Rental Company Uses Content to Woo Renters

Eric Groves
Mon, 15 Nov 2010 15:35:00 +0000

I'm big proponent of using content to help sell your brand, products, and services. Above all else, giving customers valuable information that they can use will help you keep current customers and attract new ones. Be it a post to a blog, Facebook, or Twitter, or by sending out an email newsletter, good content is always the key ingredient.

Red Oak Properties, a Constant Contact customer in Manchester, N.H., is one business that does just that. A key to all of its customer communications is engaging content. It may seem a little odd that an apartment rental company would use any content beyond its latest listings, but Red Oak excels at providing its audience (primarily prospective and current renters) with engaging content they can use.

Red Oak uses email marketing to reach current renters. It started using email about a year ago because it wanted to communicate in a more professional and cutting-edge manner with its customers, according to Red Oak co-owner Gerry Dupont. In its emails to current renters, Red Oak shares information about community happenings, school start dates, trick or treat times, and other useful information. Gerry says she knows her renters are busy, so she wants to provide them with all the information they need to make their lives as easy as possible.

Social media sites and Red Oak's website are the main vehicles for connecting with prospective renters. Through the business' Facebook and Twitter presence, Gerry and her staff preach the "Red Oak Life," which features community happenings such as farmers' markets, festivals, fairs, and arts and sporting events with the idea of showing prospective renters the idyllic New Hampshire lifestyle they could have if they choose to live in the area. The hope is that these people will also choose to rent from Red Oak.

Naturally, Red Oak peppers its Facebook and Twitter posts with apartment specials and other offerings, but the majority of the posts contain information any area resident could use. Red Oak even offers Foursquare users $100 off their first month's rent. (Yes, Red Oak definitely has its social media bases covered.) You can see a video of Gerry discussing Red Oak’s social media efforts here.

Gerry has even started using email to keep in touch with former renters to stay top of mind with them if they ever find themselves needing a rental again and to act as a referral source for new customers. It's a great idea because those with a positive rental experience will definitely refer friends looking for housing to Red Oak.

Red Oak's content strategy for both email and social media demonstrates two things: One is that you can use great content to position yourself as a resource. Then current and prospective customers will come to you, instead of going to multiple places, to get their information. The other is that you don't have to create this useful content from scratch. In the case of Red Oak, the company is turning area happenings and public information into content it knows its customers and prospects can use. It takes some research and time, but Red Oak is not reinventing the wheel every time a newsletter goes out or a new item is posted to Facebook.

You, too, should repackage existing information into useful nuggets to fuel your email and social media engine and share with your customer base.