Leveraging Social Media for Tenant Engagement and Retention: 10 Tips

Maintaining top-tier property management is more than just about timely rent payments or responsive maintenance. It is also about making residents feel involved and connected through the community, which is crucial for keeping them around. Even if you are doing well in other areas, consider whether your residents are actively engaged on social media.

This article discusses why it is important for residents to be engaged and how it affects their community stay. We will also focus on how social media for property management can help strengthen the bond between residents and create a lively community.

Why is Resident Engagement Important? 

Keeping residents engaged in apartment living is crucial for resident retention. Just like any business benefits from engaging with customers through social media, creating connections with residents is the key to success. By incorporating resident engagement into marketing strategy, you can directly and positively impact how many residents choose to stay.

Positive resident engagements lead to benefits, such as:

1. Renewed leases
2. A better reputation
3. Increased NOI (Net Operating Income)
4. More long-term leases

Nowadays, renters are not just looking for a place to live, but they want a community that makes them feel strong and well-connected. When faced with two property options, prospective residents are more likely to choose the one that focuses on connecting with the residents.

Can Social Media for Property Management Help Resident Engagement?

Engagement through social media is the easiest way to stay connected with your residents without spending extra hours on work.

However, it’s more than just posting pictures every day. If you check out the social media accounts of some apartment buildings or multifamily properties, you’ll find a lot of similarities. They often share images of clean, empty apartments, stock photos of actors smiling in a generic lobby, and professional shots of amenity spaces.

While this is a good way to handle social media, there’s more potential to make the most of these platforms. Thoughtfully using social media can help increase community engagement by building relationships between staff and residents, creating a genuine sense of community.

Moreover, a well-curated managed social media account can attract new residents by highlighting your property’s benefits and perks.

10 Tips to Engage With Your Residents on Social Media

You need to be noticeable to engage your residents on social media effectively. But how can you achieve that? Let’s explore a few ways to use social media for managing properties. Here is a list of property management social media ideas to engage your residents digitally:

1. Always Use an Image

Studies show that posts on social media with images tend to generate more engagement. While well-crafted text posts have their merits, they don’t draw attention quite like pictures do. In addition, photos provide a chance to be more creative.

Instead of just describing how residents can use a new amenity space, share a photo. If you include informative photos in each post, you won’t need to spend as much time and effort on creative captions. It makes your efforts to engage apartment residents on social media quicker and easier.

2. Share Staff Highlights

Improving resident retention involves building genuine connections between residents and staff. But, achieving this connection can sometimes be challenging. 

A simple solution is to showcase your staff regularly on social media. You can implement a monthly staff highlight through a Facebook post, Instagram story, or Twitter thread.

In the post, make sure to include:

1. The staff member’s name
2. A photo of the staff member
3. A brief description of their role
4. How they can assist residents
5. A few interesting facts about the staff member

3. Promote Resident Events

Promoting resident events on social media goes beyond just sharing the invitation and date. You can keep the excitement level high even after the event is over.

But how can it be done?

Let’s say that you organize a fall fair in October and have a holiday party planned for December; use the fall fair to your advantage. Capture many pictures during the event and create a series of images to share in the following days. One effective way to spark interest in future events is by showing people what they will miss out on if they don’t join.

So, take clear and high-quality pictures at each event and save them in an album for future social media posts.

4. Host Photo Contests

Do you find it challenging to involve all your residents in property-wide activities? Take a closer look at the activities you organize. If they require physical presence at a specific location for a set time, you may unintentionally exclude some residents.

To address this, create an ‘event’ that accommodates everyone, considering their busy schedules with school, work, or social commitments. You can organize photo-based contests open to all residents, allowing them to submit entries at their convenience. Boost participation by offering enticing prizes, like a gift card to a local restaurant, and set a deadline at least a week away.

Ensure clarity with all contest guidelines in the post description, including an email address for photo submissions.

Here are a few photo contests to try out:

1. Best fall door decor
2. Work-from-home setup
3. Prettiest property photo
4. Cutest pet portrait

5. Highlight the Inner Workings of Your Property

Sometimes, all your residents want you to be open and honest! It doesn’t mean revealing every little detail. But sharing some glimpses into how your building works is a good idea.

You can post about a typical day, show your package management system, or give a tour of the management office. Any of these things will make your staff seem more like real people, and your residents will feel more connected to the property, resulting in renewed leases.

6. Make It Relatable

Although sleek and professional photos are nice, they may not be as relatable as content focusing on real people living on the property. You can display the lived-in look of your property by showcasing residents’ holiday decorations, interesting furniture selections, and creative gallery walls with their permission.

7. Introduce the Pets of Your Building

Do you find figuring out what to share on social media is challenging? Imagine you are a few weeks away from your next event and a few months away from your next big renovation project. Wondering what updates to share with your residents? Here’s an easy option to boost tenant engagement – introduce and showcase the pets of your property!

Cute pictures of animals are always grabbing attention on social media. You can capture a moment of pets returning from walks or ask residents to share photos for a “pet of the week” feature. Also, include details like the pet’s name, breed, and a fun fact to make the posts informative.

8. Use Each Platform Wisely

While it might be convenient to post the same thing on all social media, you can build stronger connections with specific audience segments by tailoring the content for each platform. Each platform has its strengths:

1. Facebook: It is the most popular platform worldwide. Share informative updates, link to policy changes, and post apartment newsletters. Also, share photos of amenity upgrades and repost local news or events.
2. X (formerly Twitter): This platform is best for short content. Use it for brief event reminders or updates. Retweet local news to keep residents informed.
3. TikTok: A newer platform that is very powerful. Use it for short apartment tours, resident events, and quick how-to videos (like using the package room or amenity spaces).
4. Instagram: It is a platform made for sharing photos. Take high-quality pictures with any smartphone. Capture resident events, property pets, and your team at work to grab users’ attention.

9. Maintain Your Pages

Being consistent is crucial for keeping residents engaged on social media. Platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter also favor accounts that regularly share content. 

Let’s say you are a resident or someone interested in a property. If your latest post is from five months ago, the prospective residents probably won’t follow your account. To boost your resident engagement, keeping your pages updated and relevant is important.

10. Establish and Stick to Your Branding

Creating a recognizable image for your property on social media is important. People prefer following pages with a consistent and interesting look rather than ones that seem random or boring. A consistent brand also makes it easier to decide what to post next.

When you are working on your building’s branding, ask yourself:

• How old are the people living in my building?
• What kinds of pages do they already follow?
• What type of account will they find interesting?

If your property is mostly filled with young families, you can focus on sharing family-friendly amenities and activities on your social media page. Contrary to this, if your building is more popular among young, single residents, consider featuring local bars and restaurants in your neighborhood in your posts.

Conclusion

It is important to remember that it’s all about making our community feel like a home. When we use social media wisely, we can keep everyone connected, informed, and happy. Whether it’s sharing exciting events or highlighting great places nearby, these simple tips can go a long way. Moreover, it is about building a stronger bond with the residents, ensuring they feel valued. So, let’s continue to explore, connect, and make our community thrive together.