Although advertising on campus and social media is essential when it comes to marketing to college students, there are other creative ways to reach out to the college crowd.

Here are three fun ways a student housing community can ensure they stand out from their competition.

1. Host a monthly game night: Whether it is at a local hang out spot or on campus, hosting a monthly game night is a fun way to garner interest in your property. Make sure there is a prize for the winner as an incentive for prospective renters! Have leasing agents attend the game night and be ready to chat with the prospective student renters. This is a great way to keep your property name known on campus, build personal relationships with students, and have students associate your community with having a good time.
2. Give freebies: It is no surprise that most college students are living on a budget and are notorious for taking advantage of any freebies on or off campus! At the beginning and end of each semester, offer a free treat or giveaway for students that come in to visit your property.
3. Host happy hour: The college crowd tends to hang out at local bars on the weekends with their friends. Do a little research and find out if you can host or co-host a happy hour night. Promote your happy hour on social media and around campus. If the night is successful, it can be repeated on regular basis or when you’re in need of an extra lift. Leasing agents can talk to students during the happy hour, hand out their business cards or schedule viewing appointments.

These are just a few ways that you can promote your available student housing to prospects on or near campus. Share your best tips in the comments below!

This is a guest post from Gabrielle Castaneda, who is currently enrolled at the University of South Florida pursuing a bachelor’s degree with a major in marketing, a minor in international business and a minor in management. In her spare time she enjoys doing outdoors activities. 

• Fix small problems. It’s easy to ignore your property when there are no complaints from residents. But sometimes residents don’t want to call you for something simple, like a small drip from kitchen faucet or a hall light bulb that needs changing. Fixing these will show your residents you respect them and your property.
• Litter control. Invest in a heavy duty set of work gloves, broom, dustpan and garbage bags which you keep at your property. Spend an hour each week picking up any litter and sweeping the common places. Have pride in your building and your residents will, too.
• Return calls within a day. Even if you can’t tackle a resident’s issue that day, they’ll feel respected if you call back just to say you’ve received their call. Let them know when you will address it.
• Give them your email. Create a landlord email account and check it daily. Residents will be pleased to know you’re available by phone and by email.
• Gift cards. Don’t forget holiday gifts. Residents will feel appreciated with a gift certificate to a local cafe.
• Respect the contract. If your residents signed a “no pets” contract, abide by it. Even though one resident wants a dog, it might annoy the other residents with its barking. It’s easier to kindly remind residents about their agreement than deal with complaints from others.
• Help residents feel vested. If your residents have skills you can use, such as painting, repairing or cleaning, hire them for small jobs if necessary. They’ll feel proud of their work and the property.

By helping residents feel respected and by taking pride in your property, you should have a low turnover rate. After all, no one wants to move out of a clean, well maintained property.

The most successful amenities are unique to your local market. For example, a luxury rental building owner in New York, realized renters wanted a shuttle service to drop them off at train and subway stations. By providing this free service, the complex was able to meet a need – stand out from their competition – and add to their bottom line.

Some renters want a place that enhances their overall lifestyle. In the Sun Sentinel article Perk package: Renters enjoy upscale amenities reporter Paul Owers notes:

Many retirees find that they’d rather rent than be tied down to a house, while homeowners hammered by the housing collapse either don’t want or can’t get a mortgage. Both groups are willing to pay a little more for an upscale experience not commonly associated with renting.

Apartment owners who have embraced the needs of this market have been successful with luxury items like dog parks, vegetable gardening space, wine-tasting events and high-quality exercise centers.

But, the goal of these property owners was the same as the New York property owner; give the consumer what they want. Owners in the upscale market capitalized on the fact that people were willing to pay more if the unit offered enough extra benefits and social interaction.

For a St. Paul Minnesota landlord it was much simpler – improve the community laundry room. This innovative owner spent $3,700 for a renovation that created a more home-like environment with its large-screen TV and granite folding counters. But the real money-maker in the renovation was a pair of programmable extra-capacity washers and dryers. These programmable machines allowed the owner to curb gas usage – and to pass the cost of increase gas usage (for hot water) to the individual using it – not the community as a whole.

We’re making more money using these four machines than we did when we had 12 machines in our old community laundry room,” says Robin Hall, Manager of Plaza Apartments.

The list of amenities you can offer is endless, but the profitable ones are those that appeal to your specific local market.

