Why Housing Providers Need Student Ambassadors
Student housing providers across the nation and around the world are committed to improving their property and bringing in new tenants, and they do so in a number of ways.
One trend that’s caught on in the student housing industry is hiring student brand ambassadors. These students-turned-brand ambassadors provide feedback on all aspects of living at a particular property, and they serve as social media managers, organizers, event planners, and more. In short, they represent their provider to prospective student tenants.
“Ambassadors play a significant role in the overall marketing of a property because they’re typically the ones that students connect with,” says Alec Gara of the George Washington (GW) University Collaborative Student Housing Office. “They are often the first impression for someone who has just been accepted into our housing program. When someone walks into one of our properties, an ambassador presents who we are and what we do at GWU.”
Often, property managers strategically hire brand ambassadors for a specific property. For example, one student housing provider may dedicate a specific ambassador to the property’s application process or another to create content for the brand. There are also many examples of student housing providers using ambassador positions in marketing materials and websites to attract prospective student tenants, bringing the lifestyle of the property to life.
What is the Role of a Student Brand Ambassador?
The role of a brand ambassador is a combined effort of virtual social media-based outreach strategies, along with being on campus, speaking in classes occasionally as well as hosting and sponsoring different events that help build their brand on campus.
Student Brand Ambassadors Bring Properties to Life
One of the largest student housing providers in the UK, UniHomes has a robust and thriving brand ambassador program and amplify the work of their creators via the UniHomes accounts.
Using the ever-popular platforms TikTok and Instagram, these ambassadors mobilize UGC around the brands, capturing and sharing tidbits of their lives to build brand awareness and build the important bonds of community between the brand and its customers.
Ambassadors are paid depending on the work they complete.
As standard, brand ambassadors for UniHomes properties are assigned four base tasks per month, usually built around promoting the benefits of living at a UniHomes-managed property using social media platforms and in-person events. UniHomes also offers uncapped commission on referral, according to their FAQs.
Student Brand Ambassadors Drive Leads to Leasing Agents
A critical link between generating leads and making properties the “cool” place to live, student brand ambassadors can be a lead-generation engine for property managers.
By capturing leads in real-time and connecting those leads into property management CRM platforms like Entrata, student ambassadors can be rewarded for their efforts and forge a career path in the industry.
Did you know SocialLadder integrates fully with Entrata?
SocialLadder has an integration and partnership with Entrata that makes running an ambassador program for property management companies easier than ever.
Ambassadors in the field can be tasked with capturing leads in real-time, directly from within the SocialLadder app. The Entrata connector seamlessly creates those leads in Entrata and tracks them through the lifecycle.
As those leads are converted to leases, ambassadors are directly rewarded.
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Student Ambassadors Offer Housing Brands Feedback
Because student brand ambassadors are also residents, they provide a feedback mechanism for property management companies to offer prospective tenants and what they really want.
Consider this: as Gen-Z and millennial students are seeking out college housing, they’re shaping what amenities and “third place” opportunities are being integrated into student housing properties. Student ambassadors are closest to the source of the trends and can work closely with property managers to bring the most relevant and wanted amenities front and center for prospective residents.
Final Thoughts
For housing providers targeting college and university students as prospective tenants, brand ambassadors may just be one of the most powerful and cost-effective marketing approaches in their toolkit.
