Your ILS Spend Isn’t Broken, But It’s Probably Bloated

In the fast-paced world of multifamily marketing, first impressions are paramount. Your initial email response to aIf you’re a multifamily marketing manager, there’s a good chance your ILS (Internet Listing Service) budget has ballooned over the years. And while ILSs can still play a key role in your leasing strategy, here’s the honest truth: most portfolios are overspending and missing big opportunities in the process.

Let’s break down why that’s happening, how to audit your ILS spend effectively, and where your dollars could be working harder across the digital marketing funnel.

ILS Listings Still Work, But They’re Not the Whole Story

We get it. ILS platforms like Apartments.com, Zillow, and Rent are comfortable. They drive traffic. They check a box. But too often, we see marketing teams relying too heavily on ILSs to do the heavy lifting, especially when those dollars could be spread across more targeted, higher-performing digital strategies.

Here’s what we hear from multifamily marketers all the time:

• “My leasing team says we need ILS traffic.”
• “The leads look good on paper, but conversions are lagging.”
• “I’m not sure what we’re getting for the price increases.”

Sound familiar?

You don’t have to rip the cord, but you should reevaluate. Here’s how to assess the health of your ILS investments.

3 Steps to Auditing Your ILS Spend 

1. Compare Lead vs. Lease Ratios (Volume ≠ Value)

Let’s get real, a bloated inbox full of leads looks good on paper, but it means very little if those leads aren’t converting into signed leases. One of the clearest indicators that your ILS budget might be out of balance is a lopsided lead-to-lease ratio.

If your leasing team is overwhelmed with inquiries but struggling to move the needle on occupancy, it’s likely your ILS traffic is high in volume but low in quality. These leads often come from window shoppers, bots, or unqualified prospects who aren’t aligned with your floor plans, budget, or availability.

👀 What to Watch For

• A high number of leads from ILSs but a low lease conversion rate.
• Leasing agents spending significant time chasing cold leads.
• Rising cost-per-lease despite consistent ILS traffic levels.
  

👉 What to Do Instead

Pull performance by source, don’t just lump it all into one “digital” bucket. Look at each ILS platform individually and calculate:

• Cost-per-lead
• Lead-to-tour conversion rate
• Lead-to-lease conversion rate
• Cost-per-lease

Compare this data against other digital channels like paid search, paid social, SEO, and remarketing campaigns.

Use a platform like Fiona, Digible’s proprietary marketing intelligence tool, to automate these insights. Fiona can slice your data by property, channel, and campaign, helping you see exactly where your budget is producing leases and where it’s just producing noise.

💡Pro Tip: When Comparing Lead to Leases

If one ILS has a CPL of $15 but a cost-per-lease of $1,000, while your paid search channel has a CPL of $50 and a cost-per-lease of $350, the decision isn’t hard. It’s time to rebalance.

2. Monitor Duplicate Leads

You’re not imagining it… when the same prospect shows up across multiple ILS platforms, you might be paying twice, or more, for the same person. And unless your CRM is cleanly configured and attribution is dialed in, this duplication can quietly inflate your ILS spend and skew your channel performance data.

Even worse? Many property marketers don’t realize just how often this happens.

🚩 Why Duplicate Leads Matters

• You’re paying multiple vendors for the same lead, cutting into your ROI.
• Your performance data becomes murky, making it harder to assess which ILS is truly pulling its weight.
• Your leasing team wastes time following up with the same lead from multiple entries, creating inefficiency and frustration.
  

👉 What to Do

Audit for Dupes – Regularly comb through your CRM to identify duplicate records. Focus on leads from the same person, same name, email, or phone number, that came in through different sources within a short time period.

Tighten Your Attribution Settings – Most multifamily marketers only look at last-touch attribution, who brought the lead in last. But that can over-credit ILS platforms that sit lower in the funnel. To really understand your ROI, track both first-touch and last-touch activity. This paints a clearer picture of which channels are influencing the decision, not just closing the loop.

Use UTM Parameters or Unique Trackable Numbers – Assign unique tracking URLs or phone numbers to each ILS. This creates cleaner attribution, reduces overlap confusion, and gives you the ability to segment performance by platform with confidence.

Remember, the goal isn’t just more leads, it’s more efficient ones. Cleaning up your lead data helps you understand true cost-per-lease and build smarter strategies across the board.

3. Evaluate Visibility vs. Cost

One of the most common traps in ILS spending is assuming that premium placement equals premium results. Many platforms upsell communities into “featured” or “enhanced” placements that promise better visibility, but that visibility often comes at a steep monthly cost. And more importantly, it doesn’t always translate to more qualified leads or actual leases.

🚩 Why Evaluating Visibility vs. Cost Matters

• You may be overpaying for placements that boost impressions but don’t improve conversion rates.
  
• High visibility can attract low-intent leads, creating more work for your leasing team with fewer move-ins.
  
• Budgets are tight, and you need to know if your top-tier placements are actually worth the price tag.

