Having a real estate property that you will rent out is exciting. You’re an investor and building a future based on a tangible asset. Sometimes, being a landlord is tougher than it might initially seem, though.

For example, your property has to be rented out to earn a return on your investment. That means you have to market it to find high-quality tenants.

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Marketing may not be your area of expertise, but there are certain things you can do to spread the word about your property and make it compelling for potential renters.

The following are seven tips to keep in mind as you build a marketing strategy for your rental property.

1. Know Your Audience

Before you do anything else to market your property, you need to know your audience. Property owners should try and understand their targeted renters because this will help you build all your marketing and advertising around this audience.

When you know your audience, you’ll save money on marketing, you’ll be able to make adjustments more efficiently if the rental market changes, and you’ll fill your rental faster. You’ll also be able to ensure you’re not wasting your time or anyone else’s.

So how do you get to know your rental audience? Think about the people most likely to need a property like yours and their priorities. Some marketers will create audience personas, meaning you develop your ideal renter. You dive into who they are and what makes them tick, so whenever you do anything related to marketing, it’s like you have a real person you’re speaking to.

2. Create a Social Media Plan

You can share free information about your rental and pay for advertisements on social media, which we’ll discuss below. Regardless, you can’t necessarily do every social media platform well.

It’s better to refer back to number one—know your audience, and then think about the sites they’re most likely to be active on.

If your targeted renter is younger, you may focus your efforts on Instagram.

3. Optimize Your Listings for SEO

You’ll create listings that you’ll share on social media and rental marketplace sites. You want to use search engine optimization in these or SEO. That means you will be integrating the keywords your audience is most likely searching for.

You can use Google to do keyword research.

Try to localize your keywords as much as possible based on the name of your city or town.

4. Hire a Photographer

While your description is important for SEO and so that people can learn more about the details of your property, what everyone is going to pay the most attention to are your images.

Professional photos will help you rent your property out faster and maybe get more money. It’s a great way to set yourself apart from other rentals.

5. Use Paid Ads

Combine your unpaid marketing efforts with paid ads to reach the most people. You can take advantage of paid ads on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

With social media ads, you’re paying to put your messaging in front of people who wouldn’t likely see it otherwise.

6. Create Valuable Content

If you can blog, create videos, or make infographics, it’s a great part of your unpaid, organic marketing strategy. Creating valuable content isn’t about the hard sell.

Instead, you’re positioning yourself as a trusted authority as you build your social network. This can take longer to see results, but the benefit is that when someone is ready to rent, you might be top-of-mind for them.

7. Track Everything You Do

Finally, if you’re building a rental empire, or at least that’s your plan, you want to know what works and doesn’t with your marketing. Make sure that you’re tracking the results you get everywhere so that you can refine your strategy. When you have something that works, you can double down on it, perhaps as you acquire more properties.