Maven Communications Blog » 2010 » October

ULI Fall Meeting: Is Commercial Real Estate Social?

Rebecca Devine — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 20:14:56 +0000

Last week, I participated in a panel discussion on social media and engagement at the Urban Land Institute’s Annual Fall Meeting. Moderated by Retail Traffic’s Editor-in-Chief David Bodamer, the session posed an interesting question to the real estate industry: Is commercial real estate social? Resoundingly, the answer is yes, even if real estate has been slow to adopt social media as a whole.

To view a recap of the discussion from Urban Land.com, with includes tips and strategies for how CRE can embrace social media, click here or read full article below.

Who Says Commercial Real Estate Isn’t a Social Media Industry?

by Joseph Klem

October 14, 2010

More and more players in commercial real estate are using social media to connect with their customers, said panelists at “Social Media and Engagement,” a session at ULI’s 2010 Fall Meeting.

“I still hear people in commercial real estate who say, ‘We’re not a social media industry – we do our business face-to-face,” said Rebecca Devine, Principal of Maven Communications. “But that’s a misnomer. “ She noted that now social media tools are being used not only by the consumer-facing segments, such as retailers and real estate agents, but also business-to-business segments. People prefer doing business with those they know, Devine noted, and today people get to know you through social media.

The session focused primarily on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, but also touched upon blogs and YouTube videos as ways to engage with customers, partners and prospective employees.

Devine laid out five ways firms are using social media to boost their business:

Executive positioning – demonstrate your firm’s thought leadership by sharing their speeches and white papers via blogs, video, etc.
Sales and Marketing – promote your properties and connect with prospective buyers, renters and shoppers.
Human Resources – many firms already pre-screen candidates via LinkedIn and Facebook before hiring. But Devine noted that candidates also screen you, so be sure your company has a page and/or profile on these sites, and keep it current.
Market Research – use social media to listen to your audience. Tools such as Google Alerts and TweetDeck allow you to easily monitor how your company, your competitors, keywords and phrases are turning up in blogs and other online conversations.
Community Relations – many firms, especially in the multifamily market, use social media to raise awareness for community relations efforts and corporate giving.

Devine added this note of advice: “The biggest myth about social media is that it’s free. It’s not. You need to devote resources to it. Who’s going to be the content provider? Are you going to update it every day? Every week?” If people see a big launch but no follow-through, you will lose credibility, she said.

An inside real estate perspective come from Rajeev Sajja, IT Director for E-Business and Program Management at Prudential Fox & Roach. “Social media is not an island,” he said. “It’s an extension of your strategy. To get the right level of attention, I had to go to the executives of my company – and they’re mostly baby boomers – and say, “I need a few hours of your time,” and get them in a room.”

Sajja also warned against getting too entrenched in one tool or platform. “Tools change,” he said. “I don’t think Facebook is going away anytime soon, but if it did, our strategy shouldn’t change.”

Tips on blogging were offered by Aaron M. Renn, Principal of Urbanophile, LLC. “When you’re blogging, you need to be a real person,” he said. “You need to be authentic. Most successful blogs are written by people who are largely independent” – that is, free to say what’s on their mind. Many corporate blogs don’t take off, he noted, because they have the same scrubbed language and corporate-speak that’s found in press releases, and social media consumers don’t and won’t connect with it.

Another key to blogging success: read others’ blogs in your field, link to their content, and comment – not in way that simply promotes your firm or your offering, but in a way that truly furthers the conversation. You’ll find that other bloggers will reciprocate, and it boosts your firms’ search engine rankings as a result.

Finally, reinforcing the idea of devoting the proper resources to the effort, Renn said, “The term ‘social media intern’ should be banned from the lexicon. Many people think, ‘I bring in a 21-year-old to manage this for me; they’re good at this.’ But if this is your business, shouldn’t you treat it like a business?”

What Does Your Marketing Strategy for 2011 Look Like?

Jessica Sharp — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 19:32:30 +0000

How much of your 2011 budget have you decided to dedicate to marketing? If you haven’t given it much thought, now is the time to start thinking strategically about your marketing spend for the next year. Putting your marketing plan in order now will allow you to ensure your company’s key initiatives receive the resources necessary to succeed.

So, where to begin? The first step is to identify the amount of money you want to spend on marketing activities over the year. For most companies, the marketing budget usually lies somewhere in the 2 to 10 percent range of your overall gross sales or revenue, though some companies spend as much as 20-30 percent. Although this may be good to use as a guide, the marketing budget for your business is not something determined by a formula. Since every business’s marketing needs and costs vary widely, there are no simple rules for determining what you should spend on marketing your business. If your business is new, it’s important to dedicate a larger dollar amount on marketing – we’re talking up to 30% here. Once the company, product or service begins to build traction, you can re-evaluate and begin to prioritize based on which channels provided the most return on investment.

Okay, now that you’ve got a number in your mind, where will it be allocated? Consider your target audiences carefully: Who are they and where do they go to consume information? How do they prefer to receive information? Who do they trust to receive key industry updates and information? What channels (print, web, direct mail) will be most effective to deliver your message within your budget?

As you allocate resources, consider what channels will allow you to maximize your reach while stretching your marketing dollar. While traditional marketing tools such as sales collateral, events, direct mail, sponsorships and advertising continue to be mainstays of the marketing mix, more and more companies are investing heavily in online marketing, public relations and social media strategies to engage target audiences and create a conversation about their company, product or service. According to Borrell Associates, total online ad spending will grow almost 14%, from $45.6 billion in 2010, to $51.9 billion, in 2011. To further demonstrate that the fastest-growing segments of online advertising will be everything involving social media, Econsultancy’s 2010 Social Media and Online PR report reveals that 83% of marketers have indicated that they will specifically increase their social media spend in 2011.

