I was asked this question recently by an Irish managing agent who manages estates and lettings and was looking to expand. She was focusing on a particular property that is local to her but did not have access to the OMC directors’ names or email addresses.
As I was helpfully informed by David Concannon MSCSI MRICS, a fellow member of the Property Management Insider LI group (thanks, David!) OMC director details are available from vision-net.com. She could write directly to the directors.
Is there still any point in flyering? For focusing on a subset of recipients, hoping that they see the flyer themselves, it is a long shot. The OMC directors may be owner-occupiers and therefore may see the flyer laying on their doormat. If some directors are non-resident landlords they may never see this flyer.
However, as a grassroots campaign aiming to raise awareness within a community (in this case the whole estate), flyering is a very popular form of advertising and has some great benefits.
When property management companies don’t have any kind of experienced marketing support, they often pursue busy-work to make themselves feel as though they’ve ‘had a go’ at marketing. But it can end up backfiring on you. If you arrange for the flyering of an apartment block with a shared lobby, you may find a multitude of your flyers poking out of residents’ mailboxes or strewn across the lobby’s horizontal surfaces. That’s not a good look for your company.
Pros and Cons of a Flyer Campaign
Pros
Flyers are often seen – hard to ignore when it’s on the floor
The posting is targeted to a location – some semblance of segmentation
Printing a piece of sales collateral forces you to focus clearly on your marketing message
Cons
No guarantee the directors live on site – they may be landlords.
Does not address decision-makers – this is not a direct approach to the directors
No idea of any issues they may have that you can address
If you do want to give flyering a go to promote your property management services, here are a couple of recommendations for the budget-conscious managing agent.
For a general flyer…
Your options may be to go big or go home. Take a hit on the printing costs for 1,000 leaflets and see what emerges from a wider campaign across a few other properties. Keep printed details generic so the flyer stays relevant for as long as you have copies to distribute.
For a targeted flyer…
Try being very specific. Make mention of the property. Go and visit your target location and see if there are any obvious problems going on. This may elicit a subject matter for your location-specific flyer.
And what did I advise my Irish managing agent enquiry?
To find out, drop me a line to book a discovery call and we’ll also focus on the lead generation issues your property management company is having. Perhaps you’ll benefit from the same good advice I gave her. Or receive even better advice.