Student Housing Business is the voice of the student housing industry.
Issue link: https://studenthousingbusiness.epubxp.com/i/616872
MARKETING NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS .COM 52 In Person Means as Much as Online Student housing operators stress the importance of posting leasing and marketing collateral on both social media and the Web, but also of having a professional, knowledgeable staff. By Scott Reid Y Year after year, student housing operators work to draw attention to their properties, maintain and increase the leasing velocity of previous years, and get new students to sign and join their communities. Along the way, operators employ a variety of methods to get students to sign leases and make that important decision of where they will live the following fall. In 2015, with high- speed Internet omnipresent in young people's lives, a strong social media and web pres- ence is required to get students to sign on the dotted line. But there is still a need for a professional and courteous "IRL" (in real life) engagement with potential tenants. Student Housing Business spoke with several student housing operators to fnd out what works, what doesn't work and what is chang- ing when it comes to getting students to sign leases. Constant Connectivity A 2014 study conducted by My.com found that nearly half of 19- to 22-year-olds spent at least four hours with the mobile Internet every weekday. And just fewer than one in three logged on for more than fve hours on average. "The Internet dominates the conversation," says Adam Byrley, executive vice president of student housing operations for Raleigh, North Carolina-based The Preiss Co. "If a property's Internet connection is not good, whether not easily connectable or slow, that's the frst rea- son a tenant will not re-sign." The Internet is so vital that many choose to lease that way, making it a primary factor in property marketing, before and after the lease. Putting all leasing and application docu- ments online allows potential tenants to sign and apply on their own time, without having to go to the leasing offce during its operating hours. This is especially benefcial for interna- tional students who may not be able to tour properties from their home country. "We've seen leases come through at 3 a.m.," says Gra- ham Bailey, director of marketing for Seattle- based Horizon Realty Advisors. Even students who apply in a Preiss leasing offce do so on an iPad, and then hard copies of the leases remain on fle in the offce. Grand Campus Living offers online prop- erty tours if a potential tenant can't visit the location. "We take what we can to them if they can't or are unwilling to come to us, using Skype or FaceTime," says Emily Austin, Grand Campus Living's national training and leasing director. The Preiss Co. has been making a big mar- keting push through social media, Byrley says. Using a popular image app like Snapchat has allowed Preiss to remain in front of students at times they are contemplating their living situa- tion for the following year. At Prado, near the University of Texas at San Antonio, Grand Campus Living uses the Snap- chat app to show prospective renters what a day-in-the-life at the community is like, using the "My Story" photo-narrative function. Pho- tos may show resident events like cookouts, the execution of a promotion, or even the fn- ishes of a unit. These stories are viewable for 24 hours. The Preiss Co. has decided to stop offering rent concessions and incentives at a majority of its properties as the company believes they are creating unhealthy expectations in students.