Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

Ad-ology Research recently updated their Industry Marketing Insights report for Apartment Buildings. The following are the predicted Top 3 Opportunities/Challenges from the report for this industry for the upcoming 12 months:

Despite a subdued outlook for new home sales across the U.S., some builders are finding ways to improve their visibility in the local marketplace. It’s all about being green. More builders are using the green angle in their marketing for both new builds and renovations. This trend is expected to continue through at least 2016.

Nobody is predicting that the real estate market is going to roar back. But there are glimmers of hope for an improved outlook as this year’s selling season begins. The latest forecast from Robert Charles Lessor Co. (RCLCO) shows some sectors are in full recovery while others are headed in that direction within the next 6 to 12 months.

As most media companies know, the real estate advertising industry is largely local. Earlier this year, Borrell Associates predicted that real estate agents would spend about $21.8 billion on advertising in 2011, an 8% increase over last year. Attendees at the Local Mobile Advertising Conference, hosted by Borrell Associates in Chicago this week, heard that 44% of a typical realtor’s ad budget is spent online. And now, the spending is going mobile, a trend that could pose a challenge for media companies that haven’t yet entered the mobile fray.

Stung by the collapse in the home ownership market, consumers continue to move into rental housing. And landlords are taking advantage of the interest in rentals by raising the rent. As a result, more consumers now say they are looking around for new apartments which may give rise to more advertising in this market.

In a report I highlighted earlier this week, the best that can be said for the housing market is that some geographic regions are seeing gradual recovery. Because of the general economic conditions across the U.S., both realtors and builders may fare well by focusing on specific demographic groups as they build and sell new residences. A study on the senior housing market by Robert Charles Lesser & Co. shows that targeting upper income seniors could be lucrative for marketers.