A question we get a lot at Fourandhalf is this: what are the different ways you can pay for property management leads? Today, we break down four different categories in online advertising, and specific platforms your property management company can use to build out your pipeline.
Pay-Per-Click Campaigns
Pay-Per-Click, or PPC, allows your property management company to bid for ad placement when landlords are at the point of purchase. For example, when people search for “property management,” an ad shows up at the very top of that search results page. However, you’ll only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad – views are free.
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Google Ads – So popular and famous, that oftentimes, people think of PPC as just another name for Google Ads. Google is the first search engine people think of when they’re online looking for something. It commands the highest share of online search traffic, and you can showcase your property management company at the very top of search listings by providing the keywords your prospective client is searching for when they need property management services.
Alternatives:
Bing – If Google Ads is too competitive (read: expensive) in your area, Bing works as an alternative method, especially for companies in a major metro area. Each click tends to be cheaper, but you won’t receive the same amount of leads as you would on Google Ads.
Yelp – Yelp has its own platform that allows you to show up at the top of its search listings, and your competitors’ as well. If you’re considering Yelp for your business, make sure you have a strong online reputation and that Yelp is a site people in your area use.
Pay-Per-Lead
Pay-Per-Lead, or PPL, is an attractive choice for property management owners that prefer the idea of only paying each time they receive an owner lead. This can be a profitable avenue if you have a strong sales process. Consider these sales benchmarks from the property management industry:
- The industry average call response time is 39 hours.
- The industry number of follow-up attempts by phone is 1.6.
- The typical email solicitation goes something like, “Hello, my services are X my fees are Y, let me know if you have any questions.”
The bar is set pretty low. Your property management company should be able to close the bulk of the leads you receive. if you make every effort to avoid those mistakes.
Services:
AllPropertyManagement.com
ManageMyProperty.com
Thumbtack.com – a newer online service that matches customers with local businesses.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is great for property managers that have something free to offer. Why? Because people go on social media to avoid making decisions. It is up to you as an advertiser to come up with something completely irresistible to get that landlord to enter their email address and phone number. But it doesn’t stop there. You need to make sure you continue to reach out to these leads so that you can stay top-of-mind. This typically works best with an automated lead nurturing drip campaign.
The main benefit in social media marketing lies in targeting. On Facebook, you can target people based on their interests and demographics. This allows you to reach landlords and investors who may not be familiar with property management services. What an opportunity! Given this, expect a longer sales cycle with these leads. Make sure you have a plan to stay in touch with these leads so that whenever they are ready for property management, they will call you.
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Facebook Advertising – Facebook allows you to target people based on their age, location, interests, behaviors and demographics. From our experience in running ads for our clients, given a budget of $10/day, you can expect to receive 7-15 leads per month.
Remarketing Campaign
Remarketing is like a billboard that follows you around. If you type a search into Google for new shoes, and you go to another website, chances are, you’ll see banners for shoe ads. That’s a remarketing campaign. It’s a good way to win business later that you didn’t get the first time. Maybe a lead clicked your ad and visited your website but didn’t sign up. Because you’re following them with your ad, they may be more likely to sign up later. They can click on that ad right there and come back to finish what they started.
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If you want to set up a remarketing campaign that works across several websites, you will do it through Google. If you’d like your ad to show up on a prospective lead’s Facebook feed, Facebook has a feature for running retargeting ads as well.
These are the four best ways you can acquire property management leads when you’re ready to pay for them and you want to grow your property management business. At Fourandhalf, we run ad campaigns for many of our clients, so if you do have any questions, feel free to ask us for a free no-obligation assessment.
