How to Market the Resident Experience
Amenities, events, maintenance—tips for appealing to prospects.
Resident experience is the quintessence of marketing multifamily properties. It is a subjective perspective that shows a community’s features from the inside out. Knowing how to market the resident experience can be a powerful marketing tool for your business and a fun lifestyle and practice for the people living in your community.
There should be no room for modesty when showcasing the perks you offer to the residents in your community. Each detail adds to the living experience, enhancing convenience, lifestyle enrichment and community building.
Note your resident experience
Typically, when a person is looking for a place to live, their first search criterion is the location. They will look into a specific area until they narrow their search down to a handful of options. From this point on, a strong deciding factor could be proximity to various nearby amenities. Listing these—like shopping centers, restaurants, entertainment venues and essential services like grocery stores and pharmacies—will increase the appeal of your property.
On-site maintenance provided by dedicated teams is also an important factor for would-be renters. If your property provides repairs, lawn care, snow removal and other upkeep needs, don’t be shy in listing them. Everybody loves to be looked after, and the less they have to worry about routine stuff, the more inclined they will be to choose a property that offers this peace of mind. One of the main advantages of living in a rental community is not having to handle regular maintenance and repairs.
Additionally, common-area amenities have evolved considerably over the years, progressively increasing the resident experience. Don’t hold back in listing details about on-site fitness centers, swimming pools and community rooms and spaces where they can host events, meetings, or celebrations. Pet-friendly features such as dog parks, pet waste stations and pet washing stations will boost the appeal to pet owners. And playgrounds, sports courts and yoga rooms will attract families with children and active residents.
You should also clearly showcase any social engagement opportunities. Those more extroverted among us thrive in environments that offer organized activities such as game nights, fitness and cooking classes, reading and art clubs and holiday parties foster a sense of belonging among residents.
Potential residents might also be interested in green space. Community gardens enable residents to spend time outdoors working with their hands and growing their own plants and vegetables while further fostering a sense of community.
You can also highlight the sustainable features at your property, such as listing all energy-efficient appliances, the sustainable materials used in the construction of the property, any recycling programs you’ve implemented, or whether you’ve equipped your community with on-site renewable energy and EV charging stations.
Share your worth
Once you’ve made a comprehensive list of all the perks your community offers to its residents, use it in your marketing efforts.
The best place to boast about the resident experience at your community is on your property’s website, which you should make sure is optimized with multiple landing pages to increase lead generation. Upload high-resolution photos, virtual tours and videos to showcase all amenities and the lifestyle at your community.
Add them to your social media accounts and maintain a flowy activity—share blog posts, updates, events and resident testimonials. Which brings us to the next step—leveraging resident reviews and referrals.
Encourage satisfied residents to leave positive reviews online and inspire them to create tours or share their daily experiences, highlighting their favorite amenities and features. These statements have a strong influence on prospective residents. You can incentivize participation with rewards, such as gift cards or rent discounts. Share this content on your community’s website, on your Google Business Profile and on your social media channels for authenticity.
Come up with referral programs where current residents can earn rewards for introducing new ones—and be creative with this one. You can include cash incentives by setting an amount per qualified referral or offering rent credits.
