Apartment marketing now: Need-to-know insights & strategies

To ring in the new year, our team of experts shared emerging data, insights and roadmaps every apartment marketer should know.

But if you missed the virtual event (or if you’re a fan of written summaries), this post is for you.

Come along as we discuss impactful apartment marketing trends — based on a year in review — paired with effective strategies for reaching more renters.

Cheers to Nadia Balint, Nicole Landfried, Kyle Jones, Gretchen Walker and Catriona Orosco for their expertise, and special thanks to Esther Bonardi for hosting!

When it comes to rental listings and the ILS, how has AI impacted what we’re doing and our future plans?

Nadia: AI is a great tool to offer consumers the most helpful and relevant information, fast. We know that consumers appreciate property reviews. They help them decide where to live, so they dramatically increase conversions for ILS listings.

At RentCafe.com, we aim to provide a personalized search experience for renters to leverage AI … features that make it easier and faster to find the right place to live. In 2025 we’re adding AI-generated summaries for property reviews, as well as preferred neighborhood reviews.

In the world of design, what did we learn about customer preferences on websites? Where are we headed?

Nicole: We won a number of website awards in 2024. Looking at our winners, we can see a few clear takeaways:

• Balance a clean design with an easy user experience
• Use beautiful imagery, fonts and color palettes that match your customer profile
• Have clear calls to action, as well as pathways through the site
• Utilize videos, which capture the audience

In the future, we’ll continue to examine changing apartment marketing trends and balance design with functionality. We want websites that not only look great, but also perform really well.

What is the state of search? How can we plan ahead?

Kyle: Search traffic is down from the peaks of 2021 and 2022. It’s more of a proxy for the market though, not just an issue with search. We still see SEO consistently performs incredibly well compared to other sources. Rental interest is just not as strong as it was a couple years ago.

There has been the rise of GEO, which is another avenue for optimization and to drive traffic. Specifically, there’s opportunity to leverage your FAQ and blog in a unique way. Instead of answering questions for residents, you can answer questions for potential prospects. You’re using these tools to get in front of people making their rental decisions.

What PPC lessons have we gained, and how do we plan to use them?

Gretchen: We’ve discovered that budget matters for PPC campaigns. It’s a faster ramp-up time with a larger budget, it’s a slower ramp-up time with a lower budget. They can all be successful, but it takes time to see the effects of PPC campaigns through leads and leases.

So, be patient. Know that PPC is there and it’s working, it’s just not immediate. We’re taking that information into 2025, recognizing the budgets we have to work with, what those ramp-up times look like and how they vary — and coupling that with AI tools.

How is AI changing the marketer’s job on a day-to-day basis?

Catriona: Looking back at 2024, the big shift was around GEO and recognizing it will require a better content strategy. For most properties, a good content strategy requires some assistance from AI. We introduced our content creator to help streamline the process and boost your SEO efforts, as well as to focus on generative engine optimization.

As we look toward 2025, we’re taking a big leap forward with AI. We’ll be introducing Virtuoso Assistant within Marketing IQ Genius. Marketers can ask broad questions and get the answer without looking through dashboards and spreadsheets.

AI doesn’t replace talented marketing professionals — it helps streamline their jobs. It really empowers them with the information needed to make educated adjustments to their strategy.

Watch the video

Connect with us

Have questions about apartment marketing trends? We’d love to be your resource. Reach out and our experts will get in touch!

In the meantime, check out these posts on some of the topics covered:

The state of search: Current rental trends
GEO vs. SEO: What you need to know
How long does it take PPC to work?