The multifamily marketing industry recently gathered in Huntington Beach, Calif., for the 2019 Apartment Innovation and Marketing (AIM) Conference. The 2019 edition focused on digital marketing best practices and innovative technologies. Keep reading for top insights from the 2019 conference! The ever-expanding Internet of Things A second wave of connected technologies is making its way to multifamily. In fact, according to Terry Jones of tech giants Travelocity, Kayak and Wayblazer, 75 billion smart devices will be connected to the internet of things by 2025. From smart home integration and keyless entry to smart thermostats and high-speed WiFi, AIM sessions focused on the convenience and opportunity afforded by embracing IoT advances. At AIM, Yardi experts also previewed connected technology innovations coming soon to the RENTCafé Suite. “Marketers are going to need to understand technology more to be successful,” shared Ben Burns, vice president of digital strategy at Bozzuto, during a growth-focused question and answer panel. “At the end of the day, we’re providing experiences.” Is your business ready to embrace new technologies and give renters what they want? Attribution, automation and analytics New technologies appear on the market every day. But which ones made the jump from novelty to widespread adoption? The AIM Technology TrendTalk with Esther Bonardi, vice president of marketing at Yardi, explored multifamily technology trends and how smart marketers can use them to improve business outcomes. Meet the speakers: Diana Norbury, Senior Vice President of Operations, Pillar Properties Norbury spoke about utilizing benchmarking and prescriptive analytics to help drive more informed marketing decisions. At AIM, one thing was clear: data is a marketer’s best friend. Prescriptive and predictive analytics can use that data to inform your marketing strategy, improve customer experiences and, ultimately, boost conversions. “Predictive analytics allow our staff to work...

The multifamily industry converged in San Diego last week for Apartmentalize Powered by National Apartment Association. Formerly known as the NAA Education Conference and Exposition, the annual event is the largest educational conference for apartment industry professionals. We highlight five of our favorite lessons from this year’s event. 5 Lessons from Apartmentalize 2018: Own the Age of AI On Thursday, industry experts discussed the impact of artificial intelligence in multifamily. Panelists included Dawn Wise from Berkshire Communities, Michael Barry from Bozzuto, Tim Reardon from Bridge Property Management, and Yardi’s Dhar Sawh. Artificial intelligence has just recently emerged in the rental housing industry. “This is so new for our industry, so the sky’s the limit,” explained Reardon. The session explored the benefits of artificial intelligence, big data, and business intelligence tools. How can you get energized for the Age of AI? Top tips from panelists: learn more about AI, and make a data strategy plan. Today’s Renters Have a Multi-Touch Journey Over the last two decades, we’ve gone from tracking walk-ins and phone calls to embracing comprehensive CRM systems. On a panel moderated by Yardi’s Esther Bonardi, Holli Beckman from WC Smith, Israel Carunungan from Greystar, and Mia Wentworth from CWS Apartment Homes discussed multi-touch lead attribution, a model for tracking and weighing touchpoints in the lead-to-lease cycle. How can smart marketers improve lead tracking? “Dig into it, study it, and it can open a whole new world,” advised Bonardi. Learn more about multi-touch lead attribution and download our free eBook. Sustainability Wins At Friday’s Apartmentalize session, panelists including Yardi’s Martin Levkus explored resident engagement through energy efficiency. In a recent National Apartment Association survey, windows were the top sustainability item residents cared about. For one panelist, energy efficient windows resulted in a $75 per month...

Property marketers use lead attribution to determine where leads are coming from so they know what is working, what isn’t and where to spend their marketing dollars most effectively. But single source lead attribution models only credit the first or last source with the lease. “We know that 50% of renters visit five or more websites before they even set foot inside your leasing office. But we only give one source credit for the lease?” says Holli Beckman, vice president of marketing and leasing operations at WC Smith. “If 100% of attribution is going to the first touch, then you are indicating that none of the other sources have any value.” So how do we fix it? How do we more accurately assign value to all the touchpoints that prospects interact with on their buyer journey? The answer is multi-source lead attribution. It’s a relatively new model in multifamily, and it’s a topic Beckman is passionate about (check out her article “Why the Multifamily Industry Is Missing the Boat on Multi-Source Lead Attribution”). So is the development team at Yardi. We’re constantly evolving RentCafe CRM to accommodate new data points and provide deeper insight into prospect activities and marketing sources. That’s why we invited Beckman to join us at the Yardi Marketing Forum in Beverly Hills this week to share her insights as we preview new lead attribution tools designed to increase accuracy and ROI for property marketers. Before the forum, we had a chance to catch up with Beckman and ask her a few questions related to her session and trends she is seeing right now. What limits property marketers’ ability to deliver leads? Beckman: A true understanding of customer behavior. For so long we’ve only reported on one step of the customer...