When managing your properties’ portfolio and analysing performance data, there are multiple ways to segment your properties. You can segment them by location, property type, market positioning, ownership type, staff responsibilities to name a few. You can use clusters to organise your properties into any number of diverse and overlapping groups.
There are benefits to organising your properties into clusters. They can be used to filter as well as bulk select properties when managing rate plans. Importantly, they also allow you to segment your data in meaningful ways and run reports by cluster from the Insights page.
To manage clusters, go to the Multi-Property platform > Properties page > Clusters tab.
Clusters vs brands
Both clusters and brands can be used to:
Filter the properties list
Filter the Assign properties list
Segment data on the Insights page
But they have some key differences:
Purpose: clusters can be used to group properties in any way you choose, whereas brands should accurately reflect the brands in your properties’ portfolio.
Structure: a property can be assigned to multiple clusters, but can only be assigned to a single brand. Clusters can also be structured in a hierarchy by using a cluster tree.
Types of clusters
There are two types of clusters that differ in their structure:
Single cluster
A single cluster is a simple tag that can be applied to properties.
➕ For example: a cluster named “Beach” may be used to tag all of your beach-side properties.
Cluster tree
A cluster tree is a cluster that can contain a hierarchy of multiple clusters beneath it.
➕ For example: you may want to create three levels of location clusters: countries, states, and cities. The tree would look like this:
Australia
New South Wales
Sydney
Victoria
Melbourne
💡 When a property is assigned to a cluster within a cluster tree, that property is also assigned to all clusters below it in the tree. In our example, if a property was assigned to “New South Wales”, then it would also be assigned to “Sydney”.
As a result:
You cannot assign the property to “Sydney” as it’s already assigned to it.
When filtering by “Sydney” or analysing “Sydney” data, the property will be included.
⚠️ Cluster trees are limited to 10 levels.
Clusters list
In Multi-Property’s Properties page, the Clusters tab contains a list of all your clusters within the platform. From here, you can create a new cluster or open and view existing clusters.
Create a cluster
You can create new clusters from Multi-Property > Properties page > Clusters tab. You will need to:
Enter a unique name.
Choose a colour (optional).
Select the type of cluster: Single cluster or Cluster tree.
If you are creating a cluster tree, enter the name of each sub-cluster in the tree.
Click Add cluster to create the new cluster.
A newly created cluster will have no properties assigned to it. The next step is to assign the relevant properties.
💡 Tips for creating and editing cluster trees:
Clusters within cluster trees must have unique names within their own level of the cluster tree. However, they do not need to be unique across other levels of the tree, or other clusters.
To move a cluster you can drag-and-drop it within its cluster tree. Properties remain assigned to the cluster after being moved.
Assign and unassign properties to a cluster
In Multi-Property’s Properties page > Clusters tab, click on a cluster to open it. Opening a cluster provides a list of all the properties assigned to it (if there are any). Click on Add properties and then select one or more properties to assign to the cluster. For cluster trees, you must click on Add properties on specific clusters within the tree.
💡 Why is a property not showing in the Add properties list?
A property cannot be assigned to a cluster within a cluster tree if it is already assigned to a cluster above it.
To unassign a property, click its trash can icon in the list of assigned properties.
💡 You can assign or remove multiple properties from a cluster in bulk from the properties list.
Edit or delete a cluster
⚠️ Before deleting a cluster:
A deleted cluster cannot be recovered.
All properties that were assigned to a cluster will be unassigned after deletion.
In Multi-Property’s Properties page > Clusters tab, click on a cluster to open it. When a cluster is opened, you are able to edit or delete it.
The name of a cluster can be edited by clicking on the pencil icon and then entering a unique name. The colour can be changed by clicking on it. Make sure to save your changes.
The cluster can be deleted by clicking on the ellipsis icon (...) and then on Delete. Make sure to confirm the deletion.