Want better leads? Turn the funnel upside down

Marketing a multifamily property used to mean putting up a sign on the façade and putting out a listing on the syndicated feeds. However, a lot has changed as these properties have evolved into an institutional asset class that is professionally managed and optimized for returns. Professional marketers are bringing to the industry best practices from other industries. Apartment descriptions online are being treated like product descriptions. The images and tours are now digitized professionally to reduce the length of the sales cycle and improve the quality of the lead. Some sophisticated groups are even looking at retargeting campaigns and online ads to drive traffic to their own sites in the first steps towards brand development. As competition increases, the product differentiation is no longer restricted to just location and amenities but also includes brand experience.

Your resident can tell you what the prospect wants

The typical marketing team at a multifamily operator aims to build awareness and drive leads through a traditional sales funnel which culminates with a lease commitment. The operator communicated the availability of an apartment over a variety of platforms, often listing sites or through broker networks. These generate views and collect visitors which fill the top of the funnel. As your preferred resident gets closer to paying you rent, more and more of these leads drop out. The resident is the small group left at the very bottom. However, the multifamily industry has an advantage over most other industries. It is fragmented and local. The largest of operators at any point is looking for no more than 40,000 people over multiple geographies to occupy their product. As a result, each operator need not cast a wide net but can in fact turn their funnel upside down and focus on their existing residents to build very targeted messaging and campaigns to attract a truly qualified lead. The ‘upside down’ approach allows operators to focus on their residents and learn from their experience. This approach has a few benefits. Firstly, the resident focus keeps vacancy rates low and increases the long-term value of your customer. This means that every dollar spent on acquiring the resident has a higher rate of return. The second benefit of this approach allows marketing teams to truly simplify the messaging and product offering. Every conversation with a resident is an indication of what they like or dislike. If the goal is the attract a similar profile resident, the field intelligence gathered through support and usage data also informs the value proposition that can drive marketing campaigns that appeal to the same demographic.

Field intelligence is a tool for marketing

The upside-down funnel comes with its advantages, but it also requires a culture that puts support and field intelligence at the very core of the business. The business needs to acknowledge their inputs and showcase a genuine commitment to providing an easy and enjoyable living experience. This includes easy access to information as well as prioritizing operational efficiencies which can cultivate a great resident experience. It is critical to leverage technology to reduce the burden of balancing good customer experience with churn and employee strain. The field intelligence gathered by the use of natural language technology by Adam assists not just in reducing the workload for onsite teams but also highlights the trends and needs of the residents of each individual community. The appeal of every community is unique and the messaging for its marketing needs to be targeted to that unique appeal.