How Can Professional Content Curation Elevate the Resident Experience in Multifamily Buildings?

Relatively few amenities appeal to every member of a diverse residential community. Yet property owners are continually challenged to keep pace with rapidly evolving expectations. With recent reports suggesting multifamily vacancy rates will continue to rise through 2024 and beyond, building owners and their management teams are turning to advanced technology to modernize and stay competitive.

In multifamily property listings nationwide, high-definition screens are featured as a top-tier amenity. Property owners are installing the proptech in their residential common areas to enhance tenant communication and boost tenant satisfaction scores. Building owners and managers looking for a way to give their residents even more reasons to love where they live are investing in professional, turnkey communication and content curation platforms to further elevate the tenant experience. Here’s how it works.

Why Are Property Owners Adding Digital Screens to Their List of Amenities?

Most applicants comparing apartments in multifamily residential communities consider how well a building’s amenities align with their interests before signing (or renewing) a lease. While there’s little doubt that fitness centers, rooftop lounges, and community gardens appeal to a considerable number of people, apartment hunters also expect the perks of advanced technology. Installing property technology (proptech), like digital screens in elevator banks and residential common areas, is a low-cost, turnkey way for property owners to modernize their buildings.

Related: Millennial Trends | What Makes a High-Rise Building a Home?

With the right combination of hardware and software, building managers have everything they need to create and publish tenant messages. Publishing professional, engaging content on screens in residential common areas gives everyone on the team the peace of mind that comes with knowing their most important updates and reminders won’t be overlooked by tenants hurriedly scrolling through their email inboxes. They’re saving time and money by using proptech to create and manage the following business essentials.  

Activities & Events

Hosting activities and events that bring residents together is one of the best ways to elevate the tenant experience and increase overall satisfaction. It’s also an easy way to foster a sense of community, build trust, and keep the lines of communication open between residents and community managers. But they’re not all that impactful when residents don’t have enough advanced notification to clear their schedules. 

Publishing invitations to movie nights, game tournaments, fitness programs, cooking classes, or mixers on screens installed in residential common areas helps generate enthusiasm for relationship-building activities and encourages an impressive turnout – they can even scan a QR code to RSVP right on the spot. 

Alerts & Notifications

When the unexpected happens, it’s better for residents to learn that information directly from management than from their neighbors. In residential buildings with digital screens and the right media partner, property managers can post alerts and status updates about maintenance issues in minutes. 

While most tenants are fairly understanding when pipes leak, pools are closed for repairs, or elevators are temporarily out of order, they appreciate knowing maintenance issues are being addressed in a professional, timely manner.  

Safety Reminders & Contact Information

Multifamily community managers are using proptech to help keep their residents safe. They’re creating and publishing safety reminders to ensure every tenant has multiple opportunities throughout the day to review safety protocols. Those with the resources they need to update screens in minutes also use the technology to warn residents of inclement weather conditions and potential security threats. It’s a feature that ensures community member knows exactly what to do in an emergency. The best partners will offer Emergency Override capabilities that enable property managers to take over their digital signage display with urgent, critically important notifications. 

Local Events & Special Offers

Tenants looking for more than a safe space to call home appreciate knowing they can count on their property managers to provide information about local events. Encouraging tenants to explore their community and develop neighborhood connections helps promote a sense of belonging—the kinds of feelings that help build positive associations and encourage lease renewals. 

Lease Renewals, Vacancies & Referral Incentives

In today’s competitive real estate market, property managers need to take full advantage of every cost-effective opportunity at their disposal to attract new tenants. Many property managers are using their proptech solutions to post vacancy notifications, renewal reminders, and referral/renewal incentives. They’re taking those efforts to the next level by embedding their screens with scannable QR codes that instantly direct interested parties to program details, property information, and online applications.

How & Why Professional Content Curation Elevates the Value of Proptech Tenant Communication Solutions 

Professional content curators are responsible for finding, categorizing, and sharing high-quality digital content based on the needs and interests of highly targeted audiences. Instead of piping in an RSS feed for the sole purpose of filling space with generic stories, screens are enhanced by an expert editorial team. When editorial teams have access to more than 100 reputable, recognizable sources, turnkey screens display a creative, nuanced content mix selected to inspire, inform, and pique curiosity. For multifamily buildings, curated content offers relevant, timely content that engages residents and captivates their attention—providing both value and access to information they need.

Related: Guide to Digital Signage | Your Questions Answered

Although building owners and property managers using digital screens to get their messages in front of residents clearly understand the importance of embracing modern technology, their tenants are unlikely to find much value in a generic stream of notifications and alerts. Many will assume there’s little chance of seeing anything new. Modern proptech screens elevated to amenity status display property management messages alongside expertly curated content their residents will appreciate, enjoy, and look forward to watching.

When property messages are seamlessly integrated with content residents love, they’re far more likely to be viewed and remembered. It is clear that investing in these screens can improve tenant communication in many different ways. But that’s not all—professional content curation also makes it easy to capture resident attention by offering some additional benefits.

Reputable Content from Respected Sources

For property managers and their teams, digital signage proptech transforms a simple screen into a cost-effective, time-saving tool. For residents, the screens are a dependable source of information and entertainment. But building owners can’t afford to display anything that might be considered inflammatory, factually questionable, or inappropriate. This can lead to a lack of trust in the technology and the information it provides. 

Professional editorial teams partner with brand-safe content providers—reputable, well-known organizations that viewers recognize and respect. When managers use software designed to create large-format, high-impact property messages that are presented alongside carefully curated and attention-grabbing content, there’s no need to worry about important location-specific information getting lost in the shuffle.

An Inclusive & Timely Editorial Calendar

Providing a communication service that residents value requires offering a mix of programming that’s inclusive and relevant to its audience—in bite-sized portions. With the right media partner and professional curation, managers can count on their ability to provide content selected to delight, inspire, and inform their residential communities based on a robust editorial calendar. 

A well-planned editorial calendar ensures the programming mix includes everything from tips for staying healthy during cold and flu season in January, to summer travel and entertainment tips in July or Fashion Week highlights and back-to-school preparation tips in September. When expert curators fine-tune your proptech programming according to time of day, day of the week, and viewer location, it’s easy for residents to find the information relevant and engaging.

Helpful Services Residents Need and Value

The digital screens populating residential lobbies, fitness centers, elevators, and other common areas nationwide can do a lot more than keep building residents informed and entertained. Property managers working with a professionally curated content solution can provide local weather forecasts, temperature displays, and real-time, location-specific transit data. 

It’s the type of information residents appreciate knowing, whether they’re heading out the door for coffee, making their way to the office, or planning a weekend getaway. Expertly executed curation also ensures the accuracy and reliability of those reports. When management teams rely on the right proptech to create an atmosphere where residents feel valued and connected to their community, every detail matters. Content accuracy builds trust.

Could Expertly Curated Content Elevate the Tenant Experience in Your Multifamily Buildings?

Vacancy rates in multifamily buildings are expected to reach 6.25% in 2024. In response, property owners and their management teams are turning to the latest advances in modern technology to attract and retain tenants. Decision-makers listing great proptech options as high-value amenities are leveraging the technology by investing in platforms offering professionally curated content their residents love. With Captivate, you have the option of investing in a fully managed network or connecting a Captivate | Go plug-and-play device to your HDMI-capable screens. You can easily create professional-looking building messages in minutes with our content management software, and your reminders, invitations, and alerts will be published alongside engaging content that your residential community members value. Contact us today and let’s discuss how Captivate’s impactful, engaging solutions can elevate your tenant experience.