Leveraging Demographics for Building an Effective Multifamily Marketing Strategy

Multifamily marketing is not just about promoting products and services; it’s about connecting with your audience. And to do that, you need to understand who your audience is. 

Demographic marketing is tailoring your multifamily marketing efforts to specific groups of people based on age, gender, income, education level, and other characteristics. When you understand your audience, you can create campaigns that resonate with them, speak their language, and address their specific needs and desires. In this era of information overload, it’s more important than ever to cut through the noise and grab the attention of your demographic target market. 

Demographic marketing is a powerful tool that can help you do just that. By understanding who your audience is and what they want, you can create campaigns that are not only effective but also memorable and engaging. 

So let’s take a closer look at the art of demographic marketing and how you can use it to connect with your audience and drive business success.

Understanding Your Demographic Target Market

Understanding your audience is critical to the success of your property marketing campaigns. You need to know your target audience, what they want, and what motivates them. Demographic marketing allows you to create campaigns that speak directly to your audience and address their needs and desires. The more you know about your audience, the better you can tailor your campaigns to them.

Demographic marketing can also help you identify new opportunities. Analyzing data allows you to identify trends and patterns that may not be immediately apparent. For example, you may discover that a particular demographic target market is underserved in your industry and create a campaign specifically targeting that group.

Ultimately, understanding your audience helps you create more effective campaigns. When you know your audience, you can create messaging that resonates with them, choose the right multifamily marketing channels, and optimize your campaigns for maximum impact.

Gathering Data on Your Target Audience

The first step in demographic marketing is to gather data on your audience. There are many ways to do this, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, and online research. The key is to gather as much data as possible to get a comprehensive understanding of your audience.

One of the most effective ways to gather data is through surveys. Surveys allow you to ask specific questions and get quantitative data to analyze. You can also use surveys to gather qualitative data by asking open-ended questions and allowing respondents to provide detailed responses.

Another way to gather data is through online research. Many online tools and resources allow you to gather multifamily marketing data on your demographic target market. For example, you can use Google Analytics to gather data on your website visitors, including their age, gender, and location.

Analyzing and Interpreting Demographic Data

Once you have gathered data on your target audience, the next step is to analyze and interpret that data. This involves looking for patterns and trends that can help you understand your audience better.

One way to analyze data is to create charts and graphs to help you identify trends and patterns that may not be immediately apparent when looking at raw data. For example, you may discover that a particular age group is more likely to rent at your properties than others or that people with higher income levels are more likely to use your services than those with lower income levels.

Let’s take a closer look at each demographic group you’ll want to analyze:

1. Gender

Women and men think and react differently to certain things, but even more base level, they use the internet entirely differently. While men have gradually caught up with women in overall social media usage, there are differences in platform usage.

Women are likelier to spend time on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram, while men prefer forum-based social channels like Reddit. In e-commerce, men and women differ in how they search, with men searching by product while women searching by brand. 

Knowing these key differences in usage patterns can greatly alter your marketing strategy. Targeting moms? Place ads on Facebook and post on Pinterest. Going after single young men? Post your blogs to a relevant subreddit.

2. Age

Baby boomers are online, but not to the extent of younger generations, and certainly not in the same places. Only 57% of Americans 65+ are online, as opposed to 93% of adults aged 30-49. Boomers and older Americans spend the most time checking their email. Meanwhile, younger generations split their time between social media, shopping online, and researching products.

Keeping that in mind, a boomer seeking an active adult community might appreciate a newsletter on your offerings. A millennial seeking high-rise living might prefer a tweet.

3. Income

While internet browsing gaps between people of different incomes have narrowed, this information is still important for marketers. If you’re offering a tiered service, this data can help you better target the appropriate range to the appropriate person.

Why is this important? Because you wouldn’t want to alienate a customer who thinks a product may be out of their price range when they see the higher-end price.

4. Location

This can mean country, region, or even if someone is living in an urban or rural environment. While country and lifestyle have some effect on internet usage, the reason this multifamily marketing demographic is most important has much more to do with knowing and understanding your market.

Someone in an urban environment probably won’t need an industrial-grade sitting lawnmower. Likewise, people in New York City probably don’t want to see information about car accessories. Knowing a person’s location can also help ensure that any written content sent to them matches terms to their colloquial knowledge.

For example, using “pop” vs. “soda” or “coke” depending on where in the U.S. you’re from or ensuring that they’re not seeing deals that don’t pertain to them at their location (e.g., some insurance companies don’t operate in every state).

So, you’ve gathered your basic marketing demographics and are ready to start building your multifamily marketing strategy…

Hold up a second.

There’s more to it than that. While all this information is certainly a starting point, it’s important to take it deeper. In digital multifamily marketing, we call the amalgamation of this information a buyer persona — the typical person who might engage with your product.

Creating Buyer Personas

One of the most effective ways to use demographic data is to create buyer personas. Buyer personas are fictional representations of your ideal customers based on demographic data, behavior patterns, motivations, and goals.

Creating buyer personas helps you understand your audience better and create campaigns that resonate with them. For example, if you discover that a significant portion of your audience comprises millennials, you can create a buyer persona representing a typical millennial customer. This persona can guide your messaging, multifamily marketing channels, and campaign optimization.

Crafting Targeted Messaging

Once you have created buyer personas, the next step is to craft targeted messaging that speaks directly to your audience. This involves using language and imagery that resonates with your audience and addresses their needs and desires.

For example, if your audience is primarily women, you may want to use language and imagery that is more feminine in your campaigns. You may also want to focus on topics more relevant to women, such as health and wellness.

Targeted messaging can also help you stand out from your competitors. By crafting messages that speak directly to your audience, you can differentiate yourself from other brands and create a stronger connection with your customers.

Choosing the Right Marketing Channels

Different demographic groups may respond better to different multifamily marketing channels, so choosing the most effective for your target audience is important.

For example, if your target audience is primarily millennials and Gen Z, you may want to focus on social media marketing as they are more likely to use social media than other age groups.

You may also want to consider other marketing channels, such as email marketing, content marketing, and influencer marketing. The key is choosing the most effective channels for your target audience and aligning them with your overall marketing strategy.

Testing and Optimizing Your Campaigns

Testing and optimizing your campaigns is critical to their success. This involves continually monitoring and adjusting your campaigns based on their performance.

One way to test and optimize your campaigns is to use A/B testing. A/B testing involves creating two versions of your campaign and testing them against each other to see which performs better. This can help you identify the most effective messaging, design, or marketing channel for your target audience.

You can also use data analysis to optimize your campaigns. By continually monitoring your campaigns and analyzing the data, you can identify areas for improvement and make adjustments to improve their performance.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Demographic Marketing

There are several common mistakes to avoid when it comes to demographic marketing. One of the most significant mistakes is assuming that all members of a particular demographic group are the same. This can lead to too broad campaigns that don’t speak directly to your audience.

Another mistake is relying too heavily on demographic data. While demographic data is critical to understanding your audience, it’s important to remember that individuals are complex and multifaceted. When crafting your campaigns, you need to consider other factors, such as behavior patterns and motivations.

Tools and Resources for Demographic Marketing

There are many tools and resources available to help you with demographic marketing. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram allow you to target specific demographic groups with your ads. Google Analytics provides valuable data on your website visitors, including their age, gender, and location.

You can also use market research and data analytics companies to gather and analyze data on your target audience. These companies can provide insights and recommendations to help you create more effective campaigns.

Driving Business Success With Demographic Marketing

Demographic marketing is a powerful tool to help you connect with your audience and drive business success. By understanding your audience and tailoring your campaigns to their specific needs and desires, you can create messaging that resonates with them and stands out from your competitors. 

Remember to gather as much data as possible and create buyer personas, then continually test and optimize your campaigns. With these strategies, you can create campaigns that are not only effective but also memorable and engaging.

