OH MY GOURD, IT’S MARKETING BUDGET SEASON
Happy marketing budget season to all who observe! In multifamily marketing, our budget season isn’t necessarily the same as everyone else. What do you need to think about and what do you need to pay attention to?
As always, we’re here to help. So.
What to Consider During Budget Season
HISTORICAL ROI
Multifamily, marketers: What have you spent money on in the past? Did it serve you? Were you able to see results from those efforts? Some things are difficult to track or attribute, we’ll give you that. Nevertheless, it’s a great idea to go over your budget from the previous year and make determinations on what can stay, go, get boosted, or get lowered. Find the patterns in your data and adjust your spending. If you can focus on what works, that’s a good place to start—but make sure your position is flexible, and you’re willing to change things up if they’re not working like they did last year.
GROWTH AREAS ACCORDING TO GOALS
Knowing what you’ve done before and where you want to be in the future….now: What are your marketing goals for your company and for your apartment communities?
More leads?
More tours?
More leases signed?
More lease renewals?
Hint: All of those should be “yes” of course. But: Set your sights on something that you can achieve within 12 months, for next year and make room in the budget for it now. That’s what informs your budget numbers.
MAKING IMPROVEMENTS
When you’ve established your focus areas, then you can explore what is actually going to make a difference. A great place to start? Branding. Let your new-and-improved marketing efforts begin with a brand refresh so you can really capture your prospects, with both targeted visuals as well as messaging that “speaks their language.” When you’re able to create better branding, do it. (Visual and voice!) When you’re able to better position your brand through professional copywriting and set yourself apart, do it. When you’re able to market through new channels, whether it’s ads, social media, or direct mail, do it. Keep track of everything and record the results. Comparing the Before/After for your team will help you get better budget leverage the next time you ask.
Why Branding Needs to Be In Your Marketing Budget
PAST SPENDING
Because you’ve spent money on branding in the past, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re done. You may need to rebrand. Or you may need to reposition your brand. Look at what you’ve spent on branding in the past. One of our blogs, Is Apartment Branding Worth It? touches on the multiple reasons why investing in branding can help your business grow. It sets you apart. It helps you gain credibility and trust (which brings loyalty and resident retention). Besides setting you apart it can also help justify you charging a little more—because you’re a full-on brand, not just some random apartment community with mismatched colors and a blah website. Plus, brand recognition is like a success balloon—it keeps you growing with faster lease-ups and company expansion possibilities. UP UP AND AWAY!
INVESTIGATE YOUR GOALS
Whether you want more leases signed or simply a more streamlined look, a brand can help you get there. Also: who are you losing out to? Who is the competition, and what are they winning that you aren’t? Branding might help you get the edge. Renter preferences are just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to creating your brand. Gentle, but firm reminder here, too: A brand is far more than a logo—it can’t do it all.
GETTING IT BETTER
Are you, or your team, or your execs asking to improve L2L, lease-up and keep it that way? It’s going to work best if you are able to point out areas for improvement, make suggestions for change, and bring the budget projections that you believe will get you there. This can include research on seasonal needs for events or a busy time of year, and should also account for consistent growth—it’s never ever a set-it-and-forget-it situation. There can always be tweaks made. And as you’re widening your marketing efforts, be sure to find the places you need to go deeper instead of wider.
Budgeting to Outsource Branding Creative
HOW WE HELP
At Zipcode Creative, we’re nothing if not helpful. In fact, we know that working in marketing isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. It can be hard. And we’re not even talking about budgeting season. Outsource the high-level creative to pros who understand the multifamily industry and apartment marketing—we can help with the little stuff too.
Do a little SWOT analysis of your team.
What are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats? How can you use your budget to build the strengths, overcome the weaknesses, grow your opportunities, and fight your threats?
For example, how will you get around the fact that you don’t have a full-time graphic designer? We know a few people that could help with that (us)! We’re here and ready to be the handy dandy extension of your marketing team. Whatever you need, we can help bridge the gap.
OUR SERVICES
What do you mean, “bridge the gap?” Zipcode Creative offers a ton of different services for apartment marketing when it comes to branding. Sometimes there may be a service that you don’t even know you need. (Hellooooo full brand development with visuals and voice!)
We offer:
- branding and logo design
- print collateral design
- digital design
- 3d floor plans
- community maps
- signage design
- copywriting
- campaign development
- corporate design
If you’re curious about more details on each of those, head to our services page.
Our Multifamily Marketing Budget Menu
Branding has a lot of different components. Visual and Verbal for starters. We specialize in copywriting and in graphic design. We can work with other agencies that you might have on deck for website design, but we can also help you create an apartment brand from start to finish.
To that end, we have a really (not cute but functional) google sheet that’s updated live for our common a la carte services. They all have a clear-cut flat rate cost and turnaround time. It’s nice to have something black and white when you’re trying to stay out of the red zone in your budget, right? We give this sheet to our clients and encourage them to bookmark it in their browser so they have a rate sheet ready to go when they’re assessing their needs during budgeting season. Want to get to know us as you’re prepping for next year’s marketing spend? Book a meeting with us today! (And then we’ll hand over that magically transparent pricing menu.)
As a multifamily marketer, it’s hard to oversee multiple projects—it’s also difficult on your budget to hire full-time help (along with corresponding salaries and benefits). Consider hiring an agency, like Zipcode Creative, to help you streamline your budget and get just what you need. We offer transparent pricing and a la carte menu option because we know you might not need it all. If you do, we’re also there for you! But if you just need a brochure, we’ll hook you up. Likely for faster than your in-house team and possibly for cheaper in the long run. Working with pros might be your new favorite budget line item.
Best part is: We might become friends, too.
