There are plenty of reasons to rebrand an apartment community. Perhaps, you want to revitalize your brand image to appeal to up-and-coming renters. Maybe, your management company has ushered in the New Year by acquiring a new property, and it needs a brand identity to match your vision. No matter the motive, rebranding your property is a great way to refresh your marketing strategy and catch the eye of potential residents, who are searching within your area.
While there are many important aspects of the rebranding process, few are as crucial to your success as rebranding from a digital perspective. Given that 72 percent of apartment hunters start their search for rental homes online, it’s vital that your rebranding efforts make their way to your website, social media channels, and online business listings to capture the attention of Internet users. Fortunately, it is a simple and straightforward process.
Update the Content on Your Property’s Website.
A professional website is an apartment marketing must-have – just ask the 88 percent of consumers who use the Internet to research potential purchases. Therefore, it is imperative that your website reflect the community’s new image. If the name of the community has changed, it will need a new domain name so that it can easily be found on the internet. Refreshing content to reflect the new brand is critical, as prospective residents will want to know what the community offers and provides. Having new high-quality pictures to amplify its visual assets, will additionally help reveal the community’s charm. You don’t want to confuse anyone with the old brand and the new one; so, make sure that you are consistent with displaying the new logo, fonts, colors, and any other aspects associated with the rebranding efforts as your new website is created.
Your website isn’t only useful for establishing your new brand identity, but it also serves as a valuable resource to searching renters. If the rebranding project has included changes to the management team or community specs, it would be wise to pay special attention to all contact information, amenities, and floor plans currently displayed on the site, then update them accordingly. Considering that 86 percent of Internet users come to your website to learn more about your community and what it has to offer, it’s imperative that these very important components don’t get overlooked when rebranding your website.
Show Your Social Media Channels Some Love.
These days, almost everyone maintains a social media presence. Facebook welcomes 2.23 billion monthly active users across the globe with 1.6 billion people worldwide using Facebook to connect to small businesses. Instagram boasts over 1 billion monthly active users, while Twitter caters to 330 million. Given these numbers, it’s likely that your next resident is not only active within their personal social media network, but also uses the platform to engage with business pages—like yours. It is important to update all accounts with your new identity, not just the first that come to mind like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter; don’t forget YouTube, Pinterest and LinkedIn count too.
You can start the rebranding process by updating the basic details of each of your accounts on social media, with new profile pictures, cover photos, page names, property descriptions, and site URLs. Like your property’s website, your social media pages should clearly display your updated logo, signage, and community features. Don’t disregard social media handles, either. If you have renamed your community, your handles must accurately reflect the updated name for branding consistency purposes. Make it easy for users to locate and engage with your new brand across all social media platforms, and you will find it easier to capture leads through these mediums.
Revisit Your Online Business Listings.
While rebranding your online assets, be sure not to overlook your community’s online business listings – like Google My Business, Bing, Yelp, and Yellow Pages. Contrary to popular belief, the updates to your website and social media channels won’t automate across all of your online platforms; instead, you must manually update all of these accounts by accessing your account settings on each respective website, filling in the required information, and requesting an update to the live listing.
Accuracy and consistency are of utmost importance to build trust between your website and search engines. Google – which fields almost 6 billion searches daily – often displays their trustworthy business listings on the first page of organic search results. For those coveting such prime results, it is imperative that all information published on the internet about your new brand is uniform in order to be recognized as a credible business listing.
Rebranding is an excellent way to re-energize your current marketing campaign or take on a completely new identity— all in the name of attracting new prospects and becoming more successful. There is a lot of research, planning, and detail that goes into creating your community’s new identity, but one of the easiest and most effective ways to make its rebranding debut is through your community’s digital channels. Your community website, social media platforms, and business listings are immensely valuable for generating social awareness surrounding your brand and helping you reach the success which inspired the whole rebranding adventure.