The Dynamic Duo: Creating Content Magic With ChatGPT and Our Content Marketing Agency

Digital content marketing can be challenging, especially when you have many other operations tasks. Enter Open AI ChatGPT.

The ChatGPT app has revolutionized digital content marketing and how we handle content writing, editing, and multifamily graphic design.

The biggest concerns surrounding this new artificial intelligence feature are: “How does ChatGPT work?” “What are good ChatGPT prompts?” and “Do I still need to hire a content marketing agency?”

Let’s answer each of these questions…

The Future of Generative AI in Property Management Marketing

Much like the shift to digital content marketing in recent years, the rise of generative AI has been slow but steady. And just in the last year, it has BOOMED.

Many industries are still coming aboard the realm of inbound marketing but not quite utilizing generative AI. However, Open AI ChatGPT will be key to becoming more efficient with your content marketing to stand out.

Effective content will help you embrace the feedback loop that allows your content to grow and develop. Only then will your content reach your targeting goals and give you the results you’re aiming for.

Understanding the Value of Generative AI

Before we can dive into how to use open source AI and answer “How does ChatGPT work?” we first need to discuss the benefits of using Open AI.

Generative AI provides marketers a powerful tool to streamline content creation processes and drive engagement. Ultimately, it allows marketers to quickly create large volumes of high-quality content, saving time and effort. 

This technology offers fresh perspectives and innovative ideas, sparking creativity and enabling marketers to explore new angles in their content strategies. Moreover, this AI writing tool can optimize content for search engines, enhancing organic visibility and driving website traffic. 

How Does ChatGPT Work?

ChatGPT operates on a sophisticated deep-learning model known as a transformer. This model is trained on vast text data to develop a deep understanding of language patterns and structures. 

When a user provides ChatGPT prompts, the model analyzes the context and generates a response based on learned knowledge. It breaks down the ChatGPT prompts into segments, attends to the relevant parts, and generates a coherent output. 

The training process involves exposing the model to a massive dataset that includes diverse sources such as books, articles, websites, and more. This exposure enables the writing tool to learn grammar, facts, reasoning abilities, and even some degree of creativity. The ChatGPT app gradually improves its ability to generate human-like responses through this iterative training process.

It’s important to note that while open source AI can produce impressive outputs, it should be used with caution and human oversight to ensure accuracy and maintain ethical standards.

And full disclosure: The AI writing tool wrote the above section about “How does ChatGPT work?”. Why? Because who knows ChatGPT better than the generative AI platform itself? This is exactly what we mean by supplementing your AI content with human oversight: no one knows your business like you do (or your content marketing agency).

How to Use ChatGPT

When utilizing open source AI for your digital content marketing, it’s important to understand how to leverage its capabilities effectively.

1. Use Open AI as a jumping-off tool to generate ideas.

Open source AI is best used to help kickstart your writing process, not execute the entire writing process. Provide clear and specific prompts to guide the AI in generating relevant content. ChatGPT’s output should be a starting point rather than a final piece.

2. Review all generative AI content for accuracy.

Maintain a critical eye and thoroughly review the generated content for accuracy, tone, and consistency with your brand voice. Make necessary edits and additions to ensure the content aligns with your objectives and resonates with your target audience. 

3. Utilize open source AI for keyword research and optimization. 

Extract valuable insights from the AI-generated content to identify relevant keywords and phrases that can enhance your search engine rankings. 

4. Bring human writers and editors into the process.

Embrace the collaborative nature of the ChatGPT app by involving human writers and editors who can infuse creativity, authenticity, and expert knowledge into the content. By combining the power of AI writing with human expertise, you can create compelling and high-quality content that drives results in your digital content marketing efforts.

Use Humanized Content to Develop High-Performing Results

Have you ever received an email with your name in the subject line or a newsletter closely tied to a topic you’d been researching? That’s a form of content intelligence. The epitome of content intelligence is the ability to take names or other information gathered about prospects and use that information to enhance content. 

Imagine being a decision-maker at a multifamily property interested in a third-party vendor company’s services. Wouldn’t that level of personalization, paired with an email that answers your questions, sway your decision to hire that company at your property?

Studies show that personalized messages can increase email open rates (17.6% open rate vs. 11.4% without personalization). This allows for more information to be gathered and improves your results. It’s a cyclical and powerful process. 

The most important thing is to ensure you’re utilizing all the right tools to inform your content. While you can provide ChatGPT prompts to include personalization in the AI-generated content output, the bottom line is that Open AI ChatGPT does not know your brand as you do. And, as mentioned above, it also doesn’t know your customers like you do. Take advantage of this knowledge and personalize your content for the best results.

What Are Good ChatGPT Prompts?

ChatGPT prompts are specific and provide sufficient context for the desired output. They should be framed as questions, statements, or instructions that guide the AI’s response in a targeted manner.

You want to treat this AI writing platform like an intern, providing clear instructions and not being afraid to give it additional instructions if you do not like the provided output.

For example, ChatGPT prompts that begin with phrases like “Can you provide insights on…”, “What are the benefits of…”, or “Please explain the process of…” tend to generate informative responses. Including key details, keywords, or specific parameters within the prompt can help guide the AI’s output toward the desired topic or perspective. 

Experimenting with different prompts and variations can yield diverse and interesting results, enhancing creativity and generating unique insights. It’s important to refine prompts, iterate on them, and critically review the generated content to ensure it aligns with your objectives and requirements.

Making the most of this technology is all about what you put into it. The better the input (prompts), the better the output (content). 

 Here are 5 ChatGPT prompts you should try out this week:

1. Website Copy: “Write me 5 new headline options for my website homepage that each focus on the different benefits of [company name] and [services]. Make the headlines punchy, engaging, and 8 words or less.”
2. Email Marketing: “Write a personal follow-up email template for when a prospect visits our website at [website link] but never makes contact again. Include a relevant CTA to get them to book a [meeting/demo/tour/etc.].”
3. Customer Support: “Write 3 follow-up responses for customers who leave bad reviews. Make each response different and focus on complaints about our [products/services], customer service, and [pain point], respectively.” 
4. Branding: “Write 2 options for a mission statement and 5 options for a company tagline that accurately reflects this company: [website link].” 
5. Content Generation: “Write a 1,000-word blog post about the benefits of using a [company name]. Focus the blog to highlight our [services] without sounding overly promotional. Include relevant keywords for SEO.”

Do I Still Need to Hire a Content Marketing Agency?

Hiring a content marketing agency remains essential. While open source AI is a powerful tool, a content marketing agency becomes an extension of your company, offering expertise, strategic thinking, and a deep understanding of your brand that open source AI cannot replicate (yet).

A content marketing agency collaborates with you to learn your multifamily brand inside-out, capturing its essence, voice, and values. They can personalize your content, crafting messaging that aligns precisely with your target audience’s needs and preferences. 

Our team of experienced content writers utilizes the AI writing platform to effectively use our client’s monthly hours, utilizing AI-generated content as a starting point for us to refine, polish, and add a human touch. 

This combination of AI and human collaboration allows us to generate content quicker and more efficiently, ensuring it meets the highest quality, accuracy, and engagement standards. 

Plus, studies have shown that extensive editing is often required for AI-written content. A study by iPullRank and MarketMuse revealed that less than 2% of survey respondents (fellow marketers) leave the AI content as-is after it’s generated. 98% edit the content for grammar, subject matter expertise, accuracy, and bias.

So, while the platform offers tremendous value, partnering with a content marketing agency takes your brand’s content strategy to the next level, ensuring a personalized, effective, and impactful approach that resonates with your audience.

The AI Writing Tool That’s Changing the Marketing Game

Incorporating open source AI into your digital content marketing strategy can offer speed, efficiency, and fresh ideas to enhance your content creation process. It empowers marketers to quickly generate a high content volume, optimize for search engines, and engage their audience effectively. 