As you develop your own marketing strategy, here are some key trends we see on the horizon for the upcoming year:
Don’t underestimate the value of your website. For most companies, their website is the most useful marketing tool they have. Ask yourself ‘once people get to my site, do they have a reason to stay?’ In 2011, make it a priority to focus on producing useful and relevant content, be it a frequently updated home page or interesting blog. If your company has a Facebook page or Twitter feed, make sure those channels are posted prominently on your website. Adding an RSS feed that pushes company information to your customers and clients will help keep clients abreast of company news. In addition, a company “News” page with recent updates and a “Resource Center” with relevant industry articles, white papers and informative videos, will help create a “sticky” environment that keeps visitors coming back. Static websites are a thing of the past. To get attention today websites must engage and compel.

Video is where it’s at. We’re predicting that companies will be spending more of their marketing budget on video in 2011. It’s a proven way to increase SEO, not to mention a great way to communicate a message in a succinct and personal manner and encourages a high level of engagement. Research firm eMarketer estimates that by 2011 advertisers will spend $2.3 billion on online video marketing efforts.

Having a Facebook page is not a social media strategy. Creating a Facebook page and actually having it work for you are two entirely different things. While most companies have tested the waters with social media, very few have developed robust strategies that will help them maximize the benefits. In 2011 more companies will be looking for ROI on their social media efforts. That begins with setting clear, measureable goals for your social media strategy. The most common goals are to increase awareness, change behavior, or communicate company news. If your Facebook page or Twitter feed is not engaging customers or clients, then it’s probably worth taking another look to ensure your resources are well spent.

Once you decide where your marketing budget will be allocated, remember, it’s not set in stone. Evaluate your campaign throughout the year, and if an element isn’t working, make a change. Track where your customers are coming from and invest more in those channels. And if you need direction from seasoned experts, give Maven a call.

Does a political ad need to be negative to be effective?

Molly OLeary — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 15:56:30 +0000

The fall is always filled with exciting beginnings– back to school, cool mornings, crisp nights, football and perhaps more importantly – it’s Election season!

With crucial mid-term elections just five short weeks away, voters need to get ready for the all too familiar negative political ads. As we get closer to November 2^nd, you will start to notice more and more negative advertisements. This unique and rather malicious form of advertising is known as “mudslinging” in the political world. It involves an aggressive, one-sided assault designed to draw attention to an opponent’s weaknesses in either character or issue positions.

Pennsylvania is gearing up to be in the national spotlight! Political advertising campaigns are airing in every media market across the state targeting voters both young and old. Therefore, you will be sure to see at least ONE before the yard signs and candidate literature fade from the limelight.

By threatening voters, making them terrified and fearful, can candidates win elections? There is an intense amount of time and research that goes into the creation of a successful negative ad campaign. It involves knowing everything about the opponent’s track record, including voting records, beliefs and even slip-ups or mishaps in their policy platforms. If the planning and execution of a negative ad campaign is done correctly, it could dramatically impact an election.

Today, voters no longer have the opportunity to experience politics firsthand. They are constantly exposed to the “he-said-she-said” political advertisements that in the end can sway a person’s vote within a matter of seconds. It can even change their mind about voting in general. Many times negative political ads are used to not only sway your vote, but in some cases, encourage you to not vote at all! This form of marketing a candidate is not a new American political phenomenon.

One of the first negative political ads that I could think of dates back to the race for President in 1964 and the political ad known as “Daisy Girl” by Lyndon B. Johnson’s camp. Even though this ad only aired on TV once, the amount of press and media coverage surrounding it was phenomenal. This highly talked about ad (seen below) features a young child picking petals off a flower and ends with a nuclear explosion. Many people believe that this simple and highly effective ad helped Johnson convince America that Barry Goldwater was a nuclear war threat and thus was a major factor in Johnson’s landslide defeat of Goldwater.

Whatever happened to the traditional tchotchke’s like buttons, nail files and dish sponges with the candidates name and office on it? Now, candidates don’t even bother spending money on little trinkets for their fans! They are absorbed by social media outlets, like twitter/facebook/youtube to get their message across. And, more importantly, they can reach more voters at little to no cost.

Even though I’m sick and tired of the robo-calls, hundreds of packets of literature dropped off in my mail box, political advertisements interrupting my favorite shows and the occasional volunteer at my door step – I still love it. I love it, I believe in it, and I embrace this fundamental right. It wasn’t until August of 1920 that women were granted the right to vote. That was only 90 years ago!

The most important thing to know, besides the candidate(s) you want to vote for, is that you are registered to vote. The LAST DAY to register for the upcoming election is Monday, October 4^th. Your voter registration application must be postmarked by this date. Once your county voter registration office receives your application you can expect a voter ID card in the mail in 2-3 weeks. Your voter ID card is one of the many forms of identification you can use on Election Day. If you are already registered, make sure you know where your polling place is!

If you are a first time voter, or would just like to brush up on your Election Day knowledge, go to VotesPA.com to find out more information. This educational website offers voting machine demonstrations, voter registration and absentee ballot access, information for college voters, etc.

So, will you be swayed by negative political ads this election season? That, my friend, is up to you! Just remember to exercise your most fundamental right on November 2^nd – VOTE!