MME Conference Recap: A Look Inside the Exclusive Multifamily Marketing Event

MME 2024 has just wrapped up! And we couldn’t be more excited for next year’s event

Multifamily Marketing East (MME) is an invite-only, limited-access conference. It’s less about being exclusive, and more about concentrated and focused. 

If you missed out, the content was top-notch and the topics (and speakers) were on point. Read on to find out more about this East Coast multifamily conference.

The MME Conference

FORMAT

The conference took place at The Pendry, a waterfront boutique hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. The main thing at MME 2024: the breakout sessions.

For these breakout sessions, attendees joined their peers for small group discussions focused on topics they pre-selected at registration. Each of the 10 tables has a different topic, a sponsor expert on the topic, a moderator, and a presenter. What made this experience extra unique and special was the pre-planning that took place over virtual calls leading up to the day of the event. Sponsors and moderators got together to plan out their session topic to be prepared to lead the conversation with enticing questions and talking points. Our favorite, from Session #2 was “Scaling Branding with AI: Faster, Farther, Cohesive.”

After the breakout tables were complete, a presenter from each topic shared the group’s key insights and strategies on the main stage. In this way, attendees were able to participate in the topic they most wanted to discuss, while still reaping the benefits of gathered knowledge from the other 9 tables. Attendees gained a broader perspective, and left with actionable knowledge.

These breakout tables and reflections occurred twice, and both times, attendees came away with a wealth of knowledge. Like a book club at their own roundtable discussion—a deep dive, while the Reflections and Takeaways functioned more like nuggets out of Cliff Notes.

Breakout Sessions

Table #1

Topic 1: MarTech: Enhancing Customer Experience & Operations (Presenter: Jillian Fickert)
Topic 2: Emerging Trends: Proptech & AI (Moderator: Noel Carson)
Sponsor: Revyse

Revyse is a vendor discovery and review platform. They help multifamily professionals find their ideal proptech and vendor solutions.

Table #2

Topic 1: How AI can Help with Industry Pain Points (Presenter: Matthew Cummings)

Topic 2: Evolution of Marketing Metrics: Adapting to New Trends & Practices (Presenter: Michele Jose)
Sponsor: Hy.Ly

Hy.Ly is invested in the power of ‘Human + Machine’ to develop products as a multifamly marketing technology company that creates products to improve multifamily experiences.

Table #3

Topic 1: Unlocking Success: Mastering Conversion Ratio Optimization (Presenter: Ashleigh Dawson)

Topic 2: Maximizing Video Content: Ads and Beyond
Sponsor: Realync

Realync is a cloud-based, web and mobile platform that enables live virtual tours, live virtual open houses, and DIY pre-recorded videos of real estate—all to unlock authentic experiences to connect and convert.

Table #4

Topic 1: Maximizing Performance, Efficiency, and Timelines

Topic 2: Google Ads Unleashed: Maximizing Your PPC Potential including PMAX (Presenter: Sabrina Leckemby)
Sponsor: Digible

Digible offers seamless solutions for the multifamily industry: multifamily marketing services and technology build for apartments.

Table #5

Topic 1: Building Data- Powered Social Strategies

Topic 2: Mastering Influencer Marketing: Strategies for Success
Sponsor: Social Kapture

Social Kapture creates custom content and proven strategies for social media and digital advertising—specifically for multifamily.

Table #6

Topic 1: Apartment Branding for Marketing Success (Presenter: Jillian Letourneau)
Topic 2: Scaling Branding with AI: Faster, Farther, Cohesive (Presenter: Renee McIntyre)

Sponsor: Zipcode Creative

Zipcode Creative is a multifamily focused boutique creative agency that offers apartment branding and marketing design.

Table #7

Topic 1: Build Internal Partnerships Using Marketing Data
Topic 2: Uncovering Retention Trends in Resident Reviews

Sponsor: Widewail

Widewail is a reputation management company for local businesses, offering monitoring, review management, and review invitations.

Table #8

Topic 1: Streaming TV Advertising for Apartments
Topic 2: Mastering Geofencing: Market Rate to Affordable and Urban to Suburban

Sponsor: ApartmentGeofencing.com

Apartmentgeofencing.com offers location-based advertising technology so properties can reach prospects wherever they are.

Table #9

Topic 1: Understanding Prospect Preferences with Mobile Location History (Presenter: Elaine Delude)
Topic 2: Post Covid Rental Landscape – From Migration to Back to Work (Presenter: Eddie Vasquez, Jr.)