Each year, more than $1 billion in rebates and incentives is available for you to make your income properties more energy efficient and profitable. These are available through federal and state agencies, not-for-profits, and many other sources. To gain this “free money,” you need to consider projects that are not your typical “retrofits”. These would include:

• Resident fit-outs (corporate apartments/business venues)
• Remodeling (small or large-scale)
• New constructions or add-ons

In some cases, you can gain a subsidy if the construction relates in any way to energy or water efficiency, i.e. new sewer lines. Particular rebates might even be applied after the fact.

There are different ways to obtain the information.

• Call utilities, state energy offices, relevant sources
• Internet
• Commercial database

Most importantly certain mechanisms need to be in place in order to capitalize on resident retention through energy efficiency.

Know Your Properties

• Have your properties ranked according to Energy Star benchmarking; utility rates, energy intensity, anticipated holding period, and availability of money for improvement.
• Know which operating best practices have been implemented at each of your properties.

Claim Your “Free Money”

• Capture all of the rebates and other incentives you are entitled to when doing capital expense analyses or reports.
• Seek rebates for resident fit-out, remodeling, and other new construction. Do not just consider energy/water projects. Also, screen your recent capital expense report for retroactive rebates.

Make Rebate Screening a Best Practice

• Any energy-, gas-, or water-related capital expense proposal must have a rebate report attached to it. Make sure the filings are double-checked (and applied) for any additional rebates that are relevant to your project.

Find and Fund the Best Upgrades

• Decision-making should go beyond simple payback period. Consider the leases, appraised value, and other relevant factors in the approval process.
• If you have finite access to capital, fund projects that represent the highest rate of return first.

Make Owner/Renter Cost/Benefit Analysis a Best Practice

• Any capital expenditure that is proposed to reduce operating expenses must have a cost/benefit analysis report showing the owner’s share of projected savings and the owner’s return on investment attached to it.

For further information or ideas contact us.

If this sounds familiar to you as a property management professional, read on and improve your resident retention!

• Every renter is the most important renter! This doesn’t mean that you need to send champagne and caviar to everyone. It’s usually the little things, even the free things, that residents appreciate most. For example, look up the names of the surrounding neighbors that you will be showing a unit to that day. Everyone feels important when someone they rarely see knows their name. 
• Take complaints like a champ, it’s your job! Being annoyed by a complaining resident is only going to annoy the renter further, thus they will complain more. To make your resident happy, and your day easier, be understanding about their complaints and do not get defensive! Most people could care less about the excuse, even if it’s a good one. Just fix it if you can, and be honest and empathetic if you can’t. 
• Keep everyone informed of the market. If you have a newsletter, be sure to include the latest real estate market trends in your area. Not every renter will be concerned about this information, but this will go a long way with the few that do.  
• Simply beautiful property. You don’t have to break the budget on beautifying the property. Fresh cut grass and trash free walkways go a long way even with the pickiest of tenants.
• Get rid of the dead weight. Replace any unsatisfactory affiliates such as bad landscapers or maintenance employees. They are far easier to replace than a resident or several residents.

By now, if you’ve been honest with yourself, you’ve probably identified at least one area to improve upon. No matter the condition of the property you’re working at, you now know that each resident is to be treated like gold. Your residents will feel like owners with the simplest of gestures. Make sure that professionalism extends far beyond that signed dotted line.

Of course, there are right and wrong ways to go about increasing rent rates. You still want to keep an eye on resident retention while implementing a rental rate increase, especially when you’re dealing with good renters. Any increase is almost guaranteed to trigger conversations with current residents about why their living costs are going up, and how you handle these interactions will affect the smoothness of the transition. Here are a few tips to help you minimize turbulence and raise rent without burning your current residents and damaging your reputation.

Be Transparent About the Change

Unless the rent increase is solely aimed at fattening your bottom-line, your property likely has valid reasons for upping rental rates. There’s no need to be vague or cryptic: Instead, rental property experts Judy Tremore and Deborah Boersma Zondervan recommend that landlords and management be honest about why the change is occurring. You might be trying to keep up with the going rates of the surrounding area, or you might be facing increases in operational costs — maintenance, groundwork, utilities or otherwise — that need to be covered. Emphasize that you don’t want to increase the living costs of your residents, but that the property’s current economic situation has made an increase unavoidable.

