Having a well-known and trusted brand perception in the local community is vital for letting agents.
Below, we look at how agents can boost the local profile of their lettings business to potential landlords and tenants.
Develop a community focus
People love to work with businesses that care about what's going on in their local area, and getting involved with local charities and events can be a great way to boost your business' profile.
There are numerous ways to do this, but focusing on housing-specific causes might make sense for lettings companies. For example, you could contact local homeless shelters and offer your services for free or reduced rates for tenants who want to leave their current property but are having difficulty finding new accommodation.
There's also nothing wrong with exploring more direct sponsorship opportunities in your community, such as sponsoring local sports teams or music festivals. Creating relationships like these will help strengthen your brand identity in the area and enable you to expand your reach even further into the community.
Offer informative content to prospective landlords and tenants
By creating and sharing informative, relevant content, agents can increase their company's profile and build relationships with local landlords and tenants looking for letting agents.
Offer advice on your website and through social media. If you're willing to put the time in, this can be an excellent way of spreading awareness online about the services you offer.
Consider creating a blog and posting (or reposting) any valuable or newsworthy items which would interest potential landlords and tenants in your area.
For landlords, this could include topics such as local property tax law changes, new housing developments and tips for purchasing a buy-to-let property.
If a new apartment complex is built close by, a blog post offering advice on how tenants can prepare for their move once those apartments are ready for letting out would be of use to them and a great way to advertise your services.
Be helpful to landlords and tenants
One of the most effective methods for agents to improve their reputation locally is through word-of-mouth; many prospective landlords and tenants will ask friends or family about their experiences with letting agents when deciding who to use. By ensuring that you offer a helpful, positive experience, you will increase your chances of being recommended to friends and family.
Landlords:
- Provide guidance on tenant move-in/out processes, such as how deposits are processed.
- Ensure that all necessary repairs are dealt with quickly and efficiently before new tenants move in.
- Ensure that council tax is paid where appropriate (e.g., if you're managing the property).
- Ensure that utilities are switched off when a tenant moves out (where possible).
- Offer products and services to help protect their investments, such as buildings insurance and landlord rent guarantee insurance.
Tenants:
- Provide guidance with the move-in process, including how to make payments and register for council tax.
- Ensure that utilities are switched on at the property (where possible) before tenants move in.
- Help them get set up in their new home for less by offering deals on TV and broadband.
- Help them protect their deposit with specialist tenants' liability insurance.
- Quickly respond to calls about repairs and deal with them efficiently.
Offer something more than the competition
Through HomeLet, letting agents have the opportunity to offer their landlords and tenants a range of products and services to support them throughout the tenancy journey.
Stand out from competitors and increase the chances of landlords and tenants using your services again in the future by helping make their lives easier and protecting their investments. You'll also earn revenue off the back of this, with products and services proven to generate income.
Speak to our Account Management Team on 0330 333 7252 about specialist landlord and tenant insurance, rent guarantee insurance, TV and broadband deals and more value-added services we offer.
Maintain your brand's website
Make sure your website is mobile-friendly. Google ranks mobile-friendly websites higher, meaning they are more likely to appear on the first page of search results when people look for a letting agent in your area. You can use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test to see whether or not your website is set up correctly and make any necessary changes.
Keep your site secure with top-notch encryption technology. This will ensure that your leads and clients' personal data stays safe from cybercriminals, who are always looking for weak spots in web security.
Ensure that people can find your website quickly by using local search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies such as creating citations on online business directories and getting backlinks from local businesses in related industries. As more and more customers search for letting agencies online, local SEO will become increasingly important for marketing success.
Use free tools such as Google Trends and Google AdWords Keyword Planner to understand what people near your offices are searching for online. The results will help you decide which content would be most useful on your website, which keywords you should use on pages and in your email campaigns, which pages are best suited for promoting via paid-search advertising (such as Google AdWords), any new partnerships you could form with other local businesses, or any events where an exhibition stand would reach potential clients
Use Google business
Using Google Business is an easy way to get more exposure for your business as it's free and widely used by consumers. It also helps with your SEO and can link to your website.
You can set up a listing in minutes, and it's simple to update so that it won't take too much time out of your day.
It offers customers quick and accessible information about your business, such as your address, opening hours, website and phone number.
Plus, you can link to a mobile site so that people can view your business on their phones while they're out and about.