Connect With Social Media

Harnessing Social Networks To Reach Your Market

Mark Evangelista and Jeff Dietrich

Intro
Who we are

Agenda
Who we are What is social media and why is it important to my business Why I need to get involved Profiles in B2C, B2B, real estate Questions and answers

What is social media / social networking?

The fastest-growing way people and businesses interact and communicate A social networking site allows businesses to identify people and connect with contacts (prospects, clients, friends, etc..) People have always social networked, but the Internet has opened new ways of doing so globally When done correctly, social networking builds upon and improves business practices and fosters loyalty

Instead of just a sign

 have a conversation

It is about dialogue
Your brand is who / what your customers say it is. What are they saying? Who is saying it? Ability to engage in 1-to-1 conversations and direct channels of communication more immediately and more appropriately (customer support forums, blog article, a product fact sheet, a user forum or specific URL) Manage multiple conversations with individuals or groups (1-to-many)

 followed by action
Beyond marketing and communications, business best practices and processes are developed here as well Revenue, business continuity, market share all depend on your ability to communicate with your customers and to respond appropriately Businesses must engage and participate in the dialogue if they want to develop brand ambassadors

Where is it headed?

3 out of 4
Americans use social technology

Source: Forrester, The Growth of Social Technology Adoption 2009

37% of adult internet users use social networking sites monthly

Source: eMarketer Social Networking Report, 2007

2/3 of the global Internet population

visit social networks

Source: Nielsen, Global Faces & Networked Places, 2009

1382%*
* Monthly growth rate of Twitter from January to February last year

Even Congress tweets.

5,000,000,000
* Number of minutes spent on Facebook each day

1,000,000,000
* The amount of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc...) shared on Facebook each week

Why utilize social networks?

Find new prospects, resources Strengthen relationships with current or past clients Gain referrals (top of mind) Build reputation as expert, trusted advisor Network with out-of-town / out-of-state brokers and agents or other aligned professionals

Before you jump in...

Getting started
Listen to the conversation, observe. Engage and participate appropriately. Analyze costs/benefits of building community or tapping into existing ones Be transparent to earn trust and win customers

What do you want it to do?

Begin by explaining, in clear business terms, what you hope to accomplish by introducing social media into your communications mix. Social media has multiple purposes throughout an organization; stay focused on the bigger picture.

B2B and social media

In 2007, 15 percent of B2B marketers said they used social media. Today, that number has nearly quadrupled as 57 percent of B2B marketers are currently using some form of social media to connect to customers, create leads and tap into new sources of innovation.
Source: Ogilvy PR Worldwide

B2B and social media

Facebook was the most popular social networking site for business owners; with 83% of B2C organizations maintaining one or more profiles (45% do so on Twitter) Business-to-business (B2B) companies, on the other hand, have profiles on both sites in more or less equal proportion 77% on Facebook and 73% on Twitter. Participants using social media in their day-today jobs visit company or brand profiles 62% of the time and 55% of them search for business info on the social sites.
Source: Web Site Magazine, Feb. 2010 issue, p. 14.

CRE and social media

CRE and social media

Weingarten Realty Investors Announces Virtual Partner Network
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE:WRI) announced today the release of its new social media program called Virtual Partner Network ("VPN"). The Virtual Partner Network is a cost-effective marketing method by which business opportunities are created through networks of like-minded business people. The VPN program will be used by Weingarten to push real-time information to brokers, retailers, analysts, investors and consumers via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

There is still a perception that much of social media is for our teenage kids and singles looking for dating opportunities. However, I see it as an effective tool to keep your network of clients, tenants and investors as well as the real estate community at large more informed, to give their properties more exposure and receive their feedback as to what is relevant to their business.
Coy Davidson, The Tennant Advisor, Sept. 2009

CRE and social media

5. Commercial Real Estate
Coy Davidson is a commercial real estate broker who uses social media resources and personal branding strategies for Commercial Real Estate Professionals. He has over 20 years of experience in commercial real estate and he provides a fresh social media approach to marketing your commercial real estate business.

Goals and Objectives

Raising brand awareness for with online audiences Capturing competitive or industry intelligence to improve product and service offerings Taking the pulse of your brand across online channels Improving customer service with access through new online channels Giving the company new platforms for contributing thought leadership Recruiting or discovering talent

Tips for successful social marketing:

Use as a way to listen to your customers Learn what they want, what they are looking for (market intelligence) Participate in the online social community, but dont abuse Be vigilant in protecting your reputation

GOOD:

Share pre-release news or sneak peaks to select enthusiasts asking them to review or offer feedback

BAD:

Posting incessant PRs or property listings

Tips for successful social marketing:

Build your own network of customers and create discussion Be their expert bring value and knowledge Get others involved in networking and sharing your expertise

Tips for successful social marketing:

Measure what you do; get familiar with the tools Measure what others in your networks are doing Connect the dots from network activity and dialogue to sales/revenue (objectives/tracking)

Dont obsess on using metrics to prove what you do is successful use metrics to make what you do better. *

* Planning & Measuring Social Media Strategies, Proximity 2009

Social networking capitalizes on word of mouth marketing

WOM influences B2B decision-making 84%* Trust corporate blogs 24%*
*Top Five Myths of B2B Word of Mouth, Zuberance, p.2.

Ways we can help

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: Assess your needs, outline opportunities and identify specific actions for long-term social media success. IMPLEMENTATION: Once you know what you want to do with social media, you may discover that you need additional resources and help in executing. (Creating or gathering supporting resources or information such as articles, discussions, video, etc... Ensure the integrity of your brand and compliance with the various mediums. SOFTWARE / TOOLS: There are thousands of social media tools and open source software available. Select the right tools to track performance, opportunities, and management based on your specific requirements, environments, budget, and

Ways we can help

BADGE CREATION AND STRATEGY: Give your users something thats useful or relevant. Use interactive badges to encourage link-building and position your business as an authority in the industry. WIDGET STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT: Examine your Web site and see whether or not you would benefit from an interactive widget campaign. This includes identifying what type of widget may work for your site, its probability for success, and what your competitors are (or are not) doing and how you can better that.

Ways we can help

SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT: Analyze of your sites presence across various social networks and strategies for how to improve it. Consider niche opportunities and relevant mainstream tactics. COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS: What are your competitors doing with videos, blogs, widgets or community building? Identify tactics so you can start implementing your own program and participate with your industrys audience. SOCIAL PROFILE CREATION: Identify where you should be participating and where people are talking about you. Create and manage your own profiles to attract visitors, leverage dialogue.

Ways we can help

BLOG DESIGN, SETUP, OPTIMIZATION: A blog should be set up to attract readers or create additional search engine benefits. Find and use the best platform for your needs. Optimize it for the best results and make it more accessible to users and search engines. BLOG STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT: Create a blog strategy that positions your corporate or personal brand in the greater blog community. This may include crafting ideas for blog articles, identify who will be writing the posts. Participate in other conversations - comment on other blogs to build awareness.

Ways we can help

COMMUNITY BUILDING STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT: Outline which communities are worth monitoring, what the competition is doing and how you can naturally enter these communities and form relationships. Identify the important conversations in your industry and when, how and to whom you will reach out to. COMMUNITY MONITORING: Monitor the communities important to you, track your brand or keywords across those, and proactively respond to both positive and negative mentions.

Enjoy your swim!

Q&A