Every apartment community should have a brand identity. And we'd include affordable housing in that statement. However, making branding affordable for lower-income housing is more of a challenge. But: even with limited resources, branding can make an impact for affordable housing.

Affordable housing communities have different marketing needs and budgets compared to their conventional housing counterparts. But even affordable housing communities should seek a brand identity that's all their own—so residents can have a fuller living experience, too.

Affordable housing has a few differences from conventional, and keeping those differences in mind can help your marketing choices—from budget to branding.

With rents being subsidized for lower income residents at affordable housing communities (or units) it's more than likely to have a waitlist for residents. Community property managers aren't necessarily facing any vacancy issues, since there are plenty of applicants and hopeful prospective residents.

Additionally, because of the waitlist, and with vacancy issues being virtually non-existent, marketing lower-income housing simply requires less effort.

For all the pluses of affordable housing, there are certainly some downsides. A lower-effort marketing need often translates to little to no budget for marketing those affordable housing communities.

An added challenge nestled within those budget constraints: Not all affordable housing is standalone. It's sometimes offered as some percentage of affordable units (say, 20-40%) in the context of a larger building filled with conventionally priced units—which is a requirement placed on developers by some cities, counties, and/or states.

These "mixed-income properties", as they're called, sometimes have property teams fall into the trap of lumping branding in with marketing. But: the branding should be there from the start, as part of the construction or building process. Brand identity should come a long time before marketing.

Every community should be branded, regardless of whether it is mixed-income or is only affordable housing. It will make a huge difference…because while occupancy may not be suffering, that's not the only thing branding is for.

Branding creates an experience and develops trust through consistency. This matters for every resident, whether they're paying market rents or not. Every resident deserves a thoughtful experience and your full attention.

With budgets being restrictive and limiting, it's helpful to look at creative approaches to keep your affordable housing branding—well—affordable.

You might choose to brand your properties all in the same way, similar to corporate property management or an ownership company. That's instead of a full brand identity at the property level for an affordable community. It's one solution! Check out more on corporate branding for multifamily on another one of our blogs.

Not in the budget? Scale it back. The time may be now and the place may be with affordable communities. At Zipcode Creative, we offer an Essential Brand Package because we know that every property should be branded, but not every property has the needs or the budget for the biggest package. So we tailor it to fit your needs, realistically.

In our essential brand package, we include:

• Naming - 3 name options with logic and check for availability
• Verbal Identity - Tagline Development and Headline Library
• Visual Identity - 2 Logo concepts, a color palette, and typography

Along with this, we'll provide a brand guide/style sheet, folders of individual assets, and logos in file types used for both print and digital. It's everything a community needs to get their brand locked in. For more details, check out the brand packages Zipcode Creative offers here.

Bear in mind: the essentials really are the basics of brand development, the bare minimum we believe you'll need. You shouldn't immediately go for the simpler stuff, it's just one option to have excellent branding at a lower price point. We'll help guide you towards what's going to work best for you.

As we pointed out before, affordable housing communities should still get a fair shake with branding.

Residents, no matter their income, should have a thoughtfully branded community that welcomes them. When a community lacks branding—it misses out on the sense of pride that can be shared among its residents. The sense of community might be lacking because the branding doesn't solidify what the apartment community "stands for" or values. With a brand clearly delineated, it's easier to make sense of what to expect—which can mean a lot to any resident.

Additionally, with attention to detail (think: well-thought out branding) residents will feel more confident that your community actually cares and will meet their needs—in repairs, in maintenance, and in overall customer service. It's part of your promise.

While there is a significant lack of affordable housing available for everyone who needs it in the U.S., there are still a number that you may be "competing" with. The role of branding may be even more important for affordable housing communities—not just to claim more residents than the competitors—but to foster loyalty among its residents.

The branding solutions for affordable communities should be just that! Affordable. With experience across several multifamily sectors (senior, student, conventional, affordable housing) we recognize that nothing is ever "one-size-fits-all."

That's part of the reason we created our brand quiz. Use it to determine what branding scope is going to be best for your property.