Multi-Housing News - December 2008 - (Page 26)

tech trends Digital Tools Energize Leasing Programs Extend your marketing reach with a multichannel approach By Christopher Hosford, Contributing Editor Marketing to apartment prospects has never featured so many options—from the tried-and-true print guides to Web sites, blogs, forums, Smartphones and all forms of social media. “We hear from management companies over and over again who say, ‘We want qualified leads,’” says Robert Turnbull, president of RentWiki.com, the new social media site for prospective renters. “Overall, lead conversion is just 5 percent, which means there’s too much time managing leads that aren’t turning into leases.” RentWiki, which was launched in September, integrates search with social media, appealing to renters looking for residences that fit their lifestyle. They can gain information from other renters about neighborhoods, the social scene, transportation, do’s and don’ts, pet policies and more. This word-of-mouth peer marketing drives renters to call or e-mail a property for information via special contact information supplied by RentWiki, at which time the property is charged $10. Digital marketing can reach people in ways they want to be reached these days, and RentWiki isn’t alone. Apartment Guide, whose printed listings have counseled renters for years, is offering more online resources to its developers and property-manager customers. “Print drives Internet and vice versa,” says Arlene Mayfield, president of the apartment division at Apartment Guide. Mayfield notes that Apartment Guide has just launched an iPhone application to allow renters to search its database on their Apple Smartphones. Apartment Guide’s revamped Web site, meanwhile, offers more community information and a check-availability icon for properties. Prospects who connect with property managers this way are, needless to say, considered hot leads. Another big player in this space is Apartments.com, a digital-only resource. It features on its site real-time rental information and streaming apartment video walk-throughs, along with the standard array of photography and floorplans. Multichannel marketing But the byword in all forms of marketing today is multichannel, and that means connecting search with other Web sites, mobile devices, social media and more. The apartment community extends its reach with exclusive listing arrangements on the real estate sections of Yahoo! and AOL, and in the online real estate sections of some 130 newspapers. This summer, Apartments.com released new solutions for renters to receive apartment text information on mobile phones. Earlier this year, it entered into an agreement with social network MySpace to create Your Place on MySpace, allowing the site’s largely youthful demographic to search by location, price, amenities and more. “Since nearly 60 percent of MySpace users [aged] 21 to 34 rent, MySpace is an ideal place for Apartments.com to reach renters and introduce them to the streamlined apartment search capabilities we provide,” says Kevin Doyle, senior vice president and general manager of Apartments.com. The youth movement also is being served with “viral” pass-along. Apartment.com’s walk-through videos allow enthusiastic renters to share these mini-movies with roommates, friends and family through video links, e-mailto-a-friend options and social networks. Modern marketing technology also is making it possible to mine databases for even better customer information. RentWiki, for example, will soon roll out its new Vaultware (Realty DataTrust) service, which taps into a property’s own records to display to interested renters the real-time availability of units. The technology should produce even hotter leads, Turnbull says, “because the property manager will know the prospect is really interested in one particular apartment.” MHN “ESSENTIAL for anyone interested in building a winning real estate portfolio.” —Daniel M. Palmier, President & CEO, Potomac Realty Capital “If you want to get started in developing an independent income stream, Investing In Apartment Buildings should find a place on your bookshelf.” —Jordan C. Paul, CEO, Aquila Property Company, Inc. MHPROFESSIONAL.COM To comment, e-mail dmosher@multi-housingnews.com Available everywhere books are sold For more information, visit www.multi-housingnews.com/productinfo For weekly product introductions, visit www.multi-housingnews.com/productgallery. 26 December 2008 | Multi-Housing News | Producer of Multi-Housing World http://www.RentWiki.com http://www.Apartments.com http://www.Apartments.com http://www.Apartments.com http://www.Apartments.com http://www.Apartments.com http://www.Apartments.com http://www.MHPROFESSIONAL.COM http://www.multi-housingnews.com/productgallery http://www.multi-housingnews.com/productinfo

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Multi-Housing News - December 2008

Multi-Housing News - December 2008
Contents
From the Editor
NMHC Notebook
Executive Insight
Finance: Acquisitions/Rehabs
Market Pulse
Development & Design: Student Housing
Market Report: 2009 Best Bets
Directory: Software Providers
Tech: Leasing Tools

Multi-Housing News - December 2008