Agile Automation: How to Make Marketing Automation Thrive in a High-Touch, Customer-Centric Industry

Guiding a future resident through the sales funnel requires time and financial resources, and relationship building remains a central component of this process. These things will not change. What will change, however, are the tools used. Email autoresponders, interactive chatbots, texting campaigns, self-showings and more can instantly engage renters at every stage of their search. AI and automation can reduce your marketing spend, give your customers an exemplary first impression and provide your leasing team with more information. The case studies shared will demonstrate marketing response systems that are agile without losing the personalized, customer-centric approach our industry was built upon.

1. Agile Automation
How to Make Marketing Automation Thrive
in a High-Touch, Customer-Centric Industry

Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018 | 2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

2. What challenges exist for apartment
marketers today?

3. Meet the Team
Mike Whaling
30 Lines
Leigh Sublett
Venterra Realty
Ashley Yax
Village Green
Chris Beckwith-Taylor
The Franklin Johnston Group

4. What is marketing automation?
Tools that make the process of doing business easier by intelligently
automate repetitive marketing tasks

The goal: more insights, greater efficiencies, more personalized service

5. Applying Marketing Automation
How you want it to go… How it can easily go…

6. Marketing Automation Can…

Deliver the right message
to the right audience
at the right time
on the right device.

All without adding to your team’s workload.

7. How Renters Shop for Apartments
Look
Create awareness for the property / brand

Learn
Persuade and convince them your property is the right option

Lease
Lead prospects into a seamless transaction

Love
Nurture residents to deliver an experience they’ll want to share

9. Let’s flip the funnel…

10. Show Love to Current Residents
By increasing retention,
referrals, and satisfaction…
...we can decrease our spend
on cold lead generation.
Love

11. 83-87%
Of renters use online ratings and reviews in
their apartment research.
Love

12. Make It
Easy to
Share
Love

13. Social Studies: Greystar
Love
Resources
16
Properties
60
Days

14. Social Studies: Greystar
Love
Resources
5000
Social Interactions
751
Reviews (Avg. 4 Stars)

47
Avg. Reviews/Prop.

240
Reviews Shared

68%
Inc. in Google Ratings

11000
Website Referrals

15. Review Collection and Display
Love

16. Insight into Resident Satisfaction
Love

17. Insight into Resident Satisfaction
Love

18. Automated
Internal
Reputation
Management
Love
Resources Online Reputation
6.4% Higher
than
Benchmark
Time Cut
in Half
18% Higher
than
Benchmark
11% Higher
than
Benchmark
Leasing Process
Timeline
Responsiveness

19. Bridge the Gap – Love to Look
In the early stages of an
apartment search, marketing
efforts should aim to generate
awareness.

Resident ratings, testimonials
and referrals help generate
that awareness for you.

20. Initially
Prospects Are
Looking
for Options
Look

21. How Automation Can Assist
Look
Build your
Audience by
Giving prospects
The help they need

22. How Automation Can Assist
Look

23. How Automation Can Assist
Look
Real-Time
Pricing and
Availability

24. An Experience They’ll Love, From the Start
Love
Properties with a pop-up
on their website average
40 more leads per month
than properties that don’t.

25. Funnel Leads into Automated Follow-Ups
After a prospect submits a lead…
They can be automatically added
into your sales/marketing funnel…
Look

26. Gather Data from the Start

Early-stage “discovery” campaigns help you
build warm audiences and inform retargeting
strategies to reach those closer to buying
Look

27. Use Data to Decide Where to Spend
Look

28. They know your property…
Now, lead them to the lease.

29. Persuade the Prospect

Automate the more “mundane” touch points
and allow your team to focus on hotter,
more quality leads.

