Yardi Technology TrendTalk
Today’s talk show format is one of the most popular in television. At the 14th Annual Apartment Innovation and Marketing Conference (AIM 2019), which took place at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach on May 5-8, 2019, Yardi Systems’ VP of Marketing Esther Bonardi chose the format to showcase at its sponsored session, with guests that included
- Melise Balastrieri, Vice President of Marketing and Development, MG Properties
- Diana Norbury, Senior Vice President of Multifamily Operations, Pillar Properties
- Jamin Harkness, Executive Vice President, Partner, The Management Group LLC
- Patrick Lawler, Director, RENTCafe Product Development, Yardi
To highlight technologies that offered a specific advantage in driving Internet leads. Here’s what they had to say:
For MG Properties’ Balastrieri, the biggest tech benefit is marketing automation, because it relieves human scheduling challenges while providing consistent service to the customer. An example is self-scheduled tours, customer initiative has been helped by nudge marketing (timed and triggered messaging) and text messaging to yield an overall lead conversion rate of 11%. Elsewhere, automated tasks like floor plan assistance and guided online leasing have been able to capture almost 100% of leads. That could be because, observed Balastrieri, “it’s almost like a game. It’s a unique tool because it makes them feel engaged. And,” she added, “anything you could do to engage your prospects? We’ve got to use it.”
For The Management Group’s Harkness, full-path multi-source lead tracking was a favored Technology, because, “When it comes to attribution, I shouldn't have to, and don't want to, pick just one source. All touchpoints in the customer journey have value.” This means having the ability to track a lead’s journey “from the point of awareness to the point of engagement”; and to be able to “look under the hood” at any point to see those touchpoints. It’s also important to have source codes connect to data, because “informed decisions equals ROI. Sometimes, I can only make those decisions once a year, because I’m locked into a contract. When I do, I need as much information as possible.”
For Pillar Properties Norbury, it’s big data that provides better decisions. Her company relies on predictive and prescriptive analytics for pushing leasing goals and reshaping marketing options to reflect real needs. “We started using a platform that really helps us identify unit-type groups and exposure; and set strategies into place proactively.” But getting answers from data isn’t a walk in the park. “Scientists spend 60% of their time cleaning up their sources. You need to separate the signal from the noise.”
Bonardi’s final guest, Patrick Lawler, revealed how RentCafe, Yardi’s proprietary internet listing service (ILS), determines its tech capabilities. “When you look at a new technology,” said Lawler, “you have to ask yourself: is there a product here?” He cited blockchain, which he believes has a place in real estate on the transactional side, “but I don’t see an obvious place for blockchain in marketing.” It’s different for artificial learning, where “we see chatbots as a natural product.” With a self-guided tour demonstration using Alexa (which had been programmed to answer questions about the apartment), Lawler demonstrated how easily machine learning could adapt to everyday leasing situations. Another opportunity? “Flexible leasing and options available on a single platform.”
Takeaways from the panel:
- Balastrieri: “If you’re not already using automated tools, the question is: why not? They’re easy to set up, and the pay-off is great.”
- Harkness: “When you’re able to see the customer journey, you’re able to see that kinds of things that you can affect.”
- Norbury: “Using a platform has made our team members stronger business managers who understand what they need to do.”
- Lawler: “By leveraging the machine learning of a chatbot, we’re able to put a digital assistant in an apartment, where renters can ask it any questions they might have asked an agent.”
Conclusion: Technology, while not exclusive to the multifamily housing industry, is deftly evolving to the needs of this industry.
“If you’re not already using automated tools, the question is: why not? They’re easy to set up, and the pay-off is great.”
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