The Foundation.
If you are here reading this post then you are a part of the crazy, unique, and insanely competitive industry that is Student Housing. Depending on the markets you work in you’re probably facing either insane competition and are having trouble standing out in the flurry of marketing efforts your competitors are deploying or you are one of a few properties in your market and are finding it challenging to convert students into happy residents at your community.
Regardless, every market has it’s marketing challenges.
Not to worry though, in this article I am going to show you a mindset and strategy to create a killer marketing message for your property that will perform regardless of your unique market’s challenges.
The foundation of creating an effective Student Housing marketing message is the same, regardless of your market or current marketing challenges.
What makes a marketing message effective?
Before we get into the strategy, it’s important to know the psychology of an effective marketing message.
The easiest way to understand sales psychology is to use what I call the “Island” analogy.
Imagine that there are two islands; Island 1 and Island 2.
Your prospect is currently on Island 1. This island is not a good place to be. It’s filled with issues, inconveniences, problems, and discomfort.
Island 1 represents the current state of your prospects.
Now, the second island. This place is magical. Everything is perfect, fun, abundant, and filled with joy. There is no other place your prospect would rather be than Island 2.
Island 2 represents the desired state.
When you first reach your target audience via your marketing, you are speaking to them as they are on Island 1. Your job is to convince them that you can take them to Island 2. They will not care if your solution is a boat, a magic pill, a helicopter, or a dolphin with a horse saddle on it’s back, they’ll choose you if they believe that you can get them there.
A marketing message must do 3 things to effectively convince a prospect to crave your brand over the competitors.
- It must show them that you know what Island 1 is like. You understand their challenges.
- It must show them that you know what Island 2 is like. You understand their desires.
- It must show them that you are capable of transporting them from the first island to the second. You instill belief in them.
The Strategy.
So how do you do this?
To keep this simple and brief, I’ve put together a bullet list and a breakdown for you to reference and utilize in your box of marketing “tools”.
A KILLER Student Housing marketing message will contain the following elements.
- A BOLD claim.
- Immediate proof of your bold claim.
- Social proof to show people like your prospects enjoying the results of your bold claim (testimonials).
- A time sensitive offer.
- An element of scarcity.
BOLD CLAIM
This is super simple. What is the best thing about your property? How can you make that thing sound extreme/dramatic? How do you say it in a way that students care?
Ex.
Your property has the biggest pool in your market.
Now make it dramatic.
Our property has the BIGGEST pool in Knoxville. It’s a massive, feature rich, heated, resort style pool that’s open year round! When you live with us, EVERY DAY IS SUMMER.
Okay now maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but you get the point. Take what you’ve got, then be dramatic about it.
It’s also important to note that being dramatic does not mean lying. Always make sure your huge bold claims are backed in truth.
Proof of bold claim.
Alongside your bold claim, you need to include some immediate proof that it is true and not an exaggeration. So many people make bold claims only to completely disappoint prospects when the “resort style pool” is just a blow up hot tub tucked in a dirty corner behind the leasing office.
A good and easy way to do this is by using photos/videos to show what you are talking about immediately after the bold claim. By you saying “this pool is absolutely amazing” before they see a photo of it, the pool will be perceived as that when they see a photo of it, validating your claim. Another way to do this would be to include any kind of awards your property has received. If your property received an award for the biggest pool in your market, show it!
Social Proof
Once you’ve made your claim, you’ll want to include some testimonials that will further validate the truth of your claim. If it’s about the pool, find reviews that mention the pool and showcase them in your marketing materials! Complete alignment in your messaging about what your key selling point is, is very important.
A time sensitive + scarce offer.
This is pretty straight forward. Always make sure your offers used in conjunction with the other messaging we’ve covered already include both an element of urgency and scarcity. Publicly announce that you only have 3 spots left for X offer and the deal ends on X date.
Providing multiple reasons to buy (ideally 3+) is crucial, especially when your comps have good offers as well.
With the strategy we are covering, you are showing them why your property is the best, showing them proof that they’ll love it when they move in, and then creating time and scarcity constraints to expedite their decision making.
Summary
As you go about creating a message to guide your marketing efforts, all of these elements will play a crucial part in helping you capture the attention and interest of students in your market. Making sure that every promotional message you put out clearly shows how you help students make the trip from Island 1 to Island 2 will help you stand out from other properties and will promote a better overall response to your marketing efforts.