New service gives campus residents more accessibility to off-campus property news, features, and updates
RALEIGH, NC – March 17, 2011 – The Preiss Company, one of the largest off-campus student housing providers in the nation, has recently launched mobile websites for all of its student housing properties. Partnering with Resite Online, a division of Dominion Enterprises, the Raleigh real estate company has developed these new websites to allow current and prospective residents greater access to property news and property management.
“In the past year, our property websites had over 340,000 visitors, and this number is expected to increase as we continue to add to our student housing portfolio,” says The Preiss Company Marketing Director, Amy Barger. “Our management team is constantly updating our sites with the newest technology—from interactive floor plans to online rent payments. We need to make sure that this information is readily available and in the hands of the people who need it most—wherever they may be and from whatever device they may be using. By supplementing our current websites with mobile versions, we can ensure that our current and prospective residents have on-demand access to information that is easier to read, more concise, and more compatible with the mobile devices that they are likely using throughout the course of their day.”
Ann Padgett, Creative Director for Resite Online, says that mobile websites were a natural, technological progression for The Preiss Company. Given the mobility of today’s college student, mobile websites give this target market access to information via any mobile device—smart phones, tablets, and even hand-held game devices. Mobile websites are specifically designed to maximize smaller screen resolutions, are simpler to navigate, and provide real-time, two-way communication via SMS (short message system) messaging.
“When we started working with The Preiss Company, we originally built their websites using a lot of interactive Flash animation,” explains Padgett. “Since Flash is not supported by most mobile devices, the usability of their websites was limited. By adding the mobile versions, we were able to expand their target audience and provide them with a better user experience, in addition to the expanded SMS messaging service.”
Resite Online’s mobile applications allow community staff and marketing teams to communicate specials, events, community emergencies and more. Resite’s mobile websites and SMS messaging services act as a mobilized leasing tool, easily capturing prospect information and enabling leasing teams to respond via text or email. The expanded system feeds data from the community’s traditional website to ensure the mobile information is always up-to-date without redundant effort. Resite’s mobile applications encompass a wide variety of marketing and retention tools including customized mobile websites, send-to-friend, click-to-call, short-code, keyword texting, text-to-residents, text-to-email, directions-to-phone, and comprehensive reporting.
The Preiss Company has been working with Resite Online for over six years. Resite Online General Manager, Laura Trussell, says that the partnership has been rewarding and mutually beneficial.
“Amy and her marketing team are always striving for improvements to their brand by pushing the use of technology in ways their competitors haven’t thought of,” says Trussell. “The Preiss Company’s dedication to marketing, combined with Kirk’s [Kirk Preiss, Principal of The Preiss Company] knowledge of technology and operations, have provided Resite with multiple new ideas for improvements and growth to our own products. The mobile project was a success, and we love seeing the new mobile leads coming into their communities!”
Barger says that her marketing team has been creative in promoting the new mobile websites. To date, the team has held trivia nights, posted flyers throughout their associated campuses, has hosted parties, and even sponsored a cake decorating contest. The mobile websites have been active since the end of January and Barger says that the feedback has been positive.
“In just weeks, we’ve already seen our investment beginning to pay off,” says Barger. “We’re getting daily leads from every one of our mobile websites, and the overall response has been fantastic.”
About The Preiss Company
Founded in 1987, The Preiss Company is the leader in the development of new technologies, tools, and strategies for the student housing industry and acts as a receiver for several national banks. The company employs over 250 team members, has formed over 50 partnerships, and has developed over 20 projects stretching from Maryland to Texas. For more information, visit www.tpco.com.
About Resite OnlineTM
Resite Online, headquartered in Norfolk, Va., was founded in October 2001 and is the sister company to For Rent Media SolutionsTM, a division of Dominion Enterprises. Capitalizing on the 20+ years of For Rent’s multifamily expertise, Resite provides award-winning, lead-driving websites, search engine optimization, social media and pay-per-click consulting, customizable mobile and SMS applications, ResidentHub payment and maintenance service portals, online leasing and lead tracking capabilities. For more information on Resite Online, visit www.resiteonline.com.
About Dominion Enterprises
Dominion Enterprises is a leading marketing services company serving the automotive, enthusiast and commercial vehicle, real estate, apartment rental, and employment industries. The company’s businesses provide a comprehensive suite of technology-based marketing solutions including Internet advertising, lead generation, CRM, Web site design and hosting, and data management services. The company has more than 40 market-leading Web sites reaching more than 17.6 million unique visitors monthly, and more than 280 magazines with a weekly circulation of 2.4 million. Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., the company has 4,900 employees in more than 186 offices nationwide. For more information, visit www.dominionenterprises.com.