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Optimize Your Facebook Page

By Jennifer Chan on February 8, 2012 in Marketing with Comments Off

After you’ve built a Facebook page for your business, how do you brand and market your rental office on it? Facebook is constantly changing its features to increase functionality. The upside is that the applications are free, but you need to constantly keep up and learn how to apply them to your business or else you’ll fall behind the times. Here are some tools you can add to your Facebook page to keep your page current.

Personalize the URL. Getting a vanity URL that represents your business makes it easier for people to remember your page and link back to it. It’s a great way to brand your business, and a much better alternative to a page URL set with a series of numbers. To do this, go to www.facebook.com/username and follow the instructions.

Set up Facebook Insights. Once 30 people have “liked” your page, you’ll see a Facebook Insights tool added to the left side of your page. Insights is a handy tool that can help you track the growth of your page. It supplies you with data on how many people are visiting, “liking,” commenting, responding to promotions and much more. You can track your growth and break down the numbers over days, weeks or months. For example, after noticing your page viewership spike on Tuesdays, you can strategically post rental listings on the same day each week.

Use keywords. Optimize your site with relevant keywords to increase your visibility. Visitors might not know they’re looking for your page, but including keywords such as “Boston rentals” or “luxury apartments” in your “Info” and “About” sections will help you come up in searches and reach your target audience.

Add a welcome tab. Instead of landing visitors on your Wall, link them to a welcome tab instead. Even if your content is informative, the comments wall might not contain material that is interesting enough to make visitors convert and “like” you. By adding a welcome tab, you can customize it to feature apartment video tours, the latest rental listings or interactive surveys. In fact, play around with the tabs feature to have it include listings, polls or videos. It will personalize your Facebook page and turn it into a multi-functional resource for renters.

Are you interested on learning more about how to use social media for your business? Download our Social Media Whitepaper and learn how to fully utilize Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more for your rental office in just 4 weeks!

3 Reasons to Use Recommendations on Facebook for Your Rental Business

By Sarah Gabot on January 10, 2012 in Uncategorized with Comments Off

Use Facebook recommendations for more rental leads.

When you enter in a valid address under the info tab on your rental business’ Facebook page, it becomes a “Facebook location” that people can write Recommendations for.

Think of it as a Facebook feature similar to Yelp or Foursquare, where people are able to “check in” to the location when they’re on the premises, and write reviews for. People that visit your rental business or your property are able to write miniature reviews with Facebook Recommendations. So far, this may not sound convincing enough to care about. However, Facebook Recommendations is a frequently untapped resource that can help your rental business grow.

Learn the 3 reasons why you need to start using Facebook Recommendations for your rental business.

Reason #1: Be visible to people outside of your network.

When you post to your Facebook wall, your content is broadcasted to your network. If you’re lucky, your content is compelling enough to encourage a “friend” to share it with his or her network.

Renters that write a Recommendation on your rental business or facility will have their review automatically shared on their Facebook wall. This Recommendation will include a direct link to your business’ Facebook page. So, you don’t have to worry about creating wall posts that will cause your network to want to repost it to their own wall, because Recommendations will publish on other people’s walls for you.

Reason #2: Instant reviews will appear.

Renters are always doing research on what other people have to say about certain rental businesses. They’re frequently using various tools to judge rental professionals to make sure they’re not going to be misled.

Facebook Recommendations help renters get instant reviews about your rental business. Anyone who Recommends your business will have their review appear on your Facebook page in a sidebar box. That way, people on your page will easily be able to read the nice things about your business.

Reason #3: See what people are saying about you.

As found in our study of renters, the credibility and trustworthiness of a rental professional is imperative to success. Renters are quick to drop any rental professional they don’t feel they could trust. That’s why you need to monitor what people are saying about you or your rental business at all times.

Facebook Recommendations makes it easy for you to monitor what people are saying about your rental business. If people are happy with your business, you’ll start to see positive Recommendations. If people are starting to recommend what NOT to do, you’ll be aware of it right away, and it’ll help you address it quickly.

How to Use Facebook to Drive Traffic to Your Rental Website

By Sarah Gabot on January 9, 2012 in Uncategorized with Comments Off

If you want to increase traffic to your rental website, you need to use all your social media channels and SEO to direct people there. If your website can’t be found, prospective renters won’t be able to see your availabilities.

People spend three times more time on Facebook than on Google. Knowing this, Facebook is a promising place to start building a path to your rental website.

