We’ve got a not-so-secret secret for you—nobody wants to throw away marketing dollars for little return. That’s why it’s extremely important to understand how much your leads are worth versus how much you’re spending to get them.

The cold, hard truth: if you’re spending way more than you should, your property will take a major hit.

Our apartment marketing experts at LeasingKC have worked with property managers across the Kansas City metro to help them maximize their budgets while increasing their number of leases. To learn more about property management lead value, keep reading and we’ll guide you with an easy formula to make your marketing money count!

Understanding the “worth” of a lead

Alright, let’s hop right into things. The first thing you want to do is to understand the worth of each lead you receive.

So what’s a lead?

A lead is a bundle of of information you gain from a prospective renter that could help you close in on a lease. This usually consists of at least a full name, email address, and phone number. A lead is even better if there’s a brief description of what the person is looking for and/or why they are moving. That allows you to better cater your follow-up emails and calls to their needs.

Moving on…

We’re going to work backwards in the sales funnel. Let’s say you receive all of your leads from your property’s website. The way people enter the funnel is how they find your website. This could be through organic searches, online campaigns, events at your property, social media, content marketing, etc. Then the output of that funnel is the lead that will hopefully lead to a lease.

Social Media Marketing Tips for Property Management Companies →

Bear with us; we’re going to do a little math here. Say your average renter pays $1,000 a month and leaves after their 12 month lease is up. That means the average lifetime value (LTV) of your renters is $12,000. Based on this, we can start calculating how much each lead is worth.

Let’s assume getting that one renter required two apartment tours. To get those two people in for a tour, you had to call four people, and to get those four calls you needed six leads. But here’s the kicker: it took 100 users on your site to get those 6 leads.

Remember that LTV we talked about?

So if the average LTV of your renters is $12,000, then each tour is worth $6,000; each call is worth $3,000; each lead is worth $2,000; and at the top of the funnel, each user is worth $120. Basically, if there are tons of users coming to your site without converting them into leads, you’re throwing away $120 per person.

How can I make the most out of my marketing dollars?

A successful marketing plan will ensure that you aren’t spending more than that $2,000 to get a lead. Actually, the ideal situation is that you’re spending quite a bit less than $2,000 to make a strong profit.

There are a few things you’d want to work on:

Increasing the worth of each user to maximize profits
Increasing the amount of quality leads
Decreasing marketing expenditure

The tricky part is figuring out how to do the first two while not over-splurging on marketing. We know what you’re thinking… and no, we’re not going to tell you to hike your rental price to compensate.

Here is one of the best ways to help you reach your goals: Stop depending on a single website and get outside help.

Wait, what do you mean “outside help”?

Having a website is great, and you should definitely keep it up. What’s even better is using the power of marketing property listing sites to make your dollars go further. When you use listing websites, you open the door for more users since there are different avenues they can come through. Plus, there may be people out there that your website isn’t reaching, and a listing site can help expand your scope.

With a strong and optimized listing, you can increase the worth of each user by increasing your user-to-lead ratio. For example, instead of 100 users turning into only six leads, a listing could help you convert 100 users into 20 leads. All good, right?

Well… let’s pause right there.

You don’t want to go out and choose just any listing site, because that goes against the whole “decreasing marketing expenditure” thing. Yes, a listing can do wonders, but if you’re spending more than you have to pay for that listing, are you really optimizing your marketing dollars? Hint: the answer is no.

If you’re paying $1,000 a month for a listing through one company and receiving 10 leads a month, that equals out to $100 per lead. In the scheme of things, that may not sound too bad, but what if you could gain an even bigger ROI?

For proper managers in the Kansas City area, listing with LeasingKC will often cost you 50% less than larger, national listing sites. Think about the bigger picture. If you can cut down your marketing dollars on a listing by half while increasing the worth of each person who visits the listing, you will truly be making the most out of your marketing budget.

The bottom line: Make sure you calculate the worth of your leads, then use outside resources to help you increase leads and make a profit.

The next step in your marketing plan: How to turn your leads into leases →

LeasingKC can make the most out of your property management lead value

LeasingKC has got all of your marketing needs to help you understand lead value and optimize your marketing dollars. As a local listing site, we have inside knowledge on what renters look for in properties, allowing us to be your bridge toward future residents. We can equip you with the best tools and resources to reach 100% occupancy (or at least close to it).

Here are key things we can provide to help drive leads:

More exposure to search engines
Social media highlights
Spots in our marketing newsletters
Professional photos of model units
High quality 3D tours of property
In-depth feedback from experienced professionals
And more!

We offer higher-level services and marketing packages—all at a competitive price that will maximize your budget.

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