Updater

By Jenna Weinerman

Published Apr 7, 2016

Updated Dec 24, 2023

As a property manager, chances are that you’ve seen one or two negative reviews about your community on your online review sites. And while your property likely has its own strategy for tackling negative reviews, how can you more effectively leverage all of your positive resident reviews?

The truth is – if you’re not already incorporating positive online reviews into your marketing and sales materials, now’s the time to get cooking! Positive resident reviews speak volumes about your business and can be an effective tool to attract new residents and even remind current residents why they should stay in your community. So, what are you waiting for? Make the most out of your glowing resident reviews starting with these tips:

Humanize Your Review(er)s

While many of your online resident reviews will be anonymous, some online review platforms like Yelp allow you to directly view the identity of the reviewer. If you know who the reviewer is, consider reaching out to them directly to express appreciation for the review. Explain that you’d love to share their positive experience with prospective residents, and ask whether they’d be interested in being “spotlighted” on your company’s blog or website. As an incentive, consider knocking $200 off their next month’s rent!

Pro-tip: Structure their “spotlight” as a simple Q&A, and ask your residents what they like about living in your community, what they do for fun, and even one thing that they want to change about living in your community (after all, honesty sells!).

Keep Things Timely

This one should be a no-brainer, but it’s critical to incorporate your positive resident reviews into your email marketing campaigns. Maybe it’s a punchy line from your Yelp page, or a comment that an anonymous resident left on your company’s blog.

Either way, make sure to promote your reviews in a timely way. For example, if spring/summer leasing is just around the corner, maybe you share a resident review about your pool or outdoor grilling area in one of your email marketing campaigns. Or, if the holidays are coming up, maybe you share a review related to all the awesome things your on-site staff does to create a warm atmosphere at your property around the holidays.

Don’t be Afraid to Use the Cold, Hard Data

Resident reviews don’t necessarily have to be a powerful written statement or quotation, extolling the many virtues of your property! Resident survey data talks, too!

If you conducted a recent resident poll, share statistics that highlight the benefits of living in your community. Maybe you’d like to share that 70% of your residents use your state-of-the-art gym once or more per week. Or, maybe you’d like to share the 85% of your residents are “extremely happy” with your on-site gym. Either way, pepper in your findings in relevant places – on your community amenities page, in your leasing materials, or even in casual conversations between your leasing staff and prospective residents. You can even design beautiful social media cover images that incorporate a few relevant statistics using free tools like Canva.

Treat Tweets like Mini Reviews

If your residents don’t leave reviews on your online review platforms often, feel free to get creative and consider positive tweets like mini resident reviews!

For example, did one of your residents thank you over Twitter for the awesome hot chocolate bar that you had in your lobby during the last snowstorm? Go ahead and repurpose the tweet for your sales and marketing materials or even on your website, like we did, on our own Twitter feed.

Spice Up Your Email Signature

While adding positive resident reviews to your sales and marketing materials is a given, what about your email signature?

Pass along the idea to your leasing team, and have them incorporate a short, but powerful resident review at the bottom of their email signature below their contact information. When communicating with prospects, it’s a small but subtle way to remind prospects why your community is worth it!

At the end of the day, resident reviews (good or bad) are an incredible way to help your business. Negative reviews can help your team identify gaps in your service and areas for improvement. And like we’ve seen, positive reviews can help your company more effectively attract new residents and ultimately, meet your bottom line.

Jenna Weinerman

Jenna is Updater’s Head of Marketing and a published ReloTech expert. She’s an endless seeker of knowledge, a lover of craft brews, and a huge Philadelphia sports fan. Follow her on Twitter here.