Client story: Internacional on REACH PPC & SEO

It’s time for another client spotlight, and this one is genius!

If you’ve ever been tempted to cut budget from an underperforming marketing source — but were hesitant because it was one that had always been used and accepted — keep reading to hear from a multifamily marketing pro who took the risk.

(Spoiler: It paid off, big time.)

The challenge

Salina Ruiz was the director of business relations and marketing at Internacional (INT), a multifamily management and investment company with communities spread across 10 states. Upon reviewing marketing data for INT’s portfolio of 12,500+ apartments, she noticed that one of the most expensive ILSs was giving them the fewest leases.

Cutting one of the biggest ILSs in the industry felt a little risky, but she knew it was a chance worth taking. This would give her the opportunity to reinvest money from the underperforming ILS into a new avenues with the potential drive more leases.

To be clear, Salina didn’t want to cut all ILSs. She knows that apartment listing sites play a vital role at the awareness stage of the INT’s customer journey. But one that cost a lot of money and yielded very few returns? Dropping it felt like a data-driven decision she couldn’t afford not to make.

The solution

In search of better results and a more flexible platform for INT, Salina decided to partner with us at REACH for PPC and SEO. That, plus access to Marketing IQ, gave her complete visibility into marketing performance, so she could easily track her budget and returns, then rework strategy as needed.

Guided by our search marketing experts, she reallocated the budget from the underperforming ILS to PPC.

Salina hoped that pay-per-click advertising would catch the attention of more rent-ready renters who were further along the leasing journey. Also, she knew it was a marketing method that would let her adjust spend as needed, depending on occupancy levels, lease-ups and other market fluctuations.

The result? More leases, secured for less. Check out the before and after data in the next section!

The data

Comparing quarterly results for PPC vs. the underperforming ILS year over year proves Salina’s savvy switch paid off. REACH PPC drives higher quality leads at a lower cost.

Because PPC leads are generally further along in their leasing journey, they typically convert at a higher rate than ILS leads. That means that, even if the overall quantity is fewer, the number of leases is much higher. This is good news for leasing agents, who hate spending time chasing down low-quality leads.

Now, INT’s leasing team spends less time chasing dead ends and more time moving in residents.

But what about SEO?

We know that ILSs are important for awareness and PPC ads capture rent-ready leads, but the data has shown over and over again that SEO is the foundation of a strong apartment marketing strategy.

Salina and the INT team know just how important SEO is, so they had partnered with an external partner to manage optimization, but the results were just OK. Since SEO and PPC work in tandem to drive website traffic, Salina made the decision to transition to REACH SEO services.

Year-over-year data proves that it was a smart move. REACH helped INT get 48% more leads and 25% more leases than the previous solution.

Salina’s perspective

“We were investing too heavily in an underperforming ILS and needed to balance our marketing spend. We took that budget and reinvested it in REACH PPC, resulting in a 395% higher conversion rate and a $775 lower cost per lease.

With REACH PPC and SEO, we’re able to have a more balanced and flexible approach to digital marketing. It’s a one-stop shop that allows us to quickly maneuver or adjust spend for our clients.”

Watch the video

Share the story

Read and share a printable version of the Internacional client story featuring Salina Ruiz. Get the data in an easily accessible format.

Write your own success story (with our help)

Are you aiming to have more marketing wins in the year ahead? Sometimes it comes down to having the right partner. Whether you work with us or someone else, our search marketing experts are always available to have a quick strategy call.

Get in touch to find a time that works for you or to share your story for a chance to be highlighted in OutREACH News.

See all REACH client stories.