The apartment industry is growing and with it, competition. Whether you’re a property manager, asset manager, apartment owner or developer, you’re going to need and want to expand your apartment community or portfolios marketing and branding.

More and more apartment communities and property management companies are turning to influencer marketing as additional marketing source and a great way to generate buzz for their communities.

What's Influencer Marketing?

Wikipedia tells us that it’s a form of marketing where the emphasis is placed on specific individuals or types of individuals, rather than targeting the market as a whole.

Influencers are usually social media experts and bloggers who have vast and loyal followers. These individuals can be found on every social media platform. 

Influencer Marketing and Multifamily

This is a relatively new concept in the apartment industry. However, using influencers will allow you to target a way larger audience and establish your property or company on a larger scale. 

The Stats

The stats speak for themselves.

The Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Report surveyed people in 60 countries found that 83% of people turn to those they know for recommendations, above other sources. This is just one of the many reasons why influencer marketing is a powerful way to promote your community. 

What Can Influencer Marketing Do for You? 

Social influencers can expose your brand, apartment community or property management company to millions of followers. Some ways include:

• Reaching out to their Twitter and Facebook followers supporting your brand
• Blog articles on your apartment community or properties
• Blog articles and Instagram posts on cool places to eat and shop in areas where your apartment communities are
• Reviews of your apartment communities
• Share your community brand on their platforms. For example, you might be developing a new community and want people to pre-lease, or you’re about to start listing a fabulous new apartment
• Create YouTube or ad videos on your behalf
• Attend a launch party or opening you’re hosting, and cover it on their social media accounts on your behalf

Just to name a few!

Never Underestimate

These are people who make a living from writing, blogging, pinning, and v-blogging every day. They are their own brand, often because they have a unique voice, and built a substantial social media following -- which you can use to develop your apartment community or property management company. 

Remember, customers today listen to what others say. They aren’t influenced like they used to be by billboard ads, TV and radio. Not to mention, people mistrust bigger corporations more now than ever before... unless they’ve gotten to know your community or company a little.

That’s where influencer marketers come in with that personal touch. 

Are There Things to Watch Out for?

It’s no good just paying an influencer and letting them loose. You need a plan — a good one. Know what you want to achieve and the audience you want to reach. Know the outcome you want. Otherwise, it’s not an investment; it’s just wasted money. 

Ensure you give your influencer all the information and targeted content they need to do their jobs.

You can’t just let someone loose on your brand after all! Some of the most important info you give your influencer is a great communication plan. One that makes it clear who your audience is and why, and what goals you want to achieve. 

Make sure the influencer knows how your brand wants to be presented, including decent photography. 

Finding the Right Influencer

Influencers are usually categorized as mega-influencers (celebrities, think any of the Kardashians), macro-influencers (well-known people) and micro-influencers (people who specialize in niche areas, for example, maybe someone prominent in the multifamily world who isn’t a competitor?).

One of the largest and most time consuming parts of Influencer marketing is finding the right influencers, managing the relationship and tracking effectiveness of the campaign. To that end,  try using an Influencer Marketing Platform. These platforms can help you find influencers, management communication and see metrics. 

Izea - izea.com

Upfluence - upfluence.com

Aspire - aspireiq.com

Hypr - hyprbrands.com

Julius - juliusworks.com

Already have a list of Influencers? Try using Grin (https://www.grin.co). Great influencer management platform. 

Once you have your platform, you need to find an influencer that’s appealing to your demographic. If you’re hoping to rent to families, find an influencer that appeals to people with families. If you’re renting to Millennials, you’ll be looking for someone entirely different, whose aspirations match those of Millennials. Be sure to find someone relevant.

Just send them an email that’s really clear about what you have in mind. How can they help you rent apartments or properties in your portfolio?

Maybe invite them to do a tour of the community and photo/video the event, which the influencer can then share with their followers?

Use Visuals

Ask your influencer(s) to use visuals, especially videos. Did you know that 84% of people choose to buy something after watching a video? Incorporate this into the influencer’s brief. 

One example we can look at here is Bedrock Estate’s video trying to persuade people to buy property in Detroit. They used Detroit native, influencer and rapper Big Sean, and it worked. 

Don't Forget About Instagram

With more than 1bn people using the app every month, that’s a massive audience for you and your influencer to tap into, especially since it’s led by visual content.

Think of all the beautiful photography of your apartment community you can post with inspirational captions. Be sure to make the photos aspirational and personal --not just pictures of living rooms. Instead, try publishing ones with people and pets in them. Your target audience needs to see 'themselves' in your photos.

Remember the Federal Trade Commission

Influencers who are paid, now have to disclose any paid endorsements including discounts or other incentives. That’s the FTC rules. They have drawn up a helpful Endorsement FAQ for any business thinking about using influencers. 

Use your common sense here. Make sure you tell influencers they are responsible for disclosing their endorsement of your business. Keep a regular eye on what they are saying about you and keep on top of any problems, thereby avoiding a media relations storm.