The Apartment Department
Multifamily marketing does not stand still. Neither do we.
The Apartment Department is a podcast for operators, marketers, leasing professionals, and industry partners who want to think differently about how marketing drives performance.
Through conversations with operators, marketing leaders, and industry partners shaping the future of multifamily, we focus on what they are building, testing, and refining to strengthen marketing teams and drive measurable results.
Our goal is simple. We want you to leave each episode with a new perspective and at least one idea worth testing.
Hosted by Anne Baum and Chris Johnson, exploring how strategy, systems, and performance intersect in multifamily.
Produced by Carlos Marquez.
Episodes
44 episodes
Stop Marketing in a Silo: Bridging Strategy and Site Teams
Marketing cannot operate in a silo. When strategy lives in one department and execution lives in another, performance breaks down.In this episode, Paul McClain, founder of AiinaT Brand Solutions, joins us...
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Season 3
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Episode 8
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49:58
Jillian Fikkert on Earning a Seat at the Table: How Marketing Leaders Build Internal Influence
In this episode, Jillian Fickert of Buckingham Companies joins Anne Baum and Chris Johnson for a practical conversation about what it really takes to make marketing a trusted, strategic function inside a multifamily organization.They exp...
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Season 3
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Episode 7
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52:12
Renters Decide Before They Tour: The New Reality of Multifamily Marketing
In this episode of The Apartment Department, Anne and Chris sit down with D.D. Cobb, Regional Director at Apartments.com, to unpack how the apartment search has fundamentally changed.Today’s renters are making decisi...
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Season 3
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Episode 6
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53:18
Collaboration and Creativity in Multifamily with Kara Rafferty
In this episode Anne and Chris sit down with Kara Rafferty, National Director of Sales at Apartment Geo-Fencing, for a long-anticipated conversation on what collaboration in multifamily really looks like.Kara brings a wide-ranging perspe...
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Season 3
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Episode 5
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57:35
AI Fluency: Moving from Concept to Practice in Multifamily
In this episode, Chris and Anne speak with Tamela Coval and Tami Siewruk, two of the creators of Multifamily NEXT, a series of hands-on workshops designed to integrate artificial intelligence into the a...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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1:05:29
Community Engagement Strategy for Multifamily Occupancy with Ben Pleat
In this episode, Chris and Anne speak with Ben Pleat, the co-founder and CEO of Cobu. A technology platform designed to help multifamily marketers and owners drive resident satisfaction and community engagement, which in turn boosts occupancy a...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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53:30
Automating the Routine to Elevate the Human Experience: AI Success with Arthur Kosmider and Brent Camp
In this episode, we sit down with Brent Camp of Asset Living and Arthur Kosmider of LeFrak to explore how Artificial Intelligence is reshaping property management and rental housing. Their perspective is clear: AI isn’t here to replace people, ...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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33:04
Digital Curb Appeal and the Era of Authenticity with Daniel Paulino
In this episode, Daniel Paulino, VP of Real Estate at Reputation.com discusses the growing importance of digital reputation, dubbed "digital curb appeal", for the multifamily housing industry, particularly how it affects property visibility in ...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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26:20
The Future is Automated: Transforming Multifamily Operations with Minna Song
In this episode of The Apartment Department, co-host Chris Johnson sits down with Minna Song, CEO of EliseAI, to discuss how artificial intelligence is transforming multifamily operations. For nearly a decade, EliseAI has helped properties auto...
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Season 2
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Episode 18
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22:02
The 2025 Blueprint Edition: Justin Jones, Shelly Steitz, Anne Baum
In this episode, Justin Jones, Shelly Steitz, and Anne Baum recap their experience at the Blueprint Conference including the vibe, their favorite takeaways for key technologies and AI, the opportunity for vendors and operators to co-build and c...
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Season 2
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Episode 17
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48:14
Cleaning Up the Noise: Establishing a True Data Strategy with Marge Enrique
In this episode, Chris and Anne talk with Marge Enrique about her extensive journey in transforming her company's approach to marketing data, emphasizing the importance of moving beyond simple last-touch attribution to a more comprehensive mult...
