Adcore Asks the Experts with Idan Farkash

Adcore Adcore Asks the Experts

Idan Farkash is the CEO of HUMI GROUP where he leads with a focus on sustainable growth and innovative real estate solutions. With a Master’s degree in Business Administration, Idan brings a wealth of expertise in strategic planning, financial management, and building strong client relationships. Under his leadership, Humi has expanded its portfolio to include residential property management, vacation rentals, and corporate housing solutions. Known for his forward-thinking approach, Idan is passionate about identifying emerging trends and implementing cutting-edge strategies to keep his companies competitive in the ever-evolving world of real estate.

Can you describe your primary responsibilities as the CEO of Humi Property Management? How hands-on are you in the day-to-day operations of Humi Property Management?

It’s important to highlight that we manage two main divisions, each with their own unique needs and strategies.

At airTLV we are a leading vacation rental company specializing in high-quality, fully furnished apartments in Tel Aviv and now with our first property in Jerusalem as well. We cater to both short and long-term stays, offering housing solutions for business professionals, corporate clients, and vacationers alike. airTLV emphasizes luxury and comfort, providing personalized service to ensure an exceptional guest experience.

Living is a division that provides ground services and logistic solutions for companies hiring foreign workers. We streamline the complex process of housing foreign workers by offering a range of services such as housing, managing maintenance, and even providing assistance with work visas, health insurance, and transport services. The goal is to simplify the logistics for employers while ensuring the workers’ comfortability by providing high-quality housing solutions. We manage hundreds of fully equipped apartments nationwide, offering accommodations tailored to the needs of businesses. HUMI prides itself on adhering to international regulations for fair and legal employment conditions, setting a higher standard for foreign workers in Israel.

As CEO, I try to be as hands-on as possible. I oversee everything in the company from strategic planning, financial oversight, client relationships, marketing, innovation and more. I make it a priority to meet with every team and hear from them how they’re doing, what they are lacking and where they are thriving. As much as I want to oversee and engage, I know my teams are the best of the best and not even I can do the work half as well as they can. From experience, the best managerial approach for me is to allow my employees to do what they do best and let them know I am always here to support them.

When it comes to marketing, does Humi prefer to keep these efforts in-house, or do you outsource them? Could you discuss the benefits and challenges you’ve encountered with your chosen approach?

Most of our marketing processes are managed internally through our in house marketing department, which builds our marketing strategy and ensures its execution. Shachar, who manages the marketing team, has many years of experience and leads the processes, allowing us to track results, analyze the data received, and continuously improve based on the outcomes.

It’s important for us to keep our marketing in-house for better control over the entire marketing process from A to Z. It really comes down to prioritizing speed over capabilities. A marketing agency could spend months building a campaign and putting out something more sophisticated than what we do in house. Because we are a small company with such niche marketing challenges, we prioritize speed and adaptability. We see this as a significant advantage where an idea can be born in the morning, and by the evening, we already have a strategy on how to launch and execute it, allowing us to make changes and adapt as the industry itself changes and adapts.

If you think back to 2019, Israel hosted the Eurovision song competition for the first time in 20 years. This rapidly changed the face of housing and hospitality all over the country but especially in Tel Aviv. We had to adapt and learn to cater, as well as market, to an international client base. Shortly after, COVID19 broke out and we had to make a quick decision as to the future of the company. Do we turn ourselves into a COVID hotel? Industry standards for cancellation policies were 14 days, during COVID they changed to 24-48 hours and remain that way till present. Now with the ongoing war post October 7th, it has caused us to yet again change our priorities and rethink marketing strategies.

From experience, the best managerial approach for me is to allow my employees to do what they do best and let them know I am always here to support them.

In what ways has digital technology transformed Humi and what role do you see it playing in the future of the industry?

Digital technology has played a pivotal role in transforming how we operate at Humi, enabling us to stay at the forefront of innovation. For example, we’ve adopted advanced solutions like GUESTY at airTLV, allowing us to efficiently manage our short-term properties, boost revenue, reduce expenses, and enhance profitability. At LIVING, our collaboration with NEEMA streamlines banking services for foreign workers, expanding our offerings and improving client satisfaction. We also use platforms like MONDAY to track, document, and automate our tasks and leads, improving organization and freeing up time for more strategic initiatives.

In terms of customer feedback, the focus has shifted from word-of-mouth recommendations to online presence, feedback and ratings. Remarketing plays a huge role where we are able to utilize customer feedback to engage audiences who have already interacted with our brand. We prioritize gathering feedback from every client through our chatbot and are in the process of upgrading our office phone system to enhance efficiency. Staying ahead of the curve by leveraging the latest technology is essential. We combine all this information — feedback, analytics, and insights — to continuously improve both our services and marketing strategies. Our decisions are driven not by gut feelings but by real data and statistics, ensuring we remain competitive and effective.

