Lease Up Case Study

Rentsync’s main goals were to position Muse Flats as fitting seamlessly into downtown Winnipeg, including its arts and student communities, and to be able to reach prospects from different walks of life.

“We had a vision for our brand, logo, and marketing and relied on Rentsync to finetune, execute and implement it for us,” says Read, “They had the skills, resources, and rental real estate marketing experience we didn’t have in-house.”

Rentsync’s first task was to create a logo and brand identity, which was ultimately inspired by the building’s unique architecture. The De Stijl style of abstract art that is based on a strict geometry of horizontals and verticals was a great inspiration for the brand. This brand was carried into each of the services Muse Flats used with Rentsync, which includes creative print assets, a single-community website, pay-per-click advertising through Google Ads and Facebook Ads, and Rental Listing Site advertising.

Muse Flats' website features distinct pages for each unit type, and these ultimately send prospects to the appropriate unit pages, depending on the price and size the prospect is looking for. The rest of the website is designed to allow prospects to easily visualize living there. This includes an expansive gallery featuring both static images and virtual tours.

In addition to other online and offline marketing initiatives, Rentsync relied particularly on Google Ads to attract prospects looking for each unit type and connect them with a tailored marketing message. The success of this campaign is based on using a variety of long-tail keywords and connecting key search terms with carefully crafted messages that simultaneously emphasize the variety of rental rates as well as the communal spaces that bring each demographic together within the community walls. 

“Rentsync made sure our story was consistent with these key messages across every platform and all campaigns,” says Read.

Whereas Rentsync initially recommended virtual tours as an advertising bonus that would help Muse Flats stand out from its competition, this media type became a must-have during the pandemic’s initial waves.

Muse Flats commissioned more than a dozen virtual tours so that prospects could virtually preview the units that interested them before visiting in person. Many Rental Listings Sites quickly caught onto this need and began allowing virtual tours to be used on their networks, with Muse Flats being among the first to showcase virtual tours on their listings. Muse Flats leveraged Rentsync’s Syndication tool to manage their listings across leading rental sites including PadMapper & Zumper, Rentals.ca, RentBoard, and RentCanada. 

“Normally, those tours would matter the most to international students and immigrants getting ready to move from overseas – through the pandemic, they were a great starting point for all of our prospects,” says Read, “Rentsync let us know that virtual tours are the future”.

Advertising a lease-up property through a pandemic also means knowing how to effectively pivot in the use of various advertising channels. Muse Flats introduced social media marketing late into their advertising strategy in order to attract new audiences, increase brand awareness, and gain attention on the promotions being offered at various points and for different demographics. Promotions became especially important as rental supply vastly increased in the wake of COVID-19, and continue to be almost expected features of a successful lease-up campaign to this day.