Social Media Ideas for the Apartment Industry

Twitter

1. Steam of maintenance requests and updates on those request
2. Tweets about tips and advice for renters
3. Things to do around the propery - (Via yelp, upcoming, eventful, etc)
4. Self organizing social activity board with hashtags #apartment
5. Notifications to residents about crisis management - power or water outage, etc.
6. Reminders about scheduled preventive maintenance or common area improvements - unit by unit inspections, sealing/striping parking lot

Facebook

1. Facebook Groups

a.  You can create a group around content, ideas, and topics.  Main feature is that you can have an open commenting system (wall) around the topic to foster a conversation.  

b.  Keys to a successful group is leveraging your existing network, engaging users as they join, and providing a steady stream of consistent content.

c.  Here are some very helpful tips for leveraging the power of Facebook Groups.  

    2.  Fan pages

a.  Fan pages are the alternative to profile pages for companies.  They allow companies to create a "profile" and have Facebook users become a fan of them.  

b.  The benefits of the fan pages is that if users become fans, they associate themselves with your brand and essentially become evangelists. 

Notes

Marketplace

Events

Wall

Apps

MySpace

Blogs

1. Resident blog - Eric Brown did a fantastic job of getting his residents to contribute to a blog that discusses the lifestyles of living in his apartments. http://www.urbaneapts.com/urbanereflections-blog/
2. Employee focused blog - We created this blog mbrewer.typepad.com/portlandrocksnewsletter/ a number of years ago. We asked a number of employees to contribute everything from recepies to community outreach.

Forums

Videos - YouTube

     1. How-to videos: How to unstick the disposal, change the HVAC filter, proper way to remove a window screen, how to work the compactor, etc.

     2. Videos of resident social events - not sure about needing a "video release" from people in the video before posting.

     3. Endorsements/testimonials from residents about living at the community.