Facebk and Real Estate Prfessians

Transcription

1 White paper Summer 2010 Facebk Fr Real Estate Prfessinals Part I: Getting Started One Pst Street, Suite 900 SF, CA CS@rst.cm

2 Table f Cntents Part I) Why Facebk is critical t REALTORS and brkerage cmpanies 1 a) Facebk has becme the dminant gateway t the Internet 1 b) The pwer f the Scial Web 2 c) The ROI imprvement pprtunity f scial media 3 Part II) Facebk 101 What yu must knw 4 a) Persnal Prfiles vsfacebkpages 4 b) Cmmunity Pages and Facebk Grups 5 c) The Wall, News Feed, Mst Recent Feed 5 d) Likes, Shares and Cmments 6 e) EdgeRank Part III) Success tips fr Brkerage &REALTORS 7 a) Set gals 7 b) It s abut engagement 7 c) Manage it as a prgram 8 d) Build yur netwrk 8 e) Create relatinships, nt Spam 9 Part IV) Facebk and the future 9 a) Why Facebk will nly becme mre imprtant 9 b) What t expect and prepare fr 10 Part V) Clsing thughts 11

3 Part I) Why Facebk is critical t REALTORS and brkerage cmpanies We believe there are three reasns why it is critical fr real estate prfessinals t understand and leverage Facebk in the mnths and years t cme. 1. The emergence f Facebk as the dminant gateway t the Internet 2. The rle the Scial Web will play in changing cre cnsumer use f the Internet 3. The ROI imprvement pprtunity in nline marketing that Scial Media represents vs SEO and SEM a) Facebk has becme the dminant gateway t the Internet As f the date f this reprt, surces have reprted Facebk s audience t be mre than 540 millin unique visitrs per mnth, serving mre than 570 billin page views per mnth. 1 This makes it the mst visited site n the Internet fr this perid. That s right: Facebk is nw a mre ppular destinatin than Ggle. When yu cmbine that sheer size with Facebk s rapid grwth trajectry (reprts mre than dubling in size ver the last 12 mnths), their level f relatinship and engagement with users, and their ability t mnetize the site thrugh ads it is easy t recgnize that Facebk has becme the mst imprtant platfrm n the web tday. Certainly, real estate agents and brkers cannt affrd t ignre this phenmenn. Facebk has entered ur cultural mainstream. In fact, fr much f the last year, wmen ver the age f 55 were the fastest grwing demgraphic n the platfrm. 2 Nearly 20% f all Facebk users are ver the age f 45. Many brkers and agents have in fact embraced Facebk. Our internal calculatins place the number f real estate agents n the platfrm smewhere between 250,000 and 300,000. Hwever, few have frmulated a strategy fr leveraging Facebk t grw their business. This whitepaper seeks t prvide a fundatin f basic infrmatin upn which such a strategy might be built. Over the last 5-10 years, the real estate industry has evlved t understand the pwer f the web and largely embrace it as a marketing platfrm. Rightly, these individuals and rganizatins have invested heavily in their wn websites and blgs. And they have develped cmpetencies in driving Nte that Facebk is a cnstantly changing platfrm. Therefre readers shuld expect that the infrmatin in this sectin is certain t change. Hwever, we believe this represents an accurate assessment f the platfrm as f this writing. 1

