Artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT, has recently exploded in popularity, with many people rushing to incorporate it into their marketing plans. But the technology is still new, and people are still figuring out how to best use it in their businesses. This month, the MHN Executive Council shares some of their strategies and case studies for effectively using AI in multifamily marketing and operations.
Successful Sales
AI is becoming a vital part of our focus on improving the prospect and resident experience with innovative solutions and technologies. We are currently utilizing AI in the sales process. Our AI solution responds to 100 percent of our online traffic providing information on our communities, current pricing and availability. It drives prospects to schedule appointments to tour our communities as well lease online. AI works 24/7 on our incoming leads and follow up, allowing the site team to focus on in-person customer service. —Lili Dunn, CEO & President, Bell Partners
Getting Personal
We use AI in a variety of areas in our marketing program to reach a wider audience, personalize our marketing messages, and improve the efficiency of our marketing efforts. For example, we use generative AI to produce copy for our advertisements and social media posts. We also use machine learning to target our marketing campaigns to specific audiences. And we use conversational AI (chatbots) on our websites to provide customer support and save time for property managers. —Jim Love, Vice President of Marketing & Brand, Draper and Kramer
Multiuse
The REMM Group implements a variety of AI tools for the communities we manage. They help create a frictionless sales experience for prospects, save our onsite team’s time by streamlining and automating processes, and use predictive and prescriptive analytics to help develop better strategies for increasing NOI.
Piloting programs utilize AI to follow up with prospects in the properties pipeline, ensures consistent engagement through the prospect journey. These programs save onsite team’s significant time; time that they can use to provide excellent customer service for current residents and other tasks that improve the communities that The REMM Group manages.
The REMM Group also uses AI to analyze the data that our programs are collecting. This helps highlight important trends that we use to create better strategies in marketing, operations, customer service, costs savings and much more. —Susan McPeak, Creative Director, The Dales Group
Authentic Experience
We’re keeping a close watch on how AI can be used to truthfully communicate our services and the value we bring. Recently an executive at one of our completed multifamily projects asked ChatGPT why a person would want to live there. The response was spot on from a marketing perspective because previously posted information on social media, the website and news media had accurately captured the property’s distinct design.
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Similarly, we experimented with ChatGPT to write a hypothetical cold pitch to a CEO introducing our firm and what makes us unique. Again, the letter was fairly true to our message only because we had done the first part of the AI process correctly—we’d developed authentic content across all of our digital platforms. Because we are so relationship-driven in our business, and because we believe in transparency and integrity, we lightheartedly refer to AI as “Authentic Intelligence” rather than “Artificial.” —Mary Cook, President, Mary Cook Associates
Questions and Answers
To date we have experimented with ChatGPT in three ways inside our architecture and design practice. Our Creative branding and identity team has used it as a starting point for copy for marketing campaigns for multifamily and commercial repositioning products. Our iLab research participants recently had an extensive and informative conversation about blocking and stacking solutions for vertical mixed-use design. Our marketing department recently tested it to craft questions employees and clients might ask about the upcoming retirement of my business partner and founder so we could then formulate our own answers. This is just the tip of the iceberg and we are both intrigued and cautious about how this will unfold! —Yolanda Cole, Co-Senior Principal, Hickok Cole
