In a media driven world that is oversaturated with marketing messages and advertising, it’s hard to stand out. Generally speaking, student housing providers don’t have massive marketing budgets to purchase primetime television spots or launch massive guerilla marketing campaigns. Having said that, you don’t necessarily need a huge budget or a world-class marketing team to launch some outstanding campaigns.
 

Here’s our favorite student housing marketing campaigns from the last few years.

1. Landlord Lou – Killam Properties



Killam Properties set out to target student renters in the Halifax area and to position their company as a leading student housing provider that cared about its tenants. With the help of Colour.ca, Killam launched the Landlord Lou campaign which focused on a fictional character that went above and beyond with helping young student renters.
 

Killam set up a temporary website called LandlordLou.ca (no longer operational), ran a competition for free rent for a year, created several YouTube promotional videos (some netting over 100,000+ views!) and various other marketing initiatives.

Killam was successful in generating full occupancy in its properties and received exposure from national business media. Also, Landlord Lou won an ICE Award for the best online campaign.

2. St. Patricks Day Snapchat Geofilters – Varsity Properties



Varsity Properties  has excelled in their student housing marketing initiatives and were one of the first student housing players in Canada to leverage Snapchat as a leasing tool.
 

Varsity Properties utilized Snapchat Geofilters for St. Patrick's Day which ended up being used 651 times and yielded an estimated 43,000 impressions. They also began taking direct snaps from their residents to engage and talk with them. As an example, they used Snapchat as a way to report noise complaints or other disturbances.

3.  Extend Your Lease Renewal Campaign – Campus Advantage



Campus Advantage recruited the help of Catalyst to help boost renewal rates at over 30 properties in the United States. The goal was to raise renewal rates and reduce costs.

Catalyst employed a multi-faceted approach using video, email, social media and traditional advertising to target current residents. They utilized actual resident renewal stories through video testimonials. As for the results – the portfolio saw an increase of 296 leases (+124%) over the previous year and is well ahead of their budgeted leasing goals.
 

4.  eBay Apartment Listings – Killam Properties (Again!)



Killam Properties knows how to get creative when it comes to apartment marketing. This strategy was rather unconventional but led to generating many interested renters, allowing for them to develop a list of potential tenants.

Killam Properties listed four of their apartments on eBay with a starting bid of $5. The winning bidder would then pay the amount that they won the auction for, as the cost of rent for 3 months of a 12-month lease. Those that didn’t win, still received a promotional offer with a discounted lease rate. This campaign was marketed heavily through social media and other online channels, appealing to many young apartment renters.
 

5. Out-of-the-box Contests – 319 Bragg



With the help from the Serendipit Consulting team, 319 Bragg set out to put their social media following to work by converting their fans and followers into leads and tenants.

The core solution was launching a variety of out-of-the-box contests to be facilitated through social media, such as Mustache Movember, Ugly Holiday Sweater and more. The campaign resulted in 281 new Facebook fans per month with a 24.2% conversion rate. This generated 66 direct leads, producing 16 signed leases.