Category Archives: social media

Block Talk: How Google Panda Affects Your Website Ranking

Posted on August 19, 2011 by | Leave a comment

By Judy Price

Google experienced a 5% drop in market share since last year, so it has recently made changes to how websites are ranked on its site. Through the latest Google Panda update, more weight is now given to sites that have relevant, quality content. Some of the relevant content that Google is looking for comes from blogs, social media and video.

What is Google Panda? It is a filter that is designed to identify what Google believes to be ‘low quality pages’. If there are too many low quality pages, the Panda filter effectively flags the site. Panda gives a site-wide penalty, not a page penalty. So if a certain percentage of your pages fall below Panda’s quality algorithm, then the whole site suffers. The biggest mistakes are:

  1. Lack of original content page to page
  2. Pages with empty content
  3. Overlapping and redundant articles
  4. Too many ads

So what can you do to increase your internet exposure? Fresh material for your website, (property) videos, (resident) testimonials, usage and linkage to social media sites will all aid to increase your organic search positioning with Google. Fresh content should be added on a regular basis.

 Here are a few examples of how NRTDA is using relevant, quality content for our developments:

 Tribute Lofts Blog

Gallery Residences Resident Video

1010 Midtown Links to Facebook 

Want to know more? Read here and here.

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Posted in Block Talk, real estate videos, Sales and Marketing, social media, Uncategorized

Block Talk: How Friends, Fans & Followers (the “F-Factor”) Influence Purchasing Decisions

Posted on April 29, 2011 by | Leave a comment

By Judy Price

I was introduced to the site trendwatching.com by recommendation of a colleague, which gave it credibility in my mind and increased my interest in reading it. So, too, can happen with many of our purchasing decisions as those around us play a role in what we consume. This month’s briefing on trendwatching.com gives a name to those influencers: “F-Factors” (Friends, Fans & Followers). 

Today let’s delve into some of the ways that this “F-Factor” Network can influence consumers to buy: 

  1. Discovery – friends, fans and followers are influencers and give credibility to a brand.
  2. Rated – Since everyone is so busy, and so many ads come at us every day, targeted and personalized recommendations will be more likely to get a consumer’s attention. There is a lot of this integration going on with Facebook right now.
  3. Feedback – trusted recommendations and testimonials are influential in how people will purchase.
  4. Together – a multitude of tools now allow users to share and coordinate purchases with others, even when not physically shopping together.
  5. Me – websites and apps that takes users’ social media content, accumulating it in one place, to provide the most relevant information in a short amount of time. 

What does this mean for real estate?

Research has shown that more than 80% of homebuyers search the internet first for a home. To reach future buyers, it is important to understand how real estate buyers are influenced. Friends, fans, followers, those in a closer circle have a strong influence over purchasing decisions. Buyers are looking for the home that they will find most exceptional and that will also be validated by their sphere of influence. Here are two ideas I have for you today about reaching the “F-Factor”: 

  • Online presence. Have you made it easy for buyers to share information about your community with their friends? Integrate your website with your social media campaign. Through the use of Facebook “Like”Buttons and Four Square “Check-Ins” interested buyers can go public, quickly letting friends know of their interest.
  • Resident referrals. Last night, I met a 2 year resident of one of our properties at an art event. He greatly enjoys the location and the value of his home and was more than willing to share the reasons with others. Find ways to let referrals speak through your residents to their “F-Factors”.

Understanding the F-Factor is about being exceptional so that consumers will find and choose you. What are you doing to be exceptional to influence the F-Factor?

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Posted in Block Talk, First-time homebuyer, social media, Trends

Friday Five: Why consumers follow companies on Twitter

Posted on August 27, 2010 by | Leave a comment

By: Brad Horner

As I mentioned in last week’s Friday Five, we have an active Twitter account where hundreds of real estate professionals, reporters and consumers follow us.  We have even helped some of our real estate clients start their own Twitter accounts that quickly acquired large followings.

But starting a Twitter account is easy.  Keeping followers interested in a company’s tweets can be a little more difficult…unless you know what the followers want.

ExactTarget released the results of an interesting study this month that listed the reasons why consumers “follow a company, brand or association on Twitter.”  In an online poll of respondents 15 years old and up, they found the following reasons to be the top motivations:

  1. To be in the know: 38% “to get updates on future products” and 32% “to stay informed about the activities of a company”
  2. To save money: 31% “to receive discounts and promotions,” 30% “to get updates on upcoming sales” and 28%”to get a ‘freebie’ (e.g., free samples, coupon)”
  3. To be entertained: 26% “for fun or entertainment”
  4. To be involved: 20% “to interact (e.g., share ideas, provide feedback)”
  5. To be loyal: 23% “to show my support for the company to others”

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Posted in Friday Five, social media

Friday Five: How to make the most of LinkedIn

Posted on May 7, 2010 by | Leave a comment

By: Brad Horner

LinkedIn recently announced upgrades to the site, many of which seem to mirror Facebook and Twitter’s features (including article excerpts, link sharing, ability to edit posts, ability to “share” posts, etc.).  I think it’s a smart move, actually.  LinkedIn has always provided a helpful way to stay in touch with professional networks, but it’s been underutilized in the past as Facebook and Twitter’s popularity skyrocketed.  But these changes position LinkedIn to become a much more powerful tool for information sharing.

