9 Ways to Reach Student Renters on Social Media

College students live on their phones, and many spend their free time in between classes watching videos and scrolling through social media.

Student housing communities have a variety of options when it comes to marketing their brand on popular social media platforms, but each platform has its own purpose and communication style.

In this blog post, we’ll share 9 ways to successfully reach your student renters using Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, and YouTube.

Instagram

Turning Social Media Into a Currency

If students can “buy” a coffee from giving your Instagram account a follow, liking a post, or tagging your account on a post, they probably would! 

You can partner with a local coffee shop that agrees to provide a certain amount of free drinks. For example, after a student makes a story post on their Instagram account that tags your apartment community’s account and the local coffee shop’s account, they can receive one free regular sized drink. 

When people tag your student housing social media account to receive their free drink, you’ll turn your social media presence into a currency that pays for more engagement with students and more traffic.

Using The School Mascot

Who doesn’t love a guest appearance of the school mascot on an Instagram post? If your school has a prominent mascot that everyone loves, use that to your advantage! 

Featuring the school mascot on your property’s Instagram is a fun way to relate to student renters that can ultimately create a stronger community connection.

Invite the school mascot over to social events to take pictures and have a good time with everyone; afterwards you can share these photos on Instagram when highlighting a fun resident event. 

Sharing Photos From Social Events

For many students, school and assignments aren’t the only thing they want to think about during their time at college. 

Your apartment property’s Instagram account is a great way to convey the message that your community can provide a space where students can socialize but also study and relax when it’s needed. 

Share photos of community events like movie nights or painting sessions to capture memorable moments and highlight the fun, vibrant atmosphere. These snapshots give potential student renters a clear picture of the lively, supportive environment waiting for them.

Facebook

Posting Essential Apartment Information

While student renters may not frequently engage with their housing community’s Facebook page, it remains a valuable platform for sharing essential apartment information.

Posts showcasing floor plans, interior photos, and amenities can be incredibly helpful for potential renters researching your property on social media. Additionally, Facebook’s “About” section offers a convenient way to display key details like your property’s address, phone number, and office hours, ensuring important information is easily accessible.

Even with limited interaction from student users, sharing content such as floor plans and interior features plays an important role in providing clear and digestible information to prospective renters.

Posting For Parents

Parents are often involved in the search for the best off-campus apartment and sometimes also the ones to make the final decision. 

Even after leases are signed, parents may want to be reassured they made the right decision to let their child live on your property, so showing off your apartment community on Facebook where parents are the more active users is the perfect way to reach them. 

Your Facebook account can appeal to parents by showcasing posts about your community’s security features, parking spaces, or plentiful study spaces. You could also create announcement posts like renovation updates or reminders about an upcoming day off school because of a holiday. 

Tik Tok

Participating in Tik Tok Trends

Tik Tok stands out because of its interactive content that combines fast paced visuals with trending audio. They’re fun, easy to watch, and can even be informative.

To join in on this booming social media platform as an off-campus community, all you need to do is participate in one of the hundreds of trends created by regular users that surface each week! 

Popular songs on Tik Tok usually have a dance or trending video format that goes along with it. You can ask some members of the leasing office team or community tour guides to participate in a fun dance for a “meet the staff” video. Or, you can incorporate information about floor plans, amenities, and community culture in a way that follows a video format for a popular song to show off your property. 

Tik Tok videos don’t have to be perfect – the unique appeal of Tik Tok is its authenticity! All you need is about 15 seconds of content and some creativity. When you’re done filming, remember to add some relevant hashtags in the caption.

Creating Short Tour Videos

While Tik Tok videos are recommended for around 15 seconds in length, there’s still the option to create longer video lengths such as 60 seconds. 

This is particularly useful for making short tour videos that highlight the best features of your community in a quick and enjoyable way. 

Take viewers around model floor plans or show off popular community amenities like the coffee bar, study areas, or fitness center. Make sure the clips are stable and filmed in good lighting, then add a song and some text pointing out what each area is. 

Thanks to Tik Tok’s “For You” page that curates videos based on user activity, there’s also a higher chance of discoverability for your apartment property. If student users have been browsing for videos relating to college room tours or college living, they may see your community’s tour video on their For You page without even following your account.

YouTube

Giving Floor Plan Tours

Sometimes, the floor plan information on your website and interior photos on Instagram or Facebook just aren’t enough for potential student renters to get a clear idea of what your student housing apartment is like.

This is where YouTube becomes your best friend. With the ability to upload longer and high-quality videos, you can create tours of specific floor plans (empty or furnished) that virtually take students around the inside of your property. 

Use these videos to highlight spacious rooms, unique features like walk-in closets, and sought-after apartment amenities like modern kitchen appliances. 

YouTube videos also allow you to provide links in the video description, so you can increase traffic to your apartment website if potential student renters become interested in leasing after watching your floor plan tours. 

Meet The Staff and Community Videos

Uploading a yearly “meet the staff” video helps put faces to the names of the wonderful people working at your student housing community. 

Introduce the leasing office team, say hello to the maintenance team, and even bring viewers around the different areas of the apartment community like the fitness center, study areas, or resident lounge. 

Videos like these can let potential student renters get an idea of what the atmosphere is like at your community and develop a closer relationship with the people at your property before even moving in!