We keep hearing about tech stacks—how they make things simpler and get you everything you need in the best way possible. But what if there was a similar solution for your creative and marketing services?
Being able to work with a handful of specialists—the artists that can help you with a variety of creative needs and services, can make your results so much better. Sure, it can sometimes feel simpler to get a one-and-done approach, but that means that you might be missing out on better results stemming from experts in specific fields. Jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none and all that…
However, there are so many options, it’s overwhelming. How can you build a custom stack of marketing services so you can keep your multifamily branding and marketing fully supported from end-to-end? (Do you like that tech-y lingo?)
Really, we just want to make sure your community shines from start to finish, that’s all. We’ll outline the pieces (and partners) we recommend you fill in so that your brand can be at its best and your marketing services stack can function the way you need it to.
Specialize with a Marketing Services Stack
There are a couple reasons why having a pile—okay, stack—of creative Partners at your disposal is the best possible approach:
Get the best – Having an assortment of creative service providers means you can choose the one that works best for you, and is at the top of their game. Good reviews, good referrals, good results.
Combine to Conquer – Using multiple providers means better results rather than an all-in-one solution. With one or a handful of services, they have one focus. The product is specialized, and they’re not stretched too far beyond their abilities.
Integration for the win – You might choose one company for verbal and visual branding, while another is your best choice for website development. Simply because a Partner offers it doesn’t mean it’s their best offering. Find Partners that can work together and collaborate, so you get the best of everything.
Wondering where to go and who to hire for your marketing services stack? We got you. (Along with some of our faves, of course).
Branding
Partner: Zipcode Creative
Not to toot our own horn, but seriously: We love branding and we’re loud and proud about it.
Why this Partner: Our process ensures your multifamily brand is set up to stand out:
Research – We look at geographic information, competitors, and take your goals into account to create an IRP that you can reach.
Strategy – We take our research and create a brand strategy to reach your IRP.
Identity Creation – We bring your brand to life.
- Name – We create a unique name for your community based on the vibe and what will attract residents—often inspired by your ideas.
- Logo – A standalone graphic that represents you well.
- Visual Identity – We’ll provide you color palettes, stock photography examples, patterns and textures that bring your brand to life as a feast for the eyes.
- Verbal Identity – Your messaging is built up around a mission and values that are unique to your community, and have personality rooted deep.
Bottom line: Zipcode has been in the biz for a while. We deeply understand multifamily and bring more than a logo. We can get you a full, cohesive branding package that resonates with communities and prospective residents on a deeper level.
Website Development
Partner: RESI
At Zipcode Creative, we opted to not handle website development in-house. We wanted to stay fully focused on visual and verbal branding. RESI is our ideal partner for multifamily websites. They’re focused on custom solutions and seamlessly integrate with PMS systems (like Yardi and RealPage). We work hand in hand with RESI to ensure the brands we create for our clients come to life through their websites– or you can go right to RESI and be well taken care of!
Why this Partner: RESI are web experts. We partner to lead the design.
Bottom line: When we work together, our clients get the best possible branding across their digital platforms.
Copywriting
Partner: Zipcode Creative
We have some of the best copywriters around. And website copy is a fairly complicated game to play, especially when you’re working to balance SEO and your brand. We’ll get the formula right.
Why this Partner: We work within our existing process to create website copy that’s always clear and always consistent. Your community’s brand personality is short and sweet? We’re on it.
Bottom line: We make you visible with visuals we create and audible with messaging we craft. Your brand will always shine through.
Graphic Design
Partner: Zipcode Creative
This is where it all began! We started with visuals way back when and we’re still loving it. (And so are our clients.)
Why this Partner: We take your vibe, feedback, and ideas, and create design collateral that’s perfectly on brand.
- Print collateral? All of it!
- Direct mail? Yes, we know and trust a variety of printers around the U.S.
- Signage? Don’t leave your design up to chance—we’ll provide our designs to your local sign companies for production.