👉 What to Do

Pull Performance by Placement Tier
Ask your ILS rep to break down performance metrics by listing tier, featured vs. standard. Look specifically at:

• Cost per lead (CPL)
• Cost per lease (CPLS)
• Bounce rate on listing views
  

You may find that while featured placements increase total leads, they do little to improve lease conversions.

Run a Visibility Test
Select one or two properties and temporarily downgrade them from premium to standard placement. Monitor performance for 30 days, focusing on:

• Lead volume
• Lead-to-tour conversion
• Lease velocity

If your results hold steady, or dip only slightly, you’ve likely uncovered a cost-saving opportunity without hurting performance.

Reinvest the Savings
If you do pull back on paid placement, reallocate those dollars into higher-performing channels like paid social or Google Ads, where targeting and attribution are more precise. This gives you more control and more data to justify your spend.

💡 Bonus Tip When Evaluating Visibility vs. Cost

Don’t forget to consider seasonality. Premium visibility may be more effective during peak leasing months, but completely unnecessary during slower seasons. Negotiating flexible placement tiers can help you align visibility with demand and maximize ROI year-round.

You don’t need to pay for the top spot to win in the search results. You need the right visibility, at the right cost, to drive meaningful results. A strategic downgrade might just be your secret weapon for a leaner, smarter marketing mix.

If Your ILS Spending Is Bloated, Where Should You Reallocate (and Still Hit Leasing Goals)

3 Proven Places to Reinvest those Dollars

Once you’ve identified where your ILS spend is bloated, duplicate leads, inflated placement costs, or underperforming sources, it’s time to shift that budget into channels that offer more control, transparency, and measurable results. The goal isn’t to spend less overall, it’s to spend smarter.

📈 Paid Search

Capture high-intent renters exactly when they’re ready to convert.

Google Ads is one of the most powerful tools in your digital arsenal. Unlike ILS platforms that cast a wide net, paid search lets you zero in on renters actively searching for apartments in your exact market.

How to do it well:

• Target specific zip codes or neighborhoods where your prospects are searching.
  
• Use keywords like “pet-friendly apartments near [location]” or “2-bedroom apartment available now.”
  
• Build campaigns around availability windows (e.g., promote short-term leases or immediate move-ins).
  
• Monitor cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-lead (CPL) weekly, then optimize accordingly.
  

Why it works: You only pay when someone is actively searching, and you control the message, targeting, and budget. Plus, you can scale up or down instantly, no rep required.

📲 Paid Social + Retargeting

Stay top-of-mind before renters start their search.

Unlike search ads that capture active intent, paid social and display ads allow you to influence prospects before they’re even in-market. Think of this as laying the groundwork, building brand awareness and generating interest that eventually leads to action.

Smart strategies include:

• Facebook and Instagram lead forms that collect info right in the app.
  
• TikTok or Reels-style videos showcasing your amenities, leasing team, or resident events.
  
• Retargeting campaigns for users who visited your site but didn’t convert (with tailored messaging depending on behavior, like unit types viewed or time spent on pricing pages).
  

Why it works: These platforms expand your reach and keep your property in the consideration set. Retargeting nurtures leads across their decision journey, helping you stay present until they’re ready to lease.

🔎 SEO + Google Business Profile Optimization

Play the long game and build organic equity.

Strong SEO and an optimized Google Business Profile (GBP) make it easier for renters to find your property and trust it. Better yet, this traffic is free, making SEO one of the highest-ROI investments in your marketing mix.

Tactics that pay off:

• Update your GBP weekly with hyperlocal posts (events, amenities, team spotlights).
  
• Ensure your Name, Address, Phone number (NAP) is consistent everywhere.
  
• Optimize your site content for local keywords and long-tail search terms (e.g., “apartments with dog parks in South Austin”).
  
• Add FAQ sections to pages and incorporate schema markup to help AI-driven search understand your content.
  

Why it works: SEO builds authority and visibility over time. Every piece of content or update you make compounds your property’s search strength and keeps you from relying too heavily on expensive, short-term traffic sources.

A bloated ILS budget isn’t a dead end, it’s an opportunity. By reallocating just a portion of your spend to paid search, social, and SEO, you can create a well-balanced strategy that improves lead quality, boosts conversions, and gives you full visibility into what’s working.

Pro Tip: Don’t Drop, Diversify

We’re not here to say ILSs are dead. They’re still an important piece of the pie. But if your marketing mix is 80% ILS and 20% everything else, it’s time to flip the script.

Digible clients often see the best results when they diversify, using ILSs for visibility and brand recognition, while investing in owned and paid media channels for performance and scalability.

Ready for a Smarter Split?

At Digible, we don’t just manage marketing, we optimize it across every channel, every property, and every goal. With no long-term contracts, real-time reporting, and full transparency, we’ll help you turn every dollar into leases you can count.

Need help rebalancing your ILS spend? Let’s talk.