By Kirk Layton, President & Co-Founder, The Tenex Group
Before launching The Tenex Group and eServus, I worked in property management with Cadillac Fairview; one of my responsibilities was putting together a newsletter for the office tenants at the Toronto Eaton Centre. I learned first-hand the value of using creative content to engage the tenants. With The Tenex Group offering content management services – think e-newsletters, social media and proptech content – I’m reminded that well-written, timely and original content is an effective tool to inform, educate and – most importantly – engage your tenants. But not all content is created equal, so here are some ideas to help make your tenants actually want to read your content.
Based on my experience – past and present – there are three elements to effective content creation:
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Provide tenants with information they can actually use
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Remind tenants of what you’re doing for them at the building every day
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Engage tenants with content in a fun way
1. Provide tenants with information they can actually use
We recently partnered with business-etiquette expert Susy Fosatti to create a series of columns for the proptech platform of one of our clients. What we want to do is provide fresh, original content that tenants can actually use (and when it comes to business etiquette, some of us could use it more than others to be sure!). What you don’t want to do is provide information that nobody can use … a prime example is the office tenant profile. (“In this month’s newsletter, we’re profiling XYZ Company in suite 1013.”) In my experience, nobody cares about the office tenant profile … except the tenant in the profile!
2. Remind tenants of what you’re doing for them at the building every day
Do you provide end-of-trip conveniences, like shower facilities and indoor bike parking racks ? What about umbrellas at security? Or online wellness programs? Whatever great tenant amenities you offer, use your digital channels (including screens) to communicate their availability. At the same time you’ll show that you care for your tenants’ well-being, which is always a good thing!
3. Engage tenants with content in a fun way
It’s easy to hold a contest via your social channels for a couple of movie tickets by asking tenants to send the management office their one-line review of the latest hot movie, or have a picture of a jar of jellybeans, with an invitation to guess the number of jellybeans (closest one wins the jellybeans!), or a scavenger hunt through your latest e-newsletter to find answers to silly clues. What you actually do is less important than giving your tenants a chance to connect with you in a fun and engaging way.
So keep your digital content relevant, informative and fun, and you’re bound to reap the primary reward of an effective content creation strategy: increased tenant engagement.
