Why should you advertise student housing online?
According to a Google report, search queries for real estate have increased by 40-50% in 2017 in India. Gone are the days when people used classifieds section in the newspapers or contacted the property brokers or roamed around the neighbourhood. Most of the lead generation nowadays happens through Facebook Pages, online classified ads like Just Dial, Quikr, OLX and aggregator websites like Hosteldunia, Wudstay. Here are the 5 best options worth considering:
What are the five best options to advertise online?
List your property with Google My Business
Apart from getting listed on Just Dial and Sulekha, it also makes sense to list with Google My Business. The simple reason behind this is that the search for a PG/Hostel starts with Google Search and the local business snippet appears above the search results. The listing is free of cost.
Google Search Ads
Google Search AdsGoogle My Business selects the local businesses based on the algorithm and shows the results so to ensure your brand shows up every time a related query is made, you should also opt for Google Search Advertising. Following is an example of a Google Search Ad by Nestaway.
Onsite & Offsite SEO
This is the best way to show up in the search results of your target audience by creating relevant content on your web pages and backlink your site from other websites having high trust and domain authority.
Google Display Ads
Google Display Network has a huge number of websites but you can target the in-market audience in your desired locality specifically. Your In-market audience would be consumers who are actively seeking, comparing and following products similar to your offerings across Google Display Network and Youtube.
Facebook Ads
Facebook Advertising also provides you with similar options. In fact, you can even target followers of similar pages (Please note, not all pages would be targetable).
What is student housing industry all about?
According to a recent report by JLL currently, India has about 34 million students pursuing higher education while the supply of student housing options is mostly unmet to the tune of 30-60%. Enter start-ups like Aarusha Homes, Nestaway, Coho, Zocalo who are recognizing the needs and pain points of the students and entry-level working professionals. Most of these start-ups serve the dual purpose of providing the real estate with amenities, transparent paperwork, and security as well as hospitality that includes, furnished rooms, housekeeping, Wi-Fi, TV connection etc.
Why is it the best time to target the potential customers now?
Board exam results are out. This is the time when students would start applying for colleges and look for accommodation. The outgoing batches from colleges would be ready to join the workforce and would also be searching for affordable housing with amenities. According to The Economic Survey conducted in 2017, from 2011-2016, every year an average of 9 million people migrate between states for education and work. A majority of this migration would happen in the next two months. Following is a graph (Source: Google Trends) for the last five years showing the search trend for PG (Paying Guest Accommodation) in Delhi. The search volume is at the highest during June and July every year.
(Please note, the number on y-axis doesn’t signify any absolute number)
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