Student Housing Marketing Practices for High Booking Volumes

In the competitive sector of student housing, maintaining full occupancy is a challenging task. Effective student housing marketing strategies are essential to ensure a constant influx of potential student tenants. This helps to mitigate room vacancies.

Operators can benefit tremendously from marketing their student properties using appropriate tools. Here’s an expanded approach to marketing student housing effectively, utilising a three-step strategy: Identify, Create, Track, and Refine.

IDENTIFY: Set Marketing Goals & Understand the Audience

The very first step to effective marketing is understanding the audience and setting goals accordingly. By understanding the specific needs and behaviours of the target demographic, a student housing marketing strategy that not only fills rooms but builds a vibrant community can be implemented.

#1 Defining Marketing Goals

Begin the marketing efforts by setting clear, measurable goals. These could include increasing the number of lease applications by a certain percentage, enhancing brand awareness within the local university community, or improving tenant retention rates. These goals will guide the marketing efforts and help quantify the success.

#2 Developing Buyer Personas

Understanding the target audience is crucial. For student housing, the primary audience is students, but this group can be segmented into more specific buyer personas to enhance marketing effectiveness:

• Undergraduates: They typically look for vibrant, social communities close to campus.
• Postgraduates: They may prefer quieter, study-oriented environments.
• International students: They often demand fully furnished living spaces located near groceries and famous universities.
• First-year students: They are likely to be more dependent on university recommendations and parental guidance during their housing search.

#3 Selecting Student Housing Marketing Tactics

Choose tactics that align with where the personas spend most of their time. For instance:

• Digital marketing: Leverage SEO to improve visibility in search results related to student housing in the area. Use targeted social media advertising on platforms popular among students, such as Instagram and Snapchat.
• Content marketing: Create blog posts and videos that answer common questions about student housing, such as tips for first-time renters or guides to the local area.
• Event marketing: Collaborate with universities to enhance brand value among students or host open houses to create direct engagement and build relationships.

CREATE: Develop a Holistic Marketing Plan

Developing holistic student housing marketing ideas involves crafting strategies that cover every stage of the buyer’s journey. In the context of student housing the journey usually begins with awareness and moves through consideration and conversion, finally leading to loyalty.

#1 Mapping the Buyer’s Journey

Understanding each phase of the buyer’s journey is crucial for marketing student properties. Here are the four stages of mapping the buyer’s journey:

• Awareness: Raise initial awareness through SEO, content marketing, and social media engagement.
• Consideration: Provide detailed virtual tours, FAQs, and comparison guides between different housing options.
• Conversion: Simplify the application process online and offer special promotions like a reduced deposit.
• Loyalty: Encourage lease renewals through excellent ongoing communication, upgrades to facilities, and loyalty discounts.

#2 Integrating Various Media Channels

A mix of paid, earned, owned, and shared media ensures that the messages are seen across different mediums:

• Paid media: This includes pay-per-click ads, banner ads, and sponsored posts.
• Earned media: Focus on generating positive press through local news, student newspapers, and online publications.
• Owned media: Develop the property’s website and build the brand by writing blogs into go-to resources for potential and current tenants.
• Shared media: Encourage current tenants to share their experiences on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and others, enhancing word-of-mouth marketing.

TRACK & REFINE: Monitor Campaign Results & Optimise Strategies

By understanding the specific needs and behaviours of the target demographic, implement tracking mechanisms to monitor the effectiveness of each marketing activity. Use Google Analytics for website traffic, Facebook Insights for social media engagement, and AdWords for PPC campaign performance.

It is essential to survey new and prospective tenants about how they found out about the property and their satisfaction with the marketing interaction. Refine the student housing marketing strategies based on the data collected:

• Modify campaigns: Repurpose underperforming ads, refine SEO keywords, and tailor content based on engagement metrics.
• Innovate & experiment: Test new platforms or emerging technologies like 360-degree virtual reality tours to attract more tenants.
• Feedback loop: Use tenant feedback to further personalise and improve the marketing efforts. Evaluate the ROI of the marketing campaign and reduce additional costs wherever required.

Student Housing Marketing Techniques That Work

In the niche market of student housing, effectively employing both traditional and digital marketing techniques can significantly influence occupancy rates. The most successful student housing marketing practices often integrate both traditional and digital methods.

For example, QR codes can be included on print materials, directing students to a landing page where they can learn more about the property and perhaps even book through aggregator apps like amber. Let's explore these two categories, detailing how each can be optimised to attract more student tenants.

#1 Traditional Marketing Techniques

• Print advertisements: Print ads, such as posters and flyers, remain effective tools as marketing ideas for student housing. These should be strategically placed in areas where students frequently visit, such as cafés, libraries, and campus bulletin boards.
• Community events: Participating in or sponsoring community events can create significant engagement with potential tenants. This can range from hosting a table at university club fairs to sponsoring local concerts or sports events.
• Word-of-mouth: Encouraging current satisfied tenants to refer friends through incentives like rent discounts can be a powerful tool. Word-of-mouth marketing remains a trusted source among students when choosing housing.

#2 Digital Marketing Techniques

• Search engine optimisation (SEO): Optimising the site with relevant keywords such as "student housing near you" and "affordable student apartments" can dramatically increase visibility and attract more traffic to the site.
• Pay-per-click advertising (PPC): PPC campaigns can be particularly effective for reaching students actively searching for housing. Platforms like Google Ads and Bing allow to target specific demographics and keywords, ensuring that the ads appear for relevant queries.
• Social media marketing: Social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook are popular among Gen Zs. Creating engaging content that resonates with the student lifestyle can help in building a relationship with potential tenants. Features such as Instagram stories or Facebook live tours of the housing facilities can give real-time, authentic insights into enhanced living experiences

How to Market Student Housing Effectively?

Developing well-rounded student housing marketing practices requires a deep understanding of this niche market. A comprehensive plan must address each stage of the buyer's journey, effectively track marketing efforts, and continuously refine based on performance data. By adopting this structured approach, student housing providers can not only maximise occupancy but also cultivate a loyal tenant base that contributes to a vibrant and ever-growing community.

Collaborating with student housing marketplaces can help property operators maximize bookings with relevant traditional, digital, and social media marketing tactics. Expand globally by listing with amber and get access to quality inbound leads. Boost portfolio visibility with the right student housing marketing practices and reach a wider audience today!

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