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

Updated Feb 12, 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 thousands of pounds.

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

19 Property Management Valentine’s Day Ideas

To ensure you celebrate Valentine’s Day in style, here are our favourite Valentine’s day resident event ideas as well as some top do’s and don’ts:

#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 delivery items, such as resident 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 after your scheduled Valentine’s Day activity.

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

Don’t: Host a kissing booth as a Valentine’s Day activity.

#5 Do: Show your appreciation with words

Here are a few simple ways to do this:

• 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 ways to put this Valentine’s Day idea into action:

• We “cherry-ish” you as a resident (packaged with cherry candies).
• You’re the bomb! (include a mug or simply a hot chocolate bomb).
• We just want to “espresso” our thanks for being a resident (tied together with a locally roasted bag of coffee).
• We “doughnut” know what we would do without you. (host a coffee and doughnut event in the leasing office or simply deliver a gift card to a local doughnut shop).
• We are “extra” happy to have you as a resident (tied to a package of EXTRA gum).
• “You’re the ‘key’ to our success as a community!” – attach a heart-shaped keychain to a note with a message thanking residents for being a valued part of the community.
• “We ‘heart’ having you as a resident!” – attach a heart-shaped decoration or chocolate to a note expressing gratitude for their continued residency.

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 Neighbour” 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

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 others

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 resident event ideas are fun, but their true goal is to increase engagement with residents. Maintaining an emotional connection is the secret to cementing loyalty and will become an apartment rental trend for years to come.

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/.