4 visitrs t thse prperties via search engine ptimizatin(seo), search engine marketing (SEM) and listings syndicatin. Ggle has thus been at the frefrnt f any real estate brker r agent s mind. Hwever, given the rapid and widespread grwth f Facebk and the relatinship dynamics that make it uniquely suited t the real estate marketing prcess we believe mst brkers and agents must shift their attentin t this unique marketing platfrm. Skeptics pint ut that Facebk is nt a search vehicle, but there is n reasn t believe that they cannt make this shift with enugh scale and fcus. With scale cmes market pwer and clearly Facebk has started t amass a large amunt f pwer. b) The pwer f the Scial Web Accrding t Wikipedia.rg, The Scial Web is currently used t describe hw peple scialize r interact with each ther thrughut the Wrld Wide Web. Such peple are brught tgether thrugh a variety f shared interests. 3 Unlike SEO and SEM, the means f leveraging the Scial Web match the skill set required fr traditinal, ffline,real estate marketing. The cncepts f building a sphere f influence, f cultivating a farm, r tapping friends f friends are all applicable within Facebk. While there is much that is new and different abut Facebk, mastery f this platfrm fr business purpses is nt whlly freign t the real estate marketer. Much like in the real wrld, ur experience n Facebk becmes infrmed by and crrelated with thse arund us bth in ur immediate circle f friends and family as well as thrugh varius degrees f separatin. When it cmes t cntent cnsumptin in this wrld, keywrd relevance a critical requirement in the wrld f ptimizatin fr Ggle - is nly a small piece f what makes a piece f cntent, image, r data cmpelling t a cnsumer f that cntent. In the Scial Web what yur cnnectins (friends, clleagues, partners, family) cnsume and Like, infrms the likelihd f yur affinity fr that same piece f cntent. In effect, yur netwrk helps steer yu t cntent yu are mre likely t find useful r entertaining. And since real estate has traditinally relied heavily n netwrking as a business tactic bth agent-t-agent and agent-t-client we believe this new paradigm plays right int the strengths f REALTORS

5 c) The ROI imprvement pprtunity f scial media We believe the pprtunity fr significantly increased Return n Investment (ROI) n nline marketing effrts leveraging Scial Media is real. This is primarily due t the fact that while SEO and SEM are primarily traffic and ultimately lead generatin strategies, we see scial media as referral generating activity. And as any real estate brker r agent knws, a referral is extremely mre valuable than a click r a lead. The cre strategy fr transactin generatin leveraging SEO and SEM hinges n a multi-layered cnversin funnel where visitrs land n a website, register r cnvert int a lead, then get in cntact with an agent and hpefully cnvert t a transactin at sme pint during the prcess. Ding this well requires skills, tls and a significant budget that many real estate brkers and agents d nt pssess. Generating referrals n Facebk, while demanding effrt and attentin, is a vastly mre accessible prpsitin. Abut ROI n SEO/SEM driven leads Tracking the cnversin funnel has prven very challenging fr even the mst sphisticated brkers and agents. And even the mst successful nly see cnversin rates in the 1-3% range frm lead t transactin. But regardless f the actual cnversin rate, an SEO r SEM campaign must prduce a huge amunt f leads that will nt clse just t achieve ne deal. This ften prves cstly and frustrating. SEO and SEM strategies rely n the brker r agent s ability t get a prspective buyer r seller wh des nt knw them but happens t find their website thrugh rganic r paid search, t reach ut and becme receptive t building a relatinship after being slicited. Within that prcess there are cuntless pprtunities fr the client t abandn the prcess nline r ffline. Scial media is a referral generatin platfrm Meanwhile, we knw that the majrity f the agent s business is wn the ld fashined way, thrugh wrd f muth referrals. This is what makes scial media (and as f the time f this dcument, primarily Facebk)s appealing as a marketing platfrm. The medium is meant t facilitate engagement, relatinship building and, ultimately, intrductins and referrals. We believe there are fur cmpnents t leveraging the Facebk platfrm fr building a sphere f referrals. 1) Staying in tuch with yur netwrk Facebk is an envirnment where lightweight engagement casual, scial, episdic cntact rules. This makes it much easier t find pprtunities t reach ut and cntact peple fr a variety 3

