Growing a property management business is a unique challenge that requires specific marketing strategies tailored to attract landlords and expand your rent roll.
Unlike real estate sales agents who target owner-occupiers in a defined geographic area, property managers must connect with landlords who may live far from their investment properties, sometimes even interstate or overseas.
This makes traditional hyper-local marketing tactics like signboards, sponsorships, or letterbox drops ineffective for property managers. Landlords typically don’t reside in the area where their rental property is located, making these marketing methods unfeasible. While sales agents can use localised digital ads to reach homeowners nearby, property managers need to cast a wider net – and simply expanding geographic targeting is inefficient and costly. Instead, property managers must be more strategic, leveraging data-driven and highly targeted approaches to maximise their advertising ROI.
Reaching landlords beyond your local area can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. Historically, property managers have relied on direct mail and cold calling, but these methods are expensive and increasingly ineffective as people screen calls and ignore unknown numbers. Unlike owner-occupiers, landlords are unpredictable in their needs, often only switching property managers when frustrations arise. Thus, a continuous, strategic marketing presence is crucial, ensuring your services stay top-of-mind when landlords are ready to make a change.
Let’s explore how Hoole Marketing helped two distinct property management agencies: Jays Real Estate and Purple Cow Real Estate. Below are the details of each real estate agency’s unique situation and the eight-step marketing strategy that we followed to implement targeted marketing that would help them attract landlords and grow their rent rolls.
Case Study 1: Jays Real Estate
In 2021, Jeff Constable and Tanya Burns purchased Jays Real Estate, a well-established agency in Mount Isa, Queensland, which had been operating since the early 1980s. Mount Isa, a major mining town situated 900 km west of Townsville, has a unique real estate market driven by a transient, fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) workforce. High rental demand and attractive yields have long made the area appealing to absentee investors.
The transient nature of Mount Isa means many landlords have past ties to the town, having lived there before moving on for career opportunities in other mining towns. When several smaller real estate agencies in Mount Isa closed, Jays Real Estate saw an opportunity to acquire new management clients but needed a targeted marketing strategy to reach out-of-town landlords effectively. Hoole Marketing helped Jays Real Estate overhaul its branding and implement a strategic marketing program.
The goal was twofold: engage landlords they hadn’t previously worked with and retain their current clients. By promoting their deep local expertise and stable rental market, Jays positioned themselves as the go-to agency for investors looking to maximise returns while ensuring a seamless, professional property management experience.
Case Study 2: Purple Cow Real Estate
Purple Cow Real Estate, an award-winning agency based in Greater Springfield, Queensland, operates in one of Brisbane’s fastest-growing urban corridors. Since its inception in the early 2000s, the region has benefited from significant infrastructure investments, attracting property investors from across Australia. Real Estate Principal Andy Nutton has been involved in the area’s residential development from the beginning, making Purple Cow uniquely qualified to manage investment properties in the region.
Launched in 2014, Purple Cow Real Estate initially grew its property management arm organically, with many landlords leasing out the investment properties they’d bought through Andy’s project marketing team. However, as the area matured and land sales slowed, Purple Cow had to compete more actively to maintain and grow its rent roll. Investors who had never set foot in Greater Springfield were buying and selling based purely on numbers, making Purple Cow’s marketing efforts essential for staying relevant.
Recognising the need to reach a wider audience of absentee landlords, Purple Cow turned to Hoole Marketing for a strategy to promote their services more effectively and retain current clients while attracting new ones. Our marketing team developed a comprehensive marketing plan that tapped into data, SEO, and targeted advertising.
The Hoole property management marketing strategy
Although Jays Real Estate and Purple Cow Real Estate faced different scenarios, the marketing strategies we developed for them shared similar core principles.
Step 1: Identify the ownership structure
Understanding the local property market starts with knowing how many properties are owner-occupied versus rented. Using census data and tools like CoreLogic, realestate.com.au, or Domain, we instructed both agencies to create a list of rental properties. By gathering detailed information, such as the current property manager and the timing of lease renewals, the property management business development manager can pinpoint opportunities and identify which landlords are most likely to switch agencies.