- Digital Design? But of course.
Bottom line: Every one of your digital assets (social media, ads, plenty more) will be ideally aligned and perfectly recognizable as you because they’re created by the same agency—us.
Resident Journey Marketing
Partner: HyLy
Why this Partner: HyLy is next level for email nurturing, chatbots, and AI-driven content. It’s not quite set-it-and-forget-it, but pretty darn close. At Zipcode Creative, we work with them to integrate your branding identity into HyLy’s system, creating a consistent experience at every touchpoint in the resident journey.
Bottom line: Be you (okay, your brand) all the way through. When you have partners that work together on the reg, your branding will be the thread that gets pulled through and passed from one Partner to the next, no problem.
Renderings (Floor Plans & Photorealistic Images)
Partner: Zipcode Creative
First impressions count for a lot. And when it comes to investors seeing an opportunity or a resident seeing “home” for the first time…you need to ensure you have the highest-quality for your multifamily communities’ floor plans and photorealistic images.
Why this Partner: We provide architecture-based floor plans in 2D and 3D so you can show up exactly how you want to down to the last detail.
Bottom line: We dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s. We’re totally committed to getting you the best quality imagery.
Sitemaps
Partner: Zipcode Creative + Engrain
Few of our partners have worked with us longer. Together with Engrain, Zipcode Creative makes beautiful, 2D maps (seriously, people come to us first for the sitemaps!) and Engrain makes them into a fully interactive map masterpiece.
Why these Partners: We’ve worked together for long enough to make the experience seamless for you, and immersive for your prospective residents.
Bottom line: Property sitemaps deserve star treatment. It’s how prospective residents get to know you before ever stepping foot on your property.
Photography & Video
Partner: LCP Media
Why this Partner: LCP runs their biz nationwide. They can handle stills, 360s, or aerials. And it’s all sharp, high-resolution magic. They know what kind of photos and videos apartment communities need, and they’ll get them for you.
Bottom line: LCP is super reliable and you don’t have to end up sourcing photos in every city where your properties are located. It’s nice to just call up your pre-vetted pros and get them on photo and video duty, right? Right!
Social Media
Partner: Social Kapture
Why this Partner: Social Kapture is our go-to partner social media management that’s totally authentic. Seriously—no one will know it’s not you. We’ll help tailor your brand strategy for organic posts and paid social, and Social Kapture will carry it to the finish line.
Bottom line: When you go through the long, hard work of creating a brand, don’t let it fall flat with lackluster social media because you don’t have time. Instead: hire the experts.
Digital Advertising
Partner: Digible (for General Paid Media)
Why this Partner: Digible is a go-to for SEO/SEM and are especially renowned for their paid search services.
Partner: Apartment Geofencing (for Location-Based Advertising)
Why this Partner: They do exactly what they say—location-based advertising. It’s like throwing a lasso around a specific area and hitting prospective residents with your message. When used for a very location-oriented business, it’s magic.
Bottom line: Work with someone who is experienced with advertising—not with someone who “also offers that, too, I think!?” They’ll be familiar with the data and set-up needed to get you the biggest bang for your advertising buck—whether that’s through geofencing or through paid search ads.
Networking & Learning
Partner: Cadence Run Club
Why this Partner: The multifamily space is fun and loud and it can be tough to sort through the noise. At Cadence Run Club, we’ve found it’s super easy to network, share ideas, and learn from others
Bottom line: Helping run a community—you’re distinctly aware of how important community really is. With Cadence Run Club, you can keep up ongoing learning and growth as a multifamily marketer (or exec or Partner, what have you).
Why should tech stacks have all the fun? Create a best-in-class creative and marketing services stack, too, filled to the gills with the best. It’s certainly worth exploring how we can help you build your own stack, based on our experiences and how we best integrate with our fave partners.
It’s time to truly stack the deck—for your marketing success.