6 f reasns. Birthdays, new babies, vacatin phts- these all prvide pprtunities t stay in tuch in an engaging way. 2) Grwing yur netwrk Facebk als prvides tls t grw yur netwrk by friending clients, partners and thers as well as by publishing cntent that attracts peple t friend yu r like yur business pages. 3) Establishing yurself as an expert It is very easy t pst useful, engaging and insightful cntent n Facebk with the gal f psitining neself as a subject matter expert. It is als very easy t abuse this tl and becme a spammer. 4) Prspecting and insights Facebk and ther scial media platfrms als prvide an pprtunity t identify and research prspects with an eye t starting a relatinship in a nn-threatening way. Part II) Facebk 101 What yu must knw 4 a) Persnal Prfiles vs Facebk Pages Persnal Prfiles Prfiles are the heart and sul f the Facebk experience tday. The Prfile is an individual s cre presence n Facebk,cnsisting f any r all f the fllwing: Phts and vides f the individual, their friends and family Bigraphical and demgraphic infrmatin Friends n Facebk Interests, activities, events, cmments and Likes Wrk and schl infrmatin Affinity grups, memberships, etc Facebk applicatins used At the pint f this publicatin the vast majrity f use n Facebk is interactin arund Persnal Prfiles. This is als true f REALTORS n the Facebk platfrm. Facebk Pages 4 Nte that Facebk is a cnstantly changing platfrm. Therefre readers shuld expect that the infrmatin in this sectin is certain t change. Hwever, we believe this represents an accurate assessment f the platfrm as f this writing. 4

7 Facebk Pages (smetimes referred t as Business Pages and frmerly knwn as Fan Pages) are tpic r business related pages created by individuals, businesses r rganizatins. These pages are administered by individuals r grups f Facebk users and instead f having Friends assciated with them they have Likes (see belw). Use f pages in the real estate industry t date has generally taken ne f five frms: 1. Pages that prmte a real estate brkerage firm r related business 2. Pages created by individual REALTORS t prmte their wn services 3. Pages created by individual REALTORS arund a theme r tpic 4. Pages created by REALTOR assciatins, MLS s, vendrs, etc 5. Pages created by REALTORS r Brkerages arund a specific cmmunity r area. b) Cmmunity Pages and Facebk Grups Cmmunity Pages - In additin t Facebk Pages, ne can set up a Cmmunity Page arund a tpic r cause. These pages can be created by individuals r Facebk smetimes creates a Cmmunity Pages arund a ppular subject such as Snwbarding ( If yu create a Cmmunity Page, and it becmes very ppular (attracting thusands f fans), it will be adpted and maintained by the Facebk cmmunity Facebk Grups The third ptin is the creatin f a Facebk Grup. This allws individuals t cmmunicate directly with ther Facebk members wh share a prfessinal interest r hbby. Membership can be pen t the general public r restricted t apprval by the creatr c) The Wall, News Feed, Mst Recent Feed The Wall This where mst f the average user s experience takes place n Facebk. Essentially a stream f psts by the user, their friends and pages they Like. The wall is where mst engagement happens. News Feed & Mst Recent Feed Facebk prvides its users tw streams f infrmatin - the default Tp News Feed, and the Mst Recent feed. 5

8 It s easy t understand the Mst Recent feed. That s where all psts frm yur netwrk g (Friends status updates, psts frm pages yu Like, etc). In rder t help imprve usability, Facebk created the Tp News feed t filter cntent/psts in a way they think will make them mre meaningful t yu. The Tp News feed is the default feed everyne sees and that s where yu want yur cntent psts t end up. As an end user it s a subset f psts frm yur netwrk - essentially it s what Facebk feels is ging t be mst interesting t yu. T determine what ges in that feed they created an algrithm called Edgerank (see belw). It is imprtant t understand that bth f these streams f infrmatin include pprtunities fr engagement. d) Likes, Shares and Cmments There are 3 main ways fr peple t engage with cntent psts, pages, phts, etc n Facebk. 1. Users can Like a page, pht, individual cmment, etc. This is dne by clicking the Like link r buttn. Liking a page subscribes a user t its feed, and als tags their prfile. Likes fr any type f cntent trigger a ntificatin frm the user. 2. Users can Share psts,phts, vides, etc by clicking the Share link assciated with that cntent. This triggers a ntice t the user s netwrk with the assciated piece f cntent. 3. Users can Cmment n any pst, pht r ther piece f cntent. This cmment is displayed with the cntent and a ntice is psted t the user s netwrk n their Persnal Prfile. e) EdgeRank 101 EdgeRank is the algrithm that Facebk uses t decide what ges in the Tp News feed Fr cntext, an Edge is what s created when anyne interacts with a piece f cntent ( Likes, Shares, Cmments, etc). Creating a cntent pst itself the first time als creates an Edge. The fact that the algrithm is called EdgeRank, and that an Edge is all abut interactin - tells yu smething very insightful abut what Facebk thinks matters t users. While Ggle cares abut relevance f cntent and external ppularity via links, Facebk cares abut interactin and engagement. It is critical t bear this in mind when frmulating yur Facebk strategy. Remember that creating a piece f cntent in and f itself creates an Edge. But hw much mre EdgeRank that cntent gets (and therefre hw likely it will be that it makes it int the Tp News feed) depends n three things: 6

