How to Get Seen: The Most Effective Traffic Generators

Melanie McIntyre

9 years ago

After stops at the AIM and Landlord WebCon conferences, #AptChat has returned!

We got back into the swing of things with a discussion about the best ways to generate website traffic, from Craigslist ads to content marketing. And if our chat is any indication, there are clear winners.

These are the highlights. (Click on the links to jump straight to a specific question.)

Q1: What are the marketing tactics or channels that are working best for you today?
Q2: What about effectiveness? What tactics/channels drive the highest rate of lease conversions? And why do you think that is?
Q3: How well are ILSs and Craigslist performing for you? If you need traffic, are those options at/near the top of your list?
Q4: All the social talk has focused on ads. What about content marketing? Still a thing? How are you honing your content strategy?
Q4a: How much of your social strategy is focused on sharing owned & resident-generated content vs. more general memes/links?
Q5: What’s the most underrated traffic tactic/idea/source in your arsenal right now (that you’re willing to share)?
Q5a: And what’s the traffic-generating tactic/channel that you’re most excited to try next and add to your marketing mix?

What are the marketing tactics or channels that are working best for you today?

@AptChat if we believe prospective residents, the answer is “drive by.” Of course, if we believe that, then we r also being dumb #aptchat

— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 17, 2016

@30lines ppl totally drive a nbhood.But not randomly w/ no other reason. If you’re not on a commute route, it’s likely not drive by #aptchat

— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 17, 2016

@30lines @artchickhb Neighborhood is HUGE. “Drive by” may be a little noncommittal, but may say something about your ‘hood appeal. #aptchat

— Khara (@leftnwrite08) May 17, 2016

@30lines sort of.It would be more accurate. “Neighborhood draw” would be most accurate, along the lines of what @leftnwrite08 said #AptChat

— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 17, 2016

@artchickhb @leftnwrite08 I like it … that’s a much more informative answer! #AptChat

— 30 Lines (@30lines) May 17, 2016

Don’t get me wrong – signage is important, as is curb appeal, but people aren’t just driving around and deciding to take a tour. #aptchat

— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 17, 2016

Q1: We’ve been doing a lot of work recently with our clients on social advertising: FB & Instagram #aptchat

— Jackie Koehler (@jackiekoehler) May 17, 2016

A1: As a vendor, personalized emails have worked the best for us in terms of marketing. Not a generic email blast. #AptChat

— RokitNow (@RokitNowInc) May 17, 2016

A1: Surprisingly, sister referrals have been huge. Driving “Service Plus One” Teamwork (aka SPOT … you’re welcome) #aptchat

— Khara (@leftnwrite08) May 17, 2016

A1: Social Media Advertising, Reputation Management,Focusing on Resident Retention, and Event Marketing. #AptChat @AptChat

— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 17, 2016

@AptChat that as well as PPC campaigns. We keep seeing an increase in dollars switched from PPC to Facebook and Instagram ads.

— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 17, 2016

@AptChat we are and we are also seeing a lower CPC on social. We then get that traffic added into our retargeting campaigns. #AptChat

— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 17, 2016

@AptChat @ashleylynnolson We see better ROI on FB and Instagram for some demographics. Demos driving all decisions from ILS to PPC. #aptchat

— Lauren Curley (@llcurley) May 17, 2016

@AptChat @ashleylynnolson We’re playing w/ geofenced snapchat ads for when prospects are in the same place #aptchat #marketing

— -ortiz~ (@ortizwastaken) May 17, 2016

@ashleylynnolson @AptChat It’s too new to know what affect it has for prospects, but its cheap for a single event #aptchat

— -ortiz~ (@ortizwastaken) May 17, 2016

@AptChat …but I can see #SnapChat ads working for an open house events, bbq, pool party, etc. under $200 #aptchat

— -ortiz~ (@ortizwastaken) May 17, 2016

@AptChat it depends on the type of property (lease-up/stabilized/etc) but for a stabilized it’s between 4-6x. We just started tracking this.

— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 17, 2016

@ashleylynnolson @AptChat We are seeing that trend too. On average CPC for Facebook was 1/2 of PPC but both had good use cases

— Jackie Koehler (@jackiekoehler) May 17, 2016

Q1: We’re doing some demographic targeting on @facebook – Pointing specific amenity ads at some pretty narrow interests. #aptchat

— Lauren Curley (@llcurley) May 17, 2016

@AptChat averaging about a 4-6% CTR – especially on fitness-focused ads (i.e. – on demand cycle classes amenity to cyclists). #aptchat

— Lauren Curley (@llcurley) May 17, 2016

@llcurley yes-refining your adience and interest-based targeting work great on FB #AptChat

— Jackie Koehler (@jackiekoehler) May 17, 2016

@AptChat Absolutely tailoring to each property. We’re refining as much as possible. Not a lot of traffic but good traffic. #aptchat

— Lauren Curley (@llcurley) May 17, 2016

@AptChat @llcurley Yes targeting on interests,amenities, and using exclusions!

— Jackie Koehler (@jackiekoehler) May 17, 2016

What about effectiveness? What tactics/channels drive the highest rate of lease conversions? And why do you think that is?

