How Performance Marketing Drives Results at Fogelman

Performance marketing in multifamily has shifted from a narrow focus on lead generation to a broader role centered on driving property results. As operators navigate uneven demand, tighter budgets and rising expectations from both renters and ownership, marketing teams are increasingly accountable for outcomes that extend beyond traffic—connecting leasing, operations and asset management around shared performance goals. Understanding how those pieces align and which signals matter most has become critical to sustaining occupancy and revenue in today’s environment.

To explore how this approach works in practice, Multi-Housing News spoke with Stacey Brown, director of performance marketing at Fogelman Properties. Brown oversees strategies that tie marketing investment to renter behavior, operational execution and long-term asset performance across the company’s portfolio. She shares how her team defines success and uses benchmarks, and she provides leading indicators to guide decisions and applies data-driven insights to keep the renter journey moving.

What is performance marketing’s job at Fogelman? And which outcome keeps all teams aligned—beyond “more leads”?

Brown: Performance marketing is just that: marketing campaigns and insights that drive property performance. Performance marketing has evolved beyond campaign management. Today, it’s the connective tissue between marketing, operations and asset management. Our focus isn’t on generating more leads, but on generating the right leads—those most likely to convert and support a property’s long-term goals.

The outcome that keeps all teams aligned is maintaining healthy occupancy that meets revenue targets. This reflects the entire renter journey—from initial interest through renewal—and is a far more meaningful measure of performance than lead volume alone.

To support this, we use multiple reporting platforms and conversion benchmarks to analyze customer-journey behavior, acquisition costs and the traffic velocity required to meet and maintain goals. These insights guide how we refine advertising strategies, adjust leasing specials and evaluate pricing, ensuring each property has the right mix of demand, conversions and momentum to achieve its targets.

How do you define “healthy occupancy,” and how does it influence marketing decisions day to day?

Brown: Healthy occupancy is about more than filling units, it’s about meeting revenue targets in a sustainable way. We look at the full renter journey and the pace of traffic required to support both current and future execution.

By analyzing acquisition costs, conversion benchmarks and traffic velocity, we can make informed decisions around advertising strategy, leasing incentives and pricing. These insights allow us to adjust quickly and intentionally so each property maintains the right balance of demand and performance.

Which leading indicators tell you performance is on track, and which ones signal the need to intervene?

Brown: Conversion metrics are often our first signal of how a property is performing, but leading indicators give us an earlier read on alignment between marketing, operations and the onsite experience.

Marketing and property services track resident sentiment through survey and review results within our reputation and social media platform. Our check-in survey helps us understand how the actual living experience compares to the expectations set during the leasing process.

From a prospect perspective, we closely evaluate the performance of both our virtual leasing assistant—because AI in multifamily is here to stay—and onsite leasing teams. We regularly monitor and update the virtual leasing assistant’s responses to reduce agent hand-offs and ensure quick, helpful engagement. We also track agent response times and daily task completion in our CRM, as slow follow-up or missed tasks almost always surface later as lost tours or stalled leases.

When these indicators are healthy, results usually follow. When they’re not, they tell us where to intervene—marketing, operations, or onsite execution—before outcomes suffer.

How does resident feedback help you identify retention risk early?

Brown: Resident feedback plays a critical role in identifying gaps between expectation and experience. Our check-in surveys provide early insight into how well the leasing experience aligns with day-to-day living.

When those expectations are not met, it’s often an early warning sign. If left unaddressed, it can lead to dissatisfaction and increased risk of non-renewal within the next 60 to 90 days. Flagging those issues early allows property services to step in and address concerns before they escalate.

Tell us about a recent experiment that changed how you evaluate performance marketing.

Brown: Each property and market is unique, so our strategies should be too. After noticing recurring trends at underperforming communities—such as unusually low or very high conversions—we dug deeper into the data, using our top-performing communities for comparison.

What we found was eye-opening. The conversion rates at our top-performing properties were almost identical, indicating a “sweet spot” for marketing and sales performance. Contrary to popular belief, very high conversions often signal a problem—whether it’s a lead-attribution issue skewing metrics or a sales associate not logging tours, which inflates tour-to-application rates.

Based on these findings, we established new prospect-journey conversion benchmarks and began using them as a diagnostic tool to guide ILS selection, creative strategy and investment decisions by market. We review these benchmarks every month and adjust spend based on occupancy and revenue needs. Since implementing them, we’ve become a stronger partner to property services, asset management and revenue management, operating in a more prescriptive way to help properties perform at their peak.

What are three simple rules any community can follow to keep the renter journey moving?

Brown: First, research and set benchmarks. Review attribution conversions for each property—both at the property level and by source. Compare conversions across your portfolio, product type, location, market and advertising mix. Include acquisition costs and current and year-to-date occupancy to fully understand performance, then set attainable benchmarks.

Second, don’t evaluate marketing in isolation. Collaborate with property services and asset management to get the full picture. Common objections, property strengths, resident attrition and revenue goals all matter. Even communities meeting occupancy goals may still be underperforming on revenue, so a 360-degree view is essential.

Finally, match spend to need—not a formula. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Advertising spend should reflect turnover, occupancy, availability and the traffic required to meet goals. Once strategies are in place, use benchmarks monthly to assess performance and maintain a balanced, intentional approach to investment.