Real estate marketers embrace social networking

Traditional real estate marketing methods aren't working anymore, and
David it's time for the industry to embrace social networking, an Urban Devlopment Institute Pacific branch's heard Tuesday morning.
David Allison, principal of real estate development marketing firm Braun Allison, said developers can no longer market projects on spec, and offerings must "brand with the truth."
He was part of a panel discussion that examined how social networks are changing real estate marketing efforts.
Allison, author of the book Sell the Truth: A Marketing Campaign Guide for Real Estate Developers in the New Economy, said five key trends have emerged with the growth of online advertising.
People want more information about everything so that they can use it as "an antidote to fear." Consumers also expect dialogue with sellers, buyers are searching for authenticity, traditional advertising is less effective and social media usage is increasing.
However, real estate marketing is still about branding. All facets of a project must be based on truth, not just marketing. Real estate companies "can't pull a fast one anymore" and must help buyers win.
Allison has worked in such countries as Costa Rica and Mongolia as well as Canada and the U.S. in an advertising and marketing career that spans about 25 years. He calls for marketers to be more like journalists.
Contending the social media movement is as big as the Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s, he says websites have become the centre of the universe and traditional media support them. Likening social networking to a bar, he calls for real estate marketers to adopt a "blended media" approach to time stories, get the pulse on information campaigns and engage sales teams.
If you can sell the truth, he concluded, you can be the media.
real estate markets can "be the media."
Hanson Lok, senior research manager with polling firm Ipsos-Reid, said 85% of Canadians now have Internet access compared to 70% in 2001. But the Internet is not a real estate marketing silver bullet, and online marketing should be only one part of a blended approach.
Kirk LaPointe, managing editor of the Vancouver Sun, said online efforts have helped his publication's readership stable over the past five years.
"We don't really consider ourselves a newspaper anymore at the Vancouver Sun," said Lapointe, who uses Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn extensively. "We're a news platform."
LaPointe said a new engagement is emerging as news deadlines effectively disappear. If the Sun works on Web content development every day, the newspaper will take care of itself.
But LaPointe worries about the quality of journalism in the future as journalists become "entrepreneurs" and learn more about search engine optimization while fewer scribes work full-time.
"Everybody's a journalist," said LaPointe, referring to the growth of social media.
He predicted word of mouth will become the most powerful method of sharing news and information in an era that is exciting and profoundly challenging for journalists.
Amie Lake, CEO of Tagga Media Inc., which markets through mobile devices, said cell phones are the future of real estate marketing. Real estate companies must have mobile-compatible websites, because more Canadians use phones than Facebook and Twitter combined.
Contending that mobile devices will ultimately spell highly-qualified leads, she called for companies to devote 10% of their media-buying budget to mobile marketing while using the devices to define their audience and learn and modify what works.
Chris Breikss, president of 6S Marketing, said social networks enable real estate firms to measure return on investment much better than they can through traditional advertising through tools like Hootsuite, Radian6, Twitalyzer, Slide Share and Google URL Builder.
He pointed to Polygon Homes and Opus Hotels as successful cases of real estate firms that have succeeded in maximizing their search engine marketing campaigns. Polygon and Opus have used Facebook and Twitter to build thousands of followers that helped boost their bottom lines.
But, perhaps, the large crowd on hand was the biggest commentary on the social media movement within real estate. When Breikss asked for a show of hands, many indicated that their firms used social networks, but they do not know about some of the technoligies that he mentioned.
Suffice to say they're willing to learn.