There are many ways to approach advertising, mainly because there are different audiences that are reached in different ways. Some advertising tools are more useful than others.
I’m not going to make you read a ton to let you in on one of these widely-used and useful tools.
It’s emotion.
By exploiting your emotions, advertising and media are working hard to get your attention.
Here’s an obvious example - you know those animal shelter commercials, where you see the faces of sad dogs and cats looking up at you imploringly from behind cages, seemingly begging you to come save them? And in the background In the Arms of an Angel is playing?
The idea is that if you see how sad these animals are, you are more likely to donate or adopt one of the animals because your sympathy has been roused. If they were to show you images of happy animals, you would think that everything was fine, that these animals don’t need your help. You move on. The situation for the animals hasn’t changed. That’s why they always show you the sad animals.
So how does this help you as a landlord?
When you are coming up with the advertisements you will use for marketing your properties, try to create a mood that will attract the type of tenants you want.
If you want tenants for high-end apartments, use language that utilizes a higher vocabulary and is straightforward. This will appeal to those with a higher education.
If you’re looking for families, use words that describe your properties as safe and friendly, as this is the type of environment they’re hoping to find for their children.
By honing in on what matters most to the audience you are trying to reach, you have grabbed their attention. You have struck an emotional chord and they will want to see if you really do have what they are looking for.
It’s much better than a boring advertisement that simply lists number of rooms, bathrooms, and square feet.
Or an advertisement that is all over the place because there is no target audience.
However, do be careful. When you use too many emotive words and phrases, it comes across as too much (like for my sister who breaks out into tears whenever the animal shelter commercials come on). Or even fake.
To figure out how to put this advertising tool to use, test out writing different descriptions of your properties, then request a friend or two read the descriptions and ask them how they imagine your properties to be afterwards.
Once they give you an answer that hits on the emotions you’re trying to build up - and is accurate - you’ll know you’ve hit on the right rental listing.
