Jim Davoren of Apartments.com buying lunch from a food truck by swiping his credit card on an iPad.

Chances are you’ve either heard of or seen mobile payments happening, as opposed to this time a year ago, when the conversations were just starting.  Here in Chicago and across the country, many of the new or smaller retailers are quickly adopting some type of mobile payment solution to run their Point of Sale process with increasing frequency; while big box stores have begun doing their own experiments. Read More

What percentage of all mobile phones is it going to take to start calling smartphones just phones? 80%? 100%? More? (kidding!)

Last week, NielsenWire released the results of a January 2012 survey relating smartphone adoption to age and income.  As I posted last year, a similar report in June 2011 showed that 1/3 of all mobile phone subscribers had a smartphone, and this survey shows that has grown to almost half of all mobile subscribers (48%).  With smartphones continuously improving and becoming more ubiquitous, the older models of smartphones are driven down to very affordable prices, making them more attractive to late-adopters, as it’s not as large a commitment as a brand new $300-500 phone. Read More

In 2007, one third of mobile subscribers were texting, mobile browsing was practically non-existent, and the iPhone had just been released.  Apartments.com responded with the product Text4Info Messaging, including a customizable keyword that auto-responded with basic property information and a link to the listing on the Apartments.com mobile site.

Now in 2011, 3/4th of all Americans have mobile phones, over 2/3rd send text messages, QR Code use is growing rapidly, and mobile browsing is set to overtake browsing on traditional desktop computers by 2013.  Texting alone just isn’t going to cut it anymore! Read More

I’ve written before about the importance of having an overall mobile strategy, not just individual campaigns. However, through many conversations regarding how to actually execute that, I feel there’s a clarification that needs to be made to that post that might seem contradictory at first, but will help explain the best way to accomplish it.

Companies with the most successful mobile strategies are the ones that don’t necessarily have a mobile strategy.   Read More

You’re not alone.  However, adoption of smart phones is rapidly growing.  But don’t take my word for it, these numbers speak for themselves:

• Nearly 18.5 million Americans own an Apple iPhone.
• Over 54 million other Americans are using smartphones running on Google Android, Microsoft Windows, RIM (Blackberry) and Palm operating systems in Q1 of 2011, up 15% from Q4 of 2011.*
• Three out of four Americans ages 13 and up have a mobile phone now.

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Congratulations to the following Apartments.com customers who were selected as the winners of our March Live Chat contest to receive a new iPad 2!

Cypress Lake at Stonebriar
Summer Meadows
Westchase Crossing Read More

Ok, so it’s not such a shocker, but it’s definitely true that the more you’re online and available with Live Chat, the more renters will start chatting with you to get their questions answered, and hopefully set an appointment to take a tour!

Well, we have great news!  Our Live Chat partner, ContactAtOnce!, has been working diligently with us over the last year to bring this new way of interacting with renters to the multifamily industry.  They’ve changed the game again.  Now you have the ability to chat with renters from your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and iPad2!  By downloading the ContactAtOnce! Live Chat app from your app store, you can stay connected while on the go.  This way, you can keep chatting if you have to leave your computer, or even if you’re working away from the office.  Talk about being able to chat with even more renters!  I’ve been using it this week on the new iPad2, and I have to say, it’s so cool.  I’ve been able to chat from anywhere.  Here are some screenshots… Read More

It’s been nine months since we started experimenting with giving renters the ability to chat live with Apartments.com platinum listing customers, and four months since we launched it fully, and it’s proven to be a great next step in advancing the rental industry!  As of February 1, we have over 1,200 properties signed up to receive Live Chat, and continuing to grow at a very rapid pace every week.

In January 2011, for those properties actively using Live Chat (online with Chat for at least 30% of renter visits to their listing), we recorded an average of 17% increase in conversations with renters.  Those online less than 30% of renter visits only saw an average of 5% increase in conversations with renters, but obviously the more you’re online to chat, the more renters are going to be chatting with you! Read More

Part 3 of 3 

There are two ways to dabble in the mobile realm.  One may get you results immediately, but the other will help you actually connect to your customers and build a relationship that works. 

Most people start by doing a quick or short-term response initiative, like a mass SMS/text blast or a “text to vote” contest.  This is great and can elicit a large number of responses if the message is inspiring enough, but how do you build your relationship with the responders so you can keep that communication going, turning them into repeat customers? Read More

Part 2 of 3

SMS turns the Consumer “Funnel” into an “Egg”

As mentioned in the Mobile vs. Portable post, SMS is one of the most effective methods of capturing the on-the-go consumer.  One specific use case that has been particularly effective is when they’re actually in-store shopping and a display tells them to text their keyword to their shortcode (ie. Text DEALS to 43200) to receive 20 percent off their immediate purchase. Read More