Inform Renters Early

In most cases, state landlord-renter laws require at least 30 day’s notice before increasing rent. Keep in mind, too, that you can only increase rent at the end of a lease period, unless existing lease agreements contain a clause allowing for rent increases in certain circumstances. While 30 days in the minimum amount of notification, the earlier you can advise residents, the better. That will give them more time to discuss the matter with you and/or review their options without feeling rushed to make a decision. In fact, some residents might move out on principal if they feel that you have tried to mislead them or pressure them into re-signing.

Offer Flexibility to Good Renters

No rental property wants to lose trustworthy residents with a strong track record. Some residents will approach you to explain that they can’t afford the proposed rent increase. If you highly value their business, don’t be afraid to negotiate a smaller increase for those individuals. A good resident is an asset worth retaining, even if it cuts slightly into your rental income.

Most residents value property management that understands the perspectives of its renters. It isn’t hard to unveil rent increases in a way that considers their effects on residents, and those individuals and families will respond much better to management that shows a “human” side. This more sensitive approach will help your property retain residents — particularly the good ones — while protecting public opinion regarding your property. In an age where the Internet has amplified the power of word-of-mouth advertising, every impression counts.

How do you handle rent increases with your residents?

With that in mind, here’s a quick guide to effective marketing strategies applicable to any rental property.

A diversified marketing approach

Today’s prospective tenants are resourceful when it comes to finding a place. In addition to drive-bys, print listings and referrals from friends, they’ll also scour Apartments.com and other online rental websites in search of that diamond in the rough. As a property manager, you’ll want to have a presence in all of these areas to attract as many renters as possible. Feature vacancy signs prominently outside your property, invest in listings in the classifieds and other rental guides, both in print and online. You can offer referral bonuses to current tenants as a way to generate interest through word-of-mouth.

A pristine exterior

First impressions can make or break your changes with a prospective tenant. Particularly during rental season, it’s important that your property’s exterior be well-kept – plants tended and trimmed, grass mowed, siding and sidewalks power washed, etc. A dirty outer appearance can sour prospects before they even view the rental unit.

Lease-based incentives

If you’re trying to encourage long-term leases of six or 12 months, sweeten the deal by offering an incentive to lease signees. Feel free to get creative when it comes to these incentives, keeping in mind that even a small gesture can have appeal. According to AllBusiness.com, some common incentives include rent discounts, a free household appliance, or a welcome basket filled with delectable goodies.

Build utilities into rent rates

Utilities costs can pile up quickly, and the task of handling five or more utilities bills can be tedious for any tenant. Properties can increase their appeal by including some utilities as part of the rent. Water and garbage are among the most common built-in utilities, but electricity, heat, cable and Internet are all used as incentives by some properties.

Waiting lists

If you have people interested in your property when there are no current vacancies, this doesn’t have to be a total loss. Take down their information and ask them if they would like to be added to a waiting list. Vacancies can crop up at any time, and whether it’s the next day or six months down the line, it’s possible that you will contact an individual or family just as they’re in the process of looking for a new place. This way, you always have a stock of potential leads to turn to when a renter turns in his or her moving notice.

Effective marketing is all about making your property visible and appealing to renters. Fortunately, there are plenty of things property managers can do to increase the appeal of a property. With a strong marketing strategy in place, you should be able to reduce the length of unit vacancies and increase your property’s rental revenues.

There are simple ways a landlord and leasing staff can accommodate residents to make them happy and keep retention rates high. The following is a list of simple ways for making renters happy:

• Give a grace period of 2-3 days for the rent to be collected. The renters will appreciate the convenience of having an extra day or two to come up with their rent money. Also, the renter will not feel as stressed and pressed for time when it comes to paying rent; less stress and more time will ensure you have a happier resident.
• Offer amenities that are available during all hours and that are conveniently located in the community. For example, a 24-hour gym is great for the residents that have busy and/or non-traditional schedules. In addition, offering a 24-hour laundry room is important because you want renters to be able to do laundry whenever is most convenient for them.  Placing amenities by the leasing office or in the center of the community is recommended, this way they are easy to find and not too far from a single apartment.
• Address resident complaints right away. If a renter is complaining it is because something has made them unhappy. By addressing the situation in a tactful manner you are letting that renter know that they are important to you and it shows you want to help them. Solve the resident’s issue promptly, or try to accommodate them to the best of your ability. Keep their satisfaction a #1 priority.
• Follow up with all maintenance orders. Have maintenance orders fixed as soon as possible so that residents do not have to repeatedly ask when an issue will be solved - tenants only ask once is a good goal to have. Sometimes, renter satisfaction can be achieved simply by having a properly functioning unit. It is a great gesture to send out an email to a resident, after a maintenance order has been completed, that inquires about the completion of the order.
• Offer referral programs. This is a great way to make your residents happy while bringing in new renters. A great example is to offer $100 off a current resident’s rent for the next month if a family member or friend signs a lease.
• Offer extra incentives. A great way to keep residents happy is to have community gatherings. Host holiday parties or other social gatherings just because it is a nice gesture to your residents. At these gatherings, offer food and beverages while your residents mingle. Other great and fun incentives are raffles, contests and other prize giveaways.

