So, I had grown weary of articles questioning the relevance, competence or importance of Realtors. In my related post (“Does Your Realtor Suck? Pt 1″), I told you that the detractors miss the point. It isn’t a question of professionalism or relevance (Realtors are essential and most are highly trained and exceptionally ethical). It is that Realtors must now understand and embrace a dramatic change in marketing. Have another look at this compelling video that I use as the premise for this and my related post.
REFLECTION
I was recently sending a note to a former music business colleague in Australia when I had an epiphany. My blog readers know about my extensive use of social media in my real estate career. My realization is that I am as passionate about this as I’ve ever been about the music biz. It is reminiscent to me of the ’70′s when we’d discover a new, great band or song daily. This time it’s a new, great Internet app!). As before, this period of creativity is a game changer.
In my previous career before Real Estate (See my Bio on Linkedin), I was humbled to hear some of my colleagues consider me a Visionary…a Futurist, especially as I addressed licensing issues for digital distribution of rich content early on. I had worked with and was inspired by real visionaries (John Lennon, Sly Stallone and many others) and it’s little wonder that I’d embrace digital distribution of content, particularly wireless, as the future. The significance of social media to real estate is clearly the ability to facilitate buying and selling of real estate through a non-intrusive dissemination of information. Social Media is the ideal vehicle for distinguishing oneself through an honest display of personality, experience and information. Afterall, we would all much rather do our homework and then reach out for assistance than be inundated with traditional sales. Today, it’s all about “Inbound (Permission-based) Marketing”, as Seth Godin would say.
FAST FORWARD
Who’s Seth Godin? He is perhaps one of the most articulate evangelists of the power of social media. Seth’s point of view is worth considering for its insight of the evolutionary past and future. I consider his perspective as one of the confirmations of mine. Seth is an entrepreneur and blogger who thinks about the marketing of ideas in the digital age. His newest interest: the tribes we lead. Godin argues the Internet has ended mass marketing and revived a human social unit from the distant past: tribes. Founded on shared ideas and values, tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change. He urges us to do so in this video.
Now have a look at the following interview with Jason Falls, founder of Social Media Examiner. Some of the takeaways are:
1. Listen to your competition as well as your current customers and what they are saying about your company
2. Social media conversations are dialogues and even “multi-logues” where others listen to your 1-on-1 conversations
3. Social media is about building long term lasting relationships with customers
4. Listen for and respond to both positive and negative comments multiplies the good vibes around your brand
5. Soon businesses will be creating social businesses where customers come for community and not just to buy your product
6. The best social media programs take the online world and move it to the offline world
NEED SOME MORE PROOF?
This past February, Amy Porterfield wrote an article for Social Media Examiner called “Social Media Integration Big Theme for 2010″. Amy cites some empirical evidence from study results of a survey by Alterian that corroborates that social media is becoming an integral part of most companies’ marketing campaigns:
#1: Marketers Ditch Silo Campaigns and Report Social Media as “Critical for Success” (Alterian)
As digital and social media marketing mature, the demand for greater integration is evident. Marketers are quickly realizing that operating in a one-way marketing tunnel makes success impossible in this social media–saturated world.
Listening first and then communicating and engaging have become “musts” for any successful social media campaign. Results of a 2009 survey by Alterian indicate that social media is becoming an integral part of most companies’ marketing campaigns:
50%+ direct at least “a fair amount” of effort toward integrating social media marketing into their overall strategy
66% will be investing in social media marketing in 2010
40% of the 66% plan to shift more than a fifth of their traditional direct marketing budget toward funding their social media marketing activities.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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