Learn

30. What Apartment Shoppers Expect
Instant answers
to their questions…
Prompt, helpful
follow-up communication…
Learn

31. Floor Plan Matching
Learn
•279 Leads Submitted
•54 Leases (19% Conversion)
•47 Average Days from
Experience to Lease
*90-day analysis amongst two assets

32. Clear CTA to
Direct and
Capture Leads
Learn

33. 92%
Of floor plans across Venterra’s portfolio have
3D tours available.
Learn

34. Chatbots are Available 24/7
Learn

35. Stay Top of Mind with Email/Text Drips
Learn

36. Automated Texting – Schedule Tour
Learn
•8,051 Valid Leads
•1,493 Scheduled Showings
•1,201 Completed Showings
*30-day analysis across 56 sites (Sept. – Oct. 2018)

37. Accelerate the decision-making process…
decrease days vacant.

38. Facilitate the Transaction

Make the process of doing business easier to
accelerate and streamline the transaction.

Lease

39. Live Video Tours
Lease

40. Pre-Recorded ‘FAQ’ Videos
Lease

41. How Video Tours Are Performing
Lease

42. Need a Ride, We’ll Pick You Up
A prospect schedules a visit to your
property…
Let’s make their trip a little easier
and schedule a Lyft…
Lease

43. The Results
Lease
Days
Shorter
Days Before Move In

44. Save time.
Save money.
Improve service.
Lease
Resources Online Reputation
6.4% Higher
than
Benchmark
Time Cut
in Half
18% Higher
than
Benchmark
11% Higher
than
Benchmark
Leasing Process
Timeline
Responsiveness

45. Accelerate the Leasing Process

By removing friction for the prospect, what was
taking anywhere between 1-8 days can now be
done in minutes.

Lease

46. True love starts before they’re
even a resident.

47. Follow-Up Messaging Before Move In
Love
* 90-day analysis
based on 1,477 new applicants
among 80 locations.

48. High Tech Can be High Touch
Love

49. Sounds great, but where do I start?

50. Pinpoint Repetitive Processes.

Focus on the tasks your team is doing every day,
for every lead. Then, address changes in phases.

51. Marketing Automation Can…

Deliver the right message
to the right audience
at the right time
on the right device.

All without adding to your team’s workload.

52. But, how do I know it’s working?

53. Establish the Right KPIs

54. Establish the Right KPIs
●Increase in response times and percent of leads responded to
●Increase in tours scheduled
●Increase in closing rate
●Decrease in days vacant
●Decrease in ad spend

55. If I don’t have any automation tools in place…
what’s something I can do?

56. Good Opportunities for Automation
●Push pricing and availability to ILSs
●Bulk/scheduled posting to social media sites
●Build a warm audience with pop-ups and pixels
●Drip email/text messaging to new leads

57. I feel pretty comfortable, what’s the
next level of implementation?

58. Better Opportunities for Automation
●Tour/appointment scheduler
●Event-based surveys and review generation
●Run smart remarketing ads to those warm audiences
●Always-on chatbots
●Social loyalty/rewards app

59. I feel very comfortable with
automation, what’s the top level?

60. The Best Opportunities for Automation
●New resident / move-in onboarding
●Lease renewals and move-out exit drips
●Personalized behavior-based follow-ups
(Email / SMS / Mobile app / Facebook Messenger)
●Lead prioritization and prescriptive leasing staff directives
(Differentiate between “marketing ready” and “sales ready” leads)
●Waitlist matching
●Self-guided tours (video or in-person)

61. Automation in the Multifamily Industry
How we want it to go… How it can easily go…

62. Look to Other Industries

63. How Renters Shop for Apartments
Look
Create awareness for the property or brand

Learn
Persuade and convince them your property is the right option

Lease
Lead prospects into a seamless transaction

Love
Nurture residents to establish an experience they’ll want to share

64. Access These Slides:
Text AGILE
to 88000

65. Let’s Connect
Mike Whaling
[email protected]
Leigh Sublett
[email protected]
Ashley Yax
[email protected]
Chris Beckwith-Taylor
[email protected]