The Demand Solutions Blog

Connecting Marketing to Sales Outcomes In Multifamily

by Donald Davidoff | Mar 22, 2016 12:00:00 AM

Connecting Marketing to Sales Outcomes In MultifamilyOne of the strongest trends over the last five years in multifamily demand management is the increased focus, investment and sophistication of the marketing function. As more multifamily operators have adapted to the heavy “digital” world we now live in, the focus and use of data and analytics to drive decisions has multiplied.

While that is certainly a very good development, there is still significant room for growth and improvement. The next barrier to address from my experience is the ability to close the loop and connect marketing investments into revenue outcomes.

There is still a very heavy bias to quantity over quality. When I talk with most COOs and marketing directors they still express the desire to create “more leads” rather than discussing how to improve the quality/value of the leads and/or how to better convert the leads they already have.

The Quality vs Quantity Challenge

I’m not particularly surprised by this. It is natural for industries or operators to focus on quantity as they begin to focus increasingly on lead generation. After all “if some is good, wouldn’t more be better” is a very common philosophy.

While demand for apartments remains strong and our exposure remains low, the focus on quantity may not cause obvious problems like lower occupancy. But it is inefficient and costly.

Consider this: which lead channel would you consider to be more successful, and hence worth more investment:

  • Channel 1 produced 100 leads that turned into 21 visits/tours.

  • Channel 2 produced 55 leads that turned into 9 visits/tours.

Most marketing multifamily executives would not consider this a very difficult decision (and those that do right now are probably doing so because you know I wouldn’t use such an easy scenario if I weren’t setting something up). Channel 1 produces more leads with a higher lead:tour conversion rate. Let’s put more money in channel 1 and less in channel 2.

Now, as Paul Harvey would have said, let’s look at the rest of the story:

  • Of the 21 visits/tours that channel 1 produced, 15 advanced to the stage where the leasing associate asked for the lease, and of that 3 leases were signed. Additionally the average time from lead to lease was 45 days.

  • Of the 9 visits/tours from channel 2, 8 advanced to the stage of being asked to lease and 5 leases were signed. The average time from lead to lease was 25 days.

Closing the loop allows us to see that not only does channel 2 deliver significantly better results, it does so far more efficiently as well. While this is certainly an extreme, fictional example, scenarios less extreme but similar to this are occurring every day for two reasons:

  • Operators have not defined the key metrics that provide insights like these.

  • Until very recently the systems needed to accurately track these metrics didn’t exist. 

As the marketing function continues to gain sophistication, more and more operators will be able to gather the type of data and analytics to make better decisions about every phase of their demand management process. The result will be better, more efficient outcomes - in all market cycles.

If you’re curious what the future will look like, or if you want to get a jump on it and gain an advantage, here are the five “must do” components to achieve these outcomes.

1. Track a lead through the entire buyer’s journey

First and foremost, you must be able to track the behavior of a lead through the entire journey. Far too many marketing analytics end at the visit or tour stage (and frankly, not enough marketing departments even track their lead effectiveness that far).

Craig Zeitzus who heads up Rainmaker’s ILM (Intelligent Lead Management) product often talks of the importance of being able to track what happens on every call, text or email to identify the areas that create gaps in performance. Until recently the cost of tracking this type of data was prohibitive, but with new tools out now virtually any size portfolio or community can now track and analyze this data easily.

2. Track individuals across multiple properties

We must move from a property-centric view of demand management to a prospect-centered approach. Very few operators are easily able to assess and track how many prospects are looking at multiple properties within their portfolio or if they’ve responded to multiple lead generation channels. This leads to inefficiencies in both the marketing and sales sides, and can create a poor experience for the prospect.

Historically this as been a problem for virtually all operators. I’ve talked about this quite a bit with Todd Katler, CEO of Anyone Home. Todd likes to point out to me that this is one of those things where, when you mention it, the response is always, “Yeah, that makes total sense.” At first blush it also seems like a simple change to make. However, it’s actually something that requires significant changes to processes and technology. The impact on conversions and the customer experience makes it well worth it.

3. Attribute other touchpoints to outcomes

In today’s zero moment of truth (ZMOT) world, the buyer’s journey is rarely simple or linear. Prospects visit multiple ILSs, websites and social media. They’re on your website while they’re actively making decisions before every calling a leasing associate. Being able to attribute which touchpoints are accessed and when provides significant insights to optimizing demand management processes.

4. Attribute leasing associate actions through the leasing process

Few if any operators go to the lengths of tracking and attributing the actions of leasing associates from the time leads are generated to when leases are signed. When did the visit/tour occur? What follow up actions were taken? How many emails were sent? Texts? What questions or information was accessed? This data is valuable in determining which investments actually contribute to revenue and which ones do not. On a side note, they also provide crucial insights that lead to better coaching and sales performance.

5. Track a lead’s impact to revenue management decisions

The net result of the abilities described here allows operators to fully close the loop and see precisely how their demand management decisions impact revenue management decisions and vice versa. As this ability develops, the insights operators gain will create even greater predictability and optimization of their revenue and demand management platforms.

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