Rental property investors focus on getting maximum returns from their investment, so avoiding a vacancy is essential. You need to strengthen your marketing, attract long-term renters, and plan strategic ways to increase property exposure, including keeping your unit well-maintained.
While the goal is understandable, plenty of rental property owners can make a couple of marketing mistakes. However, this can be sidestepped by increasing your awareness.
Why Rental Property Marketing is Vital
Generally, properties need to be advertised to attract potential tenants. You can start by setting the right rental fee or posting on popular listing sites. There are some associated costs when marketing your unit and it can also demand a huge amount of time, but if you engage plenty of prospective renters, then it’s recommended to do it.
The Most Common Rental Property Marketing Mistakes
Below are the typical rental property marketing mistakes landlords and investors can make:
1. Absence of strategy
For your marketing to succeed, you need clarity when it comes to promoting your property. You need to figure out who the target market is. Analyze which features are attractive and how you’re going to sell them. Work out the results you’re aiming for so you’ll know in advance if you’ve met them or need to adjust your marketing methods.
Having a solid strategy makes your goal easy to accomplish and you’ll know which approach to implement. It’s advisable to take time to assess the rental price, the renters you want to attract, and the selling points of your rental unit.
2. Picking the wrong audience
Identifying a specific group of renters makes it easy to serve their needs. If you opt to market to a general public, your advertising becomes generic and irrelevant to a majority of people. You end up wasting more time and effort and will only have a few interested prospective renters.
Select a specific target market so you’ll know more about the best way to respond to the group’s needs. You can then conduct more research and find out the most efficient way to engage more interest from them.
Focusing on one group makes it easy to perform marketing. Still, it may take a while to accurately narrow your sights to a specific group. That’s why you need to analyze and research first.
3. Overusing tools
It’s always best to know what each marketing tool delivers. Otherwise, you can waste a lot of money and time using a variety of ineffective ones. Given that there’s a plethora of advertising tools available, landlords can get overwhelmed or be stuck with unforeseen costs.
Simplifying your marketing with the use of a few powerful tools can be the most effective. For one, you’re keeping within your marketing budget and second, your marketing focus is clear, which provides better results.
4. Opting for a single marketing approach
With several available ways to market your rental property, it can be short-sighted to use only one. Some landlords succeed in attracting renters using social media and online property listings, while others maximize classified ads in newspapers and professional signages.
Concentrating on a single advertising channel can be ineffective since you’ll also narrow down your market reach. It’s best to market in several channels and use different marketing techniques to discover the most effective one that brings you high-quality renters and a stable rental income.
5. Selecting the DIY route
While there’s no harm in marketing independently, it can be limiting for inexperienced landlords. It’s always best to work with professionals who can predict results and know the best tools to maximize your investment returns. Partnering with marketing experts and a creative team of writers, photographers, and designers nets a positive gain.
You can also opt to hire a reliable property management company that has a solid immersion in the rental property industry. These companies are able to provide a clear map to successfully reach your marketing goals. They also have a network of resources ready for a marketing launch.
6. Displaying bad photos
The first marketing tool every landlord uses is photos. Most potential tenants contact the landlord when they see exquisite images of a property. Great visuals heighten interest and are hugely needed for marketing your rental property. Thus, you must ensure that you’re presenting amazing pictures.
Though a well-written copy can inspire more interest, photos top in rankings. Make sure to show enough photos so prospective renters are more inclined to reach out and inquire. You can invest in high-quality camera equipment or work with a professional photographer to showcase outstanding photos of your rental space.
7. Forgetting to add a call to action
Even if your rental is the best property in your neighborhood and attracts a lot of interest, you can still fail to nudge your audience to act right away. Strong CTAs are required to prompt people to reach out and make inquiries. Always remember to include CTAs in your ads and listings so prospective renters will be moved to act as soon as possible.
8. Failing to analyze the results
Marketing does not stop at the launching stage. You need to gather the marketing data results. Ask the following questions when you have enough data.
- How many views are your property ads getting?
- Are there qualified leads to chase?
- How effective are the marketing strategies you’re using?
When you have the answers, you can objectively change strategies or make adjustments to achieve the results you want.
Bottom Line
Since independent landlords can commit errors along the way, especially inexperienced ones, it’s worth engaging the services of a property manager. Property management companies know the right rental price to set in a given neighborhood according to the current market demand.
They also have marketing expertise gained from taking care of a lot of rental properties over the years.
As a dedicated partner, McCaw Property Management helps market your vacant rentals effectively, screen tenants thoroughly, collect the rent promptly, organize records and deliver financial reports, and ensure the upkeep of your rental property. Contact us today!