However, while AI can produce blogs, emails, and even website content, it is not on par with humans in writing strong content. This is because AI cannot add the right context, elements of interest, or nuance to a story. 

The takeaway? AI and intelligence tools are growing fast, but they have not overtaken humans’ abilities when it comes to certain tasks.

Want to see the effect the human touch can have on your content? Book a call with Criterion.B now. We’ll get started on your customized strategy and show you how to BEAT your competition with real-life, human-generated content personalized to your business and audience. We’re ready to chat and answer your questions about our content marketing service.

Leveraging Emotion for Effective Multifamily Digital Marketing

In the swift-moving world of digital advertising, we are accustomed to swiping right and left (up, down, and around) through countless disruptive ads as we navigate our day. But let’s take a moment to swipe back to the soul of advertising and the emotional connections.

Every ad generates an emotional response, because everything we encounter in life generates an instinctive emotional response.

Today’s digital marketing world yields enormous ads at an extraordinary pace, often making it hard for the average human to digest even one advertisement. As promoters face pressures to meet deadlines and provide the lowest word count possible, the art of telling stories that inspire emotion seems to decline.

What does this mean for today’s digital advertising world in the multifamily market?

How to Use Emotion Effectively in Digital Advertising

Attention spans are shorter than ever. So, how do you slow someone down long enough to make an emotional connection?

Understand Your Target Audience

Before diving into emotional advertising, it is crucial to have a deep understanding of your target audience. Identify their aspirations, desires, pain points, and values. Conduct thorough market research, gather insights from existing residents, and create buyer personas to understand their emotional triggers comprehensively. This knowledge will serve as the foundation for crafting compelling digital campaigns.

Tell Authentic Stories

Storytelling is a powerful tool that appeals to emotions and establishes a connection with the audience. Rather than focusing solely on promoting features and amenities, weave captivating narratives that resonate with your target audience’s dreams and aspirations. Showcase real stories of residents and their experiences, highlighting how living in your multifamily community has positively impacted their lives. Authentic stories foster trust, create an emotional connection, and differentiate your property from competitors.

Evoke Positive Emotions

Tap into positive emotions that align with your multifamily community’s lifestyle and experience. Incorporate elements that evoke joy, excitement, comfort and a sense of belonging. Showcase vibrant and relatable visuals that depict happy residents enjoying the amenities, community events, or engaging in social interactions. By creating a positive emotional association, you can generate interest and enthusiasm among potential residents.

Inspire Word-of-Mouth

When people hear a great story, they look for an opportunity to tell it again — to someone new. (They might even tweak it just a little.) We like things that make us feel warm and fuzzy inside. And we even get gratification from passing that feeling along to others.

Would you be likelier to watch a video advertisement or a video your best friend shared on Facebook? Word-of-mouth is powerful; it slows people down and builds connections.

Capture Them in Three Seconds

It only takes a few seconds to set up a story, but that story could have lasting hours of impact and conversation. Capture your audience in the first three seconds; they may slow down their scroll long enough to tune in.

Address Pain Points and Offer Solutions

Emotionally-driven advertising also involves acknowledging and addressing pain points your target audience may be experiencing. Identify their challenges or frustrations when searching for an ideal living space and present your multifamily community as the solution. Highlight how your property addresses its concerns, such as security, convenience, community, or flexible lease options. By empathizing with their pain points and offering viable solutions, you establish an emotional connection built on trust and understanding.

Utilize Compelling Visuals and Design

In the digital realm, visuals are crucial in conveying emotions effectively. Incorporate high-quality, captivating imagery that showcases your multifamily property’s ambiance, aesthetics, and unique features. Infuse the visuals with warmth, comfort, and elements that resonate with your target audience’s desired lifestyle. Additionally, pay attention to the design elements of your digital ads, ensuring they evoke the intended emotions and are consistent with your brand identity.

Incorporate Calls-to-Action (CTAs)

While emotional advertising focuses on forging connections, it is essential to guide potential residents toward taking action. Include clear and compelling calls to action in your digital ads, inviting prospects to schedule a tour, request more information, or explore available floor plans. Combining emotional appeal with actionable next steps increases the likelihood of converting prospects into residents.

Forge Deeper Connections in Digital Multifamily Marketing

In the digital multifamily advertising landscape, leveraging emotion is a powerful way to connect with your target audience on a deeper level. You can create impactful digital campaigns that resonate with potential residents by understanding your audience and telling authentic stories. Harnessing the power of emotion in your advertising efforts will differentiate your multifamily community and foster a genuine connection that drives conversions and long-term resident satisfaction.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Social Media Interaction

Long gone are the days of stranger danger. Well, at least that’s true if you’re doing social media for multifamily. Nowadays, it is common — and almost expected — for an organization to interact with its customers, employees, and community online.

Multifamily professionals must engage and connect with their audience online to establish an authentic and interactive brand presence.

While social media for multifamily is an excellent tool for building your brand, it is essential to follow specific rules of interaction to ensure that your social media marketing efforts are practical. 

Here are our top rules for marketing social media for apartments:

Rule #1: Use Humor Sparingly

Take a look at Whataburger’s Twitter account (@whataburger). You don’t have to be a writer for Saturday Night Live to run a strong Twitter account; sometimes, you must be a bit random. Whataburger focuses on how depressing life would be without it. 

Regarding social media for apartments, showing a little personality and personalizing your property’s feed is essential. It allows you to be seen as more approachable and have more engagement with your residents, potential residents, and the community.

Humor can be an excellent tool for engaging your audience and creating a fun and friendly brand image. However, it is important to use humor sparingly and appropriately. Always consider your target audience and avoid offensive or insensitive content. Keep your humor light and relevant to your brand and community.

Rule #2: Don’t Be Afraid of Negativity

In the multifamily industry, negativity is plentiful online. Sometimes things don’t go as planned with your property, and you may receive a bad review online. Don’t worry. Instead, think about how you want to respond.

In almost every case, it’s the best strategy for companies to reply to these reviews and address the problem with a possible solution. What’s impressive about social media and the Internet in general is that you can talk one-on-one, so reach out to them. The reviewer’s negative experience may shed light on a more significant problem, which, once discovered, can be resolved so that higher-quality service can be experienced by all.

When potential residents surf the net for a place to live, they look at reviews. While bad reviews may affect their choices, properties engaging with reviews and offering solutions to the negativity will reassure them.

Rule #3: Use More Than One Brain

“Two brains are better than one” is not exclusively used for academic endeavors. One of our favorite social media accounts is Vogue’s Instagram account. They always have beautiful photos, and they’re not afraid to collaborate.

They’ve reposted photos and had budding artists take over their accounts, and they’ve done all this while sticking true to the core of their brand. For your multifamily marketing, you can collaborate with the community to showcase events, people, and issues that connect your property with your audience.

Collaboration is crucial when it comes to multifamily social media marketing. When creating content, property managers should work with the entire team to ensure that all aspects of the community are represented accurately. This may include input from the leasing agents, maintenance team, and residents.

Collaboration is also essential when managing social media accounts. Ensure you have a designated social media team responsible for managing and responding to social media inquiries and comments. Ensure that all team members are on the same page and understand the overall strategy for social media marketing.

Rule #4: Be Timely

Posting timely is a critical rule for social media marketing for multifamily apartments. Your content should be relevant and timely to your audience. For example, if there is an upcoming event in your community, post about it beforehand to encourage residents to attend. Also, consider current events and trending topics when creating content to stay relevant and connected with your audience.

Sometimes, we don’t do things on time. And that’s okay. However, with all social media, time is of the essence, so don’t be like that friend who tells you “Happy Birthday” a month late. If someone mentions you in a tweet, and you decide to favorite all mentions as a company, handle it immediately. More likely than not, it will make that person smile because getting some love from one of your favorite companies is always excellent.

