Why Multifamily Marketing and Rent Pricing Must Work Together

Imagine this: You’ve spent months revamping your apartment website and are investing more in digital ads. Your traffic and lead data show that your new marketing strategy should drive results.

But that number of new leases hardly budges.

The problem isn’t your marketing—it’s your rent prices. When pricing and marketing aren’t aligned, community performance suffers.

Here’s why bringing these two strategies together is necessary to turn things around.

The wrong rent prices mess up your marketing.

Let’s step away from apartments and talk about your old family van.

It has 150,000+ miles and those classic road trip carpet stains. You’ve loved it, but now that the kids are grown, it’s time to sell. (Thank you for your service, sliding doors.)

If you list it at $80,000, you’d need to spend a fortune on ads to find someone willing to pay that price.

But at $50? You wouldn’t need to spend a dime—buyers would line up.

The same goes for apartments. When rents are overpriced, even the best marketing struggles. When they’re underpriced, you'll always be overspending on marketing.

Correct pricing ensures your marketing efforts actually deliver leases. 

Want to set better rent prices? Your marketing data holds the secret.

Using your community's marketing data is the secret to setting better rent prices. Why? You get an unbiased view of your apartment's demand and perceived value to renters.

• Website Traffic: Indicates demand for your community and specific floorplans.
• Engagement Metrics: Time on site, video plays, and interactions reveal renter interest.
• Ad Performance: Clicks, impressions, and lead-gen metrics show how your community stacks up in the market.

Metrics like these show whether your pricing is accurate or off-track; if the marketing data shows you're reaching good-fit renters and developing leads, but they're not leasing, it's clear you've got the wrong rent prices.

But if the numbers aren't as strong, but your leasing is through the roof, you're undercharging new residents and wasting marketing resources.

Aligning marketing with pricing is about finding that balance. Marketing gives you the best indication of your community's demand. By pairing that information with your supply data—unit availability and upcoming lease expirations—you have a complete picture that can help you set and adjust pricing as needed.

⚡ This is why a multifamily marketing company like ours would develop a revenue management solution. RentVision Revenue Management sets new lease and renewal rent prices based solely on your community's data—because your data is better.

How great marketing increases your apartment's value.

No matter what property type your community is or features it has (or doesn't have), renters want clarity into why your rent price "is what it is."

Your marketing strategy must make rents understandable so that renters feel confident about choosing it over others.

Without great marketing:

• Renters can’t judge your apartment’s actual value.
• Rent price becomes your only measuring stick to other communities.
• Renters will lease from similar-priced communities whose marketing shows value.

With great marketing, however:

• You’re elevating your apartment’s value.
• Your 'price tag' becomes less relevant because renters gravitate to your community's lifestyle and features.
• More renters confidently choose your community because they view rents as worth the cost.

So, what can you do within your apartment's marketing strategy to increase value?

1. Center it on a well-designed community website featuring professional media and floorplan content.
2. Make your apartments easily discoverable with digital advertisements that appear at critical times of a renter’s search.
3. Highlight unique community features that differentiate it from competitors.
4. Apply messaging that resonates with your community’s target audience and the lifestyle they seek.

How you display rent prices in your marketing strategy can make or break the deal.

Knowing that renters demand clarity in rent pricing affects how you display that information online. Even if you have optimal rents that justify your community's offerings and lifestyle, you can significantly limit leasing success by not marketing your prices correctly. 

Here are three best practices to ensure your rent prices are clear, trustworthy, and actionable:

1. Make sure pricing is accurate—always. Integrating your property and revenue management software into your website displays the most up-to-date pricing and availability for your units and floorplans. If you're having issues, you must fix pricing mismatches across your apartment's marketing platforms.
2. Show only the price of a standard 12-month lease. Broad price ranges, like '$1,200-$2,500/month', confuse apartment shoppers. They would assume they'd pay the high end. That's why it's best to show one price—the price of a 12-month standard lease—because that makes it very clear for prospective residents to understand.
3. Avoid frequent, aggressive price changes. Renters lose trust in your rent prices when they're constantly changing. Nothing will cause you to lose leads faster when a prospect notices significant rent changes between visits to your community's website.

These practices build trust in your rent prices and make it easier for renters genuinely interested in your apartments to sign a lease.

The Takeaway: Aligning rent pricing and marketing strategies helps maximize your apartment's revenue.

Your community performs at its best when marketing and pricing are aligned. Every marketing dollar captures qualified prospects at the right time, while rent prices are more accurate and reflect your community's true demand and value. The result? You achieve your apartment's revenue management goals and deliver a more transparent leasing experience for renters.