You just received notice that a handful of your residents are going to be moving out at the end of the month. How do you quickly fill an apartment home? Here are some tips to generate traffic for a quick fill.

Do a little housekeeping before you place your first ad

1. Confirm that your property and unit information is correct across all your marketing and advertising channels. Don’t waste a potential renter’s time with inaccurate data about unit availability, tour hours or contact information.
2. Also, make sure the pricing for your units is spot-on for the neighborhood, city and competition. Renters are doing their homework to compare apartment homes; so should you.
3. Amp up your ILS presence with a pay-per-click or search engine marketing (SEM) campaign. Boost with Precision Targeting pinpoints Zillow, Trulia and HotPads apartment shoppers with relevant advertising across Zillow Group’s display network, including Facebook.
4. As soon as you can access each unit that’s coming available, complete any needed repairs and updates, and be sure to take new photos.
5. Spruce up the property — at least give exterior windows a wash and trim the lawn and shrubbery. Remove any trash or debris that prospective renters might see when touring the property.
6. Refresh your listings with alluring descriptions of the units and community. Make sure to highlight the features that residents mention over and over.

Get eyes on your rentals — fast

1. When you hear about the impending vacancies, place a sign in a large, street-facing window or stake one on the front lawn. If you can, put out signs on the street leading to your property.
2. Strike a deal! Offer a discount or other perks such as flexible lease terms, customized pricing, a cash discount off the first month’s rent, free cable for the first six months, gift cards or a smart home device, like Alexa or a Nest thermostat, for each signed lease.
3. Offer to reward the outbound tenants if they can refer a resident who winds up renting with you. Good renters often know other good potential ones; plus, if they’re leaving because of a new military posting, job transfer or they’re finishing school, they might know another soldier, work colleague or student who’s relocating to the area and needs an apartment.
4. Employ word of mouth as soon as you know you’re facing vacancies. Ask current residents to spread the word and offer a finder’s fee for a referral, such as a gift card or discount on their own rent.

11. Hold an open house and stage a model unit as if someone’s living there so potential renters can get a feel for home.

12. Advertise in local printed apartment guides.

13. Get help from real estate offices and property management companies. Although there’s typically a fee involved, it might be worth it to reach a bigger audience of potential renters.

14. If you’re in a competitive market, ping your ready-to-rent prospects with Rent Connect with Waitlist for when one of your apartments becomes available.

Keep driving traffic to your site

1. Be where the potential renters are: online. Four out of five renters (84 percent) use online resources to assist in their home search. Improve your search engine optimization (SEO) to improve your ranking, which helps your properties get discovered faster and by more people looking for them.
2. Reputation counts, so get more reviews and respond to every one — especially the negative ones. Getting involved in those conversations allows you to control your reputation, and it shows that you care deeply about resident satisfaction.
3. Place online listings on sites like Zillow, Trulia and HotPads. More than 36 million rental visitors come to Zillow Group’s rental sites and apps every month.
4. Post online newspaper ads. To generate the most exposure, put deals, sales or discounts you’re offering in the headline.

Use technology to get renters in the door

1. Many apartment shoppers use mobile sites (59 percent) and apps (43 percent). Millennials are the biggest users of mobile search, with three out of four turning to mobile (76 percent). Optimize your site to be mobile responsive and give renters a great experience when they browse your site on their smartphone or tablet.
2. Offer 360-degree video tours of your units to showcase their best features. You can save people time by giving them an in-depth view of your available apartments while demonstrating how tech savvy you are.
3. Want to really laser target potential renters? Advertise your property with beacons and on geofencing apps and you can ping apartment shoppers on their smartphones with location-based alerts about your community when they’re in the vicinity.

And don’t forget to reach renters on social media

1. Post on your community’s Facebook account to notify your audience of available units as well as dates for community-sponsored events. Share pictures of your units, community and events.
2. Don’t forget to engage your social media followers by asking for their input, answering their questions and encouraging comments about your community. And always respond to their feedback to show how engaged you are with your residents.
3. Use Instagram to run contests that attract followers or leverage hot trends, like games with geolocation.
4. Help potential renters find you by using your community’s hashtag and other relevant ones, e.g., #Chicagorentals, #Cincinnatiapartments, etc.

Help your rental properties stand out from the competition

Here are a few ideas to help differentiate your apartment homes and attract more potential renters to you.

1. Emphasize the lifestyle you offer. Even if you don’t have upscale amenities to match another property, you still offer residents a place to call home with perks from local business partnerships, resident appreciation events, responsive staff, etc.
2. Start resident programs they really want, like pet playdates, community gardens, game or movie nights, dedicated craft/makers spaces, happy hour, etc.
3. Get personal when you reply to renters who reach out. Use their first name, reference what they specifically asked you about, answer their questions in full, and don’t send email blasts.

The specter of multiple vacancies can loom large, but with quick action, creative ideas and using channels that can spread your message far and wide, you can reach more potential renters to fill those units.
Related resources:

• Conversation Tips for Leasing Staff: How to Close the Lease
• Renter Acquisition: 6 Ways to Enhance Your Mobile Presence
• Instagram Inspiration: 30 Ways to Showcase Your Property

Zillow Group Report on Consumer Housing Trends

Source: Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics, April 2017

Zillow Group Report on Consumer Housing Trends