Which digital marketing tactics deliver a strong ROI for property management?

Deciding where to spend your marketing budget can feel risky, especially when you need to attract new property owners. Having expert advice can go a long way in creating a marketing strategy you can have confidence in.

That’s why we spoke with Stephen Fox, Co-Founder and Vice President of marketing agency Upkeep Media to break down which digital marketing tactics actually deliver a return on your investment, and which ones just drain your resources. The right approach often depends on your portfolio size, so we’ll also look at what works best at different stages of growth.

You will walk away with a clear plan to build a marketing engine that attracts profitable owner clients, no matter how many doors you manage.

The Right Marketing Mix for Your Portfolio Size

Highly effective digital marketing for property management isn’t a one-size-fits-all plan. Your strategy should change as your business grows. The marketing tactics that make sense for a new company are very different from those a company managing hundreds of doors might use.

For Newer Companies (0-50 Doors): Foundations and Quick Wins

When you’re just getting your property management company off the ground, most digital marketing tactics take a while to show results. Fox notes that for a brand-new company, “from an online marketing standpoint, it’s going to take time for things to start to work.” Your immediate focus is likely on building relationships in your local community through networking and direct outreach.

“Realistically, it’s not going to be through your digital marketing,” Fox points out about the earliest stages of growth. “It’s going to look more like boots on the ground and getting your name out there.”

While you’re making those connections, you can also use pay-per-lead services to bring in owner inquiries right away. Fox recommends using a service such as All Property Management, to round out your strategy when you’re first starting out.

Even if you’re not ready for a full-scale digital marketing strategy, having a professional website is still helpful. Fox advises; “You definitely want to get a website that is built to convert rental property owners that makes you look like an established company.” When someone you meet at a networking event looks you up online, you want them to find a site that builds their confidence in your company.

At this stage, your online reputation is also taking shape. “Start focusing on your online reputation,” Fox recommends. “Set up a Google Business Profile and then start focusing on acquiring reviews.” This simple step can have a lasting impact, improving your online presence for when people search for your business name.

For Growing Companies (50+ Doors): Invest in SEO and Content

Once your property management business has a steady stream of revenue, you can start investing in marketing strategies that build value over the long term. “Once you get a little bit bigger and you have some budget to invest into your own marketing,” Fox says. That’s when you can start to utilize online marketing, and the first place I generally recommend starting is with SEO.”

SEO for property management is all about creating content that answers the questions property owners are asking online. Because property management is a local business, your SEO efforts should focus on your specific area. You could create blog posts about rental laws in your state, property tax updates based on recent changes in your city, or maintenance tips that are particularly relevant for your local climate.

Fox explains the goal is to “educate your target audience whenever they have issues so that they can find your business.” Each piece of content you publish becomes another opportunity for a property owner to find your company.

This type of content marketing takes time to build momentum. You might be creating blog posts for several months before you see a noticeable increase in organic traffic. However, unlike paid advertising, a well-written article can continue to attract potential clients for years to come.

For Larger, Established Companies: Add Video, Nurture Campaigns, and Remarketing Efforts

As your property management company continues to grow, you can layer more advanced digital marketing tactics on top of your SEO foundation. Fox points to video content as a powerful next step, since property owners often prefer watching a short video to reading a long article. “As you continue to grow, the next place you want to start to focus on is going to be the second largest search engine in the world—YouTube.”

This strategy can help build trust, which is a major, persistent hurdle in winning new business. As Fox points out, “in property management, the biggest barrier to getting people to sign up to work with your company is going to be them trusting you…It generally comes when you’re educating the owner.” Educational videos that solve common owner problems can help establish that trust. For example, you could create videos that explain your tenant screening process, how you handle maintenance emergencies, or your approach to setting rental rates.

These videos can also be repurposed across multiple channels to maximize their impact. “You can use those YouTube videos as marketing assets throughout your website,” Fox says. “You can post them on social media and send them out through email marketing to your email list as that grows as well.” One helpful video can become a valuable marketing asset across multiple channels.

Email marketing is another tactic that becomes more effective at this stage. It allows you to stay in touch with property owners who have shown interest but aren’t ready to sign a contract. You can send them your YouTube videos and blog posts to continue demonstrating your expertise.

Once your website is getting a good amount of traffic, you can consider remarketing ads as well. Fox notes that “once you start to have an even bigger budget as your company continues to scale, you can start to invest in things like remarketing ads.” These ads are shown to people who have already visited your site, keeping your company top-of-mind as they browse other websites.

Low-ROI Tactics to Avoid (for Most PMCs)

Knowing which marketing tactics to focus on is only half the battle. Just as important is understanding what efforts often end up becoming a waste of time and money for property managers.

Why Cold Google Ads Are a Budget-Burner

Using Google Ads to attract new property owners might seem like a straightforward approach. However, it can quickly be expensive and inefficient. “Generally, paid ads for property management companies are quite expensive just to acquire a new door,” Fox warns. Ads for property management can attract clicks from prospective clients, but they also from people who aren’t in your target audience, meaning a portion of your ad spend is getting wasted.

