Online Residential Marketing Service (ORMS) is one of several of Axiom Media's specialties that has gained accolades in its specified industry.

Two years of Axiom Media took us exactly where we thought it would: to a lower cost of tenant acquisition and a comprehensive, integrated mix of online presence. Our route took us to some unexpected places, including the rise of Craigslist, increases in Google key word costs and the reaction of the ILS's, which was to build tools that property owners could use to post their own content. We've seen property owners learn several valuable lessons - some the hard way and some the easy way.

• Placing your own advertising is STILL inefficient.
  Property owners with and without third party software have discovered what they discovered a generation ago when they tried to place their own print advertising: The efficiency and expertise of a third party service firm reduces the reliance on internal personnel, often leasing agents, who are not suited to these activities and often unable to perform them as they encounter distractions from their other duties.
• DON'T develop software
  Someone either already has or will soon create what you are looking for and it will be available for free or a ridiculously low price. Instead, instill an organizational approach to investing in and coordinating the results of online marketing.
• Manage marketing from the revenue opportunity side
  Marketing campaigns are capitalized events with a return on investment and can't be managed strictly from the expense side. The transition can be slightly painful early in the process as operators are advised to wean off conventional media and marketing costs can increase temporarily, but within a few months it will more than pay for itself. Conversely, losing any aspect of your online franchise to a competitor who crowds you off page 1 of Google is much more expansive to reverse.

Read our case studies for more detail on how Axiom Media clients have learned these and other lessons and decreased their marketing costs while increasing occupancy.

Predictions for Year 3:

Google keywords associated with apartment rental will increase 60% in 2011. Across the board, Google has seen relative softness in its keyword auction pricing with an average increase of only 4%, but in the real estate markets that we monitor, we've seen increases of 30% and 40% in the last two years. The market is arbitraging the cost of generating prospects through Google versus Internet Listing Services, which typically are $20 per prospect.

Craigslist will charge a posting fee. The site's controls have become extraordinarily restrictive and the most efficient way to manage it will be to charge $5 per ad or an equivalent subscription cost for professionals. Craigslist already charges real estate advertising in major cities and it is sensible to expand the model to all real estate listings.