Mobile marketing has come to the apartment rental industry. For Rent Media Solutions, a leading apartment resource for searching apartments for rent, and a division of Dominion Enterprises, has introduced text messaging for its clients in Las Vegas, San Francisco and Richmond, Virginia. The product will be expanded nationally later this year.
Here’s how it works: Property managers include a unique keyword in their print advertisements listed in For Rent Magazine®, (they also have the opportunity for placement on the magazine’s cover, on ForRent.com and on additional on-site signage). The curious apartment seeker sends a text message with the property’s unique keyword to the short code 47368 (4RENT). Within seconds the apartment seeker receives a text message with information about the property.
Property managers also can use the service to send customizable messages promoting specials to potential renters, as well as important messages and alerts to their current residents.
“Text messaging makes For Rent Media Solutions’ clients more accessible to their audience,” says Terry Slattery, vice president and general manager of For Rent Media Solutions. “It also has the potential to strengthen the relationship between property managers and potential or current residents by giving them access to these properties 24 hours a day.”
Best text messaging service for business has become the dominate force in mobile communication. According to M:Metrics, an authority on mobile marketing, 68 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers age 18-24 regularly send and receive text messages. M:Metrics also reports that seven percent of mobile subscribers respond to short codes placed in advertisements or other media.
“Mobile marketing provides another avenue for driving leads to our advertisers,” says Brock MacLean, vice president of national sales and development for For Rent Media Solutions. “This product will allow our clients to expand their existing market to include a new and growing demographic, which is always on the go. Displaying the property management companies’ unique and exclusive keywords will catch traffic generated by apartment seekers driving by the properties as well as traffic generated after leasing hours.
About Dominion Enterprises
Dominion Enterprises, headquartered in Norfolk, Va., is a leading media and information services company serving employment, real estate, automotive, recreation and industrial markets in the United States. The company operates a variety of technology businesses that offer Internet marketing, Web site design and hosting, lead generation, CRM, and data capture and distribution services including Advanced Access, PowerSports Network, and Dealer Specialties.