Drive by is a huge component of leasing traffic in the multifamily industry; yet apartment community signage, entries and curb presentation often look generic, indistinctive, and tired. Significant money is spent marketing multifamily properties, while signage that is potentially viewed by thousands of prospects everyday is left to blend in to the background – weathered, un-refreshed and looking the same way for months and even years. Your efforts should go way beyond periodic replacement of the flowers. Does your multifamily community entry positively contribute to property branding, catch attention and generate prospects the way it should? 1) I always wondered …? If you don’t have the words “apartments” or “rental” in LARGE READABLE FONT at your entrance (preferably on the monument sign) you are throwing away leads by the truckload.
2) Temporary “Now Leasing” signs If your city allows temporary signs, get a permit and put one up. Even if they don’t allow “temporary now leasing signs” they may allow “new management” or “newly renovated” or “special sales event” or some other sign variation you can put up that will draw eyeballs. If there are broker signs on commercial space in your City there should be a way to get a “now leasing” sign approved. If you already have a now leasing sign, think about refreshing it and moving it.3) Open House signs aren’t just for single family? Many Cities allow bootlegs at least on the weekends or during certain hours. Putting them up and taking them down around town isn’t so bad if you plan for it. People do notice them, because they are just up for a brief period of time they look out of place (a positive thing). Hand written bootlegs with minimal information (2BR/2bath $650/month call 555-333-1212) work too!
3) Who moved my Cheese? Variety catches eyeballs and makes impressions. After driving by a couple of times, people only notice what is new and distinctive – they automatically filter out what they saw before and let it blend in. Tired banners in the same place everyday are not going to attract much attention. Move and change up things – whether it is sandwich boards, bootlegs, temporary leasing signs, flowers, flower pots, tag lines on signs, balloons, banners…move them around and change them. Keep it classy though. If you have more than one property in your portfolio, some of the props can be moved between properties for variety.
4) What the … ? Be different and unconventional to attract eyeballs and develop a sense of community. Talk to local businesses and vendors for “no cost” tie-ins. “Our Next Resident Event” opportunities abound. Plan a resident trip to an NHL hockey game and talk to the team's marketing department about lending you an eye catching display for a week. Park a limo out front for a day if a group is going to a concert, plan a trip to a classic car show and park an antique out front, Christmas in April display...movie night at the pool...you get the idea. Showing off your features or amenities is another option - if you have granite tops in your units, put a slab of granite out (with a sign). If you have a tennis court, talk to your local tennis shop about a promotion (ours has a mobile store they take to events).
Even if your entry design is pathetic and you don't have a budget, there are a lot of cost effective things you can do. Let me know your ideas! I am also working on a series of posts on entry sign design that will include video slide shows. Send me pictures of entry signs at Bfrn84@gmail.com and I’ll try to include them!
