The 3 Biggest Apartment Marketing Trends
What worked, what didn't and what we'll see in 2026.
The national apartment market has faced significant challenges throughout 2025. Yardi Matrix recently reported the worst September for the market since 2009, with asking rents falling $6 to an average of $1,750. As such, multifamily marketers have had to hone their skills, adopting new strategies and determining not only how to make communities more visible to prospects but also achieve genuine engagement with them.
“In 2025, apartment marketers found themselves at the intersection of AI-driven disruption and hyperlocal market shifts,” said Christine Gustafson, vice president of marketing and public relations of The Breeden Co. “With the digital terrain constantly shifting and competition fiercer than ever, survival has demanded nothing less than strategic excellence.”
Here are three new trends in apartment marketing that became prominent in 2025.
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
We’re all familiar with SEO, but GEO takes search one step further than the longstanding SEO consideration.. It’s the practice of optimizing your online content for AI-powered search engines, such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Perplexity.
GEO’s impact is expected to grow, according to Kyle Jones, a search manager at REACH by RentCafe. “While in 2025, Google and traditional search reigned supreme, I expect in 2026 we’ll see GEO start playing a bigger role in actual lease-driving searches.”
Jones added that AI searches today tend to happen at the “top of the funnel.” At this stage, apartment searchers ask “what, why, where and how” questions. One example is: “What’s the best neighborhood for a young professional to live in?” These are basic research questions intended to narrow their search to a neighborhood or a few communities that the prospect might like. He noted that these are not revenue-driving queries like “one-bedroom apartment in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia,” that users would typically conduct via Google which, hopefully, end up driving that prospect to a community website, where they can submit an application and execute a lease.
One way to get better positioning in GEO listings is with in-depth resources—comprehensive, conversational and authentic information that’s valuable to searchers. “Without content, you’re going to be dead on arrival,” shared Ellen Thompson, co-founder & CEO of Respage, a provider of AI multifamily marketing and leasing solutions.
One piece of content Thompson said is vital is a Frequently Asked Questions page. She believes that type of structured data is essential for GEO.
In 2025, apartment marketers found themselves at the intersection of AI-driven disruption and hyperlocal market shifts. With the digital terrain constantly shifting and competition fiercer than ever, survival has demanded nothing less than strategic excellence.
—Christine Gustafson, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations, The Breeden Co.
Chatbots
Chatbots have been around for years, but in 2025, thanks to AI, they became smarter, more sophisticated and better able to understand and communicate in natural language.
Not only do chatbots free up the time of leasing staff so they can devote themselves to activities that require human interaction—like engaging with both prospects and current residents—but they also capture leads that come in after hours and improve conversion rates.
Lisa Gunderson, vice president of asset management for Bristol Development Group, said 43 percent of the interactions that the company’s chatbots have had across its portfolio take place after business hours, when leasing agents aren’t available. These are leads that might have been lost without the bot.
At Jewel at Santa Rosa Beach, a 408-unit apartment community on the Florida Panhandle, Gunderson said that the conversion rate is 30 percent higher due to the efficiency and responsiveness of its chatbot. “We’ve been able to outpace our competitors and lease up rather quickly in a market that’s seen a lot of supply delivered within the past 18 months.”
On TikTok, there’s no point in advertising unless you have awesome video assets. While a drone video is OK, it’s not as great as someone walking around the apartment and giving a play-by-play.
—Kyle Jones, Search Manager, REACH by RentCafe
Video
Jones noted that a key trend for apartment marketers in 2025 was video. “Video content—whether drone video, walkthrough tours or residents sharing video—is more important for advertising today than it ever was,” he commented. “This trend will only increase in importance into the future.”
According to Jones, while drone video is good, it’s much better to post a video of a leasing agent walking around the apartment community while delivering a play-by-play about the units and amenities. That’s because potential residents want to experience what living in your community will be like without ever leaving their couch.
Gunderson also focuses on video, and that’s why Bristol includes actual walkthroughs of every apartment on its community websites so users can click on a unit and have a virtual walkthrough of the very unit that might become their home.
Caroline Mills, digital strategy manager of Resident360, recommends videos that are short and authentic. “Let viewers know who the staff is and what it’s like to live there, so they can get the vibe of the community.”
Thompson agrees that short videos are essential for apartment marketers today. She noted that tools like HeyGen make it easy for marketers to create videos that use avatars of leasing agents, rather than the actual staff. The avatars, which follow scripts, are able to get the job right the first time, error-free. Plus, they’re scalable, Thompson added.
“These avatar videos are freakishly good now, and they’re all over TikTok,” Thompson explained. “You’re only going to see more videos because the cost to produce them has gotten lower.”
One 2025 marketing strategy that Gustafson employed at Breeden, which didn’t work: Move-in gifts for residents, which were kitchen-themed and included an oven mitt, a hot pad, a wooden spoon and a welcome card.
“Resident sentiment was lukewarm, if that,” she said. “Marketing is considered a chaotic science, and tactics are somewhat wet noodles at times. We will not be providing a move-in gift in 2026.”