Rule #5: Focus on Quality, Not Quantity

High-quality content is essential when it comes to social media for apartments. Your posts should be visually appealing, easy to read, and informative. Always use high-quality images and graphics to enhance your content. Ensure all posts are proofread and edited before posting to ensure the content is error-free and professional.

Rule #6: Respond to Residents

Social media for apartments is all about engagement, and it’s important to respond promptly to comments and messages. This helps build a positive relationship with your audience and demonstrates that you are attentive and responsive to their needs.

Remember to check your notifications (and message requests folder) regularly. Read, respond, and engage with your residents online daily. This shows them that you are not just a “posting machine” on social media but that you care about them.

Rule #7: Encourage User-Generated Content

Encouraging user-generated content is an excellent way to increase engagement on social media. Asking residents to share photos or stories about their experiences in your apartment community can create a sense of community and authenticity. Be sure to repost and share user-generated content to encourage further engagement.

Rule #8: Monitor Your Online Reputation

It’s essential to monitor your online reputation on social media. Be sure to respond to negative comments or reviews promptly and professionally, addressing any concerns or issues. This demonstrates that you take your residents’ feedback seriously and are committed to resolving any problems that may arise.

Rule #9: Be Consistent

Consistency is vital when it comes to your social media marketing. Be sure to post regularly and consistently to establish a routine and keep your audience engaged. Also, ensure that your multifamily brand messaging and visual style are consistent across all social media marketing platforms to create a cohesive apartment brand image.

By following these additional social media marketing interaction rules, property managers can create a strong and effective strategy that engages their audience and builds a positive multifamily brand image.

It’s Time to Take Digital Multifamily Marketing Seriously

Most digital marketers can probably relate to this social situation: Someone asks what you do for a living. After explaining that you work in multifamily digital marketing, the inquisitor follows up with some variation: “So, you play around on Facebook all day?”

Social media for multifamily vendors and developments, in particular, gets a bad reputation, with some business owners refusing even to acknowledge social platforms as legitimate marketing channels.

But if you think digital marketing is just fluff and noise, you are missing out on low-cost campaigns with great returns on investment that traditional marketing cannot compete with. Most businesses fail to realize that digital marketing offers more measurable value than traditional methods.

How a Company Generated $2M From One Blog

Over the years, blogging has transformed from a forum for teenagers into an affordable multifamily lead generation tool. To understand how this transformation occurred, let’s first examine how the internet has changed consumer behavior.

With a digital information repository at your fingertips, today’s consumers are more educated than ever. Gone are the days of visiting a store to speak to an expert or asking neighbors for referrals. Everything from pricing to reviews is found with a simple search.

No matter what industry or consumers you serve, customers have questions, and you can guess where they go for their answers — Google. So, how can you take advantage of this? By answering those questions on your company’s blog or FAQ page.

Marcus Sheridan, one of the earliest content marketing proponents, generated $2 million for River Pool & Spas when he published a blog post on the company’s website answering a simple question: “How much does a fiberglass pool cost?”

What did the blog post cost him? A half-hour of his time and maybe some web analytics tools? We’ll take that ROI.

According to Tech Client, businesses have a 434% higher chance of a high ranking on search engines if they feature blogs as part of their website. Additionally, HubSpot found that companies that implement blogging into their content marketing strategy receive 67% more leads than those that do not.

Content marketing might seem pretty straightforward, but like any marketing campaign, it is important to have a strategy. For most businesses, you are not blogging just to blog; you create content to drive your marketing funnel.

Social Media’s Biggest Value-Add for Business

Multifamily owners often ask, “Is social media a legitimate way to generate multifamily leads?” But those owners might be asking the wrong question.

The value of social media is not measured in leads, but rather, it is measured through customer experience. According to Forrester data, a relationship exists between customer experience and stock price. People are willing to pay a premium cost for the experience with a brand.

Additionally, improving customer experience can save your company big bucks. In fact, Sprint saves $1.7 billion each year by determining and mitigating the root cause of customer dissatisfaction from calls made to its contact center.

And as it turns out, social media is crucial to improving customer experience. The internet allows word-of-mouth communication to spread easier than ever, both positive and negative.

In the multifamily industry, for example, negative commentary from residents is commonly found across social media and online review sites such as Yelp, Twitter, and Google business pages. Residents who are frustrated with a property’s maintenance issues or poor customer service often express those feelings publicly online. How a multifamily property responds will determine how a negative comment affects your business.

However, each part of your marketing strategy should fit into one cohesive piece. Your website, social media presence, user experience, customer experience, etc., should work harmoniously to establish a successful inbound marketing plan.

You Must Talk Marketing ROI (4 Key Takeaways)

As marketers, we are constantly faced with the battle of justifying ourselves and our multifamily marketing agency’s role in a company’s ROI. We must always find ways to prove to CEOs that marketing contributes to the bottom line. 

But how? 

Here are 4 ways to convince multifamily owners and CEOS that marketing ROI matters.

1. Be relevant — set SMART goals.

Do you find yourself constantly sharing statistics that discuss retweets, follows, visits to the website, etc.?

These stats are important, but if you have not established true goals and understand how and if your work is contributing to the bottom line, STOP IT! It’s time to set up your SMART goals, communicate with your sales team, and start being relevant to what is most important to the CEO and company: ROI.

2. Play offense, not defense. 

Believe it or not, about 69% of CEOs believe that marketing is a waste of time, money, and resources. To stay on the offense, you must clearly define your goals, ensure that sales and marketing are happy, and discuss the purpose behind your goals.

3. Always go after the 3 Hs.

• Head – Explain your plan of action. Defend your strategies with case studies, numbers, etc. Win over your team with proof!
• Heart – If people aren’t truly vested in your idea with their heart, you will lose them. Find out what’s important to them and how to tie your new goals to theirs.
• Hands – Now that you’ve won over your team, you’ve got to get them to get back to (or start) work! Play out those call-to-actions.

4. Prepare to show your medal.

In business, you will fight many battles. You will be criticized and put through the wringer. But, at the end, these obstacles will refine your character — just like a medal has to go through fire to be reshaped and altered.

Take risks and be the change that will keep your organization moving forward.

Generative AI vs. Human Writers: Why You Need BOTH in Your Strategy

By now, you’ve likely heard about OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other chatbot artificial intelligence tools.

And if you haven’t heard of these AI writing tools yet, settle in and don’t skim over the good parts of this blog because this one is important. 

Generative AI has taken the marketing world by storm. With advancements in natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning, AI copywriting has become an increasingly popular tool for any business to interact with its customers — and the multifamily market is no exception to this growing trend. 

AI-powered writing tools, in particular, are a leading example of how generative AI is changing the marketing world. But while these tools can automate some multifamily marketing processes, human writers and editors are still essential. 

Why? ChatGPT might be revolutionizing how you handle content marketing, but did you know it isn’t always factual? Did you know some generative AI content is considered plagiarism?

We ALL have our limits, and that includes AI writing tools. We found those limits and think sharing them is important so you can utilize ChatGPT (and similar tools) to support your apartment marketing efforts the RIGHT way.

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT stands for “Chat Generated Pre-Trained Transformer” and is an AI-powered chatbot that utilizes an NLP model developed by OpenAI. It uses machine learning algorithms to analyze vast amounts of data to generate content that reads as if a human wrote it. 

Since ChatGPT launched in November 2022, the world hasn’t stopped talking about it. There are many use cases and ideas, but we haven’t seen enough comprehensive use cases to leverage it in multifamily marketing. 

