Last modified on January 15th, 2016
By Bryan Ives

Property managers must be diligent when designing their lease strategies. From carefully wording your lease for legal compliance to training your staff to engage and connect with customers, your leasing activities are crucial to business success. So, it’s not something you should take lightly.

Maybe it sounds counterintuitive to approach your lease process as a game, but there is a lot you can learn from gamification research.

Think about it this way. Video games are popular, even addictive, for many people. A well-designed video game draws the player into the action and makes them feel like they are “in” the battle or responsible for saving the fair maiden. It’s exciting, engaging and interactive.

The gamer walks through a virtual world, passing through rooms, checking out different views and exploring everything in each room for clues about which move to make to reach the prize. From an apartment seeker’s perspective, virtual tours allow him to look at the appliances, imagine his furniture in the living room or bedroom, and get a feel for what it would be like to live in one of your units.

With the proper video and programming, you can literally allow your viewers to open the cabinets, arrange furniture and change the wall color. It’s very much like taking an actual tour of your property — without making the drive to your community. This means apartment seekers can gather information on their terms, when it is most convenient.

Gamification is simply a concept that approaches real-life problems from a “gamer’s perspective” to enhance a user’s experience, understanding or motivation. Interactive activities that encourage participants to take control of their own decisions and influence the outcome increase satisfaction and encourage engagement.

It is important to use the highest quality video production tools your company can afford. The goal is to make the experience seem as life-like as possible. But, even if you cannot afford a profession game design team, you can still benefit from the gamification concept.

Virtual tours should give the viewer options. For example:

• If you cannot afford an option that allows the viewer to open and close doors, include video of cabinet interiors and the inside of appliances.
• Use actual photos or images and not computer generated animations.
• If possible, use video and not slide shows. If you choose to use slide shows, use the highest quality photographs and features that allow the viewer to move between pages easily. It is frustrating to have to scan through 30 photos to take a second look at a photo. A number list or thumbnail menu is more desirable than only a forward and back button.

Need some inspiration? Check out these apartment tour videos that use gamification concepts.

• Apartment Visualization 
• Virtual Tour

There are numerous benefits for including virtual tours for your website visitors like the ones below:

• Video content is the most sharable content on the web. More shares increases your audience reach.
• Video improves understanding and clarity better than text alone.
• Visuals create stronger emotional responses than written communication.
• Images are interpreted faster than written or verbal language.

It’s true that a well-implemented leasing policy will help you attract and retain high quality tenants. Property managers take the process seriously. Maybe it’s time to have some fun. The results may surprise you.