After the apartment market's blistering-hot run over the last decade, many metros have seen lots of new supply crop up in the past few years.

With increased competition it's more important than ever that apartment communities – whether in lease-up, coming off major renovations or are simply stabilized properties – have intelligent and innovative strategies to attract prospects and drive leasing.

Below are 7 methods to keep your tour numbers high and your occupancy rates where you want them to be.

1) Pay extra attention to negative reviews. We know that prospects make a point of checking out review sites like Google, Yelp and Facebook when shopping for their new apartment home. But what we may not realize is the outsized impact negative reviews may have.

Our brains have a negative bias which indicates that each negative review could have a much bigger impact on the reader than a positive one. So a series of negative reviews and inadequate responses by your community may be more than enough to persuade prospects to look elsewhere. Apartment managers have to commit themselves to both the large and small things they need to do to develop a good online reputation.

2) Just say no to concessions. When markets soften and vacancies climb, apartment managers often turn to concessions such as discounted rent or a free iPad or free television.

However, these incentives come with some pretty sizeable drawbacks. To start with, discounted rent or month(s) of free rent result in lower effective rents, which can decrease the value of a community and hurt operating budgets.

Also, apartment operators who have offered items like free televisions or iPads have shared with me that residents who are motivated by these incentives often are not inclined to fulfill the terms of their lease. Sometimes, these residents just stick around long enough for the gift, and a manager is stuck with a unit that's vacant sooner than expected. That’s lost revenue.

3) Tap into their economic mind. When it comes to their finances, today's renters don't exactly have it easy. Many are burdened with student debt, stagnant wages and the rising cost of living. In fact a survey from Charles Schwab reports that 62 percent of millennials are living paycheck to paycheck while Hotpads reports that, on average, a renter will spend more than $3,400 a year on costs associated with moving-in. This includes security deposits, application fees, pet deposits and pet rent.

Offering more affordable move-in (I'm not talking about traditional concessions here) can accelerate conversion rates and alleviate the hardship renters are facing.

For example, consider eliminating security deposits. Think about it: a lot of prospects who would otherwise make excellent renters simply can't afford the large upfront of security deposits. When communities get rid of them and use other solutions, like lease insurance, to protect their units against damage and skips, they can significantly enhance conversion rates. Prospects are signing leases faster and moving in quicker - that’s found revenue.

4) Get chatty with chatbots. When a community employs chatbots, prospects can ask questions and gather information about a property 24/7. Today's apartment shoppers often do their information gathering after the leasing office is closed. When you provide an avenue for them to have their questions answered anytime they want, you are likely to keep them interested in your property and keep them moving down the demand funnel. This also frees up your staff time to convert those leads to leases.

5) Optimize websites and ILSs. In an Apartments.com survey, 72 percent of the respondents said they begin their apartment search on the internet. It may sound basic, but it's so fundamental to success in multifamily: make sure your individual property websites and ILS entries are search engine optimized. Understand just how your target renters are searching and find ways to include those search terms throughout your site - don’t forget about the meta data and image tags!

6) Offer self-guided tours. Providing a great tour experience is critical, and many prospects in this convenience-driven world want to tour a community by themselves. Technology enabled, self-guided tours can give prospects the experience they want while also freeing up agents to work with prospects who may be further down the demand funnel.

7) Don’t be afraid of personality in your social media. Whether it's on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, an apartment community should use its social media outlets to have some fun. When prospects see an energetic, authentic and fun presence on social media, it creates a sense of excitement and what to know more, increasing their interest in a property.

The competition for new leases in multifamily is more intense than it's been in a while. By incorporating the steps recommended above, an apartment community can be sure it's well positioned to lead the pack.