9 1.) Affinity between creatr f the Edge and viewer 2.) Sme weighting by the type f Edge (like, share, cmment) 3.) Hw lng ag the Edge was created EdgeRank ptimizatin While strng SEO (Search Engine Optimizatin) typically relies n a variety f technical skills (keywrd research, site structure and tags, unique relevant cntent, inbund links) it appears that the cre f EdgeRank ptimizatin is t create cntent that peple want t engage with (by sharing, liking r cmmenting). Part III) Success tips fr Brkerage &REALTORS a) Set gals Like any successful marketing prgram it is critical t establish gals that help yu track perfrmance, imprvement and ultimately ROI n yur Facebk effrts. We recmmend a few specific types f gals t get started: Gals arund building yur netwrk The number f new Likes f yur business page(s) per mnth The number f new Friends per mnth Gals arund engagement Percentage f psts that are Shared, Cmmented r Liked Frequency/cadence f psts Average number f psts per day Return n Facebk investment these rely heavily n sme ability t track the surce f activity with sme effectiveness The number f listing leads generated The number f buyer leads generated The number f sides transacted 7

10 b) It s abut engagement As yu can tell frm ur discussin abut EdgeRank abve, engagement matters. It matters nt nly in terms f a given piece f cntent s likelihd f making it int the Tp News Feed, but als in terms f establishing yurself r yur cmpany as credible surces f insight and subject matter experts. In fact, thse wh cnsistently pst nn-engaging cntent (especially thse wh d s ften) risk incurring a severe penalty. Users n Facebk can easily censr these flks by using the Hide buttn, which remves all cntent psts frm a given user frm the feed. Or wrse, the user culd unfriend yur Persnal Prfile r Unlike yur Facebk Page. We strngly recmmend thught and strategy g int pst creatin. Here are sme simple tips: Cnsider the extent t which each pst is interesting and cnversatin wrthy Use questins, Quizzes and plls t tease engagement Try cntrversial tpics (within reasn) Watch best practices frm ther peple and businesses. What types f psts are getting cmments? What are getting shared? Always, always put yurself in the shes f yur netwrk. Ask befre psting, Wuld I find this interesting; wuld I engage with this piece f cntent? Vary yur cntent. Even thugh yu are in the real estate industry, yu dn t have t talk real estate 100 percent f the time c) Manage it as a prgram We believe ne f the mst cmmn mistakes arund using scial media as a marketing platfrm is that it is dne pprtunistically and reactively rather than systematically. Imagine an advertising campaign that had n creative strategy t it, n thinking as t its reach and frequency, and n measurement. This is a prgram destined t fail. Yur apprach t scial media and t Facebk in particular must be thughtful. Therefre, it is key t treat scial media marketing as a prgram: Set explicit gals (as discussed abve) Have a sund creative strategy in terms f the types f cntent psted Schedule the varius activities n a regular basis Measure them, recalibrate, then measure sme mre 8

