Multifamily online reputation management is crucial to protecting multifamily reviews and distinguishing a rental property in the competitive space.
By Kendall Pretzer
Reputation management has emerged as a crucial aspect of multifamily operations, encompassing strategies and techniques to monitor, enhance and protect a brand’s online presence.
Reputation management should not be reactionary, but instead an integral part of marketing for a property’s long-term financial health. By proactively managing their reputation, owners and operators can mitigate potential crises, build trust with customers and ultimately drive revenue growth.
Understanding the Importance of Online Reputation Management
According to the 2024 NMHC and Grace Hill Renter Preferences Survey, 71% of residents who referenced property ratings and reviews (e.g. Google, Yelp, ApartmentRatings.com) report that the content of the ratings and reviews has stopped them from visiting properties. Actively monitoring these platforms and promptly addressing customer feedback, both positive and negative, can feel daunting, but it is crucial for maintaining a community’s brand.
Negative reviews can deter prospects— 84% of renters report that reviews influenced their leasing decision— leading to a direct impact on overall property performance. Conversely, positive reviews, and how companies respond to them, can serve as powerful endorsements.
Reputation in multifamily goes beyond Google business profiles and Internet Listing Services. Engaging with customers and groups on social media platforms builds trust and fosters positive relationships as part of Online Reputation Management (ORM). Crisis management is also a part of ORM and having a well-defined plan in place can help mitigate the impact of negative publicity or poor reviews on a brand’s reputation.
Managing reputation to improve the resident experience
The most obvious benefit of effectively addressing concerns across all digital platforms is the opportunity to improve the resident experience. By actively managing online reputation and addressing concerns quickly, consistently and authentically, onsite teams can improve resident satisfaction. What’s better than a five-star experience? Sometimes it is converting a one-star into a five-star.
Consistency in communication and responsiveness has a trickle-down effect. As multifamily is also starting to see the long-term value of building a strong brand reputation, fostering customer loyalty and mitigating the potential impact of negative publicity has become crucial.
The bottom line is that no single property stands alone for today’s savvy residents, and it doesn’t matter how new or beautiful the apartments are. When prospects read reviews, they’re taking in all facets of those critiques — the community, customer service and resident experience — along with the quality.
Reducing turnover reduces expenses
In the crowded market multifamily, a strong reputation can distinguish a community from its competitors, enabling it to attract more prospects and stabilize financial growth.
Monitoring online reviews and feedback allows owners to identify areas for improvement and streamline operations. Moving is usually no fun, and residents want to avoid it when they can. Increased responsiveness has a direct impact on resident retention, leading to cost savings and reduced turnover.
While the exact calculations for ROI will vary based on the specific location of a property and the type, there are key factors to consider across an entire portfolio. Owners and operators must examine the potential revenue increases resulting from higher occupancy rates and optimizing rental rates.
This goes hand in hand with thousands of dollars per unit in turnover costs when a resident leaves, which includes the time spent on attracting new residents. The financial impact of improved efficiency and reduced marketing expenses can be realized quickly.
Reduced operational costs also benefit teams
While not always considered a line item in the marketing budget, ORM may need to be reframed as a necessary component in marketing goals and considerations.
Prioritizing ORM is one of the most cost-effective ways to help the bottom line. The financial benefits are often realized by operational and marketing savings that are greater than the investment. Utilizing automated tools and software solutions to streamline monitoring, reporting and response processes will reduce manual labor and improve efficiency. This is also helped by investing in employee training and education programs to maximize the use of ORM solutions.
Companies will need to ensure that the solutions they implement will offer ORM management across all review channels and platforms, as well as analytics and reporting tools that show the results of their teams’ efforts. This information should be both easily accessible and customizable, providing insights about overall property performance.
In today’s landscape, effective multifamily online reputation management is a critical component of a successful budget. By allocating the necessary resources and implementing effective reputation management strategies, businesses can build trust, enhance their online presence and ultimately drive revenue growth.
About the Author
Kendall Pretzer brings more than 30 years of experience in property management and supplier solutions to her role as the Chief Executive Officer at Grace Hill.
About Grace Hill
Grace Hill provides technology-enabled performance solutions that help owners and operators of real estate properties increase property performance, reduce operating risk and grow top talent. Its industry-leading solutions covering policy, training, assessment, survey and data-driven insights are bolstered by years of real estate experience, in-depth service-level expertise and outstanding customer support. Today, more than 500,000 real estate professionals from more than 2,300 companies rely on talent performance solutions from Grace Hill. Visit us at gracehill.com or on LinkedIn.