Vacancy hurts. Every day a unit sits empty in Wilmington, whether that's a Class A lease-up in Mayfaire or a value-add community near College Road, you're burning money on a problem that paid advertising and better local visibility can fix faster than you think. This playbook walks through every channel worth your budget, with real benchmarks and specific tactics calibrated for the Cape Fear market.
What Does Multifamily Marketing Actually Cost in Wilmington?
Before you build a channel mix, you need a baseline. In Wilmington, cost-per-lead (CPL) for apartment communities typically runs $18 to $55 on Google Search and $12 to $35 on Meta (Facebook/Instagram), depending on unit type, price point, and how competitive the submarket is. Communities near UNCW or downtown Wilmington see higher CPLs because ILS platforms like Apartments.com are also bidding aggressively for the same search terms.
A realistic monthly paid media budget for a 150 to 300 unit community running both search and social is $2,500 to $5,000. That sounds like a lot until you price it against a vacant unit at $1,200 per month. Fill two units faster and the math works.
Cost-per-lease, the number that actually matters, typically lands between $150 and $400 when your funnel is working. If you're paying more than that through ILS fees alone, paid media almost always beats it on a per-lease basis.
How Should You Structure Google Search Campaigns for Apartment Leads?
Google Search is where high-intent renters go when they've already decided to move. Searches like