Ratings and reviews are important to every brand that has an online presence, but especially to the multifamily industry because we market and provide one of the biggest and most personal decisions our prospects will make – a place to call home.
Thanks to apartment reviews we have the opportunity to engage with and positively impact our prospects before we even meet them. This creates a foundation for a real relationship.
Ratings and reviews supplement traditional marketing, social media efforts, and everything else out there that shapes a prospect’s perception of us.
And perception truly is the only reality that counts. You have invested a great deal of time developing your brand image, your story, and the customer experience. But how does that translate to the internet and the prospect looking for an apartment? Reviews do more than just increase brand awareness online.
How does that translate to the internet and the prospect looking for an apartment?
5 reasons you should care about apartment reviews:
- Create Customer Loyalty – Residents take time to leave a review because they care and they want to be heard. Apartment reviews give your residents a voice and give you a public channel to engage with them and build relationships and ultimately loyalty.
- Word of Mouth Marketing – Apartment reviews are a form of word of mouth marketing that work hard for you long after they are posted. There is no expiration date – they create a constant positive brand impression for prospects and help you maintain brand awareness on the internet.
- Reviews Breed More Reviews – Existing apartment reviews for your community often encourage others to leave their own. People like to be part of a group, so the mere existence of other reviews on sites like Renter’s Voice gives new users the confidence and desire to add their own opinions.
- Improve Rankings – Reviews aren’t just about customer service and your residents. They also help improve your ranking on search engines. The more that is written about your community online, the more important you are to search engines and the closer to the top of the page you’ll appear.
- Customer Experience Insight – Your reviews give you insight on how well you are doing. If you encourage and monitor apartment reviews, you can consistently and easily learn what your residents like and what needs improvement. As you tweak the customer experience for maximum effect this, in turn, will have a positive impact on future apartment reviews.
You should care about apartment reviews and ratings because they tell your story, influence your prospects, and keep you engaged with your residents – all leading to increased conversions and retention.
How are apartment reviews impacting your business?
Misty Sanford
Renter’s Voice Social Insight Thought Leader