How to Market Your Co-living Space

If you have done any research, you would know that the co-living market size has soared in the past decade. The co-living industry is estimated to be worth about 7.5 billion USD, and it is no surprise that several small businesses are popping up in the sector.

What gives your business an edge over the others; and how do you market it? How do you make sure everyone can hear about it, learn the specific advantages your business offers over others, and why should they pick you over everyone else?

In short, how do you promote your co-living business?

To find you that perfect marketing strategy, we sat down with Christine McDannell from Kndrd this month and explored all that we were missing on.

Christine started the webinar by talking about the very obvious impact of Coronavirus on the industry. Thankfully for you, we covered extensively how a coliving business can take the right steps during the pandemic and weather the storm in our blog.

Then Christine took us through the nuances of the co-living industry and how business works in the new age space that is appealing to this generation for multiple reasons. She covered how to understand what works to reach out to prospective customers, and why.

Let’s go over what Christine said.

If you are starting a co-living business, the strategizing stage is crucial- It is your Step Zero. You cannot proceed until you learn about all upcoming start-ups, and the several co-living business models out there. Industry research is non-negotiable if you want to be innovative.

As you would notice, there is a lot of room for niches within the industry, ranging from short-term to long-term stays, and those targetted towards working professionals, students, or digital nomads. It is entirely up to you which side you pick and where you want to position your co-living space.

When you find out what exactly is your position with respect to the co-living market and industry, you can begin to put yourself out there. But with all that noise around the industry, how do you stand out?

This is how.

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Branding

Christine explained to us that when it comes to branding, it is imperative to keep it consistent. The tone, the colours of choice, and the messaging should stay consistent across online and offline channels, even for a casual and informal mode of communication.

The more generic your branding is, the more likely viewers are to see it forget about it. In short, they won’t really notice it. Hence, you must put in your heart and soul into the branding to reflect your idea and your beliefs behind your brand, and use it represent the values your business stands for.

Branding is a means to find the right fit for your business because you can clarify the approach of your venture, and be identified by those who are looking for exactly that. You can put al your efforts into your branding but it will only be noticed and appreciated by someone who shares your vision.

Remember to not promote buildings and spaces in your branding attempts, but how they can be occupied- with other people, and a warm and welcoming community.

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Reaching out to Clients

Co-living operators cannot rely on millennials calling them off their websites, instead, the approach should be to collect leads and then reach out to them personally via call, email, or texts.

You can get people to sign up by giving them access to free VIP status, which does not have to be more than a weekly newsletter if that is all that you can afford with your existing resources. The idea of being VIP is tempting for everyone, and if it free why would anyone pass it anyway?

Start promoting and talking about your services much before you begin operations. It is crucial to get the word out before a new facility is ready in order to get the tenants to know that there is a new accommodation option available.

This will give you an advantage in terms of the location, and you can gauge the reaction of your clientele. If you’ve consistently provided great facilities then your existing clients will market the rest for you, and prospects and leads will come pouring in.

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PR activities

Online promotion is great, but not having offline substance makes your advertising feel false, and sometimes even misleading. It is crucial to provide a great experience to existing and prospective clients on a personal level, before you set out on the several ways of offline promotions you can engage in.

Reaching out to people using the local news broadcasting network, organising great meet-ups at your coliving facility, and handing out trinkets and branded gifts like coffee mugs or posters will help promote your brand offline.

Remember that whatever people see in their vicinity they start liking, and if they see you warm and consistent branding and attitude at PR events they are going to be utterly charmed by you. The biggest brands in the world are not just branding on one medium or two, they ate using every place to shout out their own name. For successful branding, you must do the same.

Do not forget to leverage the opportunity that events and offline meet-ups provide as these events are what lead to great online reviews on multiple platforms- ranging from Yelp to Google reviews, all of which is crucial to let prospects know that you are known for excellence and reliability.

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That’s a place to start.

If you are hungry for more, and need to know the very nitty-gritties of how the industry functions, we recommend you learn from the guru herself on this month’s webinar by TheHouseMonk.

Christine shared global trends, examples of ventures who are nailing the marketing game, and some easy to miss nuances from the industry. Towards the end of the webinar, she answers questions from the audience about real-life use cases as well.

We are very confident that you will find this webinar incredibly insightful; you should know we conduct a webinar each month to introduce you to great industry leaders who are setting examples and sharing their knowledge with all of us.

Stay in touch with us for more educational content to boost your business, or reach out to us directly at hello@thehousemonk-vl7jti4a3i.live-website.com.