Generative AI Tools and Industry Growth

The generative AI market is booming, with over 2,000 tools now available to help businesses create content, streamline workflows, and innovate across industries. The rapid expansion of this market is fueled by growing interest in AI-driven solutions and substantial investment. In fact, between 2022 and 2023, total investment in generative AI skyrocketed by an astounding 407%. Let’s explore some of the leading tools driving this transformation:

• ChatGPT (OpenAI): A widely used conversational AI tool capable of generating text, answering queries, and assisting with creative projects.
• Google Bard: An advanced conversational AI by Google that excels in generating detailed responses and explanations.
• Gemini (Google DeepMind): Combines generative AI capabilities with Google’s vast knowledge graph for nuanced and reliable responses.
• AlphaCode (DeepMind): A coding-specific AI designed to assist developers in writing and debugging software.
• GitHub Copilot: Powered by OpenAI, this tool enhances coding efficiency by providing contextual suggestions and code snippets.
• Peppertype: Offers content templates for writing articles, meta descriptions, and marketing emails.
• Rytr: Creates SEO-optimized titles, blog posts, emails, and advertisements with a focus on ease of use.
• Jasper: A content generator tailored for marketing teams, featuring multi-language support, collaboration tools, and content templates.
• Copy.ai: Focused on content marketing, this tool generates blog posts, social media updates, and email campaigns.
• MidJourney: A leading AI tool for generating stunning visual designs and artwork.
• Stability AI: Known for developing tools like Stable Diffusion, specializing in high-quality image generation.

A Market on the Rise

The generative AI industry is experiencing unprecedented growth, attracting interest from businesses across sectors. From crafting marketing content to automating repetitive tasks, these tools offer transformative potential. With investment levels surging and innovation accelerating, generative AI is poised to reshape how we approach creativity, productivity, and problem-solving.

Whether you’re a marketer, developer, or business leader, understanding and leveraging generative AI tools can provide a significant edge in today’s competitive landscape. As the market evolves, staying informed and experimenting with these technologies will be key to unlocking their full potential.

ChatGPT by the numbers

• On March 14, 2023, OpenAI launched GPT-4 technology in the ChatGPT Plus Plan, which allows it to generate 25,000+ words in output. As well the model understands 26 languages.
• ChatGPT reached one million users within a week of its launch and 57 million monthly users in the first month.
• ChatGPT crossed the 100 million users milestone in January 2023.
• 13 million individual active users visited ChatGPT per day as of  January 2023.
• Microsoft invested $10 billion in OpenAI, gaining 46% of the company’s stake. OpenAI received $ 1 billion from Microsoft in the initial stages of development.
• ChatGPT owner OpenAI predicts that by the end of 2024, they will generate revenue of $1 billion. $200 million in revenue is expected by the end of 2023.

The benefits of AI-powered writing tools

The primary advantage of ChatGPT is its ability to produce large volumes of content quickly and efficiently. This makes it an ideal tool for marketers and content creators who must quickly produce a high content volume. Additionally, ChatGPT can provide marketers with fresh ideas and perspectives on a given topic, helping them to create more engaging and compelling content.

Regarding blog writing and marketing, generative AI is an excellent tool for generating ideas and starting the writing process. By providing a prompt, such as a topic or a keyword, ChatGPT can quickly generate several paragraphs of text that can serve as a jumping-off point for further refinement by a human writer or editor.

Moreover, ChatGPT can help marketers create optimized content for search engines, which is essential for driving website traffic. ChatGPT can suggest keywords and phrases that can improve a blog’s search engine ranking by analyzing search queries and content related to a given topic.

7 limitations of AI in digital multifamily marketing

While generative AI offers several benefits, it is important to understand its limitations. ChatGPT’s writing is generated based on algorithms and statistical patterns, so it may not always capture the nuance or tone that a human writer could convey. ChatGPT also has limited knowledge of cultural and contextual factors that may impact how a specific audience receives content.

Additionally, ChatGPT may struggle to generate content for complex or technical topics requiring high expertise. In these cases, relying on a human writer or editor with the necessary knowledge and experience to create high-quality content may be more effective.

1. AI lacks creativity and personalization.

Despite the many advantages of ChatGPT, human writers and editors are still necessary in today’s marketing world. Human writers bring a level of creativity and personalization to their writing that AI-powered tools cannot match. They can inject personality and voice into their writing that resonates with their audience and helps to build a connection with them.

Furthermore, human writers and editors can provide a level of quality control that AI-powered tools cannot match. They can review content generated by ChatGPT to ensure that it is accurate, engaging, and error-free. They can also ensure that the tone and style of the writing are consistent with the brand’s voice and values.

When you compare content written by AI vs. a human, AI doesn’t have a lot of creativity or personality. Take the following paragraphs as an example. One was generated by AI, and the other by me (the Manager of Content at Criterion.B). I wrote a few paragraphs about web design — specifically, the No. 1 mistake marketers make when building or redesigning their websites. 

After writing my version of the topic, I asked ChatGPT to “Write a couple of paragraphs about the No. 1 mistake marketers make when building or redesigning a website.”

Here is my take on the results:

I ran both pieces of content through a plagiarism checker. My content had 0% duplicate content. Meanwhile, 5% of the AI-generated content was considered plagiarism. 

Additionally, as you can see, my content was much more informal, specific, and personalized. The AI-generated content (while it is good content) is much more formal, structured, and even a little bit stale in comparison.

While it’s not a bad paragraph and could be used in a blog somewhere, imagine an entire blog written using ChatGPT and how it would sound. The AI-generated content is a bit heavier to read, which could lead to a higher bounce rate over time if all your content is AI-generated.

2. AI lacks originality (possible plagiarism alert!)

ChatGPT is not your content creation savior. Sure, it’s powerful and helpful, and maybe the tool will improve significantly in the months and years to come. But for now: relying on ChatGPT for ALL of your content is a disaster waiting to happen.

AI learns from existing content on the web, so it replicates what is already out there. This means it could be a literal copy of something else online. (See the above example where the AI-generated content had 5% plagiarized content.)

3. AI utilizes an outdated learning model.

Generative AI cannot always provide the correct answers. Did you know that some content from ChatGPT and other writing tools is inaccurate information? This is because AI pulls data from top ranking articles or from what it can find online, so the stats you might see in your content might be inaccurate, outdated, and likely inaccurate. Think about the disclaimer provided in all generative AI results about how it’s “experimental” and users should always fact-check the results.

4. AI lacks emotional intelligence.

AI may be able to simulate human writing, but it lacks emotional intelligence. Human writers and editors can use their emotional intelligence to understand customer needs and write specific content centered around those needs. Emotional intelligence is crucial to successful multifamily marketing, as customers are more likely to engage with a business that understands their needs and values.

5. AI does not know your brand voice.

Every business has a unique brand voice and tone representing its personality and values. Human writers and editors are essential for maintaining and developing a consistent brand voice across all apartment marketing channels. Artificial intelligence tools may be able to write blogs, emails, and website content, but they cannot understand your authentic brand voice. ChatGPT has a lack of context, so AI is not recommended to be used by businesses. The bottom line: Generative AI does not know your business like you do.

6. AI content has errors.

We are all human (except AI, ha!) and make mistakes. But when you rely on an AI writing tool to generate content for you, you expect it to be nearly flawless. Or, at the very least, free from major errors.

I’ve been testing ChatGPT and other writing tools like Jasper.ai for several months and discovered the content is riddled with errors. Everything from run-on sentences and passive writing to missing punctuation and duplicate content.

Consider the below example. Jasper.ai generated the first paragraph and includes a variety of grammatical errors. While these errors are insignificant, they are still errors that would not be there had human-generated content. Then, compare the “After” paragraph, which is the same AI-generated content that was then edited by me (an actual human editor). Notice the difference in the paragraph’s flow, clarity, and readability. 

Although Google doesn’t penalize grammar and spelling outright, the bots that scan your content may find it harder to understand what the page or article is about, which could result in lower page rankings and perceived credibility.

7. AI content is not guaranteed to rank well.

Fun fact: Google doesn’t love AI-generated content. Google did release its own AI writing tool, Bard, so the space may change in the coming months and years, but for now, Google can sniff out AI content a mile away. 

