How to Find Clients for Your Property Management Company

A step-by-step blueprint to create a rock-solid marketing plan and attract the right clients

Property management is a tough gig. It takes time, patience and skills to acquire clients for your company especially when you are getting started.

It’s easy to get discouraged when you don’t see results from your marketing efforts in the beginning.  

What’s even worse is being stuck with clients that are driving you crazy and are draining your bank account but you can’t fire them because you don’t have enough doors to survive.

Luckily, there are some steps you can take that will help with finding good clients for your property management company!  Everything I am sharing here I’ve learned through trial and error and those lessons cost me a lot of money and time.

This guide is for brand new property managers and for some with experience who want to brush on their marketing skills. Don’t waste time, money, and effort guessing what will work for your property management company. We’ll show you exactly how to implement proven strategies that will get results.

Step One: Set Yourself Up For Success

Before starting your marketing campaign, there is some pre-planning that you need to do. 

  • Describe your ideal client.  Be very specific, including the blogs they read the social media channels they prefer. This exercise will help you clarify and sharpen your offer and let you chose the right marketing strategy.
  • Detail your ideal client’s problems, goals, and frustrations. Get feedback from your existing clients or join landlord groups and forums. 
  • Write down how you can help your potential clients solve their problems and achieve their goals.
  • List why should they hire you over other property managers. Be as specific and objective as possible. “I am just better” is not a good reason even if it’s true.

What makes your company different from others in the field. In today’s market, you have to stand out. Be the Purple Cow amongst the ordinary brown herd of cows. Don’t make “me too” offers, be precise and answer your clients’ biggest concern with your marketing. That’s how you win!

Step Two: Create Your Offer

Based on the research you’ve done in step one create a powerful message that your potential clients will not be able to resist.

To quote The Godfather, “make them an offer they can’t refuse.” 

Just for fun, open another window in your browser and type property management company in Scottsdale or anywhere else. Is there an offer you are attracted to?

Beware of having low prices as a competitive advantage. It can work only in the beginning and you will attract the wrong type of clients. 
Your offer is as important as the marketing channels you choose, so spend extra time crafting it.

Step Three: Choose the Right  Marketing Chanel

Search Channels: Organic Traffic (SEO) and Pay Per Click (CPC)

When clients find you through Google or the other search engines, you know they need your service because they initiated the search. You can get in front of them either through organic or paid search.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization is the process of making your website more visible to search engines. It can be done by incorporating keywords into your site’s content, title tags, meta descriptions, and page URLs. This helps Google understand what your page is about so it can show it in search results for relevant queries. 

There are many things that go into SEO including on-page factors like the layout of a webpage and off-page factors such as backlinks from other sites which point to your own site.

Attracting clients and leads through SEO is a long-term game. It’s absolutely viable and it shouldn’t be neglected, however, I wouldn’t focus on it in the first six months.

For a brand new site, it will take a year or more to start ranking for easier terms even if you are producing content consistently. My advice is to start adding content but don’t focus on this in the beginning.

The only exception is getting listed in the Google My Business and actively asking for reviews.  

Ranking in Google Maps 

Appearing in the top three spots in the Google maps listing will get you a lot of customers. It’s one of the best places to be on the search results. But how do you get one of those spots? The competition for the map pack is fierce.

Here are the things you can improve that will make a difference:

  1. Claim your Goggle My Business Listing if you haven’t done it yet. Add as much 
  2. Domain Authority – content, links, citations (mentions of your business in directories, etc.)
  3. Reviews – create a system for getting and responding to reviews.
  4. Embed a Google map in your site
  5. Something you don’t have control over,  but will help is for clients to google your listing and get directions.

Pay Per Click (CPC)

When you are looking for a way to promote your property management business online, Pay per click advertising is an excellent solution and it will give you instant results. You can target potential clients by their geographic location or interests, and then pay only when someone clicks on your advertisement. Google Adwords is one of the most popular platforms for PPC advertising because it offers powerful targeting features that let you focus on people who are searching for properties in specific areas near you. 

But how does it work? The first thing you need to do is create a keyword list so Google knows what types of people you want to reach with your ads. Target keywords with less competition. Instead of targeting the City Name Property Management, target communities or smaller areas. These keywords have less competition and are less expensive.

Become Google Verified 

If you have any marketing budget, this is where you should focus your energy in the first six months. 

There is a new feature in Google. I highly recommend trying this. You need to have at least 5-10 reviews for this to work.

Make sure to turn off messages and only accept phone calls. Google verified leads are priced very well and you get to talk to actual human beings which increases your chances to get the sale if you have a good offer.

This is how it looks like. I just typed Phoenix Property Management.

Offline Chanels That Work

Networking with real estate agents and brokers 

You can start networking with other real estate agents and brokers who don’t offer property management from the beginning. It’s an underrated channel for getting very good leads. Of course, this is not completely free because you need to offer compensation to the agent and a promise that you will not steal their clients if they decide to sell.

You can also network with brokers from out of town, even out of state.

Networking in person and online with real estate investors

Working with real estate investors can be challenging and also financially rewarding because each client can have multiple properties. Investors are always on the lookout for a good property manager. If you participate in the communities they frequent, like Facebook groups and forums like BiggerPockets, you will be approached eventually if you contribute to the conversation. Although this is another way to network, I wouldn’t recommend it in the first six months. If you do it don’t expect immediate results.

Social Channels

Social advertising has been around for a long time, but it is now more popular than ever with the growth of social media. With platforms like Facebook and Instagram, people are able to share their lives with friends and followers who might never come into contact with them otherwise. This creates an interesting dynamic in which brands can use networks like these to advertise products or services to potential customers they would never have had access to before.

The key to success with social advertising is engaging your audience in the conversation by posting content that’s interesting and engaging. Commercial offers rarely work on Facebook and that’s why you don’t see many property managers advertising on Facebook.

The same goes for Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. If you decide to advertise on those networks, try to use messages that will engage not only promote your services.

Step Four: Action Plan and Execution

  • This Week Action Plan
  • 90-Day Plan
  • One Year Goal
  • Three Year Goal

This Week’s Goal and Action Plan

What can you do now to increase your leads now? Focus on the one thing that will bring results fast. Chose one marketing strategy you will master. If you are just starting try Pay-per-Click and Google Verified Leads.

90-Day Action Plan

Create your action plan for the first 90 days. From all the channels we listed, pick the ones that will bring results within 90 Days. Pay-per-Click and Networking are the two channels I recommend. Focus on getting as many reviews as possible. 

One Year Goals and Action Plan

Where do you want to be in one year: Sales and Profit and Team?

How you can get there? In addition to pay-per-click, networking, and reviews, start working on organic traffic.

Five Year Goals and Action Plan

What are your 5-Year goals: Sales and Profit?

What will be your Lifestyle and Motivation to get there? Finally, think about your exit. Do you want to run this business forever or sell it?

Resources:

Google Local Services – more info on Google Verified Listings

About the author

Jana Christo is a business owner, real estate investor, and property manager. She has 16 years of experience in most areas of real estate.
During the last recession, she was also the managing partner for a company that bought and rehabbed properties from the court foreclosure auctions. Today, she manages her own portfolio of rental properties and shares her experience on Rentce.com.