AIM 2026: From Leases to Capital and Contracts: How Multifamily Marketers Win Investors, JV Equity, and Third-party Management

From Leases to Capital and Contracts:  How Multifamily Marketers Win Investors, JV Equity, and Third-party Management

The panel featured Liz Tennican, Managing Partner, Head of Investor Relations at Carmel Partners; Sarah Greenough, President of Princeton Properties; and Alexis Vance, Chief Experience Officer at RPM Living. Together, they demonstrated how marketing skills can translate from leasing apartments to attracting investors, winning management contracts, supporting acquisitions, and building enterprise value.

The transition begins with a familiar marketing principle: know your audience. For Tennican, that audience includes pensions, foundations, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds. Instead of lifestyle and amenities, those customers care about reliable risk-adjusted returns, fiduciary alignment, and repeatable performance. The marketer's job remains the same: understand the customer's problem and communicate a clear solution they can easily take to other decision-makers.

B2B marketing also requires a different time horizon. While renter decisions may happen within weeks or months, capital and management relationships can take years to develop. That makes trust, networking, active listening, and consistent relationship-building essential.

One of marketing's strongest B2B contributions is storytelling backed by evidence. Investors and clients need case studies, pitch decks, RFP responses, financial support, and proof that an organization's processes create measurable value. As Greenough described it, a case study should simply “show your work.”

For marketers seeking broader leadership roles, the panel emphasized curiosity and business fluency. Learn how investments, capital stacks, P&Ls, acquisitions, and asset strategies work. Sit in on investment committee meetings, shadow colleagues, read fund materials, and build relationships across departments.
Ultimately, the shift is from being a marketing service provider to a strategic business partner.

Key Takeaways

• Marketing skills are transferable. Audience segmentation, storytelling, positioning, research, and relationship-building apply equally to B2C and B2B.
• Learn the language of the deal. Build fluency in NOI, returns, capital, asset strategy, and investment terminology.
• Show your work. Turn successful assets and initiatives into compelling case studies tied to financial outcomes.
• Think relationships, not campaigns. B2B opportunities may require years of trust-building before a transaction occurs.
• Don't wait for an invitation. Seek exposure to investments, development, acquisitions, and business development.
• Move from service provider to strategic partner. Understand the enterprise objective, identify problems, and proactively bring solutions to the table.