What is your plan for capturing the interest of your target market? Do you have a multifaceted strategy, or are you merely relying on the tried-and-true approach of curb appeal and word of mouth? While the latter methods may work, they don’t scrape the surface of available marketing tactics. And, in limiting yourself, you’re likely missing out on some great tenant prospects.

What you need is a comprehensive lead generation strategy.

Marketo, a leader in digital marketing software and solutions, defines lead generation as “the marketing process of stimulating and capturing interest in a product or service for the purpose of developing sales pipeline.” Creating a strategy, therefore, means identifying the right mix of marketing tactics to reach, attract, and convert the target audience; in this case, prospective tenants.

Here, we look at the 5 components every lead generation strategy needs to be effective and successful.

1. Know who you are marketing to. Before you can ever build a successful strategy, you must know who you are trying to reach. What are the population demographics of your community? What are the demographics of your current tenants? Once you know who you are most likely going to appeal to, you are better positioned to choose marketing tactics that will reach them.
2. Identify what you are marketing. Now you know who you are marketing to, you should also know which features and amenities of the property they like best and make a list. These are the points you will try to include in marketing copy, descriptions, blogs, and ads.
3. Build a website that includes conversions. To be effective, a website needs conversion points. These are the components of a site where a visitor evolves from simply browsing to requesting information; and from someone requesting information to an applicant. Such points include the property’s visible contact information, a contact form, a survey opportunity, a newsletter signup, and/or an actual online application.
4. Diversify your marketing portfolio. As I said in the beginning, there must be more than curbside marketing tactics in your strategy. When you know what you’re marketing and who you’re marketing it to, you’re halfway there. Now, you just need the right mix of tactics to get your message in front of them. Following is a wonderful visual from Barclaysthat gives a lot more insight into each generation, to include preferred communication media.

   

5. Commit and follow-through. In order for a strategy to work, you must commit. This requires consistency and follow-through. Doing so effectively means monitoring the results of your tactics to see what’s working and what isn’t, and then adjusting as needed.

“By far the most efficient approach to deal with your leads is always to use a process that automatically brands you, supplies worth to your prospects, follows up with them, and sorts out the uninterested people.” – MLM Lead Generation