Cutting Through the Clutter - Marketing Planning for Multifamily

AIM 2010Cutting Through the Clutter: Making an Effective Simple

Marketing Plan

Donald Davidoff

Archstone

Jane Griffith

Pinnacle

AIM 2010

Lauren McDonald

Bozutto

Some Fundamental Truths (whether you like it or not)

• You don’t have unlimited time• You don’t have unlimited money• You don’t have skill at all facets of marketing

So what do I do?

• Focus (“it’s OK to not be doing everything”)– What’s your product?– Who’s your audience?– What are your vehicles?

• Leverage existing (& develop new) vendor relationships (“why do all the work yourself?”)

• Make the tough trade-offs– Prospect vs resident– Transactional vs brand– “Free” vs “Fee”– Traditional vs emerging

The 3 most important thingsin marketing?

• Measurement• Measurement• Measurement

Develop a roadmap

• Build on your successes– Press the bets that work

• “Right size” the mediocre– Reduce cost or increase results

• Ditch what’s not working– Have the courage to let projects die and vendors go

• Monitor what you’re unsure of• Know your priorities

– What’s an acceptable CPL?– How do you choose to measure “brand” (aka “relationship”) marketing?– “Take the best and leave the rest”

• Website• ILS

– Traditional– Craigslist– New entrants

• “Social media”– Facebook, Twitter, et al– Reputation Management (Yelp, ApartmentRatings, et al)– Blogging

• Point of Sale– Leasing Center– Models– Door hangers, etc

So Much to Choose From

• Start with the workhorses that have proven delivery:

– Craiglist– ILS

» Prioritize by CPL» Leverage tools from vendors

An Organized Model

• Don’t ignore your point of sale environment

An Organized Model

• Finish out your “base” with a great website

– Great images – Easy to search – Map functionality – Easy to contact community

An Organized Model

• More and more people are searching through map functionality (Google Local, Yahoo Local, etc.)

An Organized Model

• Make it easier for your residents to do business with you and connect with their neighborhood

An Organized Model

• Follow up regularly with your existing prospects

An Organized Model

• Do you have a Yelp and ApartmentRatings strategy?

– It’s about customer service FIRST– Marketing effect is a result, not a strategy

An Organized Model

• Mobile is the “next big thing”– Still just 3-9% of current searchers– Fastest growing segment

An Organized Model

• Round out your marketing with a social media program

– This area is least mature and therefore most ripe for “testing”

An Organized Model

An Organized Model

Drive your decisions with data and a CPL focus

Q&A