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Season 2
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Episode 16
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50:29
From 4.5 Stars to ROI: Opiniion's Data-Driven Approach to Resident Satisfaction
Have you ever wondered how the reputation and resident experience of your property actually impact marketing success and NOI? In this episode, Devin Shurtleff, CEO of Opiniion, shares their data around t...
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Season 2
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Episode 15
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51:24
Data, Data Everywhere: Redefining Multifamily Marketing Measurement with Aimee Farmer
In this episode Aimee Farmer, VP, Marketing at Middleburg Communities discusses how she is redefining the role of marketing through embracing data. The discussion covers the importance of tracking key metrics like booked appointment...
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Season 2
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Episode 14
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49:22
The Future is Now: How to Win at SEO and GEO with Brooke Henderson
In this episode Chris and Anne speak with Brooke Henderson, VP, US Strategic Partnerships at Yext to get an inside look at how conversational search is shifting how multifamily marketers should approach their online presence. Brooke...
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Season 2
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Episode 13
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44:52
All Things Zillow Rentals: A Deep Dive with Jami Thomas
In this episode, Chris and Anne speak with Jami Thomas, VP of Sales at Zillow Rentals, where we cover a wide range of exciting topics including:The rumor that Zillow may be phasing out their PPL options for packages.Zillows...
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Season 2
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Episode 12
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44:30
Turbocharge your Google Ranking with Hyper-Effective Local Pages: An AI Love Story
In this episode, Chris and Anne talk with Jon Simpson, about Swifty's Hyper-Effective Local Pages (HELP). AI-powered landing pages built for how renters s...
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Season 2
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Episode 11
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44:09
AI, Customization, and Humans: The Formula for Leasing Success
In this episode, Chris and Anne sit down with Jacob Carter, founder of Nurture Boss, to discuss the how conversational AI + humans can revolutionize the leasing and resident experience by offering a customized, intuitive, responsive communicati...
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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44:07
Supporting a Prospect First Experience with Technology
In this episode Chris and Anne talk to Dorota Firek, CMO of Tour24, a state of the art self-guided touring technology, discusses how the future of apartment marketing and leasing includes meeting renters how they want to rent. Bonus: hear...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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36:54
Multifamily Marketing Today with Paul Burke
Paul Burke, Director of Marketing and Customer Experience at Oakwood Management Company in Columbus, OH talks to Anne and Chris about his focus on SEO, quality video content, his e-commerce experience and how an increase in organic impressions ...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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46:17
Why Can't We All Just Get Along? The Argument for Unified Multifamily Marketing with Grady Newman
In this episode, Anne and Chris sit down with Grady Newman, founder of Resi, to dig into the messy side of multifamily marketing — from data silos and clunky platforms to the constant chase for better ROI. Grady shares how Resi got started, why...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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46:23
Are you Ready for the Future? Video Marketing 101 with Kristi Fickert
In this episode, join co-hosts Anne and Chris with guest Kristi Fickert, SVP of Growth and Marketing at Kurie, to discuss the value of streaming video ads for multifamily. For so long, TV advertising was out...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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43:35
600 Secret Shops Revealed: Fixing the Fractured Prospect Journey with Eden Chai
In this episode Eden Chai, co-founder and CMO of Flair shares critical findings from their new secret shop tool which, after gathering data from over 600 shops allowed Eden to draw one conclusion: the prospect journey is fractured (or dare we s...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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45:54
The Art of Efficiency: Smarter Marketing with Sarah Wieman
In this episode Chris and Anne welcome back a fan favorite, Sarah Wieman, to discuss how marketers can embrace technology and trends to find marketing efficiencies. They cover topics like supplier consolidation, technology to gain every d...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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43:28
Innovation Everywhere: Specialization, Centralization, and AI with Chelsea Kneeland
Chelsea Kneeland, Innovation Insider at Multifamily Insider, is an expert at what is coming next in multifamily innovation. In this very special episode, she gives us her take on where multifamily is going next when we use words like "spe...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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49:12
Inside the Mind of an Operator: Stacey Hampton on Solving Occupancy Challenges and Selling Marketing
In this episode, Stacey Hampton, founder of AssetNOI, and all around multifamily expert takes us into how top-notch operators analyze, diagnose, and solve occupancy challenges. In addition, she shares with us how she is able to sell marketing b...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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46:30