Here are 3 tips to increase traffic to your rental website using Facebook:

Tip #1: Fill out your employment information.

Some rental professionals are still leaving this area blank or are linking it to their company’s business page. While linking your profile to your company’s page is okay, it’s going to make it more difficult for people to come across your listings that way. Direct people to your rentals page by placing a link to your page in your employment information. That way, people who click that link go directly to your listings instead of a general corporate page.

Tip #2: Put a link as your profile caption.

The number one place people click when surfing Facebook is the person’s profile page. That means, after people click your profile picture, the amount of clicking on other parts of your profile tapers off. Start directing people to your website straight from your profile picture. Knowing that this is an area that has the most traffic, put a link to your rental website there.

Tip #3: Share articles or blog posts on your wall.

If you have dynamic content being posted on your website regularly such as a blog, it can also be a great way to push visitors to your website, also. Post article “teasers” of your website content, then add a link that goes straight to that post. Sharing articles on your wall gets published on your network’s newsfeed, encouraging your connections to share, ‘like,’ or comment, which increases your overall reach .

The Greatest Hits: Best of the RentJuice Blog 2011

By Sarah Gabot on December 30, 2011 in Uncategorized with Comments Off

Ready to close more rentals in 2012?

Just in case you’ve missed out on some of the RentJuice Blog posts this year, don’t worry, we’ve summed up the most popular ones for you. Check them out and start your rental business on the right foot in 2012.

3 Tips for Better SEO for Apartment Rental Websites – Learn how to get higher on a renter’s search results using SEO.

How to Build a Successful Facebook Page for Rental Professionals -Increase your exposure to potential renters and capture leads using Facebook.

4 Tips to Improve Your Phone Etiquette to Win Tenants – Don’t lose potential renters over the phone. Polish your phone skills when talking to tenants.

Make Your Rental Website Lead-Generating Machine – Learn about the six key strategies used to build a successful lead-generating website.

How I (Almost) Got Scammed, Part I & Part II – Read about how I almost was scammed when looking for a new apartment.

Better Craigslist Subject Lines, Best Practices – Lure prospective renters to reading your listing with a great subject line.

How to Build a Successful Facebook Page for Rental Professionals

By Sarah Gabot on December 5, 2011 in Uncategorized with Comments Off

Build a successful Facebook page for your rental business.

Use your Facebook page to capture rental leads.

Facebook is the current social network of choice among adults across America. With so many users logging hours of time on Facebook, it is increasingly important for your rental business to have a presence there, too. Why? Facebook gets you exposure to potential renters, gaining you more rental leads.

Learn what makes a good Facebook page for rental businesses. Use these tips to have a successful Facebook page for your properties.

Tip #1: Have a content strategy.

Too much self-promoting is frowned upon, and is a fast way to lose “likes” or “friends.” Facebook is a place for sharing interesting and valuable information that your network will enjoy. Don’t post your available listings on the newsfeed, because it can be an annoyance to some of your “friends”, causing them to “unlike” you.

Instead, create a content calendar to post a variety of interesting content. Have different categories to rotate your post’s content such as “local news”, “national news”, “interior design tips”, or “interesting local facts.” These are topics are more interesting to read about than your available listings, and will cause your friends and prospective renters to want to read your Facebook posts.

Tip #2: Suggest people to become fans.

You can “invite” people to “like” your rental business’s page. You can find this function on the right side of your business’s page, when you’re logged into your personal account. Clicking “Invite friends” will allow you to go through your list of Facebook friends and suggest to “like” your business’s page.

This is important because when your friends “like” your rental business’s page, it will post onto their personal Facebook wall, exposing your business to their network of friends. Getting numerous “likes” can get you exponential exposure to more renters.

Tip #3: Drive traffic to your page.

Some people may not even know you have a Facebook page for your rental business. How do you let them know? Start linking other online tools that you use to your Facebook page. For example, put a link at the end of your e-mail signature saying “Check us out on Facebook!”, and hyperlink it to your page. Also, add links to the end of blog posts and on your website.

Why do you need to drive traffic to your Facebook page? Increased traffic means more people learn about your business and an increased chance that prospective renters will come across your page.

Tip #4: Make it easy for your prospective renters to convert.

