Pushing the ‘Net But that doesn’t mean apartment owners need to wait until the building is completed to begin their marketing efforts. As the story of Avalon at Chrystie Place shows, the Internet offers a cost-effective way to promote a property and keep in close contact with would-be residents. Using the Web, AvalonBay created serious buzz for this newly opened New York City property without spending big advertising dollars.
Located on Houston Street, where “SoHo meets the East Village,” according to the company, the Chrystie Place property also included one of the country’s largest Whole Foods supermarkets, an upscale chain that specializes in organic foods and complementary products. So, to take advantage of the foot and automobile traffic near the site, AvalonBay put a marketing banner in the windows, created special phone messages directing people to the property’s Web site, and also instructed the construction team to give specific information to people who asked about the project. What did all these avenues have in common? They each directed people to the property’s Web site: www.avalonchrystieplace.com.
Once an interested renter punched in the Web address, he or she could submit an e-mail address so they could be kept up-to-date with developments at Chrystie Place through an automated system at AvalonBay. “We created a mailbox to collect inquiries,” Herrman explains. “We stripped out their e-mail addresses electronically and sent them an e-mail saying, ‘It’s almost time [for the apartments to open].’ It’s using technology that’s fairly simple now.”
The strategy generated more than 1,000 responses. “Our challenge is to ensure we went back through that list before we spent another dollar getting a lead,” Herrman says. “We can get that fairly inexpensively through the Web with Web addresses and banners. If
I go to The New York Times, that’s big money. I’d love to lease this without running any media. If I can maximize the Internet advertising, which has no cost other than developing the Web site, that’s the way to go. It’s managing the leads and the cost of those leads.”
The company didn’t stop there. As AvalonBay sent reminder e-mails to interested prospective residents, it also expanded the Chrystie Place Web site, adding photos of the buildings and other information about the property.
Of course, AvalonBay isn’t the only one turning to the Web, although every company has their own agenda for their Internet efforts. “Web sites are helpful early, but primarily for creating mailing lists for later sales,” ZOM’s Patterson says. “We do this, but [we] do not create elaborate virtual tours as people will likely want to come see the property when it opens before they make a commitment.”
Not everyone feels that way, though. Heather Campbell, vice president of communications and marketing for Archstone-Smith Trust, an apartment REIT based in Littleton, Colo., says that seven percent of their renters sign leases sight unseen. She expects this number to grow, but it won’t be because of virtual tours and other fancy interactive technologies.
“Our feedback is that customers don’t really find virtual tours useful,” Campbell says. “They really want to know how big the rooms are. In our research, they go to floor plans. We thought they might want something fancier and experimented with programs where people can move furniture around and things like that. But, unless they’re real techies, most people want to have a general idea of where their apartment is in relation to pool, trash, dumpster and parking entrance. Then they want to know what the room dimensions are.”
