Karen Zapkowski

Marketing Strategist, Towne Properties

Karen is a Marketing Strategist with over 18 years in multifamily housing and a proven track record of turning marketing insights into measurable results. I've held roles from Leasing to Property Manager to Digital Marketing Specialist, giving me a 360° view of the renter journey. At Towne Properties, she leads strategies across PPC, SEO, AI integration, website optimization, and reputation management—helping communities attract, convert, and retain residents in highly competitive markets. She is CAM and CAPS certified, has served on the Greater Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Apartment Association’s social media committee, and is known for her practical, data-driven approach to marketing. With expertise spanning operations and technology, she bridges the gap between marketing vision and execution by showing teams how to align tools, channels, and budget for maximum ROI. Based in Cincinnati, she brings industry depth, curiosity, and a data-driven approach to multifamily marketing.

12:10 - 12:40 PM

Thursday Day 2-March 19

The AI-Era Leasing Funnel: Winning the Renter Journey

Session Sponsor: The renter journey isn’t linear—it’s a maze of AI-powered search results, social recommendations, review sites, and micro-decisions that can win or lose a lease in seconds. In this session, we’ll untangle that journey and show how to map it step by step, from the first query to the signed lease. We’ll walk through a framework that starts with identifying your renter personas, then layering in the digital and offline touchpoints they encounter—search, social, reputation, and advertising. Using AI-driven analytics and modern attribution tools, you’ll see how to plot where prospects drop off, which channels actually influence conversions, and where your marketing spend is being wasted. From there, we’ll connect the dots between local SEO, online reputation, and paid media—so your marketing ecosystem works together instead of in silos. Rather than chasing every new tactic, you’ll leave with a repeatable blueprint for mapping and optimizing the renter journey in today’s landscape. The result? Shorter leasing cycles, higher ROI, and a marketing strategy that reflects how renters actually search today. 3 Key Takeaways:

Map the renter journey by identifying touchpoints and layering in AI-powered analytics
Pinpoint friction and wasted spend with attribution insights
Align SEO, reputation, and paid media into one funnel-focused strategy