Social Media: The Core Foundation of Effective Builder Marketing

 Social Media: The Core Foundation of Effective Marketing [35:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

BuilderRadio interviews Carol Flammer, Flammer Relations, Inc. and mRELEVANCE

“Social media is becoming the core foundation of a good marketing program,” states Carol Flammer.

Perhaps as recently as a year ago that statement would seem far fetched – really, the core foundation of marketing?  Yet, today, few can argue that websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are becoming the ‘go-to’ sources for information on just about anything, including where to buy a new home… and who to buy it from.  They have also become the preferred means that more of your buyers are using to get to know you and decide to do business with you.

In our interview, Carol shares her insights as to how builders can use this newly poured foundation to build their marketing, brand recognition and reputation to find and attract more buyers.

5 Critical Goals for your Social Media Program.
“The first step is really to define the goals for your program.  There’s really only five possible goals – you can choose one of them or all of them, but it’s important to know what those goals are,” says Flammer.  Those five goals include:

Increase traffic to your website or blog.

Social Media Optimization.  “There are multiple ways to increase search engine optimization to your website, but one of the fasted – and I think one of the most fun ways – is through social media optimization.

Reputation Management.  “When you Google your name, do you like what you see?  You either like what you see and get relevant results, or you get some unhappy homeowner that’s posted a negative blog about you.  You want to fill up the search results with great results for your name.  We’ve done some amazing reputation management programs for builders who have had some bad search results on page one because of just one bad apple.”

Social Networking. “Social Networking is you engaging others by being in the places where your buyers are looking for you; being on Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter – interacting with them.”

Build Brand. “Social media is a great way to build brand.  Every time you touch a customer you’re influencing your brand.  When you build it online its important that it look correctly and tie into all your other branding materials.  Also, how you relate to them and the conversations you have are all part of the brand.”

5 Top Social Marketing Tools
“Then, once you decide why you want to be here, the next step is to determine the tools,” Flammer explains.  Here are the top tools that you have to work with to build that core foundation:

1.  Your Website. “Your website has to be built correctly; it needs to be ‘sticky’ and interactive, because everything that you build in your social media program is going to push people back to your website.  So, if you can’t get visitors to come through to your ‘Contact Us’ form or you can’t get them to act based on your website, you need to fix your website.

2.  A Well-Built Blog. “Your blog is a key part of your social media program, so it really should be on a URL that you own and be your own installation, not hosted on Blogger or WordPress, [the two most popular blog platforms.]  When you post your blog on a free site, you don’t really own it.  If you want to own it and control it, then it really should be on your own URL.

With a blog there are so many great stories that you can share with your customers.  You can post customer testimonials on your blog, you can talk about your neighborhood or the awards you’ve won, things going on around your community, home maintenance tips.  There’s a lot of education you can do with a blog.”

3.  Online PR. “A recent study found that 98% of all reporters start their searches for stories online.  You can repurpose your press releases online and link them all back to your website and your blog.

4.  Social Networking Sites. “Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr – there are dozens of them.  If you’re a small company and just want to get started, then just pick two of these.  If you’re a Realtor, you absolutely have to be on LinkedIn and that you fill out your complete profile and really build that online Rolodex.

Then, after LinkedIn, I’d pick either Facebook or Twitter.  Facebook sends a tremendous amount of traffic to websites.  However, it’s traffic that doesn’t spend a lot of time on the website.  They spend maybe a minute on the website, as opposed to Twitter, where we’re seeing some high traffic coming, but they may spend three to four minutes on the website.  Facebook is really your online ‘cocktail party,’ where Twitter is more like ‘text messaging to the world.’  You’re kind of teasing the message to get people to open the link.”

5.  Other Sites. “There sites like Ning and Squidoo and different forums that can be beneficial.  Some of them make more sense than others, depending upon what groups or associations you might belong to.  There are some really cool local groups on Ning.  For instance, there’s Atlanta Homes and Town Homes, a group that’s very centered on the in-town market.  If you have extra time, look for some of those groups, join interact with them.  Even Monster.com and Craig’s list can link back to your website or blog.

With all the social sites, monitor them for a while before you start interacting.  You can become irrelevant very quickly if you’re interacting inappropriately with the way other users think the channel should be used.  And, follow the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 rule – a third of your posts should be about your company, a third of them should be a bit more personal, and a third of them should be promoting other cool stuff you see happening in the industry.

Getting ‘Eyes on Your Site.’
“The whole goal of a social media program is to push traffic through your website.  You want to relate to them and engage them, but ultimately you really do want them to go look at your website and to begin to think about you.  So, everything you do online should have a link back to your website or blog.  The more people you can get  looking at, talking about, and thinking about you – maybe they’re not your buyer, but their best friend might be looking for a house.

“Think like a search engine.  When you think like a search engine, you’re thinking like your buyer.  What is you’re buyer searching when they’re looking for you?  They don’t know they’re looking for you, so what are they searching for?  You want them to be able to find you the way they are looking for you, and that might not be the way you think they are searching,” says Flammer.

Mastering social media as a marketing outlet does take time and a new set of skills. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts are free, as is most blog software, but, wrapping them all together into an effective marketing plan can be daunting.  Companies like mRELEVANCE offer these services as part of an overall marketing strategy.

Whether you go it alone or hire a professional to help you craft your social message, the time to start is now.  “Embrace the conversation,” says Flammer, and watch your traffic – and your sales – continue to grow.

_________________________________________________ .

Contact Carol Flammer at mRELEVANCE.

Not a member of the NSMC?  What’s holding you back?

Click here for details.

Next webinar:  Wednesday, August 12 at 2:00pm EDT:

Perfect, Yet Pragmatic – Design Trends for 2009… and Beyond!
Featuring Doris Pearlman and Anne Olson.
Click here to register now.