For Immediate Release August 2nd, 2010

CASE STUDY: COMMUNITYSHERPA PROPELS ONLINE TRAFFIC, GENERATES LEADS, ENHANCES RESIDENT RETENTION FOR APARTMENT COMMUNITIES OF BAINBRIDGE CO.

Apartment Finder’s Innovative Social Media Marketing Service Delivers Proven Results
To Leading Real Estate Company’s Multi-family Communities

(LAWRENCEVILLE, GA) -- August 2, 2010   The global time spent on social networking sites grew more than 100%, year over year, according to a recent Nielsen report (May 2010). Presaging this explosive growth, Apartment Finder, the leading source of critical information for apartment seekers in the multi-family industry, launched the industry-first social media marketing service, CommunitySherpa, last June to harness the power of social media and help increase customers’ bottom line. And the results have been formidable. CommunitySherpa has helped drive significant monthly organic growth in online traffic and delivered measurable ROI to one of its earliest customers, Bainbridge Companies, a leading owner, developer and manager of luxury multi-family apartment communities in the Eastern United States.

CommunitySherpa provides a robust solution to building and managing a social media marketing program for apartment communities, residents and prospects. This monthly subscription service includes the creation of a custom-branded blog, Facebook and Twitter presence for the participating apartment community; regular updates with unique hyper-local content; and monthly reports detailing traffic and leads.

Marcia Bollinger, Apartment Finder’s president, states, “Multi-family professionals understand the importance of social media as a useful marketing tool, but they often don’t have the expertise or resources to leverage it. With CommunitySherpa, we do the heavy lifting for them by executing their social media marketing. And we’re delivering results. A valuable Apartment Finder customer and one of the first to subscribe to CommunitySherpa, Bainbridge Companies has seen improved organic search rankings, increased Web traffic, and enhanced resident retention.”

Since implementing the CommunitySherpa service for 21 of its apartment properties in the Fall of 2009, Bainbridge has witnessed results far exceeding their expectations in terms of increased site traffic, reduced online marketing spend and resident engagement. To date, these results include:

• An overall 67% increase in organic, non-paid traffic to the Web sites of participating Bainbridge apartment properties
• Ten (10) properties with increased organic traffic of over 70%: four of these have increased over 100%; one has increased over 230%
• Cost savings of over $100,000 in online marketing, as continued monthly online traffic gains initiated a plan to eliminate pay-per-click advertising by the end of 2010
• Continued growth in the number of natural keyword searches driving traffic to their properties
• Higher lead conversion from their organic, non-paid traffic
• Increased reach to new audiences of prospective residents with its expanded breadth of content on its social media channels
• Increased engagement with residents through connections on Facebook and Twitter

“CommunitySherpa has provided the robust platform, content monitoring and development that we simply didn’t have the resources to execute internally,” says Jared Miller, VP of marketing at Bainbridge Companies. “It’s been well worth the investment as we’re seeing stronger organic placement, growing overall Web traffic monthly, and cost savings. This, in addition to engaging our residents via highly personalized, real-time communication really provides Bainbridge apartment communities with a distinct competitive advantage.”

The Bainbridge communities are some of the over 800 apartment communities that have subscribed to CommunitySherpa since its launch in June 2009. By driving engagement and increasing the reach of customers’ online presence, CommunitySherpa is the latest component of Apartment Finder’s revolutionary prospect-focused distribution strategy to maximize quality Internet traffic to advertisers. Considered the fastest-growing multi-channel brand in the industry, Apartment Finder’s print and online products provide the latest information about apartment rentals to millions of consumers across the country, while offering a comprehensive and targeted integrated advertising solution for multi-housing professionals.

About Network Communications, Inc.

Network Communications, Inc. is a leading local media company providing lead generation, advertising and internet marketing services to the housing industry. The company's leading brands are Apartment Finder, The Real Estate Book, DigitalSherpa, Unique Homes, New England Home and Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles. NCI has market representation in more than 500 local markets around the United States. The company’s strategy focuses on providing high-quality and measurable marketing solutions to local clients by leveraging its proprietary prospect-focused distribution and content management infrastructure. NCI distributes more than 9.4 million local print catalogs of apartments for rent and homes for sale every month through more than 300,000 distribution points; NCI’s websites are leading Internet destinations for consumers looking for homes to rent or buy, with an average of 2.0 million unique users every month; and it provides internet marketing services using social media tools to its customers.

About The Bainbridge Companies

Founded in 1993, The Bainbridge Companies (www.bainbridgecompanies.com) is engaged in the development, construction, management, acquisition and disposition of residential and commercial real estate. The Bainbridge principles have developed, redeveloped, and/or repositioned more than 35,000 multifamily units. The firm’s full service real estate platform includes asset and property management, leasing, sales, marketing, renovation, construction, and development. Bainbridge’s emphasis is on innovation, creativity, resident service and cultivating relationships. Based in Wellington, Florida, it also has offices in North Carolina and the Washington, D.C. metro area.

Media Contact:

Tami McCarthy/TMG
212.750.5755 | tami@tmgpr.com