AIM: Marketing masterclass highlights & event photos from Huntington Beach

If you missed the latest Apartment Innovation and Marketing Conference (AIM), this article is for you! We’re recapping the best moments from the three-day event in Huntington Beach.

It’s always happy times connecting with clients and new faces at AIM, and this year was no different. We loved sharing the latest innovations across the REACH, RentCafe and RentCafe.com brands at our (very colorful) booth.

Our lively Cinco De Mayo event and exclusive lounge — the Happy Hub — were also big hits. But best of all were the educational sessions, especially our masterclass on the future of search.

Let’s dive into the recap … photos included.

All about AIM

AIM is an annual marketing conference designed for multifamily professionals. Informative sessions cover industry trends, new technology and ways to improve the resident leasing and living experience.

We’ve been the title sponsor for seven consecutive years, and we’re so proud of the learning opportunities, networking and fun times that each year’s event brings.

Learn more about what makes AIM special.

Marketing masterclass with REACH

Led by Esther Bonardi and Kyle Jones, our main-stage masterclass focused on the growing role of generative engine optimization (GEO) in apartment marketing.

They were joined by two knowledgeable marketers: Brooke Henderson, VP of U.S. strategic partnerships at Yext, and Melissa Brady, SVP of marketing, communications and customer experience at Fogelman Properties. 

Esther began by sharing how renters find apartments through traditional search, ILSs and PPC ads. “These are still relevant — and they’re going to be around for a while — but the newest thing is AI and generative search,” she said. “Generative engines give us the opportunity to get in front of renters earlier in the journey.”

Kyle went on to define GEO for attendees, referencing familiar platforms like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot.

Keep reading for a highlight of the session insights (with questions led by Esther).

How is GEO impacting how renters search today?

Brooke: “Search is rapidly re-fragmenting. Customers now have more options to engage with our brand — we’ve done studies and seen traditional search traffic decline 8-30%. AI is taking a central role in deciding what information is shown. That means you need to gain trust from AI to get your property in the top of search results.” 

Kyle: “There are two types of search queries: Revenue driving and information gathering. We’re still seeing revenue queries (e.g., searching for an apartment) happening in traditional search, whereas informational queries (e.g., asking a question about an area) drive AI search. Think about this when you’re creating content.”

What strategies are important for marketers?  

Brooke: “AI pulls from a range of sources including your website, Google Business Profile, review sites and social media platforms. Make sure your information is consistent across all platforms. Our data also shows the impact reviews have. Ask renters to review something specific about your property — those reviews are more likely to surface in generative results.”

Kyle: “Content is huge. For important questions, you should answer with both blog and FAQ content. User generated content is also crucial. AI engines can tell you about apartments, but they can’t tell you what people think about the apartments. Renters want to see that … which focuses our attention on reputation management.”   

Why try neighborhood marketing?

Esther prefaced this with some interesting data (from hundreds of search tests): Sites that aggregate multiple properties — compared to individual sites — tend to land in generative results more. In that spirit, REACH has been helping clients build neighborhood pages that showcase their properties in a given area.

Melissa: “We decided to create a neighborhood hub … a site with information that’s meant to guide someone in their journey, as that’s what generative engines are looking for. We isolated downtown Memphis as the perfect spot to test. We built out property detail pages where renters can view everything on the same site, as a single source of truth.”

Kyle: “Having more structure gives you more authority. Structure, experience, multiple properties … with these layers, we have more opportunities for ranking. The neighborhood is the inflection point of the search journey, since people often pick a neighborhood before a property. You want to be a trustworthy voice in your neighborhoods.”

Any tips for creating neighborhood-specific content?

Melissa: “Start with relevant, conversational content from the prospect perspective that you can cross-pollinate across your channels. And leverage your onsite teams who understand your communities. We’re creating blog articles written specifically for customers searching for apartments in downtown Memphis.”

Insightful roundtables

Naturally, we didn’t stop with the masterclass. We held two additional sessions during the conference, including a GEO roundtable with Kyle and Gretchen Walker. Marketers came together to learn about the intersection of standard and generative search (and get their GEO questions answered).

Top takeaway: No matter how renters learn about you, they must visit your website to lease. While you might see a decrease in organic traffic since AI search provides answers without renters having to click, the traffic you do get is more likely to convert.

Keep learning: GEO vs. SEO

On day two, Izzy Carunungan joined Esther for a presentation on the collaboration stage. The duo unpacked results from our Rent Your Happy Place Survey, then explored how to use that data to align your marketing. The session also featured a few case studies.

Top takeaway: Focus your content on what renters want most, even the less glamorous things, like in-unit laundry. Try including visual media including photos, videos and virtual tours throughout your website and listings … the data says it really works.

Keep learning: Happy Place Survey results

See our Cinco de Mayo soirée

We can’t skip out on showing the fun! See below for some happy photos from our Cinco De Mayo party.

Peek inside the Happy Hub

Neon signs? Endless candy? Smiling faces? That describes the Happy Hub, our VIP lounge for attendees who booked a free meeting with REACH.

Don’t miss our next event

If AIM sounds like your jam, reach out to inquire about next year’s event.

Thanks to everyone who joined us this time!