It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer volume of tasks and stakeholders involved in hitting occupancy goals for a brand-new apartment building, so check out our guide to best practices for every phase of development to make your lease-up marketing strategy a slam dunk.

Phase 1: Develop your brand

Establish your community’s identity and craft messages to reach your target renter. Give prospective residents a way to find out more about your community and get on your VIP waitlist. Always include a call to action (CTA) to keep them engaged — for example, “stay tuned” or “share on social media.”

Offline, you should start to build your lease-up team and develop your marketing campaigns.

Phase 2: Start pre-leasing and launch your brand

Launch your online and offline campaigns to generate buzz with prospective renters who completed your lead form. Maintain a steady stream of short emails with construction updates including videos or photos. Always use CTAs and track your campaigns so you know what’s working.

Now is also when you’ll start preparing for the grand opening event.

Phase 3: Make your units available and start leasing

Open the doors! Engage with new residents to find out why they chose your community and ask for reviews. Also be sure to include prospective renters who only toured but liked what they saw.

Continue communicating with residents and prospective renters for reviews, referrals and retargeting. Don’t stop tracking your campaigns or engaging with your audience on social media; these activities will tell you how and where your efforts worked best.