The multifamily industry spends around $170 per unit yearly on marketing costs – over $50,000 annually for a 300-unit property, or $1.7 million per year for a 10,000-unit portfolio. The bulk of this spending goes to advertising, yet the typical owner/manager still struggles to determine if this money is delivering cost-effective results.

Many advertising decisions are made without clear data on how effective different forms of advertising can be. The multifamily industry can change this by using principles of direct marketing to assess which advertising methods will generate the most leads and leases for the least amount of cash outlay.

John Helm, CEO of MyNewPlace.com stresses the importance of consistently tracking the effectiveness of each advertising source in a white paper Cost Effective Resident Acquisition.  His team worked with the heads of marketing for several owner/managers in implementing the recommended analytical approach.

In every case, the owner/manager was able to identify that 20%-30% of their advertising spend was simply not cost-effective. In many cases, they were able to cut this spend, redeploy half the “saved” dollars and replace, or even increase, the number of leads and leases generated.

There are five basic steps owner/managers can take to evaluate most cost-effective lead sources:

1) Identify Sources

2) Determine Common Metric

3) Benchmark Sources

4) Allocate Spend (and Effort)

5) Repeat

Using these basic steps can help multifamily housing managers identify ineffective cost areas of their advertising spend. That money can then be reallocated to more efficient advertising methods, resulting in better leads and leases for the same or lower costs.

Click here to read the full report.

The Apartment Internet Marketing (AIM) Conference starts in only TWO WEEKS: April 29 – May 1, in Denver. If you’re on the fence about attending, we want to make your decision easier, by giving you three reasons to not attend AIM 2009:

#1. Your customers don’t use the Internet and it’s not important to your company.

The AIM Conference lives up to its name by providing attendees with the best available education on online marketing and operations. We will show you how to cut costs and drive revenue with cutting-edge techniques and new technologies.

#2. Your marketing budget is way too big, but you’ve found the solution: ineffective advertising. It’s a great way to get rid of extra cash.

Unfortunately for you, this year’s AIM Conference is tightly focused on showing attendees how to make the most out of their marketing spend. Our expert speakers will show you ways to track and analyze your marketing spend, use social media to find new residents online.

#3. You like boring speakers talking about things you already know.

Too bad for you. At AIM, we only feature dynamic speakers who will teach you the skills you need to fill units and drive revenue in the current down market. Sessions feature Internet leaders from other industries paired with successful case studies from multifamily owners and managers.

Here are a few of this year’s speakers:

Jed Nachman, Vice President of Sales, Yelp, Inc.

Yelp has revolutionized how people find out about local businesses, restaurants, and destinations with social reviews. At Yelp, Jed is responsible for all aspects of the sales function including local, display, client services, and sales operations. In his presentation, Jed will explain how businesses can successfully work with user-generated local content to increase their own visibility and drive leads.

Sharon Melnick, Psychologist & Fortune 500 Executive Coach

Sharon Melnick, Ph.D. is a psychologist/coach who helps talented and successful people “get out of their own way”. Informed by 10 years of research at Harvard Medical School and trained in cutting edge stress resilience techniques, she is a leading authority in helping business professionals move to the next level and master the stresses of the new economic climate. She is a sought after speaker, and has appeared as an expert for Success Television, Huffington Post, Lime Radio, AirAmerica, Natural Health Magazine, USAToday.com, and others.

Jed Katz, Managing Director, DFJ Gotham Ventures

One of the pioneers of Internet commerce, Jed was the COO and Founder of Rent Net (www.rent.net), the Internet’s first rental and relocation guide. Jed used its infrastructure as the starting point for the formation of Move.com, which he grew to 360 employees and was acquired by Homestore for over $900 million. Jed was recently voted by a community of thousands of entrepreneurs nationwide as a top 10 venture capitalist by the website The Funded and was selected in the “Silicon Alley 100”, an annual list of the most influential people in New York digital business.

Chris Sherman, Executive Editor, SearchEngineLand.com

Chris is an expert on all things related to internet search, and his site SearchEngineLand.com is a leading destination for search information. With over 25 years experience in interactive technologies, he is frequently quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Business Week, USA Today and other publications, and has appeared on CNN, NPR, CBS and other television and radio networks. He will focus on the burgeoning area of local search, and give attendees insight and local search techniques successfully used by other industries.

CHECK OUT ALL THE OTHER GREAT SPEAKERS

SEE THE FULL AGENDA

Last year’s conference sold out more than a month before the event — so make sure you reserve your place early and register for AIM 2009 now! It’s a 2009 multifamily must-attend event.

Early-bird registration: Save money and register for the discounted rate of $525.