And did you know that Google punishes AI-generated content? That means anything a chatbot spits out will NOT boost your apartment SEO ranking. In fact, it’ll actually hurt it.

How will AI affect search? 

Quality still matters over quantity. Just because ChatGPT can help you crank out more content does not mean you will rank well for those pieces. You need an SEO expert to help you rank and strategize effectively.

ChatGPT content lacks EEAT (expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trust). You need this in your content to do well in Google search engine result pages (SERP).

Google provides users with TONS of answers to their queries based on SEO strategies, keywords, backlinks, etc.

A chatbot provides one singular answer. Just one answer. How does the chatbot know the ONE answer to that query? Is bias involved? What if they pulled inaccurate information for the answer? Consider these questions when using ChatGPT, Jasper.ai, Bard, and other tools to help generate answers to your queries and content for your blog.

Will AI replace humans? 

No! Remember, ChatGPT requires human editing. Effective apartment marketing requires tapping into the human element, which is something AI can’t do (yet). Natural language processing could change this in the years to come, but for now, ChatGPT is more of a stepping-off point for your content.

Marketers should harness AI to help batch-create content and save time, then use human editing to refine, hone, and detail the pieces. That’s how you create quality content that resonates. The key is to use AI for what it does best and supplement it with strategic human input.

How to beat your competition at the content marketing game.

So … outdated content, factual errors, plagiarism, and no guarantee of good SEO? That’s not a great recipe for your digital marketing strategy if you ask me.

ChatGPT is an excellent tool to start the writing process, but it should be viewed as a jumping-off point rather than a complete replacement for human writers.

There’s no replacement for human ingenuity. Over the next year or so, AI-generated content will explode. ChatGPT has changed everything, and it’s made everyone (including your competition) think they can pump out a bunch of content without their audience noticing.

But what happens when Google evaluates that content? It will notice the lack of originality. It will read like a robot wrote it — because a robot did! That’s what your competition is going to do. And what’s the best way to compete with your competition? Beat them at the content marketing game!

Want to see the effect the human touch can have on your content? Book a call with Criterion.B now. We’ll get started on your customized strategy and show you how to BEAT your competition with real-life, human-generated content personalized to your business and audience. We’re ready to chat and answer your questions!

Exploring the Benefits and Drawbacks of Hiring an Inbound Multifamily Marketing

Should I hire an inbound marketing agency? This is a question that comes up naturally as businesses discover the inbound process.

Inbound marketing is a complex and intensive marketing methodology that offers a strong ROI when implemented but can be difficult to navigate. While several businesses opt to utilize the inbound methodology in-house, many others prefer to employ an inbound marketing agency.

As an inbound marketing agency, we admit to being biased in this area. However, the points can be viewed objectively despite this.

The Complexity of Multifamily Inbound Marketing

To take on a multifamily inbound marketing approach, you must first understand what it takes to run a successful campaign. A campaign is comprised of multiple bits and pieces working together to accomplish a specific goal. That goal may vary but should still utilize the same fundamental resources and tools.

Being fundamentally content-focused, people need clarification on multifamily inbound marketing with content marketing. In reality, inbound is much more complex. This methodology utilizes content but relies on a strategy to target that content and use tools like forms, landing pages, and offers to gather pertinent information from prospects to convert them.  

The success of inbound content, however, is dependent on other aspects. For example, comprehensive knowledge of your buyer persona’s journey and lead qualification for your business is important. Without these factors, your content could fail to attract the desired audience. Or, you may be able to attract the audience but fail to convert and qualify them properly due to asking the wrong questions.

Items like content creation are also heavily dependent on the processes you have in place. Without methods and consistency, you could fail to build a strong foundation. This, in turn, could impact the success of any ongoing campaigns you choose to operate.

What does this mean for your multifamily inbound marketing endeavors? Potentially nothing. Or potentially everything. Several businesses can adopt and enact inbound with great success. Others try and end up using an inbound marketing agency or abandoning this process altogether. The most important factor in your outcome is the level to which you understand the complexities of this strategy.

Taking the Inbound Marketing Agency Approach

If you choose to take the inbound marketing agency route, there are many things to consider:

Pros

• Bringing an inbound marketing agency on board means having a team of experts to help guide and execute your strategy. This often means less error and higher efficiency.
• Hiring a team rather than an individual means having the best of the best to generate your content, including designers, writers, and strategists.
• Utilizing a multifamily marketing agency allows you to focus on other business factors.
• Using a team of experts ensures that all knowledge in the field is current and up to date.

Cons

• An inbound marketing agency has the perception of being more expensive than in-house marketers. In reality, if you require hiring a team to implement your strategy, it might be comparable in cost. However, agency retainers tend to cause sticker shock.
• When working with an inbound marketing agency, communication gaps may exist. An agency will need time to develop knowledge in your field and to execute your needs, as they are away from the office with you.
• Negotiating project scope can be challenging, as agencies must balance their work with other clients. This means that issues may arise when a project is underestimated in hours. This could impact the project and/or your costs.
• Agencies require kick-off time to educate themselves on your industry. They must learn about your company to ensure your marketing system is in place.

Taking Inbound In-House

Taking multifamily inbound marketing in-house can be tempting, but this approach has several positive and negative factors.

Pros

• In-house marketing communication is much simpler and quicker. You will not have to onboard an agency or worry about passing along the correct information. Instead, the team working on the marketing is local and aware.
• Using a marketing manager or a small in-house team means more easily aligning your strategy with other business efforts.
• An in-house team may be able to implement strategy more quickly because there’s no learning curve.
• Your team controls the related decisions, successes, or failures.

Cons

• This type of marketing takes time to learn and even more time to perfect. This can be difficult for a team to start.
• Paying a salaried staff may cost as much if not more, than a monthly retainer.
• If key staff members leave, much training is lost, and replacements may have a different knowledge base.
• Your staff will have a different skill depth than professionals to produce top content and design.
• An in-house team may also be spread too thin, especially starting. Without a full team, your in-house department will likely wear multiple hats.

The Deciding Factor

If things look pretty even to you now, they are. Choosing an in-house team vs. an inbound marketing agency is simple enough for some companies based on their needs. For others, it’s too early to determine which will work best for their company. What is the best thing to do when choosing? Remember your goals, timeline, budget, and plans for scalability to determine which options will meet and support your business.

The True Cost of Doing Inbound In-House

Many businesses need help with the choice of choosing an agency vs. doing the inbound marketing in-house. Some factors impact the success of each option. However, what most businesses need to take into account is cost.

When we discuss cost, we don’t necessarily mean the monetary costs of running a campaign (though that certainly is a component). Instead, we mean non-monetary costs like time, resources, staff training, etc. Knowing the significance of these costs on an organization is challenging when deciding which option is best for you.

To understand this, you must first know what your costs are or will be.

Hiring and Training an Apartment Marketing Team

The highest cost to companies looking to do inbound marketing in-house is staffing. This impacts teams without a marketing department and those with an established one. Businesses’ most significant concern is bringing a team to use a new strategy like inbound or finding the talent to implement it.

If you already have a team, it means spending money on training. And the training and transition of your team to inbound methods can easily take months. It means hiring and onboarding new staff to implement your plan if you still need a team.

Additionally, adding staff salaries is pricey. The national average wage for a marketing manager is $74,532, per Glassdoor. If you hire a director, that salary can cost you $169,058. Then you must account for the rest of the team — designers, copywriters, strategists, and developers.

Factor in the two to three months it will take for onboarding and add that to those costs. Then consider turnover, additional hiring as needed, and additional training.

Quality and Quantity of In-House Marketing

Another factor to consider is understanding the costs related to workflow variance. There are busy times and lulls, which will impact your team’s efficiency and productivity. This can affect the overall return on your apartment marketing investment.

