Even when you have a wealth of knowledge and property management expertise, it is reasonable to run into moments of "writer's block." No one likes to realize that they've exhausted all the ideas they originally came up with to write about for a company blog.
Developing a content strategy for your property management marketing often begins with a wealth of information and ideas, but after a while, the creativity fountain may start to run dry. How can you keep your blog bustling with content that gets results? Here are some ideas from the writers at Geekly Media that we use, because blogging four times a week can sometimes be challenging—even for us.
Brainstorm Without Pausing
Whether you've spent the day working with tenants, maintaining properties, or at the office working on paperwork, take a 10-minute break and pull out some paper. Try brainstorming about:
- Problems your company solves
- Questions your clients have
- Questions tenants have for your company
- Ideas for getting to the next level as a company.
No matter what you write, it counts at this point: no punctuation is necessary! Just keep adding to the list until you cannot think of any more words to add. What you have in front of you may seem like a mess, but it is the first step to a much more diverse blog.
You don't have to start writing the minute you finish this list. Save it for a rainy day when you cannot possibly think of another blog topic and revisit it then. By taking some time to let those ideas rest and come back to them with fresh eyes, you'll probably find some inspiration that leads to even MORE new ideas to help you through your dry spell.
Divide Up and Multiply
Now, you can do this next stage in a variety of ways. Some people prefer to type up the best parts of their brainstorm as an organized list of blog posts, while others prefer first to highlight ideas that could become a whole new piece of content. However you do it, the goal is to divide up all the blocks of text in your brainstorm into smaller, blog-sized ideas.
So if you wrote a long sentence but want to pull out the one section on "what tenants look for in a rental," you could either highlight that section of the sentence in a particular color, or you could type that part up in its line in a content ideas document on a computer.
Afterward, it is time to multiply. For every good idea, see if you could break it into two or three distinct concepts. For what tenants look for in a rental, you could make a post about:
- The physical look of the property
- The available on-site amenities
- What makes an ideal landlord.
The goal is to end up with a long list of article ideas. If you've done posts about something similar, don't fear, but do see if you can come up with a slightly different angle. You want to be able to use your expertise, but not completely rewrite older content.
Have a good list? Now, off to Google! Taking this list to Google and then looking at the suggested results will help you multiply your content further. If you come up with the topic "what will my house rent for?" you can search for that phrase and then scroll to the bottom of the results page.
Each one of these results, when clicked, brings up a new search with more suggestions at the bottom of the page. By following this trail of suggested searches, you are able to take advantage of Google's knowledge of common search phrases and generate ideas from the smart suggestions of the world's most popular internet browser.
Iterate on Your Competitors
No law says you cannot look at other property management blogs! It won't benefit anyone if you copy or directly write about the same topics as other property management companies, but if you feel like you are on the edge of thinking of something great, scrolling through other blogs can be a way to remember a great idea or prompt yourself to write something else new.
Similarly, if your competitors aren't yet writing a blog, their social media presence can sometimes remind you of the kind of content that will reach your audience, and snap you out of an "idea desert." Remember that copying content is a very bad idea. We don't want you to do that. We do want you to get some ideas on what does work, and then use that inspiration to create new content that is relevant to your property management blog readers.
Consider Customer Questions and Feedback
Most companies have some way to track what customers ask about or their compliments and complaints. These pieces of information may be useful to improve your company, but they are also definitely helpful in bulking up your blog. With each query or feedback point, think to yourself, "what kind of blog post would help address this concern or highlight this high-quality experience that people have with our company?" Often, every piece of feedback can yield its own corresponding blog.
- Create a shared spreadsheet or document and invite your coworkers to add ideas as they come in.
- Your coworkers can be a fountain of ideas.
- Even if they don't end up being good blog topics, brainstorming can help you jumpstart your creativity.
Ask Your Sales Team
Whether you have multiple salespeople or just one, they know what people ask when they are almost ready to sign up to work with your property management company.
While you probably already consider sales frequently in property management marketing, it is important to ask them what the last few hesitations tend to be from those who are considering hiring a property manager. When you can write blog posts that affirm positive ideas about your company and dispel any negative questions or doubts, you create the opportunity to bring people a little closer to signing up with you.
- Using your blog content to help move a prospect through the funnel to become a client is a great way to create content that serves multiple purposes.
- Does your sales team wish they had something to send to owners who are considering managing their own maintenance? Write a blog that they can include in their email.
- Do they need something to show the value of professional tenant screening? There's another blog.
Marketing your property management firm through a valuable, content-filled blog is a great way to:
- Bring in new customers
- Help your existing customers with their landlord work
- Fill tenants with confidence in your expertise.
Still worried about blogs? Learn more about blogging best practices!
Geekly Media is here to help you with your property management marketing! We use tried-and-true formulas for property management success to put your business at the fore. Not only do we create top-of-the-line property management websites, but we also automate property management marketing and handle all content creation for our clients. Whether you want to be hands-on or hire us and forget about it, we work to grow your traffic and increase your leads so your business can thrive without adding extra work.
Our content is written by a team of past property management professionals, so you can trust it to be as accurate as if you would have written it yourself. Let us take on the challenge of thinking about what to write about!
Updated and republished 7/21/20.
3 min read
