How to Make Your Student Property Gain More Visibility in 2023?

Introduction

Making your student home visible to the right audience before peak season is all a property management group (PMG) could ask for. However, the task is at times hindered by various factors such as distance to the reputed universities, amenities offered, underutilisation of digital resources, and many more. But what if we told you, that we would be willing to do the hard work for you? Amber helps endless PMGs worldwide and in this blog, we will do just that!

So, if this peak season you want to bid goodbye to losses due to vacancies, here is a comprehensive guide to how you can improve the visibility of your international student accommodation. We aim to curate a marketing strategy for your student housing property that will help you increase the number of bookings rapidly. Let’s dive in!

How to Curate a Solid Marketing Strategy for Your International Student Accommodation?

A solid marketing strategy is extremely crucial for increasing your brand visibility and value. If you aren’t certain which way to take, fear not! We have prepared a well-curated marketing strategy for increasing the visibility of your international student accommodation:

1. Traditional Sources of Advertising: After analysing the target audience and thoroughly conducting a competitor analysis, the first step is to create a brand presence. Investing in traditional advertising sources including local newspapers, billboards, pamphlets, etc. assists in developing an overall brand presence of your international student accommodation.

2. Targeting Local SEO: If you want to use content to your advantage, it’s essential to optimise your website’s pages with location-based high-ranking keywords. These also include using them in your meta description to increase your authority on search engine result pages. Keep your content updated with the latest testimonials or verified student reviews to improve the credibility of your international student accommodation.

3. Social Media Marketing: Gen-Z and Millennials are highly active users of social media channels including Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. It has also been observed that Gen Z consumes more video content than static posts. According to Hootsuite, a whopping 95% of people aged 13-17 use YouTube, 67% are active TikTok users whereas 62% prefer Instagram. The key is to keep your messaging short, crisp, and engaging. Here are the platforms you can use to target these groups:

• YouTube: Video format content through property tours or short snippets posted as YouTube Shorts can be used to showcase your international student accommodation.
• Instagram: Instagram is a great platform to engage with your audience through questions, polls, and static or carousel posts.
• Pinterest: Use this visually interactive platform to showcase the true beauty of your student housing apartments with high-definition images.
• TikTok: Similar to other video platforms, TikTok can be a great way to highlight your property in a fun and interactive way.

4. Marketing Initiatives: With effective usage of Google ads, paid emailers, etc., property managers can improve the visibility and credibility of their student housing properties. For instance, amber helps listed partners to its marketing services and activities according to specific geographic regions. Moreover, it also suggests design strategies to optimise occupancy rates derived from integrated real-time dashboards through relevant booking insights.

5. Early Booking Cycles: Occupancy optimisation isn’t all about filling units quickly, rather it’s also about determining the mechanism of early booking cycles and dynamic pricing. Amber helps PMGs to maximise revenue by analysing the demand for international student accommodations and offering dynamic pricing for the same. This helps to increase the prices of the properties for the next booking cycle and lock early bookings in the upcoming academic year.

6. AI-Based Chatbots: If you’re operating a property management group, AI-based chatbots are the way to go. Did you know? According to Tidio, nearly 62% of consumers prefer chatbots over human agents to decrease the wait time. Hence, investing in an AI chatbot can help to resolve conflicts quickly and also improve the user experience of the customers.

How Can Student Aggregators Cover Those Last Few Vacancies?

Entrusted and credible student aggregators are the supply portal of regular tenants to help you crunch those last few vacancies and lock in your numbers. For instance, amber is a trusted aggregator in the marketplace that not only provides a platform to list your student housing property but also offers integration housing solutions tailor-made just for you. Here’s how aggregators assist:

1. ‘Targeting’ the Right Target Group: It’s integral to know which target audience your student accommodation is catering to, may it be Millennials or Generation Z. Entrusted and credible aggregators like amber help in providing in-depth analysis and recommend the best practices to attract the right crowd. This doesn’t just assist in covering those last few vacancies but also provides suggestions to ensure your international student accommodation’s profitability.
2. Developing Mind Map & Buyer Persona: Student aggregators have various integrated tools and technologies to develop accurate consumer maps and buyer personas of the target audience. According to a study conducted by Delve AI, it was observed that nearly all companies are 60% more profitable if their marketing strategies are customer-centric. Not just that, a surprising fact also stated that personalized marketing has been noticed to reduce marketing and sales costs by 10 to even 20%!
3. Conducting a Thorough Competitor Research: Thorough competitor research is one of the most important factors to stay ahead in a highly competitive market. Amber recently introduced its intensive student property dashboards to track trends, recommend pricing strategies, and much more.
4. Optimising Occupancy Rates: It’s integral to reach the right target audience and the student demographic groups most active during booking season. For instance, amber helps international student accommodation operators to diversify demographics and optimise market reach to capture new markets.

How to Attract the Right Audience to Your International Student Accommodation?

The student accommodation market is a relatively recession-resistant industry. This translates to the fact that you can always expect students to enquire about your international student accommodation. Nonetheless, attracting more students to your student home can be challenging. Here are a few ways you can optimise your property’s visibility:

1. Use CRM & Property Management Software: Technology has become an integral part of property management. To stay up to date, maintaining traditional sources of data can become tedious. There are various property management software available to screen and onboard contracts, easing your leasing processes. But it doesn’t end there.

It’s also important to keep track of the experience offered by your property to your student tenants. There are multiple customer relationship management software to do just that. It’s also important to note that CRM software helps tenants post reviews and testimonials, further increasing the value of your offerings and your brand.

2. Highlight Key Property Amenities & Features: It’s not an unknown fact that there are hundreds if not thousands of student housing operators in the market. So, how can you make sure your international student accommodation stands out? The simple answer to this question is to highlight essential amenities and features your property offers. Moreover, according to the target audience, ensure that the amenities they value the most are a part of your offering.

For instance, according to the Global Student Housing Report by amber, it was observed that students prefer properties with amenities including high-speed internet connection, laundry services, regular social events, and fitness centers. Furthermore, regular renovations and modifications to the student housing apartments can not only increase the property value but also give you space to ask for premiums from student tenants.

3. Keep a Strict Check on Safety Compliance: Health and safety is not just a wellness aspect to focus on, it is also a legal responsibility. Property management groups or independent operators need to maintain fire safety regulations, gas and electrical safety certificates, and smoke detectors in place for the safety of the student tenants.

For instance, for HMOs in the UK, it is mandatory to comply with the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) before leasing it to tenants. You can read more about licencing requirements for HMOs in the UK here.

Lock In More Numbers, Unlock More Revenue & Growth!

When it comes to leasing your international student accommodation, more so than selling a space to rent out, students expect PMGs to sell an experience. This roughly translates to capitalising on the strengths of your properties to help you gain a competitive edge. Maintain a detailed database of reviews and testimonials to keep your socials updated! Lastly, if you want to lock in more numbers and close those vacancies, you can list your international student accommodation with us at amber.