6 marketing ideas for apartments to try now

How can you reach and engage renters throughout their journey?

We recently got two multifamily experts together — Esther Bonardi and Paul Yount — to get some answers. Their fun and free masterclass shared smart, efficient ways to market every moment of the renter journey.

As they tell it, the renter journey includes three key stages: look, lease and live.

The “look” stage was covered by Esther (our fearless leader at REACH and RentCafe Marketing), so that’s the focus of today’s article. But don’t worry, the rest isn’t lost! You can watch the full session recording to get both Esther and Paul’s insights.  

Keep reading to see what the renter journey looks like today, then get six marketing ideas for apartments to reach, engage and win renters while they look.   

Understanding the renter journey

You’re probably familiar with how the renter journey goes, but here’s a quick overview. Esther and Paul kicked off the session with an example renter, Tessa, which we’re using too.

Look: Tessa starts by looking for a place to live. From a quick Google search, she finds RentCafe.com, an ILS that helps her browse apartments. She also clicks on PPC ads, Google Business Profiles and organic search results until she finds her match.  

Lease: She chooses a community and asks the website chatbot a few final questions. Tessa then submits a quick, easy application. She verifies her identity, pays her fees and waits for the results. Good news! The property staff was responsive, and she’s approved. Tessa signs her lease and gets a guided move-in checklist.

Live: It’s move-in day! Tessa downloads the resident app for rent payments, maintenance requests and more. All that’s left is the opportunity to earn rewards.

The takeaway is that the renter journey has three connected stages, and every moment matters. You need marketing and customer support while renters look, lease and live.

“Too often on the property management side, we think of the customer journey in disconnected stages,” shared Esther. “But I don’t think it’s really three separate things.”  

“It’s all one workflow,” added Paul. “The customer wouldn’t say, ‘These are three separate things,’ they’d say … this is just my renter journey. We should be looking at the whole experience.”

How to market while renters look

If you’ve kept up with the latest trends, you know search is rapidly evolving. As Esther puts it … the renter search journey is more diverse than it once was.

So, how can you reach and engage renters everywhere they look? Let’s discuss six ideas for marketing apartments straight from the masterclass.

1. Create rich apartment listings

Even though search is becoming more diverse, lots of renters start their journey the same way: with a Google search. Think high-level searches like, “two-bedroom apartments in Las Vegas.”

When someone conducts that broad search, Google often shows internet listing services (ILSs) toward the top of search results. They’re popular starting points for renters, and in Google’s eyes, they have high authority.

That means rich, optimized apartment listings help you catch renters early in their search journey. Make sure to include community highlights, unit-level details, engaging media and more, so renters stay engaged once they find you.  

By the way: With flexible ILSs like RentCafe.com, you can maximize exposure without overextending your budget.

2. Run pay-per-click ads

Remember how Tessa clicked on pay-per-click (PPC) ads? That’s not a unique story. Our data says PPC ads engage and convert renters at a higher rate than traditional marketing sources.

But not all PPC ads are built the same. You need strategic, highly targeted ads, and you need to continuously track what’s working. Are you reaching the right audience and accounting for different ways they might be searching? Are they clicking through? Are they converting after they click?  

If you’re not sure where to start, think about working with a multifamily marketing agency. Experts like ours can create and manage winning PPC campaigns for you.   

3. Level up your Google Business Profile

Does your community have a Google Business Profile (GBP)? If so, is it well maintained? It should be! With an up-to-date, optimized GBP, your community can stand out in search results.

Optimized GBPs generally appear higher on the search engine results page (SERP), in what’s called the local pack. It’s a map with GBPs that Google deems most relevant to the search.

Case in point: Optimized GBPs increase brand exposure, build trust and drive traffic to your website. They can show up for renters conducting high-level searches and for renters further in their journey who might search your community by name.

Wondering how to optimize your GBP? This is another thing an experienced marketing agency can help with.

4. Optimize your website for generative engines

AI is making waves across industries, including apartment marketing. Today’s renters are using AI more and more as they search for a place to live.

This calls for generative engine optimization (GEO), which involves optimizing your website content to get ranked highly by generative search engines. With successful GEO, your site can land a spot in Google’s AI overviews, which appear at the top of search results.

To be clear: Search engine optimization (SEO) is still important. GEO is an additional tactic for reaching renters in the AI-era of search.

We recognize search tactics are challenging to keep up with, so again, you might consider working with experts who devote their time and energy to this.  

5. Add visual media everywhere

Today’s renters expect visual media. In a survey of 10,000 renters, 73% said they want interior apartment photos when searching for a new home. 83% said virtual tours of floor plans are important or very important.  

Your website, apartment listings and GBP should include visual media, such as photos and virtual tours. Better yet: That media should be multipurpose, like virtual tours that can be made into GIFs. And don’t forget to add media to your social channels … especially considering the latest wave of social media indexing.

Multipurpose media is a great way to engage and impress prospective renters. Brands like LCP Media make it easy (plus, their media is proven to convert renters).

6. Focus on fee transparency

Ok, you’ve made your community stand out with rich apartment listings, PPC ads, visual media and more, and a renter (let’s say Tessa) is ready to take the next step.

But before Tessa signs a lease, she needs to know exactly what your community costs.   

This is where fee transparency comes in. It’s showing renters every fee associated with your community upfront, including monthly rent, application fees, move-in costs and everything in-between.

This streamlines leasing and improves compliance (in some areas, disclosing fees online is required by law).

Be sure to check out RentCafe websites and RentCafe.com, which offer an intuitive cost estimate tool. Renters can adjust move-in date, lease length and services to see what they’ll be paying.

What is RentCafe Marketing?

As you’re likely gathering, we’re here to help you with all of the above. Multifamily marketing is what we do best!

RentCafe Marketing includes three aligned solutions. Each is designed to help you reach, engage and win renters, without overworking your team.

Here’s a breakdown:

• REACH by RentCafe (multifamily marketing agency)
• RentCafe.com (fast-growing, flexible ILS)
• LCP Media (powerful visual media brand)

Get more details on RentCafe Marketing here.

Watch the masterclass

Ready to get tactics for the lease and live stages? Watch the masterclass below. You don’t want to miss hearing from Paul (who also gives an introduction to RentCafe Leasing and Living).

Of course, you’ll also get to see Esther talk through the six tips shared above.   

Thanks for tuning in

Whether you read this article, watched the session recording or both, we hope you learned something new. This was an insight-packed masterclass, and Esther and Paul loved creating it for you.

If you have any questions about what was shared, don’t hesitate to reach out!