We sat down with FourAndHalf, a marketing agency for Property Managers, to chat through the growing demand in Property Management for a deeper and more intentional marketing strategy. We dive into the questions of how Property Managers can be positioning themselves to compete n the new normal, and how they can compete with large venture backed companies coming in and taking up large chunks of the market.
Listen to the Podcast Episode:
Closing Your Marketing Gaps to Compete In The New Normal
Watch on YouTube:
Read the Summary:
Who is FourAndHalf?
Four and Half is a marketing agency that creates and implements owner lead generating plans for property management companies nationwide. Their main goal is to help property managers grow through owner acquisition. Everything they do is geared towards helping these companies get found online by property owners. They partner with these companies to create the strategies that could target their ideal owner clients through reviews, blog content, their website, property management SEO ads, you name it. So anything under the sun to get noticed by property owners.
What’s driving a higher demand for online marketing? FourAndHalf notes that there are a few trends driving this higher demand in the industry:
- Home prices have been high everywhere and a lot of property managers are seeing dips in their portfolio from owners deciding that now is the time to cash out on their properties.
- Higher than average attrition isn’t as easily overcome by strong word of mouth and referral marketing. Property managers are looking for more intentional strategy.
- There is more competition. More and more property management companies are coming in, and many Venture Capital firms are pouring money into the Single Family Residential space and eating up chunks of the market.
- Local, boutique Property Management companies are feeling some pressure to invest in a marketing strategy that can help them compete in their market.
Property managers have a lot of local market knowledge and a strong sense of that community. They can use this advantage to their benefit in creating their marketing strategy. When FourAndHalf starts working with a new client, it typically starts with an inward journey of self reflection – defining the company and the company’s ideal clientele.
“You have to take a look at what you do, and really ask yourself what makes me special, what makes me different. Oftentimes you’ll come up with a list of things that sound really great to you, but then if you do a little bit of research, you’ll see that those same things are usually listed as value adds, as benefits for a lot of your competitors. So you have to take it kind of deeper.”
Once companies have a baseline of unique benefits and value adds, the marketing strategy becomes centralized around one consistent message, rather than being somewhat random and chaotic.
What isn’t measured can’t be managed. In creating any strategy, it’s vital to define the success metrics, criteria, and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that are going to be guiding the success of any given strategy. When it comes to marketing there are a few to pay close attention to.
- Annual Contract Value,
- Customer Lifetime Value,
- Sales Closing Ratio, and
- Customer Acquisition Cost.
For a deeper dive into the details of each of these key KPIs, check out FourAndHalf’s deep dive blog post with videos and details on each KPI.