As of December 2009, there are over 14,000,000 Facebook user profiles in Canada. This is almost half of Canada’s entire population. To put these numbers in perspective, the national monthly circulation of the Financial Post Magazine is 201,603.

The accelerated growth of Facebook and its significance to the business sector are often overstated. But there is no doubt that social media is growing exponentially – or that it’s creating entirely new approaches to business.

Until now, social media has been largely a youth movement.  But, hugely, the largest growth segment in the Canadian market for Facebook in 2009 was the over-55 crowd.  Last year, the baby boomer’s Facebook population grew by an astonishing 70%.

What does this mean to us? Boomers still drive the real estate industry, to a large degree. And they are headed to social networks, en masse. So it means a whole lot.

ROI in emerging markets is difficult to define, and there is no single metric that can clearly demonstrate value at this point. (The truth is, this ambiguity has been there all along, in every medium.)

But we all sense that, with these kinds of numbers online – and the kinds of corporate presence that’s building there, in all industries – the good money is headed to social networks.

Everyone thinks this platform is a low-cost broadcasting tool. And it is, at least in a media-buy sense. Compare: A full-page 4 Colour national 1x ad insertion rate in the FP is $21,125 gross*. (*2009 rate card).

True, at the moment, most of your prospects will still learn about your offering for sale through traditional methods like our full-page ad in the Financial Post.

But in the next stage in the buying process, when the prospect chooses to explore the offering further online, having a strategic digital presence is crucial. As a developer, it is in your best interest to provide as much information as possible to your online audience. By giving them the tools to make an informed purchase decision you are building trust.

And in this business, in this market, trust is everything.
NB – The Financial Post now has a Facebook Fan Page.

It has some interesting figures on the volume of content on social networking sites like Facebook, Youtube and Twitter. 84% or social networks have more women than men on them!

When real estate industry insiders talk about the cities in the United States hardest hit by the recession, Phoenix is near the top of the list. However, I was there last week, and the situation seems to be changing.

There are several signs that real estate prices in Phoenix have found the bottom. Granted, most of the talk is conjecture at this point, but articles like this one are easy to find online and in the carbon-based media. These sources indicate that the fundamentals are strong, prices are at the bottom, and the market is on a strong simmer, if not quite ready to boil over. This is the perfect time for investors and buyers to be thinking about Phoenix as a smart play.

One New York banker commented that large-scale investment properties in default have had, until recently, only one or two potential purchasers sniffing around. In the last couple of months, however, as many as 30 or 40 offers are being received. When the big boys with the money to buy buildings of this scope and scale are lining up, it’s a good indication that market confidence has returned.

Vancouver-based Rob MacDonald, of MacDonald Development is a veteran of the real estate investment sector and is in the midst of re-launching a condominium tower in the urban centre of Phoenix. Formerly sold as Century Plaza at the peak of the market, the building has been renamed One Lexington.

“I’ve been visiting and working in Phoenix for decades, and I’m very bullish on what’s happening in the city centre,” MacDonald said. “With the new light rail transit as a catalyst, the downtown and midtown areas are showing exciting signs of a new urbanism. In very short order, Phoenix will have a thriving core. It’s this revitalization, combined with the market recovery that I’m seeing all around me, that made our team confident that One Lexington would be a good investment.”

It turns out that a good investment for MacDonald Development is a good investment for smaller investors too. With far-reaching views, huge outdoor swimming pool, fitness centre and a light rail station out the front door, pricing at up to 50% less than the previous sale prices should attract past-purchasers and new devotees as well.

While it’s true my company is involved in this project (it’s a great example of Sell The Truth in action) and that I therefore have an abundance of belief in the offering, I’m not alone. The blogosphere and the traditional media are excited, and words of encouragement are flowing. You can read the most effusive post here. Even the Canadian media are getting in on the act. Here is the article in the National Post on the project.

Why am I devoting a column to a project that I have a vested interest in, and opening myself up to accusations of bias? There are two great reasons.

First, as stated, this project is a very good example of Sell The Truth in action. Take a look at the a href=”http://www.onelexington.com”One Lexington website/a and see how much straightforward Marketing Journalism we’ve packed in. Website visitors will know exactly what’s happened before, what’s happening now, and all the great reasons to engage with the sales team. This is the antithesis of how real estate projects were marketed in the past. Unfortunately, some developers still haven’t got the memo that a whole new breed of consumer expects the facts up front, and isn’t willing to follow the old rules and do things the old way.

