Nobody likes to be sold to and that includes students. Yet year after year we see advertising and marketing set in motion during that last month before the September semester starts. 

Indeed, there always happens to be an influx of new students looking for accommodation at that time of year, but what about the students who have been in the city for the whole academic year? 

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The Opportunity

Create meaningful relationships with students and provide them with real value over a whole year. This approach gives you the time and space to nurture those students so they feel comfortable with your brand, and so they can  feel like you aren’t just using them to sell to. This strategy also sets the tone for how you should treat them once they live in your property – not just as residents to be sold to but as loyal customers to provide amazing service for throughout the whole year. 

We often hear clients exasperated because their events aren’t well attended and upon further investigation, it is because they have initiated little or no communication efforts other than inviting their customers to a few random events around the time they want them to rebook. They need to feel the personality of the brand, and that personality includes the staff and the experience from day one. 

We are regularly contacted in July and August by potential clients who want our assistance in filling any voids and after we carry out a marketing audit, we can see that they haven’t been consistent throughout the year and yet now expect a student to part with £8000 after seeing a Facebook advert. We have to ask ourselves how we would behave in that instance and most of us would agree we wouldn’t be making such a high-value purchase on a whim.

When booking a holiday, buying a car or spending money on home improvements, we would take time to research, look at social media accounts, read the reviews, and look over the product thoroughly. If the sales messaging has no substance behind it, the potential customer will see through that and purchase from an authentic brand instead. 

We are often challenged about the value of social media as part of a marketing strategy but for us, it is simple. It gives the audience the opportunity to see and feel the brand throughout the whole year, whilst not being sold to. People want to see people like them experiencing the brand, the staff who will be welcoming them, and real-life events surrounding the brand. They cannot feel engaged by hyper-designed graphics about the latest special offers. 

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Get a Head Start

There are multiple benefits to marketing early – and this is where your database management has to be efficient. Because with this strategy you might not see immediate returns but by tracking your data, a nurturing approach will result in a conversion eventually. PBSA operators are in a unique position whereby we market one product for around 11 months of the year, which is an incredibly long time to be pushing out the same messaging. So don’t push out that same messaging. 

Use that eleven months to think about how you are engaging and educating the audience whilst adding value to communications. You have time – you can build up to the sales pitch starting with some gentle messaging to keep them engaged. If you go too hard and too early with the sales pitch, you will lose the potential business altogether. 

This approach also applies to the quality of the customer. If they have more time to consider their decisions, they will come to the best decision for them and inevitably be a much more engaged part of your community. If they are being pressured and panicked into making a buying decision in August, they won't necessarily have considered booking a room that feels like home, they may not settle as well, or be happy there and may even want to leave. These students will also be detractors and not rebook, refer, or give you good reviews.  

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Take Your Time

Consider your student recruitment strategy as an 11-month campaign from November to September. It shouldn’t be a sales campaign — that can be the final message once you have tracked the engagement of each individual lead over time. Who are the ones opening emailers, liking your social media posts, emailing questions, and visiting your website multiple times? These are the ones ready to be sold. One student who has received one email and not clicked on any links is not – they need to be nurtured and given reasons as to why they should become a customer. 

And you are in a privileged position to impact their life and add value. Share content with them about what types of accommodation are available to them, what it is like to live with housemates, and how to eat on a budget. Share social media content on how the maintenance team are clearing leaves, how a student has grown some amazing plants in their room and what achievements the residents have accomplished.  

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Conclusion

People buy from people, and the people they are buying from want them to know they would feel at home. We see so much anonymous marketing – photos of empty rooms or faceless graphics – where is the life and the personality? Student accommodation needs to work much harder to earn the right to be the final choice of students and that means relationship building, not being sold to.