11 d) Build yur netwrk There are essentially tw types f netwrk grwth yu can attain n Facebk- an increase in yur Friend cunt, r an increase in the cunt f peple wh Like yur Page(s) (what used t be called yur Fan cunt). By increasing these cunts yu are inherently increasing yur audience fr cntent psts and engagement. Grwing yur netwrk f Friends is relatively straightfrward and can be dne with just a small amunt f regular effrt. Sme strategies include: Leveraging Facebk.cm s n-site tls and suggestins fr finding Friends (via schls, wrkplaces, friends f friends and s n) Seeking ut friends f friends by identifying them n Persnal Prfiles f yur friends and then sending a friend request Creating a habit f Friending new peple yu meet ffline n Facebk Grwing yur netwrk f Page Likers relies n slightly different strategies. At the cre, there are three ways t d this: Publish engaging cntent n yur Page(s) that gets widely Shared, Liked and Cmmented n. This will spread yur cntent int the Feeds f yur existing Likers and will likely attract new nes Slicit yur Friends t visit and Like yur page bth n Facebk as well as blgs, websites, etc. Buy ads n Facebk r elsewhere t get peple t Like yur page. Obviusly this strategy assumes that yu can measure the effectiveness f and put a value n audience develpment e) Create relatinships, nt Spam One f the mst imprtant things t remember abut the Facebk platfrm is that it is fundamentally a place t build relatinships and engage with peple. Usage tends t be casual, relatively quick and spntaneus. And while the ad platfrm n Facebk is clearly evlving, as f this printing the majrity f the use is still fr persnal interactin. This des nt mean that it is an ineffective tl fr generating referral business. Just the ppsite, it means that it is a place t build relatinships and in ding s tee up ptential referrals. 9

12 Therefre, thse wh apprach Facebk marketing with an eye t building persnal relatinships and engaging in interesting ways will have a significant leg up ver thse wh treat it as a direct marketing channel where yu generate a lt f spam t get a small number f leads. Part IV) Facebk and the future a) Why Facebk will nly becme mre imprtant We believe Facebk is still in the early stages f its ascendance and will nly becme mre imprtant ver the next 2-3 years. Despite already having mre than 500 millin unique users wrldwide and much higher engagement numbers than Ggle, the platfrm is still develping. As a result we frecast tw significant develpments in the near future which shuld prve t be further inflectin pints increasing bth the size and the imprtance f the platfrm: 1. Facebk shuld emerge as a hyper-targeted ad platfrm and netwrk fr advertisers f all sizes. Facebk has the ability t target users nt just based n cntent being cnsumed, but mre imprtantly n individual demgraphics, psychgraphics and thse f their friends. Once advertisers begin t leverage this unprecedented level f ad targeting the result shuld be a hugely prfitable business fr Facebk which shuld significantly impact their ability t grw and invest in the platfrm. 2. Despite Ggle s dminance tday, Facebk is in a psitin t challenge them fr the lead in search. Admittedly, tday Facebk search is nt anywhere near as cmpelling as the search experience n Ggle. But its current use f Bing search and its ability t understand the Likes f individual users and their friends implies that Facebk is in a psitin t take search t the next level by layering scial knwledge n tp f relevance. If either f these develpments cme t pass, there will be n questin f Facebk s ability t dminate the web. b) What t expect and prepare fr We encurage real estate prfessinals t put fcus n the fllwing things as they strive t remain relevant in the always evlving technlgy wrld: 1. Fllw the steps in this white paper t begin t develp a cmpetency fr leveraging Facebk as a referral netwrk marketing platfrm 2. Fr thse using paid nline marketing vehicles successfully tday, we suggest yu begin experimenting with targeted advertising n the Facebk netwrk in rder t start sme baseline understanding f its ROI 10

13 3. Watch Facebk search clsely and think abut yur web presence bth n Facebk and ff (blgs, websites, etc) in terms f the likelihd f it shwing up in search as that develps Part V) Clsing thughts The questin is n lnger if Facebk will be imprtant. Nw it is merely a questin f which real estate prfessinals will develp an edge in the years t cme by building a cmpetency fr using it nw. Real estate prfessinals exist in a unique place in the business and technlgy wrld. Their prfessinal lives are tightly intertwined with their persnal endeavrs. This presents unique challenges when appraching Facebk in the sense that extensive use f the platfrm fr persnal use may impede its effectiveness fr business purpses it als presents great pprtunities. Never befre have s many cntacts and cntacts f cntacts been s reachable. This is a real estate marketer s dream ne we believe is well wrth pursuing. 11