Marketing features to your target audience
You need to position your property for your audience, so consider the benefits that are most relevant to your target tenant
It’s no use spending time and money preparing your property and including features that you know will appeal to your target market if you don’t highlight them in your marketing.
You need to position your property for your audience, so consider the features and benefits that are most relevant to your target tenant and focus on emphasising these in your marketing and advertising, by distilling them into a catchy title and description supported by high quality photographs and, ideally, video.
Photographs of the property will be the first thing that attract tenants, so use high resolution images taken on a bright day with lots of natural light and take time to tidy and rearrange furniture to photograph the best angles. It’s also a good idea to create a video tour or a 360 degree picture – this will make your rental property stand out and will also help you target a wider range of prospective tenants from out of the area. It may also help reduce time on viewings as prospective tenants will be able to assess more accurately whether the property is right for them.
In the description, highlight any key selling points that are unique to your property or will specifically appeal to your target audience.
For example, if you’re looking to rent to families with children, point out that the property is in the catchment for an outstanding school and in a friendly neighbourhood with lots of children.
Detailed and precise descriptions that are targeted at your specific audience should reduce time wasted on appointments with viewers who arrive only to discover the property is not what they are looking for.
In addition to highlighting the top selling points for your target tenant profile, it’s important to be aware of current trends.
For example, preferences for outdoor space and areas for home working are more popular since the pandemic. There has also been a bit of a boom in pet ownership in recent times and this has been accompanied by a shift in government policy to make it easier for tenants with pets to find properties to rent, with an update to the Model Tenancy Agreement which means that landlords have to provide ‘good reason’ to reject a tenant’s request to accommodate pets.
Despite this, surveys show that only seven per cent of landlords advertise their properties as suitable for pets, while 40% of UK households own pets.
Permitting pets could make commercial sense and offer you a unique selling point when marketing your property, opening the door to a greater number of tenants and making your property more appealing, encouraging loyalty among tenants.
This approach may not be suitable for your property and of course there are other considerations in terms of higher wear and tear, but it’s worth thinking about, especially since the Renters (Reform) Bill supports responsible pet owners in the private rented sector.
To keep up to date on the latest legislation regarding pets visit our Renters (Reform) Bill hub and read our article, 'Renters (Reform) Bill: will landlords have to accept pets soon?'.
You can also find out more in mydeposits guide to lets for pets.
