Three Ways To Get Residents More Involved On Social Media Pages

As a property manager of an apartment community, one of your duties is to help your residents feel like they're included and connected. You're also responsible for advertising, and you need to ensure your community is portrayed as welcoming and friendly. A great way to achieve both of these goals is to encourage residents to be more active on your social media pages. Not only will residents feel more engaged when interacting with others in the community via social media, but others who see the pages may be persuaded to rent from you. Here are three ways to encourage greater resident engagement in social media:

Post links and stories about local happenings.

If you make your social media pages all about your community alone, your content will be quite limited (and probably a bit boring). Including posts about things that are happening in the area around your community will be more interesting to residents. For example, if there is a local parade coming up, post a link to the event page and ask residents who is going. If there is a new restaurant opening, post a link to their website or a new story detailing the opening. Residents will be happy to contribute their comments, and posts like this also show that your apartment complex is involved and interested in the local community.

Post polls for residents.

Residents love telling management how they feel and what they want – as long as you provide them with an easy outlet for doing so. Post polls on your social media pages to encourage residents to engage. For instance, you could ask them what type of flowers they'd prefer to see in the flower beds in the coming spring, or whether they think the community would benefit from additional washers and dryers on-site. Let residents see the (anonymous) results of polls so they know how their desires compare to those of their neighbors. Make sure you act on the polls, too. Once residents realize they can contribute to community decisions by participating, they'll be happy to keep adding to future polls and posts.

Respond to residents who post messages on your page.

Whenever a resident posts something on your social media page, reply to them promptly. This will help establish the precedent that the social media page is a place where residents can be heard and will have their needs addressed. When a resident posts a negative comment, do your best to respond in a polite, positive way. For instance, if someone posts the complaint, "The lawns weren't mowed until Thursday this week! It looked so unkempt." You could reply "Thank you for the feedback. We're aware that we were late mowing lawns this week, and we're taking actions to make sure that does not happen again." Such honesty and politeness will make residents feel comfortable offering their opinions on your page. 

To learn more, contact a property management company like Vintage Corporation.