clearly and concisely with our residents. Transparency on this within lease agreements, websites, and other communication mediums will go a long way in gaining the trust of our renters."
Luckily, there are many steps that you can take to reduce your properties' risk, put your clients at ease, and signal to your residents that you take their data privacy very seriously. Creating a plan to address potential security risks is vital.
“Just like any other business that handles consumer information, property management companies need a plan for how to comply with things like breach response notification laws and data subject requests,” says Lisa Angelo, Founding & Managing Partner of Angelo Law Firm PLLC, a firm focused on cyber liability.
We identified three areas to start your internal data security assessment. However, please note that we are not offering legal advice and we recommend you consult with an attorney for more comprehensive advice:
Identify all systems that touch your data and residents’ data. Each of these systems should have a clearly-stated Terms of Service and Privacy Notice, that were made available to you during your contracting phase, and shown to your residents if they sign up for the service directly.
In each of these vendor’s documents, you’ll want to look for some key “positive” language that signals that their Privacy Notice is up-to-date and ready for the upcoming new regulations.
Here are a few key questions to ask while reviewing their Privacy Note:
Further, you will want to watch out for these yellow flags:
To ensure that your property staff is giving the utmost care towards maintaining resident data privacy, we recommend publishing an official Privacy Checklist. If leasing teams are writing down personal information on notepads or other papers, is that information eventually shredded? Are privacy screens placed over desktop monitors?
Many properties still allow residents to print personal documents via the office staff. This practice should be prohibited as it introduces personal resident information onto your corporate systems and introduces a human-risk vulnerability. If helping residents print via the staff printer is unavoidable, staff should always delete personal documents immediately after printing.
PC and Mac computer terminals for shared use by residents are by far the riskiest devices on-site today. Many properties still require users to login to a shared computer to print on a networked printer. The security risks inherent in this public workflow are obvious.
Properties should switch to a wireless printer amenity that enables users to print directly and securely from their own devices. The documents should never touch your property’s own systems, and users should have the option to enter a unique secure release code before printing.
Contact PrintWithMe today to upgrade your property’s resident printer amenity to a secure and wireless system, and reduce this area of cyber liability.
Here are 5 ways to increase your multifamily property's ORA™ score and improve online reputation, drawing prospects to your community right away.
According to JTurner Research, 75% of prospects look at online ratings multiple times in the apartment search process and 70% of prospects will choose to visit a property with a better online reputation.
ORA™ score (Online Reputation Assessment) was created by JTurner in order to compile online property ratings across more than 20 review sites into one simple score. Each month, JTurner uses a statistical model to aggregate online reviews and create a score for each property based on a scale of 0 to 100. This score allows property management companies to compare themselves with competitors and evaluate different properties within their own portfolio.
Turner Research tracks the online ratings of more than 71,000 properties in the U.S. with nearly 5 million total reviews. Each year, properties compete for spots on the ORAORA™ Elite 1% Power Rankings to be named as one of the top properties in the whole country for online ratings by residents.
Here's how #PropertyManagers can increase their ORA™ and gain national recognition:
Stephanie Williams, President of Bozzuto Management Company.
The best online reputation strategy begins with creating wonderful experiences for residents. Successful property management companies hire people who can provide customer service that is unmatched.
Stephanie Williams, President of Bozzuto Management Company, oversees a portfolio of more than 215 properties and has helped Bozzuto earn its spot as The #1 Management Company for Online Reputation - five years in a row.
Williams believes that there's no substitute for good service and that the people her team hires make all the difference. In an interview with JTurner, she shares some of her secrets to a stellar online reputation:
"We start with our hiring process. Since our reputation is earned through the everyday experience we provide, we ensure that we hire people who will best represent our brand every day. This means they shared our brand’s values and use them to govern their decision-making as they serve our customers."
Williams knows that the best way to improve online reputation is by making sure that residents are happy in their homes. She focuses on building a strong legacy of meaningful service and experiences for residents in Bozzuto communities. Providing incentives for positive reviews won't help her company in the long run, so Williams focuses on the fundamentals.
The Retreat at Trinity Apartments, an ORA Elite 1% property managed by Greystar.
After property management teams focus on delivering meaningful service to their residents, they'll need to start asking for reviews.
Exceptional service offers a great opportunity for staff to ask residents for honest feedback and see if they're open to posting an online review about their experience. It's helpful to get the whole team involved in asking residents for reviews, maintenance staff can help too.
According to JTurner's Mechanics of Online Review Sites and ILSs, the majority of apartment hunters (72%) consider a property with 450+ positive reviews as more credible than a property with less than 160 reviews. Prospects are more likely to visit a property with a higher number of reviews, so management teams should be actively seeking reviews as often as possible.
That being said, communities shouldn't solicit reviews for gifts, drawings, or other incentives. If reviews are earned this way, it's likely that someone may uncover these practices and expose the property online – reducing credibility in the long run. Asking for honest feedback or writing sincere thank you notes to residents should be enough.
No property is perfect, and it's inevitable that there will be a time when a resident's experience is less than ideal. Think noisy neighbors, maintenance issues, smoking complaints, etc.
The best thing that a management team can do is to create an 'Open Door Policy' and stick to it.
That means responding to complaints promptly via email and inviting residents to come into the office to talk about their concerns. Property managers should remain available and engaged with their residents when issues arise.
Residents are more likely to have a positive opinion of their property management team when they feel like their concerns are being heard. Some companies have online portals such as Bozzuto Listens, that allow residents to submit their concerns privately 24/7, so that management is notified right away. Staff members are given a chance to proactively find a solution to the problem before the issue is publicized online.
SkyGarden, an ORA Elite 1% property in Charleston, SC managed by Cardinal Group.
Even with these measures in place, it's nearly impossible to run a property without one or two negative reviews being posted over time.
Property staff should respond to all reviews quickly and with care. It helps to explain what steps will be taken to resolve the issue in the review and what steps have already been taken to prevent the issue from escalating.
This allows the resident who wrote the review to feel respected, knowing that their concern is being addressed, and it makes the management team seem more responsive to prospects who are reading online reviews without full context.
JTurner considers ratings from over 20 different review sites when calculating a property's ORA score.
When it comes to the many online review sites, it's difficult to choose which to focus on. According to research published by JTurner, the top platforms in regards to a prospect's decision to rent include Google, Apartments.com, and ApartmentRatings.com.
Renters also consider reviews from
Facebook and other sites during their search, but generally believe that reviews posted on independent review sites are more credible than reviews posted on property websites or Facebook.
JTurner found Google to be the most impactful site on a prospect’s decision to rent at a property. While JTurner does not release their exact algorithm to compute ORA™ scores, it's a possibility that they may weight Google reviews more heavily than reviews on other platforms because of their increased impact.
When a prospect searches for a property, its Google reviews are showcased on the search engine right away – making them nearly impossible to miss. Property staff should take this into account when asking for resident feedback on different review platforms.
That concludes the top 5 tips for improving your property's #ORA™ Score. Take a look at more resources from JTurner here to view FAQs, best practices, and more information about ORA™ Scores and #multifamily online reputation.