apartment hunting: “the social experience”, chris vaughn, apartment finder, digitalsherpa
DESCRIPTION
Apartment Hunting: “The Social Experience”: The Social Web is playing an increasingly large role in the multi-family experience. First-time apartment hunters now take to the Web to learn and ask questions about one of life’s most important decisions: choosing where to live. Before thinking about lead generation or ROI, Chris and his team are focused on the ‘experience’ of looking for apartments online. Join Chris Vaughn as he demystifies the process for what it means to create educational content, generate leads, and provide a one of a kind apartment hunting experience for consumers on the Social Web.TRANSCRIPT
Chris VaughnDirector of Marketing
DigitalSherpa
APARTMENT HUNTING ON THE SOCIAL WEB:
THINKING ABOUT THE SOCIAL CUSTOMER FIRST
#multifamilysms2014
THE EVOLUTION OF ‘REACH’
#multifamilysms2014
TRADITIONAL OFFLINE SOCIAL REACH
STEP ONE
STEP TWO
STEP THREE
THE REACH OF THE ILS
THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL REACH:THE SOCIAL MEDIA CUSTOMER
STEP ONE
STEP TWO
THE SOCIAL APARTMENT HUNTING EXPERIENCE
CONTENT
#multifamilysms2014
Stacks Case Study
Annual Loft + Artist tour open to public Cabbage Town Atlanta Connects with community psychographics
Historic building/historic part of town Art show/artist & creative Atlanta colony
$5 entry Engages residents and local community
Stacks
Atlanta Artists
REAgents
LocalRestauran
t
Local Retailers
Design/ArtBloggers
Residents
Content puts Stacks at center of community Surrounding community
markets Stacks
Stacks leverages communitysocial graph Stacks benefits in
Google search
USING WEB CONTENT
Consumers want to be _____ before making buying
decisions:
Interrupted?Solicited?
Assisted and Educated!
HOW DOES WEB CONTENT FACTOR IN FOR THE SOCIAL
MEDIA CUSTOMER?
#1- Create Meaningful Content
Create educational content for your target audience and buyer profiles on your company website or blog
#2: Using CTA’s
Share that meaningful content on your social networks with
engaging calls-to-action
#3- Conversion
Lead your website or blog visitors to your “bottom of the funnel” conversion events (where they
become business leads. That’s still the end goal, right?)
SHARE CONTENT OF OTHERS
Think “customer first”. If you come across content on the Web that you think benefits your consumer base, share away!
Added benefits of sharing the content of others include: Relationships with other businesses and
brand ambassadors whose content you share
Other businesses will be more likely to follow your account and share your content
GEO-TARGETED CONTENT
Create content geotargeted to your key markets that will help apartment hunters in that market
Find apartment hunters in markets asking questions or seeking help in the markets you’ve targeted
Create conversion opportunities by send blog or website readers to that market’s listing page from within your geo-targeted content
OPPORTUNITY
#multifamilysms2014
OPPORTUNITY
Over 100,000 people seek help or express frustration with apartment hunting on social media networks a month
4 of 5 consumer inquiries on social networks go unanswered (As of October 2013)
This is more pronounced in Real Estate, where only 15% of consumer inquiries are answered, with an average response time of 13 hours*
*Statistics courtesy of Sprout Social
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY
ENGAGEMENT
#multifamilysms2014
ENGAGEMENT TIPS
DO ask leading and help-oriented questions like “How can we help” or “What city are you looking for an apartment in?”
DON’T spam with a link immediately. Social consumers are SMART and will tune you out
DO show personality and have fun. Social consumers like to know they are dealing with real people
ENGAGEMENT TIPS
DO have resources for the consumer ready quickly when they engage. Social users have short attention spans
DON’T reply without a link to content or a listing. This conversation is now in a selling stage
DO ask a follow-up question with the link you provide such as “What are your requirements for the perfect apartment?”
ENGAGEMENT TIPS
DO follow up with the consumer after an appropriate amount of time to close the service loop
DON’T keep sending them messages until they reply.
DO use success stories like this as case studies to show consumers how much easier your brand can make the process of apartment hunting
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
• How to feel good about all this work?
• What Can Be Immediately Measured?
• What Can’t Be?