Who would rather have a quick phone call rather than a text message exchange?
Very few people, it turns out.
A survey of 6,000 consumers by San Francisco telecom developer Twillo found that 89% prefer to communicate with businesses via text. But, only 48% of businesses have this capability.
In the multifamily space, where communities are in constant competition with each other over engaging with apartment prospects, this could signal a great opportunity for those who are willing to add texting to their apartment marketing tool kit.
Another important factor to consider is understanding Generation Z renters. Born between roughly 1995 and the early 2000s, members of Gen Z are graduating from high school and college, making their own money, and looking to rent their first apartments on their own. Multifamily operators and apartment marketers who meet members of Gen Z where they are — on their mobile devices — will have an edge over those who don’t.
If you’re interested in getting started with texting residents and prospective residents, keep these tips in mind.
Only text people who want it.
While it’s true that most people prefer to receive a text message than a phone call, there are others who want to keep things more traditional. There could also be some people who don’t have mobile phones that support texting. So, make sure you have permission before sending texts by asking, “Would you like to communicate with me via text going forward?”
Keep it concise.
There is a time and place for email, and it’s not over text. Texting is meant to be a quick way to communicate, and it’s easy for the recipient to feel overwhelmed if they get blocks of words in the form of long paragraphs over text. If you have a more detailed message to send, use email.
Be quick to respond.
The average response time for a text is 90 seconds, according to a Google study. While residents and prospects are likely to give property managers and leasing agents more wiggle room, the expectation of a timely reply still exists. Ideally, your texting tool should notify you with mobile and desktop alerts so you can reply as soon as possible.
Use the best tool you can find.
Manually texting residents and prospects from your work phone will quickly become unsustainable, so it’s crucial to have a customer relationship management platform that can do the heavy lifting for you. The ideal texting tool captures a log of all incoming and outgoing texts, sends alerts on both mobile and desktop of incoming communications, and is easy for multifamily operators to use.
Respage’s Chatbot will soon have texting capabilities, allowing you to reach more prospects and capture more leads than ever before. Contact us to schedule a demo!
