As the multifamily industry continues to evolve, some practices are essential to keep top of mind. Looking forward to 2023, you may wonder what’s on the horizon. We’ve got you covered with the multifamily marketing trends to watch in the upcoming year.

Leasing Centralization 

More often, we see this idea of “leasing centralization.” According to Forbes, “Centralized leasing relates to any effort to move away from individual property-based leasing and operational teams and centralize them in one or multiple regional locations to improve efficiencies and cut down costs.” With the way our economy is currently trending, it is clear that companies are taking precautions to save wherever they can, which has made this idea so popular. This can be done successfully, granted the on-site team has the proper tools and support. 

Short-Form Video Marketing Efforts

In the past few years, content creation has become increasingly important. One trend occurring more is an increase in short-form video marketing efforts. 

“Short-form video content is one of the only tools that can positively impact the entire renter experience,” says Kristi Fickert, VP of Enterprise Growth at Realync. “One 60-second video can be used to get and keep the attention of distracted renters, can instantly improve the personalization of the brand, can be repurposed in paid ad and email and text campaigns so your communities are always top of mind, can alleviate staffing issues and instantly improve renter satisfaction. Unlike some marketing strategies, it can easily be measured, so you always know what’s working, what’s not, and what to create more of.”

Automation of the Prospect and Resident Journey

Of course, the switch to automation may seem daunting. However, embracing the shift is essential to take full advantage of it. Utilizing automation such as chatbots, follow-up processes, and lead nurturing are some trends we see more and more of. This trend is not meant to replace humans but to help them. This provides a great user experience for prospects and helps the teams save time, allowing them to focus on more critical tasks. Embracing automation is one thing your communities will want to begin doing in 2023 and moving forward. 

Again, we know that it can feel overwhelming to think about what’s to come in the year ahead, but it doesn’t have to be! You’ve already taken the first step by researching what trends to watch out for. Now it’s time to put these multifamily marketing trends into action. For more ideas on how to take your marketing to the next level, check out our article about 

Written By BetterBot CEO & Co-Founder, Zlatko Bogoevski

It’s undeniable that ChatGPT is one of the most exciting products to come out in at least the last decade. I can’t remember the last time technical and non-technical people alike had such enthusiasm for a new tech product. Over the last week, I’ve had numerous emails from friends and colleagues with AI-generated poems, stories, and artwork. The growth numbers are staggering, ChatGPT reached 1 million users in five days. That makes it the fastest growing product in history!

Since most people reaching out know that I’ve been in the AI space for quite some time now, they flooded me with questions, ranging from possible uses to ethical implications of such technology. Understandably, many questions were about the impact on multifamily and whether BetterBot plans to utilize ChatGPT. 

Intro to ChatGPT

Before I continue, here is a brief background on ChatGPT and how it came into existence. OpenAI created ChatGPT; OpenAI is an organization designed to advance humanity through the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence. OpenAI was founded by Elon Musk and Sam Altman, among others, who collectively pledged to donate 1 billion dollars to fund the organization. OpenAI has already received an investment of 10 billion dollars from Microsoft. The most successful OpenAI products to date have been DALL-E, GPT-2 and GPT-3, and now ChatGPT. 

ChatGPT is a significant leap forward when compared to other AI language models. It’s not surprising because it does utilize one of the most complex neural networks and it is trained on a very large data set that also includes existing software code. To make it even more effective it was fine tuned by humans in order to always give the best response possible. It mostly avoids shortcomings of previous AI models that quickly descended into R rated responses.

How will ChatGPT impact multifamily?

Be ready to see all sorts of ChatGPT enabled multifamily products in the next 18 months, especially better digital assistants and automatically generated advertising and marketing content. I predict that many  existing multifamily products will be scrambling to implement ChatGPT capabilities. I’m also anticipating new product ideas that don’t exist today and will be made possible with future advancements in AI language models. There will be opportunities for further automation and major cost savings for multifamily owners and managers.

However, as it is always the case with disruptive technologies we should expect some casualties. There will be a lot of pressure on legacy business models dependent on low skilled labor like call centers and non-tech savvy property management operators. 

Potential issues with ChatGPT in multifamily

One of the  primary concerns specific to multifamily is whether ChatGPT will expose property management companies and owners to legal liability. This type of technology will most certainly be tried and legislated in the coming years. How will it fit with the Fair Housing Act? How does it work in regulated segments like affordable, student, and senior housing? Will it fall victim to developing biases despite promised guardrails?  Many questions still need to be answered but I’m confident that there are ways to de-risk deployment for AI technologies. 

Ethical Considerations

We also have to ask ourselves how ethical it is to use a product like ChatGPT because, in essence, you can easily trick people into thinking that they’re communicating with another human. While AI can craft human-like responses, it’s important to remember that it does not possess empathy or human-like problem-solving abilities. We must consider that the legal climate around this question may change, as evident by the recent White House blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights. Similar laws are being crafted in Europe and elsewhere around the globe.

BetterBot and ChatGPT?

Here at BetterBot, we’re no strangers to this technology and GPT based models have been part of our AI engine for quite some time. ChatGPT will undoubtedly find a way into our product. BetterBot has a conversational platform that is architected to benefit from ChatGPT and other advancements in AI. 

As of this writing there is no commercial API available for ChatGPT so we can only assume what the commercial capabilities will be based on the consumer version. Price will certainly be a consideration and we don’t expect it to come cheaply given that the consumer version is currently $20/month. 

Since ChatGPT is not immune to the potential problems inherent in other AI language models we have to carefully consider how we deploy it. As BetterBot currently serves some of the biggest property management companies in multifamily, we have to make sure that the millions of people using our product to find their next home have a great experience. 

I wish I was in a position to share specific information as I’m just as excited as everyone else to see what the future holds. We truly live in exciting times.