Data tells all: Understanding urban vs. suburban apartment marketing

If you’re an apartment marketer with urban and suburban communities, are you marketing them differently? If not, should you be?

Our multifamily marketing experts have a few ideas (and some data) to share.

Here’s a preview: Adjusting your marketing based on location is more important than you might think.

Let’s go over the differences between urban and suburban apartment marketing, renter survey findings, ILS performance data and tips for optimizing your strategy.    

Marketing your urban communities

Picture your urban properties. When compared to those in the suburbs, they’re likely quite different. But are you marketing based on those differences?

Let’s look at what makes urban areas unique: They’re densely populated regions, typically with a high concentration of residential buildings, businesses and infrastructure.

This makes urban living vibrant and convenient, since there’s easy access to shops, parks, restaurants, entertainment and public transportation. The downside — when compared to suburban areas — is the higher cost of living (and often, less living space).

Urban renters range from young professionals and students to really anyone looking for a lively hub. Here’s a snapshot from our recent survey of 5,471 renters that highlights things commonly associated with urban areas:

• 39% want walkability
• 36% want proximity to shopping
• 30% want access to public transportation
• 29% want nearby dining & entertainment

The takeaway is simple: Your marketing should focus on the pros of urban living.

We recommend writing rich website, blog and social copy that emphasizes what’s great about your area. If you’re advertising on ILSs, make sure you include those details there, too.

And try incorporating visual media like photos, videos, interactive maps and virtual tours. According to that same survey, 49% of renters appreciate photos and videos of specific units in their search, and 33% want virtual tours.  

What about suburban apartment marketing?  

Here’s how suburban areas differ: They’re usually on the outskirts of a city, with less attractions and entertainment. They’re largely made up of residential buildings including single family homes, townhouses and sometimes apartments.

While suburban living might be less energetic and convenient, it generally offers renters larger living areas, green spaces and quality schools. Some renters may consider these areas safer, too.    

The suburbs often house more families, but the renter population can vary. Here’s a few interesting findings from that renter survey (that point to what suburban life can offer):

• 41% want a comfortable suburban community
• 42% want plenty of closet & storage space
• 40% want a private outdoor space
• 62% want safety & security

Again, your marketing should highlight the pros that draw renters to suburban areas. Detailed copy and visual media are super important, and both should be unique from what you’re using to market your urban communities.    

Check out some ILS data

We had another question … does ILS performance differ between urban and suburban locations? Thanks to our knowledgeable agency members, Chad Carpenter and Marlin Murdock, we have case study data with the answer.

The study looked at 45 companies and 1,788 properties in total. It turns out, ILS source performance is indeed influenced by property location.

Here’s a closer look at what we found:

Move-in and lease-conversion rates were — for the most part — similar between urban and suburban properties, with one exception. Organic search performed better for suburban properties in prospect-to-lease conversions (10.3% for suburban properties, 9.2% for urban).

The main finding was that some ILSs provide better ROI for certain property location types. There were even a few ILSs that performed best in all metrics (for a specific property location type).

So, what does this all mean? Urban and suburban communities require different marketing approaches, and according to our data, ILS performance varies between the two.

If you’re wondering how to make sense of that, know there are tools built to guide you. Our new strategy engine in Marketing IQ Genius, for instance, takes your property location and type into account when recommending which ILSs to advertise on.

Learn more about Marketing IQ Genius.

How can we help?

We know this for sure: There’s no one size fits all when it comes to marketing. What works for one community often differs from what’s successful at another.

But that’s ok! If you’d like help navigating your urban versus suburban apartment marketing, get in touch. Our agency team is full of experts who can create effective strategies tailored to your business.