Below are the top five ways to make the most of LinkedIn, helping you to strengthen your connections and stay top of mind among your network.

  1. Grow your network by joining groups. There are nearly 8,000 real estate groups on LinkedIn (including industry associations and networks); joining appropriate groups is an easy way to strengthen your connections to industry leaders and prospective clients.  And many of these groups list their events, as well as those who plan to attend (if attendees have RSVP’d through LinkedIn).  What a perfect way to ensure you have a presence at the same events as your prospective clients!
  2. Ask for recommendations. Every company in every industry knows how powerful testimonials are, so let LinkedIn be a word-of-mouth marketing tool for you.  Encourage satisfied customers and vendors to write recommendations about you and your company.  The quotes will be published on your LinkedIn profile and broadcasted to their LinkedIn networks (possibly leading to referrals).
  3. Promote events. Posting information about events can help drive participation, as you can encourage your network to attend and also encourage them to share the event information across their own networks.
  4. Share thought leadership. Link to articles that would be of interest to your network, including a blog post that you authored, an article in which you’ve been quoted or a timely news item.  Be sure to include a brief comment about why you are sharing the link.
  5. Solicit feedback. Use your network as a virtual focus group and allow them to provide feedback to a question or idea that you post.  You can even tape the wisdom of your network by asking them to participate in a poll.

And now that companies can be ‘followed’ on LinkedIn, as they can be on Facebook and Twitter, we hope that you will follow us!  Click here to visit NRT Development Advisors’ page LinkedIn and follow our updates and successes.

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Posted in Friday Five, social media, Uncategorized

Friday Five: How to share your company’s messages where your potential buyers currently congregate – on Facebook

Posted on March 12, 2010 by | 1 Comment

Virtual Views is starting a new column titled, “Friday Five,” which is an informative quick read that gives you the top five points on a particular real estate-related topic – including trends, neighborhoods, industry changes and more.  We’d appreciate your feedback.  What topics would you like to hear more about? E-mail us and we’ll include it in a future Friday Five.

By: Brad Horner

Of Facebook’s 300 million users (making it the largest social network on the Web), an estimated 175 million of them log onto Facebook each day.  And that staggering number doesn’t even include those using Facebook Connect.

Builders and developers cannot afford not to have a presence on Facebook, especially considering that 90% of homebuyers start their home search online.  Facebook provides an unprecedented marketing opportunity to share information about your development on a social network where your potential buyers are already congregating.

But there are clear rules by which you need to abide in order to be seen as a trusted source of useful information and not an annoying spammer.  Here are our top five hints about how to utilize Facebook as part of your development’s comprehensive marketing program:

  1. Facebook and corporate Web sites have very different rules and languages.  While it’s expected that a company’s Web site will contain very sales-y language, that type of language is not used – or tolerated – on Facebook.  Instead, use an entertaining conversational-style tone on Facebook and offer compelling information.  Do not – I repeat – do not solely promote your brand or product.  Consumers don’t want the same door-to-door salesman knocking on their doors every single day pushing company messages, and they don’t want to see companies doing the same on Facebook.  Instead, offer a mix of fun information about the neighborhood, informative updates about the real estate market and links to articles of interest, in addition to information about your development’s latest offerings.  Truly engage with your fans.
  2. Facebook’s advertising opportunities provide a way to share your message with an extremely targeted audience for a very reasonable price.  Unlike most advertising vehicles, Facebook allows you to target your exact demographic by identifying the age range, location, interests, employment status and more.  Use these ads to promote limited-time deals, special events and the community’s unique amenities.
  3. Take advantage of the many ways you can tailor the company’s Facebook page.  Of course, include links to your Web site and blog and upload photos of model homes and events.  But there are also applications that will allow you to post virtual tours, collect contact information for future communication, automatically upload new blog posts and post presentations.
  4. Fully promote your events on Facebook by including photos, videos, directions and links to helpful information.  And when fans RSVP via Facebook to an event, it shows up on their wall, thereby exposing the event to additional networks.
  5. Take advantage of Facebook’s Insights.  Regularly monitor your fanbase and page interactions.  How quickly is your fanbase growing and what is the demographic breakdown?  Are you losing fans?  What links/photos are being clicked the most and how can you use that information to tailor future posts?  What type of updates prompt the most feedback?

