PPC Ads vs. ILS Packages: What's Better for Marketing Apartments?

When apartment marketers need more traffic and leads, many default to upgrading their ILS package. But thinking that an ILS upgrade is the best fix is like getting an oil change for a car that needs a new transmission—you’re not addressing the real problem; you’re just prolonging it.

The better fix is running pay-per-click digital ad campaigns, which offer more control in rapidly addressing vacancies and producing better-quality leads. Here’s how:

1. PPC Ads Give You More Flexibility With Your Marketing Budget

With PPC ads, you can instantly change your advertising budget according to your community’s leasing needs.

• Need more traffic to address vacancies? Increase your budget to drive visibility across multiple online channels (Google, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Bing, etc.).
• Is occupancy under control? Adjust spending to save money and boost marketing ROI.

This advantage directly contrasts with the ILS model, which locks you into fixed spending with long-term contracts that force you to accept whatever traffic or leads that amount generates—whether you need it or not. 

When traffic and leads dip, the only thing you can do with an ILS is pay for an upgrade. However, more visibility alone can’t fully solve a vacancy crisis.

2. PPC Ads Allow You To Better Target Specific Areas Of Your Community That Have Vacancies

With PPC, you gain more control over generating traffic for the areas of your apartment community that need the most help. By customizing PPC ad campaigns for each floorplan or bedroom type, you can focus your advertising budget exactly where needed for faster results.

ILSs, meanwhile, tend to focus more on general community relevance. Even with an upgrade that increases visibility or provides more listing features, you won’t be able to drive more traffic or visibility for a specific floorplan. 

Instead, you’re just positioning your community higher alongside similar properties on the same platform.

3. PPC Ads Produce More Qualified Leads for Your Apartments

To be fair, ILSs and PPC ads share a few beneficial similarities for renters early in their apartment search. Both connect them to apartments that meet their desired bedroom count, price, and location. An ILS’s best feature is filtering searches by such criteria, while one community’s PPC ads appear in relevant searches on Google or Google Maps.

So, why does PPC produce more qualified leads? Two key differences set it apart:

• Difference #1: PPC captures higher-intent renters than ILSs. On an ILS, renters discover a blend of apartment options, lowering their intent to lease because no single community truly stands out above others, and the renter still needs more time to research which is best. However, when they enter specific searches in Google, a PPC ad appears for just one apartment community tailored to those keywords. A renter who clicks on this ad is typically more ready to lease.
• Difference #2: PPC ads direct renters to your community website, while ILSs aim to keep them on-platform. Community websites and ILSs provide renters with essential information—virtual tours, community features, floorplans, availability, pricing, and more. But the question is, where do you want your best-fit renter to end up? ILSs are designed to keep renters on the platform, where much of the content shown is diminished since listings are positioned next to competing communities. In contrast, PPC ads drive traffic to a community’s website, where most lead-to-lease conversions happen because they provide more details and context that help renters take the next step.

That’s why PPC ads are a much better investment when dealing with a vacancy crisis. By sending renters to your website, particularly to a specific floorplan page, they discover your community’s brand, messaging, and lifestyle on a platform you own rather than one that all your competitors use.

4. PPC Ads Give You Ownership of Data and Insights

Every apartment marketer craves data that drives better decisions, especially when facing a vacancy problem. That’s yet another advantage of PPC advertising over ILSs.

With an ILS listing, you’re often limited to delayed monthly or quarterly metrics showing listing views or clicks on contact and apply links (a.k.a. traffic and conversions). ILSs also calculate the cost per lead. 

If 1,000 renters view your listing in 30 days but it only gets 50 clicks, with just a handful leading to tours or leases, what does this say about the value of your investment? This limited data makes it hard to gauge if upgrading your ILS package is worth the hefty price tag, especially when your community needs more help.

Conversely, PPC campaigns deliver actionable, real-time metrics—from click-through and conversion rates to cost per click—empowering you to make immediate adjustments as needed and feel confident about the effects of that decision. 

Beyond just performance data, PPC reveals the search terms your actual renters use, helping you refine your targeting strategy to the keywords your best-fit prospects use and creating more visibility to the highest-intent audience. PPC data also shows exactly how your budget is allocated, helping you focus on campaigns that work best to reach those renters, drive qualified traffic, and maximize your ROI.  

The Takeaway

It’s time for apartment marketers to adopt a PPC mentality for generating traffic and leads when vacancies strike—instead of simply upgrading their ILS package. 

PPC offers targeted, impactful attention for particular floorplans with more vacancies at a price you control. ILSs only increase your community’s visibility among competitors for a premium price. Choose the option that makes it possible to improve your situation faster.

Need help addressing vacancies with your PPC ads? Predictive Advertising by RentVision uses your upcoming supply and demand data to predict the demand you'll need now to drive more qualified traffic to your community website before vacancies hit.