Marketing Ideas For Letting Agents in a Competitive Rental Market
The lettings market has soared in recent times and, thanks to fast-rising prices in the sales sector, it looks set to continue. Comparison site CompareTheMarket has predicted that house prices will rise by a third in Greater London by 2031 and by around 30% in the rest of the UK in the same timescale. This means fewer people being able to afford to get on the property ladder, leading to increased competition in the rental sector. This is why we have put together some marketing ideas for letting agents to help you stand out from the crowd.
Use Your Existing Network
83% of people say they trust the recommendations of friends and family members over any other source. The great thing is that you can harness this power in your marketing efforts. Reach out to your tenants, or at least those of the same landlord, and see if they have friends who are looking for accommodation. Given the choice between a property managed by a company about which they know nothing and one that they can find out more about through their personal contact, they might well choose to go with you, based on their acquaintance’s recommendation.
Advertising through word of mouth can be an extremely effective tactic in gaining a competitive edge over your rivals.
Hone Your Listings
There are a lot of other agents out there hoping to claim their slice of the market, so you have to stand out. It goes without question that you will advertise your properties online, but simply uploading a few pictures and a brief description will not make your post pop.
Think about the value you can add for prospective renters to give them the best impression of the accommodation when they are browsing. Could you add a 360-degree house tour there? Could you add testimonials from previous tenants? Are your photographs showing the best bits of the house off to their full potential? It is worth investing in good quality photographic equipment and even taking a brief course to learn some great marketing photography tricks too.
Is the listing clear and free of jargon? Your potential tenants are not property experts; they want to understand exactly what your property has to offer them without having to translate from ‘letting agent’ to English!
Work With Local Businesses
One of the marketing ideas for letting agents that a lot of people don’t think of is to work with big local businesses to find tenants. A large local employer is likely to attract new workers to the area, all of whom will be looking for a place to live in this new location.
Talk to the company’s HR department and see if they will pass on your vacancies to their new starters. You could even negotiate a discount for people who work for that business, which gives them a reason to mention your service to their relocating staff.
Remember to Sell the Local Area
When you advertise a property, you also need to sell the local area, particularly if you are attracting people moving into the locale. Make sure your listings don’t just concentrate on the property and its immediate location, but also on the larger region. Include the places they are likely to want to visit once they live nearby.
This doesn’t need to be limited to the listings, but it is also worth ensuring your staff are all aware of the amenities and activities in the region and can talk knowledgeably about them with potential renters. This adds to the story of the property and allows people to better visualise how their lives will (or at least could) be if they take the property.
More Marketing Ideas for Letting Agents
It is not only tenants that you need to market to as a letting agent. You also need to know how to entice landlords too. Find out more at the blog post about marketing to landlords.
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