Are you looking for tenants to rent your office space? You can get a number of inquiries by placing your listing with a classified ad service like meQasa, which will give you more reach and let you publish your ad at a lower cost than traditional print ads.

However, getting interest in your ad requires more effort than just putting up a post. You will need to both make your ad as compelling as possible and be proactive about marketing it to get people interested enough to sign a lease with you.

Why Some Landlords Don’t Get Enough Responses

Some landlords expect that they will get dozens of interested tenants after they list their office space for rent. They don’t expect to have any trouble renting out their property, especially if it’s in good condition.

Unfortunately, having a great office space isn’t enough. You won’t get many interested respondents if your ads don’t stand out from all of the other companies renting out office space.
There are two primary reasons why your ad may not get the exposure it needs:

• You aren’t focusing heavily enough on your space’s benefits.
• You aren’t actively promoting your listing.

If you fix these mistakes, you will have a much easier time finding people that are interested in renting from you.

7 Strategies to Increase Interest in Your Office Space

Generating interest in your office space takes some effort. For this reason, you will get more responses if you understand what potential tenants are looking for and understand how to get their attention. Here are seven tips that have been proven to be very effective for companies listing their office spaces on meQasa:

1. Use short adjectives to highlight benefits

The majority of people that list office spaces on classified ad sites don’t tell people much about the benefits of living there. They usually say something very brief and generic such as “Office space available.” Unsurprisingly, these ads all start to blend in together, as they don’t focus on the benefits of each space, and they offer nothing to differentiate themselves from other listings.
To combat these effects, you will want to include some short adjectives in your headline that make it more appealing. Even one word can make a tremendous difference. Rather than saying “Office space available”, you may want to use a headline that says “Quiet office space available,” as this will draw people that are sick of working in hectic places where they can’t focus effectively.
Try to place your descriptor at either the beginning or end of the headline, as it will get more attention there than if it’s buried in the middle of the listing title.

2. Begin your ad body with a question

Making your ads more engaging is a good way to get people to click on them, and one of the best ways to do this is by starting off by asking a question. Keep in mind that people will see the first sentence or two in the description that shows up on the listings page, so try to make it as enticing as possible.

Here is an example of the kind of question that you may want to ask:
“Tired of working around loud, inconsiderate neighbours?”
This will prompt readers who have experienced these conditions to click to your ad for more information. It provokes more curiosity than merely summarising what you are offering, such as:
“Office space available on Gbewa Rd.”
Ideally, the question you ask should focus on a need that a potential tenant will have. Focusing on the size of the office space or the type of work environment are good ways to get people more interested.

3. Highlight benefits near the beginning of your ad copy

Next, take some time to create a list of all of the biggest reasons tenants should rent your office space, as you’ll want to list at least 3-5 of your space’s best benefits near the top of your ad.

Here are some examples of the kinds of benefits that you may want to include:

• 24-hour access
• Easy and convenient parking
• Proximity to other major businesses in the area
• Co-working and networking opportunities
• Free utilities for all tenants

People will be much more likely to rent an office from you if the benefits are clearly highlighted. If you aren’t clear yourself, you may want to speak with your existing tenants to find out what they like most about their office space and then discuss those particular benefits in your classified ad listing.

4. Include relevant keywords in your ad headline and body

Most prospective office space tenants use the meQasa search engine to find what they’re looking for in a rental. For this reason, you need to think about the different keywords that they will use in their searches. If you include these words in the headline and body of your ad, then your listing will receive many more views.
One of the most important things to specify is the rate you are charging for rent. While meQasa has search filters that allow users to find offices within their budget, many customers don’t think to use them. Instead, they try entering prices in the search field to see what listings show up. As a result, companies that list their rental price in the ad get more views from these searches.
You will also want to use keywords that are relevant to the area where you are renting. For example, if your office space is located on Senyo Rd. in Tema, then you will want to mention both Senyo and Tema in your listing. Since the space in the headline is limited, you may not be able to include both. It is, therefore, generally best to list the city in your headline and then mention the road or district in your ad’s body copy.

5. Take advantage of social media

Social media is a powerful tool for sharing content. In fact, the Government of Ghana has recently said that it will be key to promoting the news in the future, though businesses are likely to rely on it even more than the media. So why not try to share your office space ad on your social profiles?
Let people know that you’re trying to rent out an office space and request that they refer interested tenants to you. Provide as much detail as possible to attract the most interested respondents.
Here are some tips for making the most of social media:

• Participate in the right social networks. Twitter and Facebook are probably the best social networks to use. You will probably have a harder time getting tenants through Twitter and other sites, because you can’t target local tenants as easily. However, these sites may still be worth a try if you have a large enough network.
• Join chat rooms and groups that serve local business owners to increase your odds of finding an interested tenant.
• Be as transparent as possible. Many people have been exploited over the Internet, so you will need to give potential tenants as much information as possible to earn their trust.
• Provide a link to your listing on meQasa. Doing so will prevent you from having to repeat yourself when describing your office space and its rental terms.

Social media is a great way to get exposure for your office listing, though the secret to success is to be as professional, honest and transparent as possible.

6. Consider investing in paid ads

As an alternative to social media – and depending on your budget – you may want to consider investing in paid advertising to get more exposure for your office space rental campaign. Google Adwords is one of the best online advertising platforms for this purpose, but you could also try running ads on Bing and Facebook.
Of course, it takes time to learn how to use these advertising networks, and you will need to set aside enough of a budget to attract attention. You may be reluctant to invest money in advertising when you can list a classified ad for free, but it may be worth it if doing so means that you will get more interested tenants to contact you. Or else, you could take one of meQasa.com’s premium packages so the company handles all of that for you.

7. Get referrals from existing tenants

Finally, remember that the best candidate to rent your office space may be somebody who is already in your extended network. Talk to your existing tenants and ask them if they know anyone that may be interested in renting an office space. If they do, ask that they share your MeQasa listing with their friends and acquaintances.
You may not get as much additional exposure using this approach as you would from running paid ads, but the recipients you do encounter will likely be better candidates if your tenants give good recommendations for them.

Renting Office Space Requires Effective Marketing

Believe it or not, there are often more landlords listing properties on meQasa than there are tenants that are ready to rent them. The good news, though, is that you will have an easier time renting your office spaces if you take the time needed to make sure your classified ad listings stand out from the competition.
Invest time in thinking about the biggest reasons people will want to rent from you, and then determine how to use this information to draw people to your ad. Once you really learn how to do it, you’ll find renting out your available office spaces to qualified tenants to be easier than ever.
Do you have another tip that you’d like to add to our list? Share your thoughts and experiences by leaving a comment with your recommendations below:

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