Topic: Google Adwords & Facebook Advertising

Hello,

I've been trying to increase traffic at one of our apartment complexes. We've been using Facebook advertising and google ad words to try and help with that and I'm still not getting the results I'm looking for. We've been using both for the past couple of months and are still not getting any foot traffic or phone calls. Could there be something I'm missing on these platforms or is it time to try something new?

Thanks for your help.

Because renting apartments has almost nothing to do with advertising. Location, price, amenities, and if you're cool with the government paying the tenants rent for them (section 8, section 42, etc.) are what rents the apartments. Rhetoric and glad-handing do nothing. Office workers collect the rent and not even much of that anymore. The rest of the time they're just spinning their wheels. The only way to tell if you really need something is to try doing without it. No one is willing to try doing without sales people. That's why social media is doing nothing for you IMHO.

It's entirely possible you're missing something. But without knowing more details, it's hard to tell what that is.

If you could answer the following questions, I might be able to help you out:

1) Where is your community located?
2) What's your leasing price?
3) What's your current AdWords/Facebook Ad spend per month?
4) What kind of traffic are you getting for that spend?
5) What's the average Click-Through-Rate for your ads?
6) Who is your core audience? Students? Seniors? Young Professionals?

I realize you might not want to publish this info, so there's need to get too specific with these things. But we definitely need a few more details to give you a solid answer.

PS > I'd ignore Perry Sanders' advice. Claiming that people don't search for apartments online, or that using a tool like AdWords isn't a good way to get in front of people, ignores more than 10 years of well-established fact, not to mention hundreds of millions of dollars in multifamily revenue.

I have been doing google ad words etc for years. There so much behind the scenes that has to be done for it to take effect. We use a company called G5 that specializing in Google as they are a premier trusted google partner. They have worked well for us so much so we only use them and no ILS on some of our properties. If interested, you can email me. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

" PS > I'd ignore Perry Sanders' advice. Claiming that people don't search for apartments online, or that using a tool like AdWords isn't a good way to get in front of people, ignores more than 10 years of well-established fact, not to mention hundreds of millions of dollars in multifamily revenue."

Good ol' Anonymous. Where is this well established fact? Who's got these hundreds of millions of extra dollars?

Anonymous is right that people search on the net for just about everything these days but they search for location, price and amenities in apartments. Ads just let them know that your property exists. What's the cost to benefit ratio of the social media approach? Costs include your time. Social media does not target people looking for apartments, a craigslist ad might be better.

Hi OP,

First off, sorry to hear about your results. It must be really frustrating to put money into a marketing initiative that fails to deliver. And while I’m sure this experience has left a bad taste in your mouth, I would strongly advise not to give up on Google AdWords or Facebook Ads.

The honest truth is that PPC and Paid Social Ads are literally the most effective form of apartment marketing available today. They are seen by the most people. They are meticulously track-able (Is that a word?) And they have the highest Return On Investment, if you don’t include something like Word of Mouth.

Getting back to the issue, the commenter who asked about your location, leasing price, etc. was on the right track. It's really hard to say what's going on without knowing those details. But it would also be helpful to know what metrics you’re monitoring. IE: Have you noticed an uptick in website traffic? Have you setup call conversions? (If you haven’t, check out this post on the topic here: blog.respage.com/blog/2016/07/25/trackin...ppc-just-got-easier/) Do you know what the bounce rates are for your landing pages?

My apologies for all the questions, but there’s a lot that could be affecting the performance of your campaign. If you want to email me some of that info, as well as a link to your site, I’d be happy to give you a few ideas for improvements.

Best,

-Jeff
(This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Hey Perry,

Just a heads up that you can actually configure AdWords campaigns so that ads only appear to prospects who are searching for apartments by specific locations, price points, amenities, etc. There are multiple ways to do this, but the easiest way is to just work on refining your target keywords and negative keywords, and coming up with some simple, clean, and informative ad-copy.

You can configure your campaign so that certain ads display this information only when triggered to do so. For example, let's say you wanted to advertise a Pet-friendly, luxury studio in Philadelphia. Let's also pretend that this community has balconies, hardwood floors, and multiple other amenities. You could, and should, create multiple ads for the same community, so that you're always highlighting what matters most according to what search phrase was queried in Google. So if someone searches "Pet-friendly luxury apartments Philadelphia," the ad that says "Pet-Friendly, Luxury Studio in Philadelphia" appears. And if another person searches "Philadelphia apartment with balcony hardwood," the ad that says "Philadelphia Apartments: Balconies, Hardwood Floors, New Appliances" appears. This way, your ads always target people according to what they're looking for, and the content of the ad ensures they know your community offers all of those things.

Another thing to note is that pricing info can be built into your extensions. In fact, you can even put promotional pricing into these extensions if you have some kind of deal going on. It's really cool stuff!

Best,

-Jeff

Great info Jeff!

Do you work for AdWords, by any chance?

Happy to help!

I don't work for AdWords, but I do work for Respage, which (FULL DISCLOSURE lol) specializes in Multifamily PPC services.

My two cents here. I have seen over and over MF companies using untrained interns and Pm's to run their Facebook Ads. Facebook ads have become a exact science, with changes almost weekly. It really is WORTH the management fee that companies charge.

My advice to you is to use a company specializing in Targeting Active Apt Renters. Not someone who offers a $199 a month charge to throw out the odd post.

See if you can negotiate a three month sign up and see if there's any difference. I can tell you it's well worth the spend. Plus you can just stop the ad spend when you no longer need it.

Good Luck.

This is a broad question to answer with this amount of information. But I can confidently state the following:

1. Google AdWords and Facebook boosts can both be very effective.

2. There might be some trial and error, especially in well-saturated online-ad markets (Atlanta metro is a case in point). One or two failures helps you learn exactly what works.

3. There is a long learning curve with these ad sources, despite the many articles on a "quick tutorial" on the subject. I have studied it intensely for over a year. It also constantly changes; you never stop tweaking your skills.

4. How you target your ads and the wording/graphic is created is very important (the graphic is used on Facebook boosts.)

5. If you do not know fully how to analyze results, it might seem ineffective. There are views, clicks, interactions, leads and leases.

6. If using it is backed up with a leasing tracking program such as CRM that disallows human error, you get a clearer picture of your results.

For many, the best way to go about it will be to use a company that specializes in these types of ad sources. I am not selling anything here, as I am on the property management side. Online advertising will be the wave of the future in property management; that's why major ILSs are already out there, participating in Google Adwords and Facebook boosts themselves.