Step 2: Build a database with owner details
A well-maintained database of landlord contacts is a crucial asset. Both agencies set to work gathering names, emails, and mobile numbers for property owners. With this organised data, marketing efforts became more targeted and cost-effective. Instead of broad, geographically based campaigns, we helped them launch highly specific ads on platforms like Meta, LinkedIn, and Google, reaching only the most relevant audience – landlords with investment properties located in their suburbs. This precision not only boosted ROI but also minimised wasted spend.
Step 3: Show up on Google
Being visible on Google is critical for landlords searching online. Landlords often search intently, using phrases like “property manager in [location]” or “best property management agency in [location].” To ensure our clients appeared in these searches, we implemented a mix of SEO and Google Ads.
By identifying high-intent keywords, creating catchy ads, and dedicated landing pages, we made sure that when landlords searched for property management agencies or leasing services, our clients were front and centre. Each landing page was designed to answer landlords’ questions directly, reducing bounce rates and encouraging conversions. Clear calls to action, such as booking a free rental assessment or scheduling a consultation, streamlined the lead generation process.
Combining SEO with Google Ads created a strong brand presence, appearing both organically and in paid results. This dual approach maximised visibility and reinforced credibility.
Step 4: Build an online marketing funnel
We developed comprehensive marketing funnels for both agencies, moving beyond simple social media posts. This multi-stage funnel included:
- Top of the funnel (awareness): Educational content to attract landlords, covering topics like legislative changes or challenges in self-managing properties.
- Middle of the funnel (consideration): Landing pages detailing services and lead capture opportunities, such as signing up for market insights.
- Bottom of the funnel (conversion): Offers like free consultations or rental assessments make it easy for landlords to take the next step.
This structured approach ensured that prospective landlords were nurtured through each stage, from awareness to conversion.
Step 5: Use paid ads
Paid ads kept both agencies top-of-mind with landlords. We emphasised the importance of “repetition creates recognition,” ensuring our clients were consistently visible. When landlords grew frustrated with their current property managers, our client’s brands were the ones that prospects remembered. We allocated ad budgets strategically, targeting specific landlord audiences and reinforcing their brand as the reliable choice for property management.
Step 6: Remarketing: staying top of mind
Remarketing ads played a vital role in keeping our clients’ brands in front of landlords who had shown interest. By tailoring ads to reflect their engagement level, we ensured that landlords felt understood and were reminded of the agency’s benefits. This cost-effective strategy focused on re-engaging warm leads, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
Step 7: Test, monitor, and adjust
We continuously tested different messages, visuals, and ad formats. By monitoring engagement and response metrics, we refined the strategies in real-time. This agile approach meant that our client’s advertising dollars were used effectively, driving more qualified leads and improving overall performance.
Step 8: Don’t forget current landlords
Retention was just as crucial as acquisition. We implemented strategies to engage and retain current landlord clients, from sharing valuable content like market updates and investment tips to offering personalised support. This proactive communication helps build trust, encourages referrals, and keeps our clients’ services top-of-mind.
Key tactics to promote your property management services
Marketing a property management business requires a different approach from traditional real estate sales tactics. By understanding landlords’ needs and leveraging data-driven strategies, property managers can stay visible and relevant. Consistent visibility through SEO, paid ads, and remarketing is essential, and nurturing relationships over time ensures your agency is the first choice when landlords are ready to make a change.
Refining your approach based on engagement data and staying in touch with current landlords strengthens your marketing efforts, leading to better retention and growth. By following these proven strategies, property management agencies like Jays Real Estate and Purple Cow Real Estate can effectively grow their rent rolls and build lasting success.
Ready to promote your property management services?
If you run a property management business or division and want to set the best possible marketing solutions for promoting your services and securing new business, then book a free 1-hour consultation with me, Melanie Hoole. I’ll give you on-the-spot recommendations specific to your business and discuss how our marketing and advertising funnels for property management services can help grow your rent roll and your revenue.
Written by Melanie Hoole
My team and I specialise in helping real estate and property professionals perfect their personal brand, build a first-class digital profile and implement inbound marketing activities to attract leads. If you are unsure which direction to take with your digital marketing contact me for help.
