The Top 19 Valentine’s Day Ideas for Residents: The Do’s and Don’ts of Boosting Engagement

Updated Jan 24, 2024

Valentine’s Day is approaching, and love is in the air. Now is the perfect time to share the love with your residents and show them how much you appreciate them.

One of the most-recommended property management tips is incorporating festive or seasonal themes to encourage resident engagement and make your property feel like home. To help you spread the love, we’ve put together 19 Valentine’s Day ideas for residents that can help boost engagement, retention, and even the fun factor in your apartment community.

Benefits of Engagement and Retention

According to a 2022 report by Paylease, residents’ priorities have shifted since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report found that residents now value community, connection, and convenience over more luxurious amenities like pools or gyms. A typical rental property has an average retention rate of just 59%, while the benchmark for top–performing communities is around 65%. To replace just one resident, your apartment community can expect to spend around $4,000.

To yield a positive return and increase tenant satisfaction, communities must foster engagement. In short, engaged residents are happy residents; they stay longer, build buzz, refer others, post on social media, and have fewer complaints than unengaged residents.

19 Property Management Valentine’s Day Activity Ideas

To ensure you celebrate Valentine’s Day in style, here are our favorite Valentine’s Day activity ideas as well as some top do’s and don’ts for great marketing:

#1 Do: Send a Valentine’s Day card and a sweet treat to your residents

Don’t: Forget your residents’ pets (if you operate a pet-friendly rental property).

#2 Do: Leverage your smart lockers to secure your SPECIAL delivery items, such as tenant treats and gifts

Don’t: Leave treats outside residents’ doors.

#3 Do: Include a note or card expressing your appreciation

Don’t forget your contact information to foster continued communication.

#4 Do: Hold a “Guess How Many” red hearts are in the jar contest

Don’t: Install a kissing booth.

#5 Do: Show your appreciation with words

Here are a few simple ways to celebrate Valentine’s day with residents through words:

• Thank you for being a loyal resident.
• Roses are red, violets are blue, and we love having residents like you!

Don’t: Forget to use a local business or vendor for your gifts and services.

#6 Do: Share the love on social media and ask your residents to share it on their social networks as well

Don’t: Forget to tag residents and ask them to tag your social media accounts too!

#7 Do: Have fun and embrace being “punny”

Here are a few different punny Valentine’s Day ideas for residents:

• We “cherry-ish” you as a resident (packaged with cherry candies).
• Sending “s’more” appreciation to you as a resident (attached to a bag with the makings for a s’more).
• You’re the “Reece-son” for our great community (delivered with a big bag of Reese’s).
• You’re the bomb! (include a mug or simply a hot cocoa bomb).
• You’re all that and a bag of chips! (of course, attach a note to a bag of chips).
• We just want to “espresso” our thanks for being a resident (tied together with a locally roasted bag of coffee).
• We love you so “matcha” (include a local coffee or tea gift card).
• We “donut” know what we would do without you. (host a coffee and donut event in the leasing office or simply deliver a gift card to a local donut shop).
• Will you “o’FISH-ally” renew your lease? (packaged with Goldfish or candy Swedish fish with an invitation to visit the leasing office for a special incentive to renew early).
• We are “extra” happy to have you as a resident (tied to a package of EXTRA gum).

Don’t: Include the classic conversation candy hearts as they are often misconstrued.

#8 Do: Hold a virtual “What’s On Your Phone” contest

Don’t: Ask for personal or compromising information.

#9 Do: Hold a “Love My Apartment Community” contest on social media inviting residents to share their favorite room or amenity

Don’t forget to put rules and parameters around the contest.

#10 Do: Host your own speed dating event to help others find their special someone

Don’t: Forget to remain inclusive.

#11 Do: Create a “Meet Your Neighbor” resident event

Don’t: Forget to provide flexibility – allowing residents to participate virtually, wear masks, or practice other health precautions.

#12 Do: Share the love, gifts, or contributions with local charities

Don’t: Miss the chance to ask residents which nonprofits are their favorites.

#13  Do: Host a “Name Your Fave Rom-Com Movie” contest

Be sure to share on social media and randomly pick three winners to encourage participation.

Don’t: Encourage inappropriate content.

#14 Do: Host a Valentine-themed bingo night complete with appropriate candy to cover the card, such as candy hearts

Don’t: Let it run wild; create solid rules, number of cards, prizes, etc.

#15 Do: Set up a photo area for residents with a custom branded background

Don’t: Set limits on who and how many people can appear in the photo.

#16 Do: Create a “Make Your Valentine’s Day Card” craft area especially for kids

Don’t: Overlook the time and effort required for clean-up.

#17 Do: Create a special referral event for sharing the love of your property with a loved one(s)

Don’t: Miss the opportunity for a solid follow-up strategy for these leads.

#18 Do: Create a special artwork displaying residents and their masterpieces

Don’t: Miss the chance to create a special “kids only” area.

#19 Do: Host a video contest for residents to share what they love most about their apartment

Don’t: Forget to share on social media.

Now that you’ve gotten some inspiration, you are more than ready to celebrate Valentine’s Day with your residents. Of course, all of these ideas are fun, but their true goal is to increase engagement with residents. Maintaining an emotional connection is the secret to cementing loyalty. Can’t meet with your residents in person this year? Try out one of our virtual resident event ideas.

Parcel Pending by Quadient is the leading provider of package delivery management solutions for multifamily communities. Our state-of-the-art solutions and world-class customer service support 4M+ residents worldwide, helping communities deliver a safer, more secure, and more accessible parcel delivery experience for their residents.

To discover how our smart parcel locker solutions can benefit your rental property, contact a Parcel Pending representative today!

Sources:

1. Zego. 3 surprising trends about multifamily unit turnover. (n.d.) https://www.gozego.com/articles/multifamily-unit-turnover/.