While not every visitor to your Facebook page is going to be a prospective renter (some may be business partners), some will be. Turn prospective renters visiting your Facebook page into a rental lead. While they’re browsing your page, this is a great opportunity for you to show them your available listings, but not through wall posts. Use third party Facebook plugins to incorporate your listings into your Facebook page. Third party applications will usually add an extra tab to host your listings, so it’ll stay out of the way of visitors uninterested in your listings.

Be Found: Using Social Media to Increase Your Rental Business’s Visibility

By Sarah Gabot on November 16, 2011 in Marketing with Comments Off

Use social media to be found by prospective renters.

How do you spread word about your rental business? We’ve already taught you how to use SEO to get on top of a prospective renter’s search results. So, you know how important it is to get links pointing to your rental website for a dominant web presence. Use social media to spark interest in prospective renters and current clients to drive them to your website. Social media will give your company exposure at exponential rates.

As you increase your online visibility, you’ll may start to see increased traffic to your website and a stronger network of clients and prospective tenants.

Tip #1: Launch social media sites.

Start a business Twitter account and Facebook page. You can’t benefit much from social media if you don’t have accounts. Fill out the profile section and add a link to your company’s website.

Tip #2: Share what your renters want.

It’s easy to lose focus after launching your social media site. It’s your site, so it should be about you, right? Wrong. Posts just about you can be detrimental to your social media popularity. Renters want to engage with material that’s interesting to them.

That means, don’t go overboard posting your available listings on Facebook or Twitter. If people want to see available listings, they will likely already be searching through rental websites. You need to post things that prospective renters and current clients alike want to read. Post pictures of local landmarks, ask questions or link interesting articles on decorating tips, local news or quirky stories. Valuable stories to your renters give added value to you.

Tip #3: Connect with existing and new contacts.

Social media networks are meant to bring people together. They’re for maintaining existing relationships and creating new ones. Start adding your existing or past clients to your Facebook and follow them on Twitter. Add business partners and industry leaders. If they start following or “friending” you back, it’ll be published on their newsfeed, giving you instant exposure to a larger network of people.

Tip #4: Be helpful.

Social media is not a one-way street. It’s an ongoing dialog between you and your network. Not only should you be putting out valuable content, but you should also be engaging with your connections. For example, if your tenant or partner asks a question on Facebook, give an answer. If there’s an interesting article posted on Twitter, retweet the post. Your contributions to social media’s online community will help broadcast your accounts and keep you on everyone’s radar.

Social Media Reaches More Prospective Renters

By Sarah Gabot on October 13, 2011 in Uncategorized with Comments Off

When you use social media, you can reach more rental hunters.

Did you know? RentJuice has widgets that allow you to simply copy and paste your rental listings onto websites. Interested applicants automatically get sent to you! Get more information here.

Prospective renters aren’t browsing the classifieds as much as they used to before the Internet. Online classifieds are a great way to post availabilities. But if you want an even faster way of drawing people in, you need to bring your listings to the rental hunters. Social media is one of the best strategies to gain exposure to prospective tenants.

What are people doing online nowadays?
They’re on social media sites, of course. Social media use is at an all-time high. According
to the New York Time’s Media Decoder Report, when prospective renters are online, they’re on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter about 22.5 percent of the time. People spend 7.6 percent of their time on their e-mail, a 0.7 percent drop from last year. To put that into perspective, a renters online for two hours will spend 27 minutes on social media and 9 minutes in their email.

Give the people what they’re looking for.
Social media is the latest and greatest way to broadcast information. Rather than letting your online listing sit idly on a classifieds site, you can use social media to publicize your available units. Twitter and Facebook are some of the best tools you have available for marketing your properties. Everything is in one spot: photos of your unit, private messages and a basic profile of your prospective renter, without leaving the site. You will bring the news to prospective renters, rather than having them find you.

Knock two birds with one stone, and link your status updates between your Twitter and Facebook accounts. That way, when you post, for example, a new available unit, Twitter will automatically update your Facebook status, also. This is a great function for busy rental brokers who don’t have time to fuss with two social media sites.

Exponentially increase your reach.
If you have a need for speed in closing rental deals, utilizing social media will certainly help with that. Ever click the “like” button or “re-tweeted” anything? These simple functions serve as an instant forwarding feature, where the prospective renter can broadcast your content to his or her online social community.

Update your Facebook status with what you’re doing or what available properties you have. For example, letting your network know that you’re going to be showing a 2-bedroom apartment in a high-demand area may spark interest in your network. Or, if one of your friends isn’t interested, they may know someone who is, and pass the information along.

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