Multifamily lead nurturing: The Power of SMS

Summary

SMS nurturing is a faster and more convenient way to nurture your prospects. 95% of US consumers^[1] read and respond to text messages within 3 minutes of receiving them. Like email nurturing, multifamily SMS nurturing also leverages the Human + AI approach.

This article answers the following:

• Why do you need SMS nurturing in multifamily?
• What does the SMS nurture journey look like?
• What is the multifamily SMS nurture sequence?
• What compliance standards should you meet for SMS nurture?
• What are the best practices for creating nurture messages?

What does the series include?

• Multifamily Lead Nurturing: An Introduction to Multifamily Marketers
• Multifamily Lead Nurturing: The Nurturing Sequence
• Multifamily Lead Nurturing: 0th-Hour: The “Miracle Hour”
• Multifamily Lead Nurturing: Anatomy of an Email
• Multifamily Lead Nurturing: Crafting Subject Lines that Prospects Open
• Multifamily Lead Nurturing: The Power of SMS-Based Nurturing

The Power of SMS-Based Nurturing in multifamily

69% of multifamily prospects opt-in for SMS messages. - Hyly.AI Data Science Team.

If you haven’t incorporated SMS nurturing in your multifamily marketing strategy yet, it’s time you do!

But what does SMS nurturing mean? SMS nurturing refers to the use of text messages to inform and engage prospects. The nurture messages are generally transactional, i.e., the prospects can’t reply to them.

Why should multifamily use SMS nurturing?

With 98% and 45% open and response rates ^[2] respectively, SMS nurturing is one of the most effective channels to engage with multifamily prospects.

Below are some more reasons for you to utilize SMS nurturing:

• Wider reach: 97% of adults in the US own a mobile phone^[3], making it one of the most widely used communication channels.
• Ease of use: Most people are familiar with texting, making it a simple and intuitive form of communication. Property managers can leverage an automation platform to send and track SMS.
• Timely Information: Text messages are delivered immediately, allowing property managers to provide prospects with timely updates and reminders.
• Prospects prefer text messages: 63% of US consumers^[4] would switch to companies that offer messaging as a communication channel.

The multifamily SMS nurturing journey

The multifamily SMS nurturing goes hand in hand with email nurturing. It begins when a prospect gives his/her consent to receive messages via an opt-in. The SMS opt-in could appear in the Contact Form, the Tour Scheduler, or the nurture emails.

Once the prospect opts in, s/he will begin receiving messages for every corresponding nurture email footer.

The SMS nurture sequence

Like the multifamily nurture email sequence, the SMS sequence also consists of 5 text messages.

• The 0th-Hour message is sent on day zero of contact creation. It is a welcome message sent to prospects within the first hour of them filling in a guest card.
• The Amenities message is sent on day 1.
• The Features message is sent on day 3.
• The Neighborhood message is sent on day 5.
• And Offer message is sent on day 7 of the nurturing sequence.

Meeting compliance standards for SMS nurturing

SMS compliance describes the US legal policies and ethical standards that govern text message marketing. The consequences for failing to comply could result in monetary fines, severe reputation damage, or even criminal lawsuits.

Since compliance forms the backbone of SMS nurturing, we will dedicate another article to talk about the regulations and acts laid down by the Federal Communication Commission ^[5](FCC).

What are some general best practices for multifamily SMS nurturing?

Below are the best practices for creating the SMS nurture message

• Keep it short: SMS messages allow only up to 140 characters, hence they should be brief and to the point. Include only crucial information like the reason for the message, time and date, call to action, sender name, etc.
• Include a Call to Action: Your goal of SMS nurturing is to make the prospects take action. So your SMS ought to have a Schedule a Tour CTA.
• Offer value: Make sure your message adds value to the customer. This could be in the form of information regarding newly launched amenities, features, or offers.
• Maintain professionalism: Keep your SMS messages professional. A casual or over-friendly nurture message could be a turn-off for the prospects. One way would be to stick to the shorter version of your nurture emails.
• Consider SMS frequency: Any marketing-related SMS can look spammy if sent too frequently. Hence, predetermine the time and the number of messages you will send.

Conclusion

SMS-based nurturing is a powerful tool for multifamily. The higher open rates make SMS the most effective way to engage with prospects.

With that, we conclude our multifamily lead nurturing series.

What were your major takeaways? Did we miss out on important information? What would you like to read next?

We would love to hear your feedback and suggestions in the comments!

Resources

1. 95% of US consumers read and respond to text messages within 3 minutes of receiving them (Smscomparison.com)
2. 98% and 45% open and response rates (Gartner)
3. 97% of adults in the US own a mobile phone (Pew Research Center)
4. 63% of US consumers would switch to companies that offer messaging as a communication channel. (Avochato)
5. Telephone Consumer Protection Act(Federal Communication Commission)