Quality is trickier to quantify or put a number value to directly. However, it is an equally important cost. The quality of your efforts impacts the effectiveness of your strategy. With a newer team, a dip in quality will recover over time but may cost you apartment leads or require additional efforts to meet goals. Ultimately, this means more time spent on the campaign than originally budgeted.

Managing Resources

An inbound marketing agency will have several proven resources, services, and software that are efficient in its processes. Usually, the agency covers these costs and will split and pass the cost amongst each client. However, when doing your marketing in-house, you will be forced to learn which resources work for you and cover the entire cost yourself. This will likely be more than what the agency charges you for its resources.

The reasons for this are widespread. First, you’ll likely have more trial and error associated with these resources as you learn the effectiveness of different tools over time. In addition, while an agency will pay a high cost for a high-level tool, that cost spread among many clients will mean a small cost to you. There’s also the cost of learning and developing processes for a tool. Finally, the time that goes into finding and researching a tool, learning that tool, and training staff is a cost to you.

Know Your Capabilities

While all these costs aren’t necessarily deterrents from bringing multifamily inbound marketing in-house, they are often overlooked. Therefore, when calculating the value of an inbound marketing agency vs. taking it in-house, it’s important to analyze the cost and time factors to determine the true impact on your company. You will only truly capture the differential and determine the most effective method.

Who Should Be in Charge of Social Media for Apartments?

By now, we’ve established that social media is another platform for communication.

Renters want information anytime, anywhere, and they want it at their fingertips. Their need for information is instantaneous, and social media for apartments is the only marketing source to deliver that.

Residents are increasingly connecting with properties online throughout all phases of the renting process, from research to retention. As a result, property managers need to be able to do their jobs online, requiring them to have a certain amount of autonomy. Social media for apartments presents several opportunities for leasing, multifamily marketing, and building relationships. However, it also presents many risks.

A Balancing Act Between Corporate and Property-Level Marketing

Online word of mouth and one bad resident experience can taint an apartment brand. Property managers (not just corporate) must be present, helpful, and interactive on social media to read, respond, and act on any negative resident feedback.

It’s natural for corporate management to want complete control over their properties’ online activity, as doing so would limit risk and maintain consistent apartment brand messaging across all properties. However, this isn’t realistic. 

The key to success in multifamily digital marketing lies within the property managers — they’re the ones who know their residents better than anyone else. They live and work in the communities they serve, and they’re the ones interacting with residents daily.

So, how do we balance apartment brand consistency (corporate level) and local content/personalized service (property level)? The answer is quite simple. It just calls for a little training and education.

Corporate Responsibility: Training

Resident interactions on social media must be handled at the property level. Corporate management needs to take the necessary steps to train property managers. They need to provide resources (e.g., content guidelines, tone), that property managers can customize according to their residents. Employees should feel empowered to communicate on social media — that is corporate’s responsibility.

We recommend providing your properties with standard corporate messaging via a “Voice and Tone Guide” for social media and all content marketing, allowing each property to personalize its content.

Focus on keeping messaging simple and consistent. By providing guidelines for use, you can strengthen corporate apartment branding across all properties while allowing local social media to take the shape of its own at the property level.

The most important thing to remember is that corporate training should be ongoing. Organizations like the National Apartment Association (NAA) make that easy for corporate management to implement.

The NAA Education Institute offers the National Apartment Leasing Professional Program. The course includes six modules, which corporate management can license and provide for employees, either online or in the classroom. The curriculum includes everything from monitoring your online reputation to optimizing content for search engines.

Property Responsibility: Open Communication

Successful training requires an earnest effort from each property and its employees. Without their commitment, an effective digital marketing strategy is impossible to implement.

The property manager must consult their regional or national corporate representative anytime they have questions, feedback, or insight regarding social media use.

Corporate management should serve as a resource for properties and vice versa. Property managers should provide feedback on local apartment marketing efforts (What works, what doesn’t?). They should also be able to ask corporate representatives for help in unfamiliar situations and provide them with insights from their resident community.

Open communication is the key to balancing strong apartment brand messaging on social media with local personality and service.

Tying It All Together

To sum it up, here are some common threads in establishing multifamily brand development and character: A customer-centric approach is essential to the success of any multifamily digital marketing effort, whether that’s differentiating your property, meeting millennial expectations, designing your multifamily website, and so on. The most successful properties are capitalizing on the relationship-building attributes of social media for apartments and intercepting prospective renters in the places they’re already searching.

Technology is fast-changing the apartment marketing environment, and it’s up to you to respond or risk falling behind.

Is the Paradox of Consumer Choice Still Valid?

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the number of product choices available today? Whether it’s cars or toothpaste, consumers have more choices than ever. Sometimes, all these choices can leave you feeling confused or even regretful when you finally make a buying decision. This idea has been called the “Paradox of Choice,” and it impacts apartment marketing more than you think.

The Paradox of Choice

More than a decade ago, the Paradox of Choice was a popular consumer behavior theory, debunking the old idea that more is better. Instead, more choices — too many, in fact — overwhelm shoppers and create anxiety. Ultimately, these shoppers walk away without a purchase because they could not decide or they feel deep buyer’s remorse: “Ugh, I could have picked something better!”

Consequently, some companies simplify product choices to avoid this conundrum. Think of Apple’s product branding and packaging motif: clean, simple, and minimalistic. The company uses only a limited spectrum of bright colors, and the latest and greatest Apple products and iPhones typically come in up to four quintessential colors, not ten.

Regarding logistics, McDonald’s and several other fast food chains have cut several items from their menus. According to McDonald’s, people take longer to order when an extensive menu holds up lines.

The Internet: More Choices, Easier Decisions?

With smartphones in hand, the internet gives us access to more product choices than ever before. Yet, it has also adapted in wildly creative and efficient ways to help us sort through (literally) millions of options.

The question remains: does the Paradox of Choice still apply? Are consumers still overwhelmed by all the options today — or have “hundreds of options” become a natural part of the consumer process?

Yelp and Consumer Reviews

On any given day, you have hundreds of restaurant choices (overwhelming, right!?). However, today with sites like Yelp, you can capture the opinions of thousands of consumers in a single star rating (e.g., 4.5 out of 5 stars). Read in-depth reviews, see first-hand photos, and check the credibility of the reviewers. With hundreds of restaurant choices in your area, you can then sort and select them based on multiple criteria (e.g., ratings, cost, type of cuisine, etc.).

The “Yelp model” can be found in other forms (e.g., TripAdvisor) and on any retailer site. It helps us quickly sort through countless product options and make an informed consumer decision. Consumer review sites seem to make the Paradox of Choice much less daunting and, for some, quite enjoyable.

Contextual Advertising

With contextual advertising, consumers receive coupons and promotions based on their location. This advertising trend is quickly growing as our GPS location determines which digital ads might be relevant to us.

In theory, ads for nearby businesses can be pushed out to consumers as they get close. For example, a coupon for a local restaurant appears on my phone as I come within the vicinity. That restaurant, for the moment, becomes both top-of-mind and incentivized. As contextual advertising becomes more prevalent, consumers will be served relevant options without even seeking them out.

Equally impressive, geo-tracking also filters search results according to your location. Google’s Shopping tab notes nearby stores and their distances for your items. A hundred places may have your items, but most of us will only consider buying at the stores closer by. We narrow our choices depending on proximity, and geo-tracking helps us do that.

How It Impacts Apartment Marketing

How does the Paradox of Choice impact the multifamily housing market? With so many options available, it can be overwhelming for renters to choose where they want to live. The Paradox of Choice makes it difficult for renters to decide where they want to live and can lead to them becoming disengaged and uninterested in the options available to them. This presents a problem for apartment marketing, creative advertising, and brand development.