More importantly, readers of this column are in the business of real estate, and I think a resurgence of interest in the seriously recession-struck Phoenix market is big news. Local journalists agree with me. And so does the National Post. It’s time to look at the Phoenix market again; as investors, as buyers, and as a city to watch as it rises from the ashes of one of the worst periods of economic turmoil any of us have ever seen.

In the old days, standard methodology for marketing a real estate project relied on what I call a “drip-feed” of information. Some mysterious advertising and hoarding would hit the market, usually with a snappy or provocative headline and a sexy picture of a stunning view or an architectural detail. During this time period you were urged to pre-register, and more often than not you had very little idea what you were registering for, or how much it was going to cost. The promise was that if you gave us your contact information we’d give you a bit more information; and in the heady days of guaranteed rapid equity growth, that’s all it took. People would pre-register in droves.

Next would begin the dance. New versions of the promotional campaign would include a bit more information, and urge further registrations. When the flow of registrations slowed, more information was released. Simultaneously, the sales team worked the leads, emailing and/or calling the registrants to determine the level of interest. Leads were ranked, and the best ones, who were the most motivated, were promised a package with a lot more information in exchange for converting to a “reservation,” which meant sending a cheque for a substantial albeit refundable deposit.

The reservation system purportedly “held your place in line” as there were so many people scrambling to buy a piece of the dream, and your financial commitment would ensure that your option to buy was secured. At the time of the reservation you were asked to indicate your first, second and third choice of suite, and the sales team promised to do everything they could to make sure you got something that was on your list. Opening day was a frenzy of buyers writing contracts as fast as they could, according to a pre-determined time schedule designed by the sales team to ensure maximum absorption. Everyone was happy. The developer achieved rapid sales, and the investor-buyers had a piece of paper they could assign to someone else in 6 months for a 20% lift on the purchase price.

Today, when the majority of the buyers for a project will actually take ownership of the home they buy, and will, more often than not, live in that home, the old system is broken. Except in rare cases, people want to know a lot more about a home and a lot more about the developer than in days gone by. We are all being far more careful with our money, and the sheer volume of information we require before we trust a seller is exponentially larger.

So, what’s a better way?

I call it Marketing Journalism. Marketers need to stop acting like marketers and start acting more like journalists. For every project, unearth and tell all the stories you can possible find about why the project is great. Stories about the region, the neighbourhood, the building, the suite features of course. But also tell stories and share information about demographic predictions for credible third-party sources for the area; stories about the neighbours, the shopkeepers, the civic plans for the surrounding city blocks. And don’t forget the micro stories; why did you choose those appliances, that soundproofing system, that construction company? Who are the people at the engineering firm working on the rain-screen technology and how innovative is their system? What kind of thought has gone into the placement of the doors in the suite? Where are the electrical outlets? Why?

Providing all the “news” about a project up front, through a blended media package that includes traditional and online channels (and yes, even social media) will give prospects a lot of facts to consider. The prospects who review this information will see how credible and passionate you are about your project. And they will register if they think the project is a good fit for them. Be warned, however, because you will attract fewer registrations. On the other hand, the people who do register will be self-qualified, and the conversion ratio will be much higher. Your sales team will initially be worried, as they are accustomed to having thousands and thousands of leads. Instead, they will find that everyone who they talk to is knowledgeable, and to some degree already more than vaguely interested in buying. It’s more honest. More real. And more satisfying for everyone involved.

Perhaps the most important benefit? People will come to trust your company. They will see that you care about the buildings you build. They will come to associate your brand with quality and credibility. It will make all your projects easier to sell, regardless of economic conditions. Finally, it means that you are selling the right people into the right projects. They will be happier with the home they buy. And they will thank you for it.

Augmented reality is a new technology that, as the name says, adds things to what is already existing. In the link below, it’s been applied to a real estate development in a way that allows people to see what a finished building will look like before the building exists. Imagine being able to stand on the corner of a street, where a construction site or even old buildings slated for demolition are now, and looking at the finished building with the help of this technology. Augmented reality is in it’s infancy today; but one day you might be able to see not only the building that will be built, but the suite you are thinking about buying!

LINK