Online Apartment Searches Continue Steady Increase As States Begin To Reopen

Short-term, positive signs continue to emerge for the multifamily industry as states throughout the country progress through their various stages of reopening. As of May 20th, 90.8% of apartment households have made full or partial rent payment according to the NMHC. While major accommodations have been put in place throughout the rental industry over the course of the global pandemic, the good news of rent collections is accompanied by signs of what could be a "normal" summer leasing season. Below shows a steady increase over the past 60 days for online Google searches for apartments for rent in the U.S. The uptick in online searches for apartments shows positive signs and opportunity for multifamily marketing strategies leading into the busy season. While proper leasing accommodations should be maintained in accordance with state guidelines, multifamily marketing strategies should be well prepared for Summer digital traffic.

YouTube Increases TV Targeting for Ad Campaigns

Early signs of measurable OTT (over-the-top) ad campaign capabilities are starting to emerge for smaller advertisers. As viewership continues to shift away from standard cable TV packages and more towards OTT platforms (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube TV, Hulu, etc.), many of these new "networks" are expected to roll out enhanced ad targeting and media buy capabilities in the months and years to come. Announced earlier this week, as reported by Search Engine Land, YouTube has launched YouTube Select, a new ad campaign buying capability that will allow advertisers to increase ad reach and target audiences via YouTube and YouTube TV. The launch enables digital marketing agencies to purchase media buys via Google Ads (Display and Video), Google 360, and via reservation with their Google rep. In their announcement, YouTube claims the launch with allow digital marketing agencies to "easily reach (their) audience with a single, scalable offering on the big screen across the best content, including popular creators, YouTube Originals, live sports, feature length movies, timely news and more." The online video juggernaut claims that over 100 million people watch YouTube and YouTube TV on their TV screen each month and that TV use for YouTube continues to grow. Alongside an increase in viewership in other OTT platforms during the lock down, these platforms are very aware of the ad reach and targeting capabilities their cord cutting services can provide for digital marketers.

As more people are spending time at home and getting rid of cable TV, many OTT streaming companies will likely begin to evolve their advertising and media buy capabilities in the future. Hulu is expected to announce a similar type of capability later this year. While this is a brand new offering and is limited to certain markets and advertisers at the moment, this is an early sign of what is likely to become an

increasing trend moving forward in the world of OTT and online targeting capabilities. The shift to OTT is welcome in the digital ad space in that it will create additional diversity for online and brand awareness strategy capabilities. In addition, it will call for an increase in professional video content for multifamily marketing strategies to advertise to prospects. While this still has a very long way to go before it enters into multifamily digital marketing strategies in scalable fashion, we expect to see these capabilities emerge in the months and years to come.

The Rise of Zero-Click Online Search: Preparing Your Multifamily Marketing Strategy

With our new digital norm, your properties' online presence, virtual capabilities, tracking, and content are arguably now more important than ever- especially as Summer leasing season approaches. To make multifamily marketing and leasing efforts even trickier during these bizarre times, a trend among online users has emerged to further complicate the matter...Introducing zero-click search.

As reported by Jumpshot in Search Engine Land last year, “for the first time, the majority of Google searches (50.33%) ended without a click on an organic or paid search result.” In essence, online users are searching online, they’re getting their answers based on what appears on the search engine results page (SERP), and then moving on without interacting or engaging. It's important to note that online behavior is steering away from direcly clicking through the listings and ads that marketers pay for.

The increase of zero click search behavior puts a greater need to make sure all of your ads are transparent and as up to date as possible.

As we prepare for the Summer leasing season combined with social distancing best-practices, zero-click search makes it ever more important to make sure your Google Ads are as up to date as possible every day and week. If a user was to search for “Apartments in Plano, Texas,” for example, you would want to ensure that your latest leasing special, bedroom types, and starting at pricing are shown on your Google Ads and extensions. Ensuring your ads are up to date week in and week out will educate your prospects about your brand and pricing on the SERP without falling prisoner to zero-click behavior. In doing so, you provide the exact details of what your communities offer at the time of that user’s search should your ad appear.

Updating your ad copy weekly may seem like common sense, but with zero-click online behavior becoming a larger part of user behavior, the importance of your ads educating your prospects is increasing tremendously. Rather than stating your property name with headlines such as "now leasing" or "lease today," look for ways to educate your prospects. Doing so will bring those who are serious prospects further down the buying funnel and make for a better use of ad costs and your onsite leasing team's time.