How have you integrated digital marketing strategies at Humi and what benefits have you observed?

Through digital marketing, we actually promote both of our main divisions. Recently, we made several significant changes to our advertising strategy. For LIVING, our target audience is primarily B2B, such as manpower corporations, various construction companies in the industry, hotels, and any business that needs logistical solutions for foreign workers, such as work visas, employee placement, opening bank accounts, life insurance, and, of course, high-quality housing that meets all regulatory standards. In addition to paid advertising on Google and Facebook, we also distribute a newsletter with interesting information to clients and potential clients. As leaders in this field, we strive to share our knowledge and help others learn and grow. Of course, there are also guerrilla marketing tactics, which I prefer not to share 😉

For airTLV, our target audience is mainly B2C, and the work here is different — challenging, but filled with creativity and interest thanks to our marketing team. Since our rental apartments are located in the most central areas of Tel Aviv and now our newest property in the heart of Jerusalem, we constantly strive to innovate, advertise, and spread content that is engaging and relevant to our audience. One of our main challenges is marketing short-term rentals without focusing solely on the apartments themselves. We’ve cracked that by creating fun and engaging content that hits exactly the right spots we aim for. Feel free to follow us!

How has Humi embraced innovative marketing solutions to differentiate itself in the competitive property management market? Can you discuss any strategies or technologies that have been particularly transformative for your business?

We try to be a little different and innovate wherever we can. Of course, we use the standard and accepted channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Google, but we’re always looking for ways to be innovative, stand out, and make sure people notice us specifically. In our marketing work, it’s important for us to think a little differently, and we always adopt the latest trends in marketing. For example, we use a system that allows us to very precisely target our audience on LinkedIn. Everything is done through automation and with perfect precision to ensure we get noticed and contacted. This helps us reach our target audience at scale and successfully generate high-quality leads from channels like LinkedIn.

We also have a WhatsApp chatbot that serves airTLV customers. In addition to answering common questions, it provides information about things to do in the city, direct links to our social media campaigns, and, beyond simply responding to inquiries, it gives us the opportunity to market our additional services to apartment guests automatically and quickly.

We also make extensive use of QR codes in a smart way to gather information from our guests and customers – with their consent and approval, of course. With that information and feedback, we create and market products and services to enhance their experience. It seems a little counter intuitive where most brands are creating services or products and marketing them to consumers. Whereas we are asking our consumers directly what they want and are creating services to market to them based on their needs.

Given the unique dynamics of the property management sector, how do your marketing strategies diverge from traditional marketing methods? What specific tactics have you found to be necessary or particularly effective in reaching and engaging your target audience in the real estate industry?

Our marketing strategy combines traditional marketing methods, such as organic and paid promotion, along with unique BTL guerrilla tactics, like a welcome package for foreign workers who we house in the apartments of the LIVING division. These packages (including customized tote bags, hats, water bottles, etc) are carried by the workers on the streets or at construction sites, helping to increase our exposure and advertising beyond regular media channels. We also collaborate with various influencers who stay in our vacation rentals in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, sharing posts from the apartments. This brings us significant exposure and generates considerable interest from our target audience.

Overall, we are working on many ideas at the moment. One of them is a conference we’re organizing to highlight the important issue of foreign workers in Israel. We are reaching out to corporations and our partners for help in setting up the conference, which will expose us to our target audience. This initiative also allows us to continue positioning ourselves as thought leaders in the field while providing relevant and educational information to those who need it. I want to emphasize that as key and leading players in the foreign workers’ industry, Living by HUMI Group is committed to fighting the exploitation of foreign workers and ensuring compliance with all regulations and standards as required by international law.

As a company that serves businesses employing foreign workers in Israel — a rapidly expanding market — we place ourselves in the shoes of the workers living in our properties, even though the clients we work with are the companies themselves. We are committed to providing high-quality service, ensuring a comfortable living environment, and giving workers easy and efficient access to all the services we offer. We strive to raise the standard of living for foreign workers in Israel and position ourselves as the leading organization in accommodations. While we may be more expensive than our competition, there’s clear value behind that difference, from the quality of our offerings to the care we put into every detail.

In addition, we constantly aim to be eco-friendly and adhere to all regulations concerning foreign workers, always striving to improve the living experience while maintaining sustainable practices.

Thank you to Idan, Shachar and the HUMI team for sharing your insights!

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