4 Tips For Creating a Rebranding Plan

September 23, 2020

|

Rent Manager

Rebrand spelled out in wooden blocks

Strategic marketing and branding can make the difference between a thriving property and lasting vacancies. But like everything else, your brand needs a refresh every so often. While it requires some upfront cost and time, rebranding can ensure you’re attracting the right prospects while laying the ground work for higher occupancy rates and increased resident satisfaction and retention.

We’ve compiled the following tips to help you start your re-branding process.

Pick the Right Time

Significant changes, like upcoming capital improvements or purchasing a new property, present the perfect opportunity to update your brand. If you are planning new construction, take some time to shift the current way of thinking about your marketing efforts. New features are a great selling point to catch the eye of a new resident!

If you just purchased a new property, you will want to spend time updating its branding to reflect its new ownership. This is especially important in cases where the previous owners had a poor reputation. With reviews playing such an important factor in how potential residents view your property, getting in front of a bad reputation is critical. Rebranding is one way to assure current and future residents that ‘this isn’t who we are any more’ and distance yourself from old, unflattering reviews.

Set Rebranding Goals

Once you’ve decided to rebrand, start by thinking strategically. Create a list of goals for what you want to achieve with your new marking efforts and how you will measure your success. Take a good, hard look at where you are now, and where you need to be when it comes to crucial metrics like occupancy and resident retention. How can your property reach a new audience of prospects? What strategies and tools will you need to implement to make that happen? Goals can be a road map to show where you are going, so take time to establish them at the beginning of your rebranding process.

Communicate with Current Residents   

While much of your rebranding process will focus on looking ahead, don’t forget about your current residents. Help present renters feel included in your changes by sending out a survey to get feedback on which amenities and facets of your property are important to them. Use this data to see what drew your residents in the first place, what is keeping them at your community, and which areas you might want to focus on as you rebrand. When you settle on your new look and feel, be sure to share the improved vision of your property with your current residents.

Rebranding on Social Media

Depending on your budget, there are many tools available to get your new message out to your target audience. Google Ad Placement, geotargeting, and geofencing all help you reach groups in specific areas or businesses. These specific marketing placements can help you reach a new group of prospective renters that your old brand strategy left behind, or who may not have been open to your past marketing tactics.

As your property grows and changes, so will your branding and marketing goals. To compete in an ever-changing industry, consider reevaluating your brand from time to time.

Related Articles