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Rent develops program to help clients trend on TikTok

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Rent, a marketing technology company for the rental industry and part of a company owned by Redfin, has developed a program to help property managers promote listings on TikTok, the short-form video social media network.

The solution is turnkey, fully managed and a way to convert existing marketing content on the Rent network into dynamic digital branding messages, Rent said in the Nov. 1 announcement ahead of the National Multihousing Council’s 2022 OpTech show in Las Vegas. It will be made accessible to customers within the RentSocial application.

“Enabling our clients to quickly and efficiently access new audiences though this critical channel has been a key goal over the past months,” said Rent CEO Jon Ziglar in a statement. “We recognized that TikTok is not only the fastest growing social media platform, but also increasingly one of the primary destinations to get information and recommendations, with almost half of TikTok users saying the platform informs their purchase decisions.”

Social media has long been a driver of brand and sales engagement across just about every industry on the planet, from law firms to sock makers. It has an especially broad appeal to real estate because of its ability to share visuals, hone audiences over time and reach people across widespread geographic areas. TikTok’s growth has been nothing short of astounding, although still below Facebook’s user metrics.

However, it’s pace of growth may soon change that as Wallroommdia reports the addictive video network has more than a billion global users and said, “If your brand’s target audience includes anyone between the age of 13 and 60, you should be on TikTok right now.”

Instagram, in comparison, has a 1.4 billion users. TikTok has long passed Pinterest (480 million) and SnapChat (500 million) and notably Twitter, which claims around 397 million users.

TikTok reports more than 138 million active users in the United States.

The rental industry continues to surge with vendor activity as the housing market pushes would-be homeowners aside with increasing mortgage interest rates and lack of inventory. The rental market is targeted by fintechs and proptechs from all angles, ranging from cash-saving apps to single-family rental management apps.

Keeping up with every social media platform’s user rules and standards of practice is challenging for people not directly in marketing, such as landlord and property managers, Chief Marketing Officer of Rent Kathy Neumann said in a statement.

“And that’s where Rent can help,” Neumann said. “Our marketing solutions are powered by our own first-party data, collected through the over 50 million monthly in-market home seekers we see each month across the Rent. Network. This allows Rent. to add meaningful value to those clients who list with us.”

Email Craig Rowe