Some Hard Numbers on Social Networks

Everyone is on a social media soapbox these days, ourselves included. But to many, the real benefits of these new media channels are yet to be proven.

In other words, it’s clear that social networks are a huge factor in the new economy. But what is the real value of establishing a presence on these channels?

We need more hard numbers.

Thankfully, as more and more companies devote resources to making social networking sites work for them, these statistics are forthcoming.

Performics (a division of Publicis Groupe) and ROI Research recently released a new study that outlines some very compelling numbers indeed.

Some of the more striking findings:

34% of people have turned to a search engine for information on a product, service, or brand after hearing of it on a social network.

30% of respondents have learned about a new product, service, or brand from a social networking site.

36% of YouTube users have gone to an online retailer after learning about a brand or product on social networking site.

46% of people say they would be willing to talk about/recommend a product on Facebook.*

44% of Twitter users have recommended a product from their Twitter account*

(*This kind of peer recommendation is particularly potent.)

28% say messages about sales or special deals resonate with them.

These are telling numbers. They indicate that brands really can penetrate social networks effectively. When they’re not too obtrusive (which takes some finesse, and time), and when they offer real value, users do welcome them.

As many real estate marketing campaigns look to the longer view, social networks are looking more and more compelling as a very effective way to reach new buyers.

Social Media is Pretty Much Free (Well, Not Really)

Okay. This might come across as a bit precious. But there is a huge misconception out there that we feel we need to dispel:

Many people think Social Media is basically free. This is, quite simply, untrue.

Of course, we have a vested interest in clearing up this issue. As communication professionals, we want people to understand the real human cost involved in planning, launching, and tending Social Media campaigns. So forgive us if this seems a bit self-serving.

But it’s in everyone’s interest to understand the true cost – in time and energy – of these campaigns. Because few would dispute the fact that Social Media is here to stay. So we all need to understand more about what engaging with these platforms entails.

Without a doubt, Twitter, Yelp, Facebook ads, and all the other new digital communication streams are incredibly cheap to launch – especially when compared to ad buys in traditional streams like print, radio, and TV. These media are also way easier to track, and can very accurately measure how hard your marketing budget is working for you. This is the sales pitch that everyone has heard – skewed even further by the recessionary “advertising at a discount” angle – and it can be misleading.

Social Media has incredible value, and is, in many ways, is much more focused than traditional streams. These new channels connect you directly with your prospects, in real time. This means you can radiate your messaging in a timed, controlled, strategic way. More importantly, it gives you the opportunity to hear, immediately, exactly what your customers are saying about you online. Suddenly, companies have a much more open dialogue with their customers.

These benefits, taken against the low cost of initiating these channels, are enormous.

But to reap these benefits, you must be truly engaged in the conversation. This takes time. A whole lot more time than, say, a print ad takes to produce. And time is a valuable commodity.

The gains one can reap from a well-executed, strategic Social Media campaign are manifold – and more benefits are revealing themselves all the time. But do be aware that this process is not about setting up a Twitter account and waiting for it to work its magic. Someone has to man the controls. This person needs to understand the stories you want told, be present, and be committed.

The overall scope of an effective Social Media campaign is considerable. Just to get a program off the ground requires significant planning, project management, research, strategy, and conceptual direction. Once it is deployed, that program will likely encompass an active Twitter account, a frequently updated blog (entries take around 3-4 hours), Facebook, Facebook ads, blogger outreach, sponsored content, often some kind of contest…all of these things take a long time to coordinate. They need to be tended for many months. And they require skilled people to keep them active, on story, and vital.

There is a new paradigm. It’s wonderful, and usually much more cost effective. But there is still – even in a downturn (or rebound) – significant work to be done.

Not to be a downer or anything. But the more realistic we are about what’s required, the more effective our efforts will be.

Twitter For Real Estate Professionals – A Thumbnail Guide

Twitter is huge. And growing incredibly fast. This seemingly frivolous social networking site has become one of the biggest juggernauts in the social media pantheon. And real estate professionals are all over it – some deftly, others not so much.

We thought we’d take a moment to share what we’ve learned about using Twitter for Real Estate marketing and sales campaigns.

The service is simple. Users post 140-character “tweets” (which can be composed of anything from what they’re eating for breakfast to a link to a breaking story in The Guardian). Any Twitter user can “follow” another, without permission, and read their posts, known as “tweets”. But following is not reciprocal; once you’ve been followed by a user, you are not obligated to follow them back.

Which is the beauty of Twitter. Facebook is a relatively closed circuit, where your network is comprised almost solely of people in your real-time social network. LinkedIn is even more closed: you have to actually know the people you connect with.

Twitter, on the other hand, allows vast, disconnected networks to brush up against one another. In short, it allows you to make fast, fresh contacts with tons of new people.

Of course, with such a wide-open, loosely structured communication model, there is plenty of white noise. People post all kinds of nonsense on Twitter. And – yes – they waste a lot of time.

But the fact remains: Twitter can be a hugely useful networking tool, and it has emerged as the clear leader in the rising groundswell in online communications. So if you want to hear what consumers are saying, you’d better be there.

And Twitter can, in fact, be surprisingly focused. If you follow users who are of interest to your demographic, the network you build will be consistent with your target audiences. And search tools make finding these specific users – and their extended networks – that much easier.

The real estate world is waking up to Twitter’s potential. Many projects have an account, and countless agents have begun to expand their networks using this new channel.

But of course, we at Braun/Allison have an opinion about the best ways to use Twitter. And we’re going to tell you all about it.

