DIGITAL MARKETING


ASK THE EXPERT


My name is Tracy Falke and I’m founder of the digital and social media agency Streetsmart Social. I work with a range of clients who are just entering the social media space, or who have set up their social media presence online and are looking for a way to make this marketing channel a profitable part of their business. I’m very honoured to have the


opportunity to write a monthly column for PROPERTYdrum. I see a huge opportunity for the property sector to capitalise on social media marketing channels, an opportunity that will change the face of property marketing forever. Since the downturn in the market in 2008 many agents faced hard choices of routes to market their agencies and properties. Many now opt for a standard approach for the strategic marketing of properties via web portals. In many ways, the dependence on portals as the main digital port of call for property marketing has led to an ‘infantilisation’ of digital marketing for individual estate agents. Property marketers no longer feel


fervour and wit only seen in someone utterly obsessed with all things digital. I lie awake at night thinking of how businesses can measure effort in these channels against their bottom lines. I promise to answer in useful, practical ways that are – for lack of a better word – ‘streetsmart’. Although it’s just as scary as your


daughter going on her first date, social media marketing is here to stay. It’s the best opportunity you have to get ahead of the competition. I’m here to show you how to punch above your weight!


DOWN TO BUSINESS


So, enough of the pretty words. Let’s get down to business. What is the very first thing you need to do? Own your real estate. You should own


compelled to ensure their digital presence (website) is ship shape, despite spending a substantial amount of their budget in other digital marketing channels (advertising via portals, for instance). Every day, I see websites which are virtually invisible in google searches (despite the site containing exactly the sort of properties that customers are searching for), I see misspent pay per click advertising campaigns, and a flagging, limpid response in social media channels. Let me be more clear. Gone are the days when an agency could


primarily rely on larger portals to sustain the marketing of their clients’ properties. With the emergence of the social platforms into mainstream


communications, agents need to break new ground and engage customers through social media. Most agents are taking the baby steps of starting out in social media, but lack direction and focus. So, back to the analogy I began at the beginning of this article. Many companies are like toddlers in the social media space: full on careening round the house with the big headed balance of a toddler. It is a real challenge to get it right, to learn to run without falling


over every two minutes, to learn to communicate with the huge, global audience that awaits you on the internet. I get as worried as you do! But these column inches are my opportunity to help an entire sector (one that is already beleaguered by the economic climate) do what they do best: move property. Fast. Every month, I’m going to be here to cover a range of topics


specific to property marketing via digital and particularly social media channels. I invite you all to please email (details below) or tweet me your questions on @tracy_falke or directly to @propertydrum. I promise to answer your questions with the


Every day I see


websites which are virtually invisible in Google searches even though they


contain the homes that people want.’


1. Make it social.


an account on every social media platform in your company name. We will explore more advance ‘social media optimisation’ in future articles wherein you obtain other social media accounts based on keyword research (or in layman’s terms, the words people use to find your properties or your business in search engines). Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube


and Google+ are the big players. Google + is relatively new to the space, but the implications for more ‘real estate’ on the Google search pages is HUGE. I cannot overstate this and will cover it in a future article as it deserves a piece entirely on it’s own.


When you obtain each account (or tidy up and optimise what you’ve already got), ensure that you:


Use an email address that all of the company can access. I open a free gmail account called companynamesocial@gmail.com for each of our clients. This allows company wide access. From gmail account settings, you can then route emails to your company inbox as well for monitoring and response.


2. Choose your name wisely.


You need a brand name account, but try and sandwich essential keywords that users will use to find your properties or business online into the title. For instance, use Manchester Estate Agent Brandname as your Facebook page name rather than simply Brandname. This is so that Google will display your social media profile to users searching for property or estate agents in a particular area who might not know your brand name. You won’t get immediate page one exposure using this social optimisation strategy, but when you progress to pumping content and interaction through these channels, you have the chance of appearing on page one with your social media account alone. This will seriously affect your bottom line as you begin to be able to divert marketing spend from underperforming areas (PPC, traditional SEO) into stronger performing areas.


PROPERTYdrum APRIL 2012 25


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