Local Advertising - Constructive Help Please

Sh@rk

Sh@rk

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Nov 20, 2011
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I own a property maintenance company and we are looking to attract landlords into using our services.

Previously we have stuck to the old school 'normal' methods of advertising, although it brings in some response we need a change.

Let me pick your brains on the concept, we need something cunning, it would lead to a landing page via posters or signs in well trafficked areas. Some reverse psychology perhaps, 'landlords, do not visit this site blah'.

I know you guys are smart, throw me some ideas.
 


Why do landing pages, posters and all that jazz?

You can probably compile a list of all the landlords in your area (or pay some college kid to do it), send personal proposals, do in person sales, etc.

I don't think a landlord is going to see a sign advertising your property maintenance company and be like, "Oh sh*t, a sign that says landlords do not visit this site -> I must visit this site and acquire their services" That's internet stuff, not real life.

Sometimes, it is worth it to stay old school instead of using some sort of automated system. I assume the lifetime value of a client would be pretty high, so it would be worth it to spend a little dough sending personalized things to them,calling them on the phone, actually visiting them, finding out their needs, issues, and tailoring a solution that suits them perfectly.

Even if they don't need you right now, if they ever do need your services, they will remember the dude that made the extra effort to actually show up, converse, and build a relationship instead of using posters, landing pages and the like.

Just my humble opinion...
 
Jimmy Clayton said:
You can probably compile a list of all the landlords in your area (or pay some college kid to do it), send personal proposals, do in person sales, etc.
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Lots of people rent their houses. You may be able to get a list of homes that are being rented and apartment units from the county clerk's office. I'm not sure if they give that info out.

I'd contact the real estate agencies in your area and offer to partner with them, in exchange for a cut.

Rent a booth at a real estate trade show and gather contacts, or just attend them. There are lots of them.

Real Estate Trade Shows,Property Trade Fairs,Builders Expo,Real Estate Wealth Expo
 
An escrow company can give you a list of non owner occupied homes. I know this cause Im looking to buy homes for cash. They do it for free (will even print labels) But they expect some business back.


But wouldn't it be easier to just contact property management companies. You get one good contract and its repeat business.
 
It was an idea we are just picking at. We have allot of corporate clients, like lenders, we take possession of property and maintain them up until the point of sale. We are looking at different ways to approach the public. BY and JC, definitely took your points into consideration. We don't want to come off 'whacky' in advertising but the general advertising in our niche from other companies (there are tons of them) is very saturated with this general type advertising. We need a little twist.
 
Rusky said:
An escrow company can give you a list of non owner occupied homes. I know this cause Im looking to buy homes for cash. They do it for free (will even print labels) But they expect some business back.


But wouldn't it be easier to just contact property management companies. You get one good contract and its repeat business.
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We have all the major companies on board already (bar 2, which we are working on) on the asset management side which is where 90% of our current work comes from. We are based in the UK, I assume escrow company would be an estate agent here as they handle most things in the sale/letting of property.
 
Sh@rk said:
We have all the major companies on board already (bar 2, which we are working on) on the asset management side which is where 90% of our current work comes from. We are based in the UK, I assume escrow company would be an estate agent here as they handle most things in the sale/letting of property.
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I'm in US.

Escrow / Title companies are used to close real estate transactions here and they have complete access to records(they work with investors and agents for free here its like a mutual third party). Might not be an option in UK.


I"m actually not talking about asset management companies. But rental management companies.
 
Sh@rk said:
...We need a little twist.
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I will preface this by saying I know nothing about the property maintenance business in general, but I assume you just...maintain properties.

I think it is important to try and find what your main sticking point is.

Are landlords not seeing your message? (I.e contact is not even being made, the eyeballs aren't on your message, they don't even know you exist?)

Are landlords seeing your message, but not interested in what you are offering? Are some of your competitors offering something that you aren't? Pricing comparison? Size?

Maybe your offer just isn't appealing to them, and no twist in marketing will make a difference - maybe you need to change the specific way you are presenting your offer to them, maybe redesign it to stand out from your competition if at all possible.

Who is serving these landlords right now? How are they reaching them? What is their advertising like? Does one company dominate the market you are targeting? What is their strategy? Are you going to be focusing on landlords who have no property maintenance contract in place, or are you going after people who already have maintenance services but you want them to switch over to you.