Good Lord, Don’t Shill Too Much

We all know what your prime objective is – to sell homes. But would you walk up to someone at a cocktail party with a contract and a pen? Or blurt out that there are only “four stunning units left!” as soon as a buyer walks into your sales centre? Twitter is a conversation. Let it unfold a little. Then drop your sales message in, here and there.

Be Yourself

Now, obviously there are some limits to this. You do want to maintain decorum. But no one wants to talk to a boring company representative, whether in real life or on the internet. You’ve got to include some of your genuine personality. Everyone has a different formula for this. Find your balance, and try to stick to it. But be real.

Offer Something of Value to Your Network

Statistics on the neighbourhood you’re working in. Relevant news stories. Great restaurants in the area. Industry-specific facts. There are infinite ways to position yourself as an authority – and win more loyal, attentive followers in the process.

Connect With Others

This is a conversation, not a soapbox. You have to actually read others’ tweets. Find kindred spirits, and form alliances with them. Respond immediately to questions that are asked of you. Get in there – and be there for the long haul.

Be Patient

Twitter takes a while to get into. And even longer to yield value in terms of positive attention, buzz – and, ultimately, sales. But people are there. If you are too, and you’re genuine, they will sense that. And you will come out ahead.

Blogging For Real Estate Developments

Everyone knows that blogs are a credible, viable medium in today’s digital landscape. But the real estate marketing industry has only just begun to show the faintest signs that we recognize the potential of blogs for our marketing campaigns.

Blogs are, in fact, particularly suited to real estate sales programs. This is especially true now, as buyers require more and richer information, and the agility of a real estate campaign (its ability to adjust, on the fly, to both positive and negative responses from the market) is absolutely vital in today’s skittish markets. Blogs serve these needs wonderfully.

A blog keeps prospects engaged with fresh content. It offers a platform from which you can respond, in a forthright way, to objections you might not have seen coming. Most importantly, it allows you to provide the kind of detailed, real-time information that helps buyers feel more secure in their purchase decision.

We have had some real success with blogs as a real estate sales tool. (On one recent project, buyers explicitly referred to specific blog entries as having tipped them into their final purchase decision.) What follows are a few of the things that we have learned about best blog practices for real estate development campaigns.

Choose an appropriate voice, and stick with it

This is absolutely essential for credibility. At the outset, decide on the most effective voice for your blog – as dictated by your content, and the demographic you’re speaking to – and be sure to stick with it. It gives your blog a more consistent, seamless personality. (Which, in turn, makes readers more disposed to believe what you’re saying.)

Be strategic – but don’t oversell

Your blog should be a resource that helps people connect to your development, and fill out some of the texture of living there. They should want to return to it for its compelling content. And this simply won’t happen if they get inundated with a hard sell every time they open the page. Yes, you want to speak to the key selling points. But be sure to provide plenty of useful, friendly ancillary information as well. It will give your sales pitch more credibility when you come around to it.

Keep everyone updated. All the time.

Blogs are a fast, easy way to provide construction updates (with a link to your Flickr account), changes to the product, pricing, or shifts in the neighbourhood. (This is that campaign agility we spoke of above). And once you’re in the market, posting accelerating sales figures is a great way to incite some urgency.

Put your project into a bigger context

You want people to return to your blog out of interest – not just to consider buying your property. Create a backdrop for your project. Speak to the philosophy behind it, and how it was inspired. Post about demographic shifts, financial conditions, environmental features, and other quantitative factors. Relate your project to a bigger picture. It gives your buyers more to relate to.

Introduce people to the real neighbourhood

In real estate, neighbourhood matters – obviously. Specific details and points of interest in the neighbourhood will help people picture themselves there. And when you send people toward small businesses in the area – providing links to their websites – they will support you in ways that will do wonders for your credibility.

Be unafraid. Tell the truth. (It pays.)

People are sick of wading through airy, half-truthful real estate messages. So when you confront them with hard, real, irrefutable facts, they love it. In some of our blogs, we’ve gone so far as to post links to competitive resale homes on MLS. This kind of thing projects confidence in your project, and is seen as an act of good faith. Which converts to a whole new level of loyalty.

Answer possible buyer objections

We’ve used titles for like “For that money, I could get a house.” When you speak directly to the objections people will have about a project, it demonstrates that you see things from the buyers’ perspective. It also leaves less room for a “yeah, but what about…?” kind of doubtfulness.

Provide relevant, targeted information

When you’re selling a community that’s targeted to 50-somethings, it makes no sense to talk about bars, clubs, and extreme mountain biking. Remember who you are selling to, and provide content that’s relevant for them.

Use your Twitter account in tandem with your blog

Using Twitter for real estate is a blog topic unto itself. But of course, your Twitter account should be used to push new blog posts into your network. It’s all about connectivity.

Post videos

Video is engaging. And in the new social media landscape, the more human and personal it is – and the less polished – the more it engenders trust. Clips of developers, environmental consultants, even neighbours give a living face to the development. And search engines love it.

If you use your blog to push a contest, make sure it’s worth it

Online contests have become incredibly popular. So much so, in fact, consumers have become wary of them. If you have a contest, make it either a) offer a prize that people will actually get excited about or b) is only tangentially related to the project, and supports the arts, the local community, etc. There’s a lot more to the whole contest question. But for starters, don’t offer 10% off your product and expect buyers to make you a commercial. It will be a dud, and you’ll look cheap.

If you allow comments, be ready. And respond.

Comments allow feedback and questions to be vented and asked in an open forum. Which can be terrifying (this is in fact ill-founded, as the comments are moderated by you). Just leaving yourself open like this projects confidence and a spirit of transparency.

There is much more to think about, of course. But this should get you started. Basically, blogs offer a way to communicate in a richer, more detailed, and much more direct way to prospective buyers. But they are a new medium. Adjust your strategy accordingly.