Apartment Content Marketing: Telling Stories That Build Brands

Will Rogers captivated audiences with his frontier-style storytelling and humor. He found the right blend of content while appealing to the masses with a plain yet inspiring message. The youngest of eight children born in the Cherokee Nation of Indian Territory in 1839, he was recognized for spinning rope on Vaudeville and became a household name by chronicling his world travels, spinning tales and joking about politicians on the radio and in newspapers. He so engaged the American public that his daily column, “Will Rogers Says,” reached 40 million newspaper readers in 1926. Built on the art of telling a story. These days, multifamily leaders are spinning some tales of their own, only they aren’t using a lariat. They are sharing stories about their properties and inviting residents and prospects to put in their two cents. So powerful is the engagement that it’s changing the way marketers are going about the business of leasing and optimizing their marketing spend and strengthening brands. Rather than through ink and the airwaves, the stories are being told through content marketing via social media optimization. Lincoln Property Company and Olympus Properties are pushing out social initiatives, customer-facing campaigns, and employee-facing campaigns and garnering impressive results. In effect, the companies are creating their own ILS’s through content marketing and re-investing the marketing dollars saved into even more content curation. Creating brand loyalty through content marketing For years, Lincoln Property’s content marketing strategy was about engaging residents through three to four blog posts a month. Now, the company is cultivating deeper content through infographics, videos, and storytelling over multiple channels to create greater brand loyalty and advocacy by engaging residents. Vice President of Marketing and Communications Sheri Killingsworth said the strategy is now about not just reaching residents...