Q2: Targeted traffic is key, it’s easy to spend $ and generate traffic, make sure its the right traffic.#AptChat

— Jackie Koehler (@jackiekoehler) May 17, 2016

A2: Facebook, Yelp, Resident Referral Programs as well as select ILS’s depending on location. #AptChat

— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 17, 2016

How well are ILSs and Craigslist performing for you? If you need traffic, are those options at/near the top of your list?

A3: They both are huge players for us but it all depends on the location. We refine our strategy based on location and demo. #AptChat

— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 17, 2016

@ashleylynnolson ty 4mentioning demos – a lot of marketers are still doing OSFA plans. Blankets are for forts, not marketing #AptChat

— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 17, 2016

Q3: We don’t have a single ILS that’s meeting benchmark lead to lease conversions. Craigslist still very much viable. #aptchat

— Lauren Curley (@llcurley) May 17, 2016

@artchickhb 10% lead to lease with a goal of 40% converting from lead to tour. #AptChat

— Lauren Curley (@llcurley) May 17, 2016

@30lines ILSs lengthen lead life cycle. Social PPC has a much shorter conversion process – Landing pg to sched. tour. #aptchat

— Lauren Curley (@llcurley) May 17, 2016

I concur. Lead to conversion falls on the training of the leasing professional to follow through #aptchat https://t.co/MR9MQNdp7z

— Jonathan Saar (@JonathanSaar) May 17, 2016

@JonathanSaar part of this is ensuring that we’re tracking the entire funnel. There are still weakness here with LMS platforms. #aptchat

— Lauren Curley (@llcurley) May 17, 2016

@JonathanSaar absolutely! Unfortunately, tours are the one part of the funnel that’s not auto-captured. Pipeline workflows are key! #aptchat

— Lauren Curley (@llcurley) May 17, 2016

@JonathanSaar We send out conversion rankings every week (lead:tour, tour:app, app:lease). Measure conversions to drive behavior. #aptchat

— Lauren Curley (@llcurley) May 17, 2016

@30lines Get them interested and then get them into the funnel. #aptchat

— Lauren Curley (@llcurley) May 17, 2016

All the social talk has focused on ads. What about content marketing? Still a thing? How are you honing your content strategy?

A4: Content is still huge for us. We use it more for rent retention & nurturing the lead. Not every1 is ready to rent now. #AptChat

— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 17, 2016

EXACTLY: #Content is a long game… #aptchat #marketing https://t.co/g18JGhkhIg

— -ortiz~ (@ortizwastaken) May 17, 2016

@AptChat moving, entertaining, lifestyle, design,& trending topics. You can see more ideas on our blog at https://t.co/pcb8s4PwpK. #AptChat

— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 17, 2016

A4. We’re finding some legs re:what other people are saying about us and how to leverage that in our #content strategy #AptChat

— Holli Beckman (@Apartmentalist) May 17, 2016

A4: Good mix of content works best. For SEO, long tail content that resides on your site/blog is effective.#aptchat

— Jackie Koehler (@jackiekoehler) May 17, 2016

@artchickhb @AptChat love it. I feel like there’s so much more owners/managers can be doing in this regard, w/ quality

— Jerry Ascierto (@Jascierto) May 17, 2016

How much of your social strategy is focused on sharing owned & resident-generated content vs. more general memes/links?

DO THIS: Leverage your customers for content. It’s smart, efficient, & engaging. #aptchat https://t.co/gyn2ZjcroO

— -ortiz~ (@ortizwastaken) May 17, 2016

A4a: I would say 99% of the content we share is owned/resident generated. We take trending topics and turn them into branded 1s #AptChat

— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 17, 2016

@ashleylynnolson how are you handling copyright and intellectual property rights with RGC? Is it understanding or a signed vaiver #aptchat

— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 17, 2016

@artchickhb it depends on the type of content we are repurposing. When they use #AllianceLiving it’s fair game as long as we give credit.

— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 17, 2016

@30lines @artchickhb for pictures it looks better to just give credit and it’s hard to share personal content at the brand level on FB.

— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 17, 2016

What’s the most underrated traffic tactic/idea/source in your arsenal right now (that you’re willing to share)?

A5: Retaining your current residents and asking them for referrals. Giving them a nice incentive to refer a friend. #AptChat

— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 17, 2016

So effective it’s not even funny. And that we don’t use it enough is REALLY not funny #aptchat https://t.co/GVdCSS5kFe

— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 17, 2016

A5: Take the time to make sure traffic is highly targeted. That mixed with some awareness campaigns is the key to strong pipleline #AptChat

— Jackie Koehler (@jackiekoehler) May 17, 2016

A5: At AIM we talked a bit about FB audience targeting. Seems worth the investment. #aptchat

— Khara (@leftnwrite08) May 17, 2016

And what’s the traffic-generating tactic/channel that you’re most excited to try next and add to your marketing mix?

A5a: Virtual reality, beacons, and influence marketing. Testing lots of creative new things. #AptChat

— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 17, 2016

Thanks, #AptChat Nation, for an abundance of meaty anecdotes and insights!

Our next #AptChat will be Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at 12 pm Eastern. In the meantime, be sure to sign up for #AptChat updates to get these recaps and more delivered straight to your inbox!