And the collective cry is heard across the land…marketing types don’t do numbers!  They’re creative, spontaneous, outgoing not the introverted analytical number crunchers.

Numbers and marketing?  Might be the equivalent of water with the Wicked Witch of the West.

Savvy marketing gurus long ago embraced the role of mathematics in analyzing marketing needs.

It’s all about the numbers.

If you have an estimate for the property turnover, and a grasp on the closing ratio a manager can guesstimate the traffic necessary to support the turnovers. With the current year statistics to validate traffic by source. A proposed marketing plan can describe a very detailed scenario.

Reviewing the last three years, the property has an annual turnover of 60 units. With a closing ratio of 60%. One hundred pieces of traffic are needed. If the closing drops to 40%, the needed traffic grows to 150. If a property pursues short term leases as an occupancy remedy, the turnover number grows impacting the amount of traffic needed for the property,

Managing the lease expirations can assist in planning the marketing calendar. Knowing there are six lease expirations coming up, and four are likely move outs. With a 60% closing ratio there will need to be ten qualified traffic.

Looking 60 and 90 days in the future will provide an overview of future traffic needed to pre-lease apartments.  This window of opportunity, increasing advertising before the apartments become vacant can decrease the days vacant before an apartment is reoccupied.  The marketing/advertising schedule should mirror the occupancy and renewal trend, with an adjustment for the increased marketing exposure to be initiated a month or two in advance of the possible move outs.

Analyzing the volume of traffic, closing ratios and property turnover can create a pro-active marketing plan for a property.  Budget reviews often challenge marketing expenses.  Responding to a challenge of why a property needs a variety of advertising presences, with a specific answer the property will need XXX traffic to cover the forecasted moveouts, indicates the marketing plan has documentation to support the expenses.  A much better answer than “we always advertise in that publication.”

Successful marketing efforts are all about the numbers!