Business Case Study · Multi-Family Residential · Calgary

The target was 90% occupancy in a year. They hit 95% in seven months.

The Metropolitan had 430 rental units in Calgary’s Beltline and no cohesive digital strategy to fill them. We built one that turned empty units into steady, qualified rental demand.

months

To beat a 12-month target

$100K

Annual revenue that was at stake

Partner · The Metropolitan

Industry · Multi-family residential

Building · 430 rental units

Market · Beltline, Calgary

Goal · 90% occupancy in 12 months

The situation before GrowME

The Building Was Ready.
The Tenants Weren't Finding It.

The Metropolitan is a rental-purpose building in Calgary’s Beltline with 430 units and extensive on-site amenities, appealing to young professionals, small families, and newcomers seeking value and convenience. It still could not fill more than 80% of them.

Occupancy

Stuck at 80% of 430 units

Digital strategy

No cohesive plan in place

Paid advertising

Not generating qualified interest

Local search

Poor map rankings on key terms

Website & citations

NAP errors and technical gaps

Revenue at risk

$100,000+ a year left on the table

The core problem

Too few rental applications meant move-outs risked outpacing move-ins, leaving units empty and more than $100,000 of annual revenue on the table.

How We Did It

Four Channels, One Leasing Engine.

Each channel is its own case study. Together they took the building from 80% to 95% occupancy.

Paid Advertising · PPC & Meta

Qualified rental demand, on tap.

Targeted PPC and Meta advertising launched with full conversion tracking and reporting, optimized to generate high-quality leads rather than clicks. This is what filled units while the organic work compounded.

SEO & Local SEO

Findable when renters search downtown.

We corrected NAP errors across third-party citations, optimized the site for the keywords that matter, and built local links. Map rankings improved on “apartments for rent Calgary downtown,” driving consistent organic growth.

Website

A site built to convert enquiries.

The audit surfaced the technical and website issues behind the poor rankings and lost enquiries. We optimized the website and social profiles so the traffic arriving actually turned into rental applications.

Content & Social

Showing renters what living there feels like.

On-site photo shoots captured the spirit of the building and showcased its amenities. Fresh social content built the online presence that keeps leads coming in and lifted lead quality.

Today

From 80% to 95% occupancy.

Seven months in, The Metropolitan passed a target it had set for twelve, with total website traffic up 62% across organic, social, and paid. Tenant retention is higher, and the leasing pipeline is one the building now runs itself.

What GrowME built

Where The Building Was, And Where It Is Now.

A digital presence audit, a rebuilt foundation, and paid campaigns held to leads rather than clicks.

Before

Now, with GrowME

Occupancy Rate

80%

95%

Website Traffic

Flat, and not converting

Up 62% across organic, social and PPC

Paid Advertising

No effective campaigns

PPC and Meta with conversion tracking

Local Map Ranking

Underperforming on the main keyword

Improved on “apartments for rent Calgary downtown”

Website & Citations

NAP errors, technical gaps

Optimized and consistent

Tenant Retention

A move-out risk

A higher retention rate

Reporting

Slow, unclear decisions

Reporting clarity and faster decisions

Why it worked

GrowME Built A Leasing Engine, Not An Ad Campaign.

More advertising was never the answer on its own. The audit set the foundation, the rebuilt website and citations made the building findable, and the paid campaigns were held to qualified leads rather than clicks. A building that used to wait for walk-ins now generates its own demand, and the strategy keeps compounding.

Key Takeaways