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Posted in Friday Five, Sales and Marketing, social media

Springs is in the air – Tweet Tweet

Posted on March 4, 2010 by | Leave a comment

By: Christine Macrenaris

Professionals in just about every industry know the marketing buzz words for the past year have been “Social Media” and how important it is to participate in order to help sell product, in our case our residential properties.  We have diligently incorporated Facebook marketing into our campaigns and trained our agents on how to use Facebook and other social media channels in order to network and build their pipeline.

But has Social Media really moved the needle? I have to be honest that I’ve been a skeptic, but I’m writing today as a new believer.  Here are a few reasons why:

  • After reviewing the data, it’s clear that maintaining an active Facebook program actually improves organic search results.  In fact, many businesses use Facebook as a second Web site for the company, as savvy marketers can employ the same SEO tactics within a company’s Facebook page as they would within a company Web site. According to National Association of Realtors, 84% of buyers use the internet to search for a home.  If Facebook improves your chances of serving your product first, and it is free, I’m making sure it is a number one priority.
  • What I’m really excited about is recently learning that Twitter is actually not a useless, self indulgent tool to let people know you are eating lunch or just bought a pair of shoes.   Has everyone heard of a Tweetup?  Apparently it is all the rage, but I’ve been in my bubble and had no clue.  Basically a Tweetup is an event at which people with a common interest come together.

For example, 1010 Midtown hosted a Tweetup last week. More than 100 people attended the event, but what is incredible to me is that these 100 people actually reached more than 25,000 people when you consider each attendee’s list of followers.  Photos of the sunset and comments about the homes’ affordability were posted, which was priceless.  Check out the unsolicited press we received from the AJC based on their attendance at the event.  The event was not a hard sell, but the product itself motivated the discussion!

I can’t wait until I plan the next Tweetup.  If you were like me and had no idea about this networking tool, you can follow this link to learn more about organizing a Tweetup.  Also, click the below screen shot to read the “chatter” from the 1010 Midtown event.

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Posted in social media

Networking Nets Positive Impact

Posted on January 29, 2010 by | Leave a comment

By: Christine Macrenaris

Down economy, job loss, home value depreciation…enough is enough! The vein of our existence for the past 18 months has been focused on negativity. It was refreshing to meet with peers from all aspects of the real estate industry at the first Real Estate Round Up last night at Ormbys’s. A new energy was in the air and a true collaboration of ideas took place. We are all in this together, and instead of focusing on what is not working we all recognized last night how much more productive it is to band together to forge positive change for our industry! We received quite a bit of interest for future Real Estate Round Ups, so we’re in the midst of planning another in the coming month(s) and possibly in a different part of town. Where would you like them to be held?

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Posted in sales agent, Sales and Marketing, social media

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Facebook Fanfare!

Posted on July 14, 2009 by | Leave a comment

By: Jessica Weston

My last blog topic was on social media and the advantages it provides as a marketing outlet for real estate agents.  So, I thought it would be interesting to follow up with some data on the growth of one of these tools – Facebook.  According to Larry Hartstein’s July 8th article in the AJC, “Atlantans really love Facebook”, almost 72 million Americans are currently using this social networking site and Atlanta is warmly welcoming Facebook with arms open wide.  The number of Facebook users in Atlanta has increased by 142%, from 535,000 to 1.3 million, faster than any other metro city in the U.S.!  (Los Angeles, CA comes in second with a growth rate of 97%.)

No one is sure why this surge is so drastic in the Atlanta area.  Could it be because we are ahead of the curve or because we were behind it to begin with and are now drastically catching up?  Or could it be because Atlanta is one of the fastest growing metropolitan cities in the U.S. with regards to population?  Please comment if you have thoughts on this!

The growth of Facebook users in Atlanta is interesting, but the most interesting fact this article presented me with was the age group with the largest amount of Facebook users.  Drumroll please…..ages 35-54!  The active participation of the 35-54 age group is another factor that shows the validity in using social media outlets as a way for real estate agents to prospect.  This is the largest age group of our buyers, agents, developers, etc.  Why wouldn’t real estate professionals be on Facebook when their job is to be “in the know” and to get their faces out there?   According to the recent Nielsen Online report about Internet usage, consumers spend more time, on average, on Facebook in June 2009 than they spent on the sites of the other 9 top web brands.  As a real estate professional in Atlanta, why would one not participate in one of the fastest growing methods of communication in one of the fastest growing cities?

It will be exciting to follow this social media trend and see where it leads us.

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Posted in Sales and Marketing, social media