Sponsor: Placer.AI

Placer.AI helps properties make better business decisions through geolocation data: location intelligence and foot traffic data. Find your customers, find your opportunities.

Table #10

Topic 1: Staying Motivated and Efficient with Reduced Staff
Topic 2: Your Guide to Creating a World-Class Company Culture in 2024 (Presenter: Nicole Drayton)

Sponsor: ApartmenGeofencing.com

Apartmentgeofencing.com offers location-based advertising technology so properties can reach prospects wherever they are.

KEYNOTES

The speakers at MME are all recognized in the industry—they’re experienced and invested in learning and engagement, which made them perfect for the MME conference.

“The Making of a Love Brand”
with Kelley Shannon, Senior VP, Marketing and Customer Experience, Bozzuto

“Gaining Traction for Your Brand”
With Matthew Kilmury, Founder & CEO, ApartmentGeofencing.com

Along with these sessions, the panel discussions also offered up plenty of opportunity to see things from a different angle, or take a deeper dive.

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

“More With Less: Leveraging AI to Overcome Constraints”

Moderator: 

Elaine De Lude, Vice President, LIVEbe Communities
With Panelists:

Daniel Paulino, Vice President, Marketing, Bozzuto

Moshe Crane, Vice President, Branding & Strategic Initiatives, Sage Ventures                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Description:
In an era where “doing more with less” has transformed from a challenging necessity into an industry mantra, we delve into the pivotal role of AI as an empowering tool. Budgets and teams may not be growing, but expectations for performance are. The question remains: how can one amplify output and efficiency with the resources available?

This panel explores cutting-edge solutions within AI that address this perennial marketing quandary. With recent technological breakthroughs, AI has emerged not just as a means to compensate for resource limitations, but as a strategy to surpass even the highest of expectations. Join us as we unpack the transformative potential of AI, providing practical insights into maximizing performance.

Key takeaways:

• Cutting-edge AI solutions
• Practical insights into maximizing performance

“Marketing Metrics Are Changing—Are You Ready?”

Moderator:
Wendy Simpson, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Edgewood Management
With panelists: Kevin Wilson, Director of Marketing, Strategy and Planning, Southern Land Company                                                                                                                          

Michelle José, Vice President, Property Marketing, Mill Creek Residential

Xiyao Yang, Director of Marketing Analytics, Bozzuto       

Description:

Digital marketing metrics are changing, and they’re changing fast. Are you ready? In this session, we’ll explore how your marketing teams can adapt to recent regulations and innovations, and set themselves up for success in today’s rapidly-evolving digital landscape. With an eye on digital trends that transcend industry, but told through a multfamily marketing lens, we’ll dive into different marketing areas like branding/awareness, findability, and social engagement.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Key Takeaways:

• How to adapt to recent regulations and innovations
• How to get set up for success while digital trends evolve

Our Insights

Since this was the first year of MME, we wanted to give you the full insider scoop. So we asked Zipcode Creative founder and creative director, Stacey Feeney, to give us the lowdown.

What was the best part of MME?

All the time we got to spend together networking and really getting to know each other was so different from other conferences where there feels like such a barrier between sponsors and attendees. Breakout tables were a nice way to bring the conversations into smaller groups and really connect to and relate with one another!.

What are some key nuggets that will stick with you as you get back to work, answering emails and working on apartment brands?

Strategy and discovery is a crucial step that should always precede brand creation and it’s too important to be skipped.

Invest in what makes a brand and tells its story.

A brand needs a narrative, and that comes from strategy. That narrative may need to pivot over time, like during a phase two lease-up, especially if the goals for the property or the resident persona have shifted –a brand should be a “responsive brand”

Brand strategy should continue throughout the resident journey, even after they are living in the community. The goal with brand should be to create an emotional connection with prospects and maintain that connection while they are residents. 

Educate your teams on the importance of a cohesive brand (and how to understand it), create a playbook for guidance and then empower them to create through the help of user friendly and AI tools like Canvas, chatGPT and MidJourney, for example.

Anything else?

Huge shoutout to Matthew Kilmurry, CEO at Apartment Geofencing. He and his team organized the whole MME conference. Along with the involvement of the sponsors and content committee, everyone had a part to play in this super-cool collaborative conference. Also, the Bozzuto marketing team really prioritized this event as a full-on retreat for their team. That made me feel warm and fuzzy inside!

Please stay tuned for more updates from the multifamily marketing east conference—can’t wait to see everyone next year!