Newsletters are a great way to communicate with your tenants and keep them informed about the community, give tenant tips and strengthen relationships.
A well-run tenant newsletter is one of the most powerful and effective tools to connect with your tenants and promote your property and property management business or position yourself as an excellent landlord.
Keeping communication open and building strong relationships with your tenants will encourage lease renewals and referrals, keeping vacancy rates low and rental income steady.
One of the biggest challenges faced when deciding to offer a tenant newsletter is consistency and content. You need to be able to commit to a consistent release schedule and have the time to produce relevant content that your tenants will find useful. Maintaining a mix of informative and entertaining material will keep your tenants engaged.
What To Say
You have the opportunity to share a wide range of information with your tenants. While a newsletter is an excellent avenue to share property reminders about scheduled maintenance or important due dates, keeping the content fun and entertaining with news about local events and community promotions will make it even better!
Provide Tenant Tips – Help your tenants be great renters with success tips for how best to maintain the property so they can get their full security deposit back if they ever choose to move.
Offer Local Specials – Check in with your favorite local businesses to see if they want to offer a discount or coupon to tenants at your property. Many retailers and restaurants avoid coupons because of the distribution costs and effort, but if you offer to design and distribute an approved coupon to your tenants, they should be happy to work together and you will both be able to enjoy the exposure from the partnership.
Build Your Community – Think about doing a tenant spotlight or sharing news about an organization your tenants are involved in. Your tenants will have the opportunity to get to know one another and find others in your community with similar interests.
Share Seasonal Maintenance and Policy Reminders – Quarterly tenant newsletters offer a great opportunity to remind your tenants about weather-related maintenance like preventing frozen pipes or regularly changing air filters in the HVAC system.
Upcoming Events – A calendar of events is an excellent way to remind your tenants about upcoming repairs, deadlines and even local events like concerts, farmers markets or festivals.
Pool Your Resources – Your tenants can be some of the best places to find new tenants to help fill vacancies. Remember to tell your residents if you offer a tenant referral program, especially during your community’s peak leasing season.
When To Say It
Whether you opt for a yearly, quarterly or monthly newsletter, the key is to consistently produce a resource that your tenants can look forward to receiving and depend on for valuable information.
It can take longer than you think to put together a great tenant newsletter, so give yourself plenty of time to work on it. Set reminders for yourself in your calendar and in your property management software that your newsletter will be due soon, so the deadline doesn’t sneak up on you.
How To Say It
Using an email marketing program can be a cost-effective or even free, way to access templates to send a tenant newsletter directly to your tenant’s inbox. In the past, printed newsletters may have worked to fill mailboxes but with the emphasis on green business practices, sending paperless newsletters through email are more acceptable (as long as they don’t get too spam-y).
Try to keep the content juicy and short by focusing on quality over quantity. No need for a multiple page document, but 100-200 word sections of quality information and pictures will keep your readers engaged.
Your tenant newsletter provides an easy way to keep your tenants informed, promote a sense of community, and establish your property as an excellent place to rent and live.
I am a tenant wher I live and I asked a few tenants about the idea of establishing a newsletter. I was not aware that newsletter are mainly and usually the property manager’s forte or interest. Should I first asked the PM’s permission and requisites to create a newsletter?
Hi Michael,
What a fun idea and a great way to build a sense of community in your residence. It can’t hurt to talk to the manager before starting a newsletter. They might be happy to help, plus it’s free marketing for the property. Good luck!