How to Improve Your Rental Property Marketing

Rental property marketing today is almost exclusively done online.

This means you need strong technological skills to promote your properties and thrive in a digital real estate environment.

How can you improve your rental property marketing strategies and skills?

Being a successful real estate investor in the upcoming year means investing in opportunities to market online, as well as understanding the basics of effective rental listings.

Read on to learn five different ways to improve your rental property marketing.

Table of Contents

1. List online.

As you already know, it’s almost impossible to sustain a successful real estate business in 2022 without an online presence.

This means your listings need exposure online.

You might be wondering where to advertise a rental property online. Platforms like Zillow and Apartments.com allow custom listing rental property for free, with searchable characteristics that tenants can use to find your property. These sites boast millions of viewers and powerful syndication opportunities.

Facebook Marketplace is used to buy and sell all kinds of property, but its property/home rental page is also helpful for landlords looking to gain traction online.

By learning to use these tools, you can use online listing to attract new applicants and fill your units as quickly as possible.

2. Use listing syndication.

Listing syndication is a must-have tool for all landlords.

This tool allows you to upload one listing and post it to multiple listing sites at once. It saves you the time and trouble of having to write separate listings for each new site you want to post on. Plus, your listings will stay consistent across the internet and lead to fewer questions and misunderstandings from prospective tenants.

Where can you use listing syndication? Listing syndication is offered as a feature on most property management software platforms.

Listing syndication is one of the best property management marketing tools available for landlords.

3. Target specific local groups.

Like any advertisement, rental listings work best when they’re carefully targeted.

This means identifying your target renters and catering your listings toward them. Are you looking for student renters in a college town? Young families near a great school district? If so, make sure your listings highlight the features that would attract these renters.

Emphasize the local features that make your properties stand out from the rest.

4. Write high-quality listings.

The quality of your rental listings matters too.

A great listing has four components: a headline, photographs, descriptions, and pricing.

A rental property headline should include all the relevant information a renter needs to decide whether it meets their initial criteria. This includes the price, number of bedrooms, type of building, and the neighborhood or location. You should also highlight your property’s best feature to underscore what makes your rental unique.

Here’s an example of a headline using this model:

$1,150 2 Bed / 2 Bath Townhouse-style apartment in Ann Arbor walking distance from University of Michigan.

The body of your listing itself should include a detailed description of the property and its benefits. Be comprehensive, but don’t write one long paragraph of text. Instead, break down the amenities, specs, policies, and major lease terms in short sentences with bullet points.

Be sure to leave your contact information so prospective tenants know how to get in touch with you to schedule tours.

5. Upgrade your photographs.

Lastly, a sure way to improve your rental property marketing is to upgrade your property photos.

Pictures are everything when it comes to attracting rental applications. A written description of the features is great, but a renter won’t know if they’re interested in your property until they’ve seen it themselves. This is why high-quality photographs hold so much weight in your listing.

Here are a few ways to upgrade your photographs:

- Hire a professional photographer to capture your rentals using the best equipment.
- If you can’t afford a professional, take your own photos with a high-resolution camera and tripod.

Invest in software to create a 360-degree virtual tour of your rental.

Maximize natural light by scheduling the shoot for a bright, sunny day.
Emphasize unique features and rooms. If there’s a limit on the number of pictures you can post, choose the most important rooms – the bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom.
Include floor plans so prospective renters can conceptualize the space.

Conclusion

To new investors, entering the rental property marketing arena can be intimidating. However, by following these five tips, you can build a strong marketing strategy for your rentals and sign leases with your ideal tenants in no time.