Online Real Estate Technology

I’ve spoken a lot over the past 7 months this blog has been running about social media and why you should start to integrate it into your business plan for the future. Well a recent survey by Deloitte US has predicted that 2009 will be a breakout year for social media networks. Globally, social network sites have experienced a 25% growth in unique visitors in the last 12 months and research is indicating that around 40% of the users of these sites are over the age of 35.

Social networks, according to Deloitte, are a powerful tool for any organisation, and a way of tapping into the wisdom of crowds.

The graphic below shows the multi faceted nature of Enterprise social networking (ESN):

ESN Networking Graphic

I know that I’ve spoken a lot about the integration of social media into your real estate business and without the assistance of someone monitoring and assisting you to do it, it’s not unusual to get lost. I’ve recently seen some of the franchise groups try to get into the world of social media and to be honest, their efforts are a total waste of time.

There is one group, trying to use Twitter as a means of promoting it’s listings, and it’s got 171 updates and 4 followers, totally a waste of time and a totally wrong strategy attached to their attempts.

So where do you start?

There are a lot of social networks popping up at the moment, some offer similar features and some have very unique features, taking advantage of all of these requires different strategies but fundamentally, the approach you take to all of these networks should be the same.

Understanding each network and how to communicate with it will help you assimilate yourself into the group, remember my post on Social Media, Working The Room and Creating the Handshake!  , but do this carefully. Jumping right in and interacting with those who helped build the group or network can leave you not performing to the users expectations. Over time community members build a standard on how they feel each member should act, if you don’t spend time getting to know the expectation of the community, your information can be buried or your questions unanswered, so spend time evaluating the conversation or information and understand what the community wants from its members. From this take the knowledge learned and then join the conversation. This is what the group I mentioned before has not done, they have not read the community that is Twitter and therefore they are doomed to fail.

When you have understood how the community works and what is expected from each member, begin to build the relationship. There is no need to try and connect with every member on the community, on my Twitter account you’ll notice I don’t follow everyone that follows me, I’ve spent time learning and reading the profiles of the people who follow me and I will only follow those that have good content and information that I find useful. Approach those that share a common interest with you and these followers will be more beneficial to you when it comes time to virally market your services or products.

With all of the information you have learned about each network and the way its members interact, you are ready to take advantage of the unique features offered by each of these networks. Understanding the network and building relationships is an ongoing process,so don’t be afraid to set new standards and contribute to the group on a regular basis. However, if your strategy includes techniques that are not accepted in your network, it will damage your campaign and you will not fully realise the power of social networking. 

As always, let me know if you need help with your social media marketing.

This week I’ve spent a lot of time talking to, and presenting seminars, to real estate agents in North Qld, and I thank all of the attendees at the Bundaberg breakfast session on Wednesday as well as the team at Elders Mackay and Northern Beaches for their time, input and feedback into my sessions.

During the presentations, which were all about the power of blogs and social media, I thought I would write a post on the potential uses of these tools in your office. Social networking has changed the way people connect with and communicate with other internet users. I remember, on my recent holiday to the US, watching a CEO of a large US company being interviewed on TV, telling us how she now uses Facebook to invite and notify her friends of social events and dinner parties, she no longer gets on the phone and calls them.

So lets see how you can use these tools in your marketing and strategy for your office.   

Internet Exposure:By using social networks and tools you increase your presence on the net, Facebook allows you to invite groups into your office and blogs are your personal communication to consumers. By using these tools, you open doors to other networks and users. 

Building Rapport with Your Clients: Use the social aspect of these platforms to find out what interests and hobbies your clients share.  More importantly, you can share yours with your clients as well as your experience, it might just generate a lead or repeat business.

Keep Clients and Prospects Informed:  You can communicate with users on market updates, provide them useful tools and information and do this instantly via RSS feeds and “The Wall” in Facebook. You can also set up discussion groups and provide your input and knowledge which can improve your value as a market expert.

Word of Mouth Brand Building: Using social network platforms and blogs to help build your brand or business or profile helps you take advantage of the impact the web is having on brand and consumer awareness. See my post on this earlier this month. The Impact of Social Media on Word Of Mouth Brand Building

Targeted Prospecting:  By using these tools to search the profiles of other members of social networks you can improve the effectiveness of your prospecting. Using Facebook as an example allows you to search for engaged, newly married or divorced consumers and you can then tailor your message to have the right impact. You can also search for employer groups or people who are interested in real estate. You can also create groups and share information with them.

Blogs and Podcasts: These allow you to constantly update information or communicate with your readers. If you are reading this then you’ll know what I mean. Blogs can drastically increase your profile in your market and the search engines, because they are frequently updated and the search engines such as Google and Yahoo like good quality frequently updated information and will help syndicate your blog, plus this will help your profile on the search engines. Search Mike Andrew Real Estate on Google and you’ll see what I mean.

Your Podcast allows you to deliver this message in a downloadable format which consumers can subscribe to, This month my podcasts have been downloaded over 260 times. Great for profile building and using in your listing presentations and as a listing tool.

Directing Traffic: By using blogs, podcasts and social networking sites you start to effectively drive awareness of you, your service and experience to internet users. This also helps your web site traffic.

One word of advice! Use these tools and distribution methods, because that’s what they are, the same way you would act face to face. Be respectful and provide relevant and valuable information that your consumers will appreciate and respect. Use these sites and users with respect, don’t send them unsolicited commercial adds or Spam. You’ll acheive your goal if you use the sites wisely.

The most successful on-line networking efforts will be the ones that you integrate with using face-to-face techniques.  Invite people and clients you know to join the networks you are on, and invite people you “meet” on-line to meet with you in person, when appropriate.

I’ll look at bookmarking and the impact it has on your web site and blog in the next few posts, because these tools will have impact of generating traffic for your sites.

This post now available as a podcast, please click here to listen or download:Mike Andrew’s Real Estate Tips & Technology Podcasts