Effective communication within your HOA community is critical.
How do you relay important messages to your HOA members and board members throughout the year?
Although our team does not manage HOA communities, we work with Community managers every day and have made it our mission to SERVE them through our commercial painting and reconstruction services. As with any company, internal and external communication is critical. It is only effective if the news is timely and valuable to the reader as well.
Here are four tips we have for you to integrate into your community management communication strategy.
1. EMAIL CAMPAIGNS: Utilize an email campaign platform of your liking and one that fits your budget. Our team loves to use Constant Contact, however you may prefer Mail Chimp or have one offered to you through your website. Email campaigns are a quick and simple way to get branded information out to an entire contact list in a matter of minutes. You can send a large blast or pick a smaller group of people to target. You may also find their templates easy to use and their analytics handy for quarterly data reports. Most email campaign systems provide analytics to the administrator which include open rates, bounces, button clicks, and more. We use these campaigns to send updates on projects to our clients and as an aid for internal communication as well. This is where we store our master contact list and keep all clients’ information up-to-date.
2. GOOGLE: Do you request Google Reviews? We strongly suggest making sure your Google page is set up with current information, hours, and photos. Once you have control of the backend of your Google page, you can respond to reviews too! Responding to reviews shows your homeowners, contractors, and board members you care and acknowledge their concerns or positive feedback. Google is an excellent tool to help track your website data, phone calls, and more.
3. CANVA: Have you ever needed to share important information and do not have time to send it to a graphic designer? For those needing to promptly get information out to HOA members or post flyers around the community for local events, use Canva! This is an online resource that is FREE to use for basic designs. You will find templates, colors, sizes for all formats of content, and more. Within minutes you can have a newsletter, flyer, or social media post created with branded content and a clear message. You can also create presentations with it for board meetings, open houses, and more. From Canva, you can download, print, or post the design straight to your social media page.
4. RESPOND: How quick are you at responding to messages, especially the ones that come through on social media? We understand you are busy and time is everything. Responding to emails, texts, and others can be the bane of your existence some days – we get it. However, we encourage you to utilize Facebook’s automatic response on Messenger and leave your guests a friendly message, directing them to your website or phone number. This may help alleviate some of your messaging issues and make your residents feel valued in a timely manner, without putting pressure on you to respond on all platforms.
This current season of COVID has proven how challenging and important communication truly is. For our team, we have used all avenues to stay in touch with clients, subcontractors, team members, and industry friends.
We would love to know what tips you have for effective communication in your community. Let us know if you already use these resources and share what works and does not work for you.
