Published July 10, 2025 | Categories: Google Analytics , Digital Marketing , PPC , SEO
It's no secret that the multifamily market is fiercely competitive. Property owners and marketers face pressure to deliver results that truly make an impact. At Beacon, we support over 750 multifamily properties across 23 states, helping clients lower their cost-per-lease, attract qualified renters, reduce vacancies, and stretch every marketing dollar.
This year, two of Beacon's senior leaders—VP of Digital Marketing Optimization Andrea Cole and VP of Digital Marketing Advertising Jordan Burleson—joined several client and industry leadership conferences nationwide. Our recent conversations confirmed one thing: success depends on digital strategies that evolve in tandem with market demands.
Despite diverse portfolios and markets, common challenges repeatedly surfaced when speaking with our clients. Below, we highlight four digital marketing themes that stood out and how leading multifamily operators are adapting to these latest trends.
Efficiency continues to dominate the conversation among multifamily marketers, who are intent on increasing the value from their investments and achieving strong results.
"Our clients are laser-focused on efficiency, lowering cost-per-lease, driving qualified leads, and maximizing every marketing dollar," says Cole. "At Beacon, we stay ahead by anticipating these needs and adapting our solutions accordingly."
Burleson echoed this sentiment. "All our clients and multifamily operators are heavily concerned about attribution and efficiency," he says. "They're focused on getting more leases or foot traffic for less cost, or spending more, as long as there's no diminishing return."
In our day-to-day work with multifamily property managers nationwide, we see three distinct approaches emerging. For some, our conversations primarily focus on testing new Google Ads and evolving their SEO for AI-driven search. Others concentrate on syncing offline data with paid campaigns for enhanced attribution. Still others prioritize innovative, budget-friendly methods for rapid results.
While each approach has merit, the most effective strategies combine elements from all three, with the right blend often shifting throughout a property's lifecycle. Beacon implements these integrated strategies through custom solutions that scale with our clients, all supported by actionable data.
Beyond efficiency, multifamily leaders seek clear insight into how marketing efforts convert into leases and consistent occupancy. Knowing what drives results is critical.
"Clients want to tie digital marketing efforts to actual leases," explains Cole. "We're closing this loop by aligning GA4 data with offline leasing data and partnering with systems like Yardi and RealPage. This gives multifamily clients the actionable insight they've been asking for."
Burleson points out the growing importance of dashboards and clean reporting. "Clients want seasonal recommendations, competitive analysis, and the ability to validate that their budgets match their market conditions. They're asking smarter questions and expecting fast answers."
AI and conversational search are revolutionizing SEO, making effective content creation and structured data more crucial than ever for multifamily operators.
"As AI becomes more integrated into search, robust blog, FAQ, and structured data strategies are essential for properties to remain discoverable," says Cole. "Beacon was ahead of this trend. We've been pushing comprehensive schema and content strategies long before Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO, took off."
Today's marketers are earnestly exploring the integration of GEO and AI, such as AI-powered appointment tools and AI-enhanced lead intake, while maintaining a strong technical SEO foundation. Many of our clients, even those managing hundreds of properties, focus on cost-effective and impactful strategies that reliably deliver results. These proven methods include syncing offline data with campaigns and refining low-cost, high-return SEO content to encourage lead generation and ultimately, increased occupancy.
It's also essential to note that SEO does much more than just promoting organic traffic and improving search rankings; it boosts quality scores for paid ads, which means lower cost-per-click and more ROI.
As marketing becomes increasingly complex, multifamily managers are seeking partners who offer more than just task-based execution. They want collaboration and proactive guidance from a team they can trust.
"We challenge assumptions when needed," says Burleson. "That's what makes us a strategic partner. We don't just run campaigns; we evaluate, improve, and connect the dots between paid search, SEO, and analytics."
Additionally, we tailor strategies to meet the unique needs of each property within a portfolio, rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all process. This custom approach, combined with seamless coordination across our digital marketing practices, sets us apart.
Cole adds, "Because our SEO and Paid teams work closely together, we catch problems like site load delays or misattributed traffic early and resolve them quickly, often without the client needing to get involved."
Most importantly, multifamily operators need partners who can scale and adapt to change. At Beacon, this flexibility extends from our strategic approach down to practical details like our ACH billing system, which streamlines internal processes across properties and allows for swift adjustments when adding or removing locations. This adaptable framework, combined with our reliable team structure, supports clients through acquisitions, expansions, and transitions with seamless efficiency.
The multifamily landscape is evolving, and so should your strategy. Learn more about our SpotLight Program or reach out to discover how we can help.
