Multi-Family Housing Industry Utilizes Streaming and Online Video as an Advertising Technique to Attract Apartment Shoppers

By: Meredith Mobley, Marketing Communications Coordinator

Pick up any industry magazine and you will notice that internet technology has taken the forefront in the past year. In a society where anything is accessible with the click of a mouse, apartment seekers are becoming more tech-savvy, leading multi-family housing professionals to invest into cutting edge technology to help them stay on top of industry trends.

Online video is an interactive form of advertising, which enables end-users to influence others in their social network. The end-user has the ability to pass along the video’s link or url making this online video a form of viral marketing, which is inexpensive to the client. Advertisers can also target end users more effectively, which can ultimately increase time spent on the site as well as the likelihood of turning website visitors into customers.

With sites like YouTube.com, MySpace.com and Yahoo! Video dominating the internet, online video websites are grabbing the public’s eye now, more than ever. According to JupiterResearch™, online video and ad spending in the United States will grow from $251 million in 2005 to $1.3 billion in 2011. This growth will significantly outpace other forms of display advertising, nearly tripling video advertising’s share of the online display ad market.

The multi-family housing apartment industry has tapped into this trend to create a new and innovative way to help property managers attract clients, advertise their community and boost sales for their developments. For Rent Media Solutions™ is introducing streaming video to the multi-family housing industry, by offering Community Theater™ to its clients, giving property managers the opportunity to advertise its product in a way that has never been done before.

Community Theater is a cutting edge, streaming video package that offers ForRent.com® clients custom video for their community, which can be shown on the For Rent website as well as the management company’s site. The package includes a professional voice over, production and editing, and a video e-mail brochure to send to prospects for follow up, all delivered through a playerless player, which requires no video downloading.

“For Rent Media Solutions is well known for offering its clients the best of both worlds, print and internet,” says Terry Slattery, vice president and general manager of For Rent Media Solutions. “Since every listing in our magazine can also be found on ForRent.com, utilizing online video to help our clients advertise their properties is the next appropriate step to giving our clients an edge over their competition.”

By utilizing online video websites, property managers and companies, such as For Rent Media Solutions, can build content on their site with the potential to attract more end-users and gain clients who are interested in using cutting edge technology. In addition to ForRent.com and the property management company website, Community Theater can also be viewed on MySpace.com, YouTube.com and Yahoo! Video, three leading websites for hosting online video content. According to a JupiterResearch consumer survey, 22 percent of internet users in the United States view online video content monthly or more frequently.

Online video raises the bar for multi-family housing professionals and property managers looking to attract potential clients. Professionals who choose to utilize online video to drive traffic to their site, have the opportunity to build their company’s brand awareness as well as raise company perception to their audience. We can expect many positive changes in the future of online video advertising. According to an eMarketer report, video ad spend is expected to reach $775 million in 2007 from $410 million in 2006 and video online spending by marketers will increase 89% in 2007 over 2006. If others in the multi-family housing industry take advantage of the many opportunities that this new form of advertising can create, it will prove to be a beneficial investment.