Click. Send. Repeat. You ping your email contact list every so often with a newsletter, listing or market report. No further action needed, right? Not so fast. Prospective renters reach out to you at different points in their search, and lead nurturing should be optimized with email campaigns tailored to where a renter is in the sales funnel:

Top of the funnel

These leads are nearing the end of their lease and starting to explore options. This is your time to start a relationship, build trust and engage with them. Share your brand story with prospects, explain what sets your property apart from others nearby and encourage them to follow you on social media.

Middle of the funnel

Prospective renters who are mid-funnel are shopping around and getting familiar with the rental market. It’s the perfect opportunity to provide them with the information they want at this stage: community features, neighborhood information and market data.

Bottom of the funnel

These rental shoppers have narrowed their choices to a building or two. They likely want answers to specific questions and details about a lease before making a final decision.

Common issues

Before you start planning your lead-nurturing strategy, make sure to address these missteps:

You’re working with old data

Are you sending email blasts to every single person who’s reached out to your business in the last five years? Clean up and categorize your contact data to make your marketing more relevant and customizable for each segment of shoppers. Your property management software or CRM may offer email campaign tools. There are also free ones available.

Here are some ideas for cleaning up and segmenting your data:

• Move-in date. Most prospective renters provide a preferred move-in date on a rental inquiry form. This information can be extracted via your property management software.
• Unit type. If you have high availability of, say,  two-bedroom units, you can build an email list of prospects who are just interested in two bedrooms.
• Prospect vs. current resident. Segmenting renters this way is great for top-of-the-funnel campaigns.
• Lifestyle attributes. You may have information regarding how many of your prospects have pets. Filter and create a list for pet owners or other lifestyle choices you may have data on. This allows you to build custom content for that segment.

Your content is too complicated

Readers may lose interest or feel overwhelmed when you try to cover too many details about your community in one email. Instead of talking about all lease options, apartment layouts and building amenities, focus your email on one theme. Segmenting your contacts depending on where they are in the sales cycle will help you curate content that’s specific to their interests. Keep the email short and to the point.

Your emails sound automated

Writing that’s impersonal or too sales-y is a turnoff. Improve click-through rates with copy that’s conversational and fun to read. Tell the story of your community to help bring it to life. Avoid industry jargon, and don’t be afraid to use some humor. Ask a co-worker or friend to proofread emails to ensure the content is simple and easy to understand.

Email marketing can be a powerful tactic that yields new leases. The key is to build campaigns tailored to where prospective residents are in their home search, to make sure your contact data is current and segmented, and to talk to prospective customers in a clear and authentic voice.