Trends in apartment marketing: AI search, unit-level media & more

Back by popular demand: Our agency roundtable! You might remember last year’s edition, which brought a panel of experts together to discuss trends in apartment marketing.

This year had the same sentiment, and once again, we had record turnout. Our marketing gurus shared insights from a year in review, along with strategies to help you navigate trends and changes on the horizon.  

If you missed it, not to worry. We’re recapping the must-know takeaways below … or you can watch the recording if you’re up for it.

Special thanks to Kyle Jones, Gretchen Walker, Catriona Orosco and Izzy Carunungan for lending their expertise, and to Esther Bonardi for being our host extraordinaire. We sure do have a spectacular team.

Quick preview: You’ll see how AI is shaping search, what’s working for PPC campaigns, why neighborhood marketing matters and which types of media drive results.

How is AI changing search?

Kyle: AI has permeated search in a way that it hadn’t before this year. We’re seeing more users, and more searches per users, across the board.

The interesting thing — and somewhat confounding thing from a marketer’s perspective — is that this adoption has been individualized. This has led to search fragmentation.

62% of users in the U.S. say they interact with AI weekly, whereas 33% interact with it daily. On top of that, over 50% of Google search results are now showing AI summaries.

People originally thought AI search would replace traditional search, but what we’re seeing is somewhat to the contrary. 95% of people who use AI search engines are still using traditional search engines. So, it’s more of a search expansion with AI.

2026 is going to be the year of AI search acceleration, but I believe traditional organic search will still be the top-performing source in multifamily. Some recommendations for AI search are probably things you’ve heard for traditional search … it all boils down to trust and authority. I want you to think about hyper-local content in multiple formats, user-generated content and social media (including Reddit).

For pay-per-click ads, what insights did we gain and where can we go?

Gretchen: Performance Max is the big one that’s gaining traction. These campaigns now represent between 8% and 13% of Google Ads budgets, and we can see that trend increasing. This tells us that automation and cross-channel reach are no longer optional.

Another thing we saw is that cost-per-click within multifamily increased 19% year over year. This means we’re getting more competitive, and because of that, there’s a need for smarter bidding strategies. So, if you’re noticing your PPC campaigns are costing more, you’re not alone … that’s true across the industry.

The good news is that lead quality has improved. With AI-driven targeting, smart bidding campaigns and our industry knowledge, campaigns are showing an 8% higher return on ad spend. We’re seeing the cost may be higher, but it’s higher quality leads.

Also, local intent really matters. Geotargeted ads stood out in 2025, delivering a 27% higher conversion rate than broad campaigns.

Automation and local strategy are what’s going to drive results in 2026. Combining Performance Max with hyper-local geotargeting — that’s your formula for maximum ROI. Performance Max gives us the automation to scale, and hyper-local targeting ensures that we stay relevant to renters.

What can you tell us about neighborhood marketing?

Catriona: Neighborhood marketing gained a foothold this year. It allowed clients to say, ‘I have a cluster of properties in a given city or neighborhood, how can I market these together?’ In doing so, they can reach prospects higher in the funnel and earlier in the search journey.

Prospects start that journey of determining where to live by looking at different neighborhood pockets … to see where they want to position themselves to easily take advantage of what’s nearby.

We’ve now adjusted our capabilities and the way we pool properties together to display them to prospects and search engines. We want to talk about local happenings, the culture of a neighborhood and why somebody would want to live there. Once prospects understand that neighborhood, we show properties that are going to meet the demands they have.

Moving forward, it’s necessary to think about your content strategy. You need an ongoing strategy to feed the search engines, be relevant to renters and position yourself as an expert in these neighborhoods. You want to answer questions with FAQs, focus on developing local partnerships and highlight what your communities have to offer.

Which insights came from the world of media, and what’s next?

Izzy: My biggest takeaway for 2025 relates to unit-level content. This content, especially virtual tours, has become one of the strongest conversion tools in multifamily. More importantly, unit-level content has been proven to increase NOI.

We did a case study comparing a lease-up property using unit-level tours to a property not using unit-level tours. The former saw 40% more leads, 80% more applications, 72% more net leases and 38% higher lead-to-lease conversions.  In another case study, we saw an increase in rent revenue. These numbers aren’t small gains — it’s meaningful revenue and it proves that renters want transparency.

Moving into 2026, I have three insights. First, media should be a multichannel asset, and it’s all about amplification. If you have high-quality visuals, they shouldn’t just live on your website. They should be powering every channel in your marketing arsenal: ILS listings, your Google Business Profiles, your social media … you need a multimedia, multichannel approach.

Second, the media capture process is going to get easier. AI is accelerating everything, including the stitching, the image enhancement and even the virtual staging, which leads to faster turnaround times.

Finally, virtual tours are now a non negotiable. Renters consistently rank tours as a top decision-making tool. Search and AI engines can also read images and use them to influence search results. Social content is now indexed too, meaning visuals impact discoverability. Communities without virtual tours are already seeing a lower lead-to-lease volume.  

Watch the roundtable

Keep learning

If you’re looking for a little more knowledge on the topics covered, be sure to browse our blog library. We’re always putting out fresh, relevant content for apartment marketers everywhere.

Here’s a quick list to get you started:

• AI search tips: 4 ways to optimize FAQs for apartment websites
• Performance Max campaigns: What are they & why should you use them?
• Neighborhood apartment marketing: 3 things to do now & how to track results
• Look good, get found: Apartment media tips for today’s marketers

Help starts here

Do you have questions about the latest (or upcoming) trends in apartment marketing? Reach out to us. We can also help shape up your strategy as we roll into the new year.    

Until then, from our team to yours: Happy marketing!