Topic: Which apartment marketing source is performing the best for you right now?

Which apartment marketing program is really doing well compared to your other marketing programs?

I think this is a tough question to answer, simply because we're now able to see how prospects are using multiple channels to find the properties they like -- very few people *only* use one source. We're still seeing websites and walk-in/drive-by's as the top "tracked" sources, but the key is to know how those people got to your website. Organic search is the top way most prospects are finding our clients' websites, with a mix of Craigslist, ILSs and social media behind that. In at least three instances, we've been able to cut print advertising with little to no effect on overall traffic.

The easy answer is Craigslist. The main reason it performs the best is because we have devoted the most time and resources to it. As Whaling pointed out, people find your property in one of two ways right now: Craigslist or organic search. How much time and effort you're devoting to SEO, Craigslist and ILS's will determine your best source. IMO.

This is my best stab, but as Mike pointed out people are using multiple sources. One reason I took a year's worth of data to compare is so that I could see a shift. I look more at the trends vs. the specific numbers at this point month to month. I think we're getting closer to dialing in on it more though. Apartment Marketing Source Comparisonhttp://markjuleen.com/2011/08/24/apt-mktg-cited-source-comp/

I agree with the guys on this subject it is hard to really narrow this down. I can tell you call source calls show Apartment Finder, but that we feel that is because our community is put in the right location in their book. I expect to see a change in December when For Rent rolls out with our new property location in the book. We have notice that when the team goes out everyday to make contacts in the local community our calls increase and so does physical traffic. My leasing manager and I are amazed at how our clientel respond to the out reach marketing efforts. Unless you have a way to track the internet leads from point A to B and are using "tracking" phone numbers it is hard to really get an accurate report. I love this question!

Our best source for Marketing for our company is internet and referral leads. I have noticed over the last five years, and really, for the last three, that almost everyone who calls, visits or emails me has found us on the web. I have almost eliminated the print ads, other than the Apartment Guide (but only because they will not allow me to have an internet only listing.) We use Craigslist, but obviously this is internet based and it is not that successful. Too many people who respond to our Craigslist ads are looking for a big discount and we rarely offer huge rent specials. (We're special every day!)

What I am thrilled about is the number of people who have been "Walk Ins" who have told us that they saw our great reviews on line and came in to see what we have to offer - so really, these, too, are internet leads as well, in that respect. Total Referral traffic is 20% for us with 90% of these signing leases.

I have to say, Outreach Marketing has never been a good source for leads or leases for us, with the exception of our Preferred Employer Program. With the PEP we are working directly with Human Resource departments and not actually visiting businesses. I like for us to utilize local business to connect with to offer discounts to our Residents in exchange for "advertising" for them in our Newsletter and on our website and through their own coupons.

I love how each property/region is so diffrent in their marketing efforts. It is trully fascinating to me! Craigslist is not a source of traffic for our community like it was for my other communities that I work at! Great topic! Mindy I love great reviews online they make our day so much better!

Our top two sources are Craigslist and Apartment Ratings. We have gotten totally out of print advertizing. The books generated lots of traffic but few leases. Of course it is impossible to know where or why someone came to us. We have very good Apartment Ratings scores so that is the one source we point people towards.

Mark,

Thanks for sharing the charts. We're tracking the same way here at MAA, but it's great to see how others measure performance.

I was wondering, you have search and social together, is that just PPC ads on the search engines and social like FB ads?

Thanks,
Chris

All internet: Craigslist, ForRent and ApartmentRatings. The links on craigslist and forrent direct viewers to our website and tracking the traffic there is a direct correlation from big monster sites to our website to application. Oddly enough, we'd been thrashed on apartmentratings and the tenants who chose to read the feedback liked what they read, checked us out, rented and have been great tenants.

I used to work for a company that marketed strictly to seniors, and strictly on the internet. Their research determined that seniors who use the internet tend to have more discretionary income and a higher education level. We know that education level of course does not factor into leasing decisions but worth noting regardless.

The property I'm at now went from C to B (lets say B+) by using those tactics. Through aggressive sales (haha that would be me) we were able to bring in tenants who moved here out of choice as opposed to those who felt they had no options. Made a huge difference over a year's time. We were able to filter out those who were moving from down the street because their current landlord was giving them warnings about behavior or late rent.

I've used this formula with several properties and it has worked. It's nothing new and as everyone attests the internet is an effective marketing tool. But, those properties are all in an urban area where more people have access to this type of marketing to begin with. And as another poster stated, many of the walkins are the result of a prior internet search. It's the same concept as the retail stores. They viewer may not necessarily buy online, but they did their research online.

Chris,

I put search and social together as those are somewhat secondary from what we've found. They lead people to sites that have actual conversion forms. However, we do get some people that reference them directly as how they heard about us, so we give them credit in this way.

Mark Juleen wrote:

Chris,

I put search and social together as those are somewhat secondary from what we've found. They lead people to sites that have actual conversion forms. However, we do get some people that reference them directly as how they heard about us, so we give them credit in this way.

Mark,

That's what I figured. Are you using any special sem ppc campaigns? If you are, are you doing them in-house or outsourcing to a company like a Marin provider or Yodle?

We're currently tracking individual property campaigns vs market/region campaigns, and it's a bear to keep up with!

Thanks,
Chris

I was just wondering if anyone is concerned about using Craig's list given all of the bad publicity it has received in the last year. Have ou had any problems with the kind of people that show up to view apartments.

Eileen Donahue
200 West Apartments