Changes in renter behavior due to COVID-19 have left almost no aspect of Multifamily marketing in the same state it was before the pandemic began. At Respage, we handle millions in apartment-only Google Ad spend per year, allowing us to get a good idea of how this channel has weathered the volatility that 2020 has brought on thus far.
Below are 3 major apartment paid search trends we have noticed over the past few months.
Increased traffic
Pre-COVID-19 vs. today, we have seen a 37% increase in traffic with paid search, and in some cases even larger. While everything else has remained constant (budgeting, targeting, etc.), the quantity of qualified traffic has significantly increased as people are forced to do even more of their apartment research strictly online.
Lower Costs to Advertise
- In this time frame we saw a 26% drop in CPM, or the cost to show your Google ads 1,000 times. As more people search for their next apartment on Google, more apartment ad placements become available, thereby lowering apartment advertising costs.
- A 27% drop in cost-per-click is the clearest evidence thus far that results from apartment paid search are stronger pre-COVID-19 vs. today.
More Conversions and Leads
- Conversion rates have increased in almost all cases, some as high as 89%. As in- person lease applications, phone calls, and leasing office visits have become less accessible, online conversions have skyrocketed.
- Traffic quality has remained consistent and has typically increased as more relevant Google apartment searches are happening than ever before.
Uncertainty has become the norm with all lead generation tools, however apartment paid search has weathered the storm. Trends like the ones we see above present great opportunities to drive quality traffic to apartment websites on limited budgets, at a time when this is as important as ever.
If you have questions about apartment paid search trends or would like to learn more about Respage’s paid search offering – including our new A.I.-driven paid search landing page – talk to us today!