To overcome this challenge, creative advertising and brand development in the apartment market must focus on simplifying the decision-making process for consumers. This can be achieved through effective messaging and branding that emphasizes the unique selling points and benefits of each community or building. By highlighting what sets a particular community or building apart from the competition, it can help consumers to see the value in choosing that option.

Additionally, apartment marketing should aim to create an emotional connection with consumers. Using compelling images, stories, and testimonials can humanize the experience of living in a particular community or building. Connecting with residents emotionally can help overcome the confusion and indecision caused by the Paradox of Choice.

Finally, apartment marketing must be flexible and adaptive to changing market conditions to remain relevant and effective. This can be achieved through ongoing research, market analysis, and developing new apartment marketing strategies and tactics.

Is the Paradox of Choice a Hindrance or a Benefit for Multifamily?

While the Paradox of Choice may seem to hinder the multifamily market, it can also have several benefits. Firstly, it creates healthy competition among communities and buildings. With more options available, communities and buildings must work harder to stand out from the competition and offer something truly unique to attract renters. This can lead to better amenities, more creative apartment marketing strategies, and a better living experience for renters.

Additionally, the Paradox of Choice pushes the line of creative advertising in the multifamily market. To stand out from the competition, communities, and buildings must develop new and innovative ways to market themselves to renters. This can result in more creative and engaging advertising campaigns, which can more effectively capture potential renters’ attention.

Finally, the Paradox of Choice offers renters more choices in where they want to live. Renters are no longer limited to a few communities or buildings in their area; they can now choose from various options. This allows renters to find a community or building that truly fits their needs and lifestyle, leading to a higher satisfaction level and a better living experience.

Answering the Big Question

Is the Paradox of Choice still valid with the tools that the internet has enabled? Is having more choices making us more anxious? In the realm of consumer products, we don’t think so. Yes, we have more choices, but we are better at sorting through it all. Ratings, reviews, geo-track: It helps us find the diamond among the rocks of products and services. With so many tools accessible at the click of a button and tap of a finger, more choices mean no problem!

Unlocking the Mystery Behind Email Marketing for Apartments

Email marketing is one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways for apartment communities to reach their residents and grow their email lists. Email marketing lets you stay in touch with your residents, keep them informed about special events or promotions, and increase resident loyalty. 

It’s also an incredibly valuable tool for engaging potential renters who may be interested in leasing in your community. However, email marketing success depends on various factors, including open rates, click-through rates (CTRs), content quality, email design, subject lines, and more. 

In this blog post, we’ll discuss our top email marketing best practices so that you can maximize engagement from your current residents as well as attract new ones.

1. Grow your email subscriber list with lead forms.

Email list growth is key to successful email marketing. You should always use opt-in apartment lead generation forms to encourage people to join your email list. This can be done through various channels, such as email blasts, social media posts, and website CTAs. Additionally, you can work with an email marketing agency that will help you maximize the effectiveness of your campaigns. 

The best way to earn a new email is to offer the person something valuable in exchange. For example, an eBook, guide, checklist, or another valuable downloadable offer can be offered in exchange for their email.

Want to see this in action? Check out our CTA button below! You can click the landing page to see how we have this offer presented, along with our lead capture form.

2. Segment your email list.

Another email marketing tip that can be used to increase engagement is segmenting your email list. By creating tailored messages for different audiences within your email list, you can optimize the content of each email to better suit each audience’s needs. This can result in higher open rates and more relevant content being sent out.

For example, once your email list is large enough, you’ll want to segment the list by current, prospective, engaged, non-engaged, etc.

3. Monitor your email marketing analytics.

Email marketing should be tracked closely to see what is and isn’t working for your email campaigns. You should track metrics such as open rate, click-through rate (CTR), email forwards, and unsubscribes to understand your email campaigns’ performance better. 

Statistics show that email marketing continues to be one of the most successful multifamily digital marketing tactics. Email marketing has significantly risen in recent years. According to Campaign Monitor, email open rates have increased by 6% from 2020 to 2021, and email click-through rates increased by 9%. And email open rates in 2022 average 21.5%; typically, open rates between 20% and 40% are viewed as average.

This clearly indicates that email marketing is becoming an increasingly effective way for businesses and apartment communities to reach their residents.

Pay close attention to email open rates to determine the success of your subject lines. To determine your open rate, divide the number of unique opens by the number of emails sent minus those that bounced. Although it’s not always exactly accurate, open rates provide a good gauge of your engagement over time. If your open rate starts to dip, it’s a sign that you need to review your subject lines or sending frequency.

4. Pack your emails with high-quality, relevant content. 

Never (and we mean NEVER) send an email to send an email. Writing quality content that resonates with your target audience is essential for email marketing success. Ensure that emails are well written and offer valuable information to readers so they will open them in the first place. 

It’s also important to ensure that content is properly displayed on different devices, including mobile phones and tablets since most people now access their emails via their phones. 

5. Don’t stress about your email design.

Email design matters too. But not in the way you think it does.

Designing visually appealing emails with engaging images and colors CAN help keep your email list engaged, but you need to determine what is best for your audience.

What we mean by this is that you don’t always need a fancy email design to build, maintain, and grow a successful email campaign. We’ve tested this theory with designed and visually appealing email newsletters vs. a plain text html email we send to our list. In every occurrence, our email open rate and CTR were higher with the plain text email.

Our theory? People are inundated with emails every single day. Emails flood your inbox and the designed sales emails typically end up in the spam folder. Or, if the person opens it, they quickly delete it if something (the content) doesn’t grab their attention immediately.

Html text emails feel and look more personal. We started sending these emails to our list from one team member. It’s sent as a one-on-one email exchange and garners more engagement than a highly designed email.

So, next time you plan your next email campaign, we recommend A/B testing a designed email vs. html text to see what works best for your audience.

6. Subject lines are critical.

First impressions matter and that’s exactly what a subject line is. It’s arguably the most important part of your email and should talk almost as long to perfect the subject line as it does to write the whole email. 

Attention-grabbing subject lines will encourage people to open your emails instead of sending them straight to the trash bin. We treat subject lines like a landing page: Keep it straightforward, pique your audience’s interest, and don’t overwhelm your audience.

Here are a few things we’ve learned from A/B testing email subject lines:

• 60 characters MAX or no more than 9 words.
• Most email subject lines are 41-50 characters long, but the true sweet spot is 25-30.
• Punctuation is not needed.
• Sentence case is favorable.
• Emojis can be added but they should be done with intention.
• Emojis at the beginning of your subject line tend to perform better than at the end.

Our most popular subject lines:

• 3 keywords for more lease traffic
• 🚨Property SEO mistakes to avoid
• Win Yeti merch in 5 minutes
• Potential renters will love to see THIS
• Are you using this type of ad?
• This will keep leads on your website longer
• Increase open rates with this 1 tip!

After 4 months of A/B testing email subject lines, we’ve increased our overall open rate per email from 10% to 20%. Specifically, our five best-performing subject lines all had an open rate of 25%-30%.

7. Invest in email marketing automation software.

The final tip we suggest when it comes to email marketing is email automation. Automating email campaigns can save apartment communities time and money while also providing a more personalized experience for users. The key here is to provide targeted content at specific times to maximize the impact of your email marketing campaigns.

You can use platforms like Campaign Monitor, MailChimp, SharpSpring, HubSpot, and many more to help you automate your emails. The goal of automation is to make sure no lead is forgotten. You can create email workflows triggered when someone signs up for a property tour, fills out a contact form on your multifamily website, or clicks on a link in one of your email blasts.

Email marketing software will also make tracking your analytics and A/B testing content a breeze.

Get the Most Out of Your Email Campaigns

Email marketing can provide great results for apartment communities — if done correctly. Email offers an incredible opportunity to engage with current residents, attract prospects, and build renter loyalty. 

By following email marketing best practices and taking advantage of email tracking data, you can get the most out of your campaigns and see positive outcomes for your property.