Your marketing team provides a crucial role at your community—including attracting new renters, tracking social media metrics on your campaigns and more. So you don’t want just anyone in the position, and you need to be able to train and retain good people. This month, the MHN Executive Council shares their suggestions for growing the next generation of marketing leaders.
Embrace Technology
We’ve always been committed to the latest technology. It’s ingrained in our focus on innovation. Since we consider every employee to play a role in marketing, we challenge them to leverage the power of social media and digital marketing in a variety of circumstances. Pulling up our Instagram account at a conference, on-site at a job, or meeting with a new vendor is a quick, informal, and powerful way to show our portfolio of work. Conversations about our depth of experience, approach and process flow easily from stunning photography.
There’s a lot of scaremongering going around about AI. We’re choosing to embrace AI as a great opportunity knowing we as humans have the ultimate decision-making authority. So, we’re challenging everyone on the team to stay informed and experiment with AI. We’re encouraging out-of-the box thinking about how AI could improve the design process and help our clients. For example, we’re evaluating how AI could generate compelling images early in the process to help a client secure financing even before the project starts. We’re also supporting our clients’ property managers in their efforts to use AI to write engaging communications that will not only sell the property’s features but draw residents into their community and activity programming. —Mary Cook, President, Mary Cook Associates
Business Sense
I don’t narrow my approach to solely exposing marketing leaders to traditional marketing functions. The next generation of marketing leaders need a comprehensive understanding of the business they serve, the strategic direction they’re pushing toward and the potential impact on the industry. This approach breaks down silos and promotes opportunities for thought leadership. I regularly witness solutions and advancements come from conversations that have expanded between marketing, operations, IT and the vendors we partner with. This collaboration and variety in perspectives has only served to better not only our client’s experience, but team members’ as well. —Diana Pittro, Executive Vice President, RMK Management
Connect and Build
The digital age changed what is needed to be a successful marketing leader. Marketing has become more of a courtship, the building of a relationship. Future marketers must instinctively know how to connect and build rapport. Capturing a market will be built on trust as well as a marketing strategy that is compelling and interest provoking. Creating a content plan that is executed as the right time with just enough frequency to peak views will be a welcomed strong skill set. —Maria Pietroforte, President, Maria Pietroforte Consulting
