The Challenge
Forum at Denton Station is a student housing community located in Denton, Texas, that primarily serves those attending the University of North Texas. When their reputation management service with Catalyst began in June 2019, the community primarily had negative reviews that had been growing organically over time. At the time of onboarding, they had a total of 495 reviews across all platforms with a 2.8 average rating. Catalyst was brought in to assist with creating a strategy that encouraged proactivity from residents, guarantors, and prospects in regard to leaving reviews.
The Solution
As part of this proactive reputation management strategy, the Catalyst team worked closely alongside Forum at Denton Station’s leasing manager, general manager, and regional manager for on-site support. The team identified already-established community events and activations and began incorporating a review generation element into them. For example, an on-campus tabling event for the community featured a spin-the-wheel raffle, and residents could earn an extra ticket by leaving an online review for the community.
The Catalyst team also identified four specific times throughout the year for proactive reputation management campaigns: move-in season, renewal season at the kickoff of leasing, the start of the new year, and spring leasing (when there is typically a dip in traffic). These campaigns typically range from one to two weeks within a monthlong push for leasing. By utilizing Catalyst-designed collateral such as QR codes, flyers, package pickup stickers, and email links, Forum at Denton Station staff members could integrate review requests into their everyday actions: tour completions, maintenance work order follow-ups, lease signings, and more. The team also went beyond the campaign and utilized tools at on-campus activations to collect reviews from interested prospects.
The Results
Since beginning their reputation management service with Catalyst, Forum at Denton Station’s overall reputation increased to a 3.1 with a total of 1,116 reviews across all platforms. Their Google listing specifically jumped from 2.9 stars to 3.6 stars since onboarding as a result of establishing a cadence of review generation that easily coincides with the community’s pre-existing campaigns and processes. Forum at Denton Station continues to maintain a strong involvement with their reputation.
Other reporting highlights include:
- 125% increase in overall reputation, especially on Google; based on a 2023 J Turner Research study, Google retains a 35% market share of all review platforms in student housing and a 75% market share across all review platforms
- 4.1 average monthly rating across all review platforms (compared to the 3.5 industry benchmark)
- 264 total reviews in 2023 with a 4.2 average rating (compared to the industry benchmark of 130 reviews)
- Average review response time of 25 hours