What are other ways to promote resident happiness at your property?

This is a guest post from Gabrielle Castaneda, who is currently enrolled at the University of South Florida pursuing a bachelor’s degree with a major in marketing, a minor in international business and a minor in management. 

Okay, okay – what’s the big idea with 275 days a year? Isn’t resident retention important the entire year? Yes, it is! However, from the time a resident moves in to the time they receive their first renewal notice (about 90 days prior to lease expiration), there are 275 days. This means you have 275 days – or opportunities– to lease to current residents. Here are a few thoughts Jen and Lia shared with us during the webinar:

Pay attention to the real retention drivers. Many times what we think is most important to renters (resident parties, new amenities, etc.) really isn’t! In fact, SatisFacts found that four out of five of the most important things to residents have to do with service, including how quickly you follow up with residents, how quickly service requests are completed and how courteous and professional the leasing staff is to residents. (Want the full list?  Watch the webinar!)

Pay attention to the residents you don’t hear from often. These residents still weigh customer service as a major factor in their renewal decision. They might not come into your office to catch up as often as some residents, but they find more value in the little things, like greeting them when they walk in, holding their packages while out of town, even amenities like free wi-fi make an impact!

Stop playing the price match game! The more you focus on what the community down the street is offering, the more you will draw your focus and priorities away from service and values. Don’t let it happen! Keep your focus on demonstrating value and signing the lease will come naturally.

Make it easy to be a resident. What are your resident’s getting when they live at your community? Make them feel like a VIP by greeting them by their first name. I understand it’s hard to remember everyone’s name, but this personal recognition makes your residents feel important and recognized. Even when it comes to maintenance, residents want follow-ups to service requests and a hand getting tough projects complete. A simple status call on a project goes a long way!

Sometimes the littlest things make the biggest impact. Follow up and follow through with your residents 275 days a year and the final stretch to 365 will be a breeze!  To learn more, watch the full webinar recording, and view all of our previous webinars on the Apartments.com Training Series Live! page. If you have any questions or comments, tweet them to @Apartmentscom, using the hashtag #AptsTraining, or leave them in the comments section below.

“When our rental communities were in the process of being built, we wanted a comfortable family environment,” stated Brian Schottenstein, Vice President of The Schottenstein Real Estate Group. “Seeing photos posted on our Facebook page of residents with holiday decorations in their home, smiling with loved ones is a very rewarding aspect of this job.”

As a property manager, there really is nothing better then seeing your community come together and your residents taking advantage of one of your amazing homes. There are many ways that a property manager can maximize community awareness throughout the holiday season:

• Everyone loves a little friendly competition, so host a holiday decorating contest in your community. Choose a date to pick the winners and then award residents with the best holiday decorations with some money off of their next month’s rent. Not only will residents appreciate the chance to win a little break in their rent after the holidays, it will ensure your community is filled with beautiful decorations!
• Encourage residents to post pictures on Facebook of their favorite holiday traditions taking place in their homes. This will encourage social media interaction and will show off your beautiful homes for all to see.
• Choose a charity and ask residents to either volunteer their time or make some kind of donation. This will remind residents how important it is to give back and will also get them working together with other community members.
• Host a holiday party at your community. Residents will love the chance to socialize with neighbors and you are sure to get some great holiday photos to post on your website and social media pages.
• As we already mentioned, the holidays are a time for friends and family. Make it easy for your residents to host guests in their home by offering community parking during this time of year.

Often times it can be overlooked, but the home where you celebrate the holidays can be one of the most special places on earth. There are so many great ways to maximize community awareness among your residents, and the holidays are a definitely a great time to start.

SRE Group is an apartment and rental community leader in Columbus Ohio and contributed content to this article.