Competition also drives up the cost. In many markets, competition for property management keywords is high, with multiple advertisers bidding on the same terms. “This results in a high cost per click,” Fox says. “In some markets, it’s as high as $30 per click.”

Fox also points out that you have three groups searching for terms related to your business: owners, tenants, and vendors. Only a fraction of this audience are actual potential clients. “There are way more tenants out there than there are owners,” he explains. “Those tenants are going to click on your ads, which are expensive, and they’re going to run through your ad budget really quickly.”

Why Organic Social Media Has a Poor Return

Posting regularly on social media platforms such as Instagram or TikTok can feel as though you’re actively marketing your business. However, Fox warns that this tactic is overhyped, noting that it’s “a lot of work with very little return” for attracting new property owners.

The people who see your organic posts are usually those who already follow you, such as your current clients, vendors, and friends. “Most rental property owners are not going to find you through social media,” Fox says. “When you post on social media, the majority of people that see your post are people that already follow your business, and the people that already follow your business are not the people that you’re looking to attract.”

While sharing your blog posts or videos on social media can be a good way to distribute your content, it’s not typically a strong channel for generating new owner leads.

Why Cold Social Ads Miss Your Target Audience

Running paid ads to a “cold” audience (people who don’t know your company) on social media can also be inefficient. These platforms allow you to target users by geographic location, but a large percentage of your target audience may not live where their rental properties are located.

Many property owners are out-of-state investors or people who have moved away. Fox explains, “When you manage properties for owners, usually anywhere from 30 to 50% of your owners are not physically located in the city where you manage their property… If you’re running ads just to your local area, you’re missing out on a large percentage of your target audience.” Even if you do reach local property owners, they’re not on social media to look for property management services, so your ads might not get the attention you’re hoping for.

By avoiding these common pitfalls, you can free up your marketing budget to focus on the strategies that consistently deliver a better return.

High-ROI Tactics to Double Down On

Instead of spending your marketing budget on channels with a low return, you can focus your efforts on a few key areas that consistently produce results for property management companies. These high-ROI tactics can help you attract the right kind of clients without breaking the bank.

Local SEO: Become the Big Fish in a Small Pond

Trying to compete with large, established property management companies for broad search terms is difficult. A more effective approach is to focus on a specific niche. According to Fox, the best thing for a smaller company to do is “become the company to go to in a smaller submarket.” You can choose a submarket and become the go-to expert for that area, rather than trying to compete with every other company in a large city.

This local SEO strategy works because property owners often search for management services in their specific neighborhood. Fox advises companies to “become the big fish in a small pond” rather than vying for recognition in the broader region or metro area you’re located in.

By creating content and targeting keywords for a particular suburb or part of town, you can position your company as the local authority.  “When you’re small, use that as an advantage,” Fox says, “because that’s something [an owner’s] not going to get when they call that company that manages 1,500 doors down the street.”

YouTube: Build Trust Through Education

We mentioned it before, but it begs repeating: educational video content is one of the most effective ways to build that trust. As Fox says, “In property management, it’s a relationship-type business. People like to know who’s gonna be the person that’s actually managing their property.” You can create videos that answer common owner questions and address their biggest pain points.

These videos can then be used across all your marketing channels. Embed them on your website, share them in your email newsletters, and post them on your social media profiles. Each video you create becomes another asset that demonstrates your expertise, puts a face to your company, and helps you connect with potential clients.

Review Management: Build a Reputation Engine

A strong online reputation is an invaluable marketing asset. It’s helpful to create internal processes with “trigger points” that prompt a review request. “You need to create processes within your business so there’s trigger points when an event happens, we’re automatically requesting a review,” Fox explains. For example, after you fill a vacancy for a new owner, you can automatically reach out to them to request a review.

Negative reviews are an unavoidable part of property management. “The important thing is that you’re staying ahead of it. If you have 100 five-stars, when that one one-star comes in, it’s not going to affect your overall reputation.” A steady stream of positive reviews can protect your overall rating and show prospective clients that you’re a professional and responsive company.

How to Use AI in Your Property Management Marketing

As you build out these high-ROI tactics, you can also look for ways to make them even more efficient. This is where artificial intelligence can play a helpful role in your marketing.

For property managers, it can act as a force multiplier, helping you work more efficiently and find new ways to generate leads.

AI for Content Creation and Efficiency

AI-powered writing assistants can help you draft email newsletters, craft follow-up messages for leads, and analyze business data. However, it’s wise to avoid simply copying and pasting AI-generated content for your website. “You don’t want to… get content created for your website, take it directly from AI, and post it on your website,” Fox warns. “Google’s smart enough to detect whether content is high quality.” Any articles drafted with AI should be heavily edited and fact-checked by a human expert to add your unique insights and experience.