Is property maintenance primarily a price based business? (ie. everyone offers the same thing, so the lower price generally gets the job) Competing on price almost always blows, so maybe consider positioning yourself as a higher priced alternative, but add in extra services. (Property maintenance, but partner with a handyman or something and offer to upgrade suites...I really know nothing about the business, I am just trying to stimulate thoughts...)

All of these details will influence what actions will provide the best results. But, based on what I have seen and learned, it is rarely something like a "small twist" in marketing that will make something take off or change the trajectory of your business...it is much deeper.
 
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Your question is retarded. You won't get good answers until you ask good questions.

Allow me to explain:

Main considerations in marketing (which you mentioned none of):

1- Who is your target audience? I mean, are you for landowners who have appartment buildings? Industrial property? Parking Lots? You need to be specific. Do they all own yatchs? Do they frequest specific places? How many kids? Average income? Married? Cars? Start thinking; if I'm my target audience, what do I do? Where do I go? How do I spend my time?

2- Know what matters to them? Saving money? High reliability? Accreditation? Service?

3- How they find their existing providers? Who are your competitors? What do they do for advertising?

4- What is the biggest influence when deciding? For example, people tend to like to get a referral to a specialist doctor; they don't just look it up online for the most part (in which case a specialist doctor would do well instituting a referral program for General Practitioners; maybe promote that online). Notice this is different from #3 in the scope. #2 deals with general issues; like in the case of a specialist, it would be trust. But #4 deals with the specifics (i.e. the biggest trust signal for the consumer is the referral by their existing general practitioner doctor)

What I wrote is very brief, and in no way meant to be all encopasing. It is just to give you an idea of how to think. Once you are thinking right; then you can ask questions, like:

Hi guys, I provide property maintenance services to appartment complex building owners who have an average of 300+ units. For the most part, the decision maker's top priority is minimizing property maintenance costs. A lot of these guys find their property maintenance through their real estate brokers. The average guy has a yatch, two houses, at least one luxury vehicle. I'm looking to invest $xxxx/aquisition. What would be a good approach? I research the CPC for property maintenance and I'm traditionally getting a conversion rate of x%. I tried it, but my online conversion is lower. We are using a...

Specific questions that come after extensive research will do wonders. Vague questions asked from a perspective of ignorance will probably yield slim pickings.
 
If you want them to read your copy you have to give them a reason. Think about the problems that the average landlord faces. Play on their concerns and fears, I would play the education angle and reel them in from there. Either an educational website that shows them how to cover their bases legally, deal with problem tenants, find quality renters etc... or some printed material... Once you have them reading you can make the soft sell throughout, you've already helped them and that gives you a leg up over the competition. You have trust out of the gate.

The key is to help them without solving yourself out of the equation. Help them do what you don't do and then tell them what you can do for them.
 
Sh@rk said:
inb4 kiddie .gif's
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ITm3z3y.gif
 
BabyGotBacklink said:
Either an educational website that shows them how to cover their bases legally, deal with problem tenants, find quality renters etc... or some printed material...
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But whats the parallel between these things and property maintenance?

If a guy taught me how to sell my house or build an addition, and then turned around and tried to sell me lawn care services, I would probably be like "Wtf?"

Maybe I am misunderstanding the point you are trying to make or what the property maintenance business is all about.

The above ideas would work for someone looking to manage a rental property for a landlord, like a real estate person, but for someone taking care of "trades?"
 
If I am understanding correctly, granted from an American frame of reference property maintenance is a broad term and can include repair/remodel/ongoing maintenance like plumbing, wiring, HVAC etc.

If you are targeting landlords, and not investment firms (I see "landlords" throughout) then you are dealing with individuals with rental properties. Attaching your sales copy to something they would already be interested in reading makes sense. I cannot of course offer specific topics of interest without knowing the exact services provided. If it was HVAC for example a guide to extending the life of an HVAC system through preventative maintenance, then a section about "when to call a professional" and contact info. You don't want to give them too much but if you give them something they are more likely to call you thn the other guy IMO.

The OP says that he has the management companies on board, he wants to market to landlords as an additional lead source (my understanding.)
 
This thread is relevant to my interests. IMO there is a lack of online marketing resources for local businesses to discuss marketing strategies etc. Not all marketing is online marketing. Bravo
 
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