6 Factors to Consider before Marketing your Multifamily Property on ILS

The Internet has been the new buying place for multifamily properties for a while now, and Internet Listing Services (ILS) are leading the online property buying sales. ILS has become the biggest property market online, and every year it’s renting millions of multi-property homes. 

Maybe you’re thinking; I have a well-established multifamily property website. Why do I need to spend money for ILS marketing and list my properties on a platform where visitors can easily compare my properties with my competitors? 

The answer is that ILS websites have a massive portfolio that benefits them in Search Engine Optimization. Every time a rental prospect is searching for a multifamily property, these ILS searches will be at the top of the search results. 

We simply cannot overlook the power of ILS marketing websites in multifamily search engine optimization. Today’s consumer is faced with too many choices. So they’ll always look for channels where they can quickly screen through their options and pick the one best suited to them.

Source: Business Live

If a home-buyer is looking for a property, they will visit an ILS website. You’re either a fan of its services or not, but you cannot ignore their presence. You don’t need to see this listing investment as a threat. Instead, let’s take a look at how you can use this as a marketing opportunity to generate traffic to your website and enhance your sales. 

Do your Homework

Just like every marketing strategy, you first need to strengthen groundwork with good research. How do you choose the right ILS listing for your properties? The first step is to determine its credibility. Do they have enough organic website traffic in the first place?

You’re well aware that ILS sites are useful in generating property leads. But what you need to figure out further is whether the strategy they adopt is aligned with your marketing plans. Think of ILS marketing beyond generating leads. Are they committed to your alliance? Do they care about your brand impression? 

Most ILS sites practice sharing their reports that give property management and multifamily companies a clear understanding of their standing. Even if it has good traffic, is it relevant to the location you’re catering to? Does it have a good SEO ranking on search engines? These are some essential questions for which you need answers. Do in-depth research on all these factors and determine which would work best for you for ILS marketing. 

Google is the biggest ILS

Google is a top source of traffic for literally everything; This means Google is the most significant Internet listing service for your property. And if something this resourceful is free, you go for it, without a doubt.

Source: Live Buyers

Listing your property on Google can be a powerful strategy, and doing so is relatively easy. You just need to create your My Business Account on google and follow the following steps to complete the process.

• Search for your property

• Add it to Google Database.

• Verify your property

• Manage your listings

Creating a listing on My business account will increase your visibility on all Google searches. You will show up in Google maps, create online engagement, and give you a stamp of approval from your customer through the star rating feature.

Multi-touch Attribution

The success of your marketing campaign is never a result of a single ad. It is always an amalgamation of factors. One ad may generate awareness, the next one may ignite curiosity, and the third one may probably give you conversion. Your job isn’t over with listing your multifamily property on a single ILS site. You need to be visible on multiple ILS sites to give a guided experience to your prospective renters and tenants. 

Think about the process you would follow while searching for a home online. You won’t just click on the first search result on Google. You will explore your options. You’ll click on multiple pages to compare locations, affordability, facilities, and so on. When your prospects recognize you on different platforms, there are high chances he/she will click at least on one ad listing.

Source: Trulia.com

Source: Zillow.com

The role of multi-touch attribution isn’t just to increase your visibility online. It is to understand which platform works the best for you so you can optimize your marketing efforts accordingly in the future.

Check your SEO benefit

The real estate business is highly competitive, online or offline. If you’re advertising on ILS websites, there is a chance that the ILS site will block the potential multifamily Search Engine Optimization benefits you could avail. Unfortunately, you will have to encounter such unpleasant experiences; This is why when you do ILS marketing; you need to see your benefit above anything else.

Source: Apartments.com

Check whether ILS has given your website link. If yes, ensure that it’s not a no-follow link. Google disregards no-follow links for SEO, and hence, it doesn’t boost your page rank and doesn’t work in your favor. Don’t just rely on ILS to follow such measures. Make it a part of your advertising agreement.

Don’t overlook the hygiene activities

You already know that you’re going to be listed along with your competitors. The only way to differentiate yourself is to present your property excellently.

Topics include

Professional Photography– Your property images can work miraculously for you. So don’t compromise on them. Get the best cameras and photographers to click pictures of your property to list them on ILS. 

Pricing– Never back down from offering transparent pricing. Rent is a significant monthly expense, and it is one of the primary decision-making factors for choosing a property. So put the pricing out there instead of leaving it to the visitor’s imagination. They have multiple other property options with pricing. They won’t waste their time finding out your property pricing by themselves. 

Reviews- Every online purchase involves a review, and rightfully so. With the absence of physical presence, customers want something they can trust, and reviews facilitate that. Add your reviews along with your property information. It will make things easier for the prospect and also give you some credibility. 

Policies and Amenities- Is your multifamily property pet-friendly? Are your tenants allowed to smoke inside the premises? Your renters are going to want to know these things before shortlisting. Check what amenities are currently in demand and if you provide that, make sure to talk about it on your ILS listing. 

Text Descriptions– Your ILS ads need to be short and straightforward. In few words, you need to aim for maximum content engagement.

Lead nurturing from ILS

You generate enough leads from ILS, but addressing every individual lead is a tedious task. These days property management companies use multifamily chatbot automation tools and conversational marketing software to ease qualifying leads generated on ILS. While you’re still fresh in the visitor’s mind, why not just start a dialogue and continue to engage with them until they schedule an appointment? 

No matter how much you try, your prospect will not have a personalized experience with your brand via an ILS website. With so many companies and so many properties, they are just funneling out the best options suited to them. But once you get clicked, you try your best to give your prospect the personalized experience you want to offer.

Your website is an excellent place to start, but personalization is crucial for valuable engagement; This is where the conversational marketing tool comes in. Multifamily Chatbots give immediate responses to prospects. They can secure their name and contact details, integrate them with CRM, and make it easy for the sales team to reach them. Chatbot for multifamily & property management companies also qualify these rental prospects on standard parameters and determine their credibility through casual interaction. 

ILS has been a top source for advertising multifamily properties. But they come with their limitations. Most realtors now adopt the practice of advertising on ILS as one of the marketing strategies rather than the only strategy. Having said that, as I mentioned before, ILS is going to stay. So you need to work with them. But you probably need to redirect your marketing around its changing role in the multifamily industry.