Optimizing for AI Search

As property owners begin using tools such as ChatGPT to find property managers, you’ll want your company to appear in those search results. Much of what you do for traditional SEO will also help with this, but there are a few extra steps you can take.

Since search platforms often use third-party data for local listings, make sure your business is listed on major directories. Fox suggests a simple test: “Go to ChatGPT and type in ‘who’s the best property management company to work with in Boston,’ and they’re gonna give you a list. They explain where they got those sources from…What you then wanna try to do is get your business listed on wherever they cited [their results] from.”

You can also ask the AI why it recommended certain companies. This can give you clues about what factors it considers important.

The KPIs That Prove Your Marketing Is Profitable

Using these tactics is a great start, but to truly understand if your marketing is working, you need to be tracking the right numbers. While there are many metrics you could watch, it all comes down to two core questions: how much a client is worth and how much it’s costing you to acquire a client.

In measurable terms, those two factors look like this:

• Lifetime Value (LTV): This is the total revenue a client is worth to your business over time.
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): This is your total marketing and sales spend to acquire one new client.

If your LTV is significantly higher than your CAC, you likely have a profitable and scalable marketing strategy. As Fox explains, “If you know what your client is worth, let’s say a client’s worth $5,000 to your business and you’re spending $500 to acquire that client, you’ll have a very nice, profitable, scalable marketing strategy.” If they are about equal, you’re just breaking even.

Other Key Metrics to Track

To get a full picture of your marketing performance, it’s also helpful to track a few other key metrics:

• Cost Per Lead (CPL) by channel
• Closing Rate (leads to signed clients)
• Website Traffic
• Keyword Rankings
• Google Business Profile Insights (views, search terms, clicks to call)

Your First 90 Days to a High-ROI Mix

Based on this advice, here is a simple, sequential action plan for property managers looking to build a profitable marketing engine.

• Days 1–30 (Foundations): Launch a conversion-ready website, set up and optimize your Google Business Profile, and establish a process for requesting reviews. You might also consider a pay-per-lead service to generate immediate inquiries.
• Days 31–60 (Content Engine): Identify your local submarket and begin creating SEO content that targets owner questions in that niche. You could also record your first educational YouTube video focused on creating helpful content.
• Days 61–90 (Nurture & Analyze): Build an email list and send your first nurture sequence featuring your new content. Review your core KPIs (LTV, CAC, CPL) to understand what’s working and where to focus next.

This 90-day plan helps you build a solid foundation and then layer on more advanced tactics as you grow.

Build a Marketing Engine That Scales with Your Operations

ROI-focused digital marketing for property management means choosing tactics that match your portfolio size, measuring what matters, and building channels that compound over time. By following this expert advice, you can avoid common budget traps and build a predictable system for attracting profitable owner clients.

Key Takeaways:

• Match tactics to your stage by focusing on foundations and pay-per-lead when you’re new, then adding local SEO, YouTube, and email nurture as you grow.
• Avoid low-ROI traps such as cold Google Ads, organic social media posting, and cold social ads, as they are often not a profitable way to acquire owner leads.
• Track the metrics that matter, especially your client Lifetime Value (LTV) and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), as these are the ultimate measures of marketing profitability.
• Focus on trust and expertise by using local SEO, educational YouTube videos, and a strong review profile to establish yourself as the go-to expert in your submarket.

Of course, generating leads is only half the battle. The right property management platform supports both your marketing and your operations, helping the leads you generate convert into satisfied, long-term clients who fuel positive reviews and referrals.

With the right operational systems in place, you can confidently scale your marketing efforts, knowing you have the capacity to deliver excellent service to every new client.

If you’d like to see how Buildium can help button up those systems, you can schedule a guided demo or sign up for a 14-day free trial.

Frequently Asked Questions About Digital Marketing ROI for Property Management

How Much Should a Small Property Management Company Budget for Digital Marketing Each Month?

This depends on your market’s competitiveness and your growth goals. A practical approach is to start with foundational elements such as a website and Google Business Profile, then use pay-per-lead services before scaling your budget for channels such as SEO and paid ads.

How Long Until SEO and YouTube Produce Owner Leads I Can Attribute?

Organic channels take time to build momentum. Expect several months for SEO impact to materialize; YouTube lead generation timelines vary based on content quality and audience growth.

Is Google Ads Ever Worth It for Owner Acquisition?

Google Ads can be effective for remarketing to warm audiences (people who have already visited your site), especially for larger companies. However, campaigns targeting cold audiences often have a high CAC and low ROI for owner acquisition specifically because having a lot of competitors results in a higher cost per click.

How Many Google Reviews Do I Need to See a Real Impact?

There is no magic number. Consistent acquisition is more important than volume, as it protects your reputation against the inevitable negative review. Having a large number of positive reviews dilutes the impact a negative review can have on your reputation.

Do I Need a Separate Website for Each Submarket to Rank Locally?

No, a single website with dedicated, high-quality pages for each submarket is highly effective. Focusing your content on a niche and optimizing your Google Business Profile for that area are more important than having multiple domains.