The Mismatch of Commercial Brokers and Social Networking
If you are like me you have been inundated with the importance of online “social” networking. I still can’t figure out what’s so social about not speaking to anyone. You have been told there are several MUSTS if you are to keep pace with (forget ahead of) your competition. For example, you must have 1) a personal website 2) a Twitter account 3) a blog and 4) a Linked In account, at the bare minimum. In addition to these MUSTS, you have to have an integrated marketing platform that creates push and pull campaigns on a varied, yet consistent basis. Now if you really want to get the most out of the Web 2.0 (or is it 3.0?) culture, you should have your own Facebook account and a personal YouTube channel… a personal YouTube channel – are you serious?
Did I mention if you are a commercial real estate broker, you also need to make time to find, win and fulfill business? How can a dedicated commercial real estate professional, whose life blood is personal relationships and transactions cultivated from these relationships, take any valuable time away to focus on some fad that will last a year or two at most? Heck, I heard the other day that most folks stop using their Twitter accounts after the first 30 days. I really don’t care where you went this weekend with your dog.
Well, unfortunately we have little choice. You can look at any industry, including commercial real estate, and more and more opportunities are finding the broker, versus the other way around. That’s right, investors, users, owners, tenants are all looking for solutions and they are using the internet as their prime source. If you think you have a loyal client that will never leave, think again. Once that client is bombarded with a proactive and aggressive marketing campaign that persuades him your competition is smarter, better, faster and has a more robust online presence, you will find yourself in the same position as Augustus Gloop, that “chunky” kid who fell in Willy Wonka’s chocolate river. He was sucked up and left behind.
Don’t get me wrong. Another MUST with social marketing is you MUST continue to have personal relationships and you MUST prospect now more than ever before. Web 2.0, 3.0, etc is here to stay and you need to find a way to get on board. But it is not the only answer. A robust online marketing solution creates a presence. Prospecting with presence creates wealth.
By the way, you can follow me on my web page, Linked In, Twitter, my blog and yes, our soon-to-be-released Massimo YouTube Channel. I still need to figure out the whole Facebook thing.
2 Comments
Rod,
I couldn’t agree more. The importance of sites like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube are extremely important these days. Every industry seems to be diving into the social media industry. We use Social Media to connect with our clients and buyers. It’s a great way to get in front of people in your industry and drive business.
Agreed but another MUST is to develop a strategy or you can end up spending way too much time for nothing. Since the DNA of the exclusive community I founded (www.CREOpoint.com) is in social media, I thought I’d share these key questions CRE executives and marketers want answered :
1. Industry leaders and some in our organization are joining the social media bandwagon to better interact with customers, what are my peers doing and why?
2. Where are the pitfalls and how do I avoid mistakes?
3. Who is talking about us and what are they saying where we are not listening?
4. What can I learn about my competitors strengths and weaknesses that will help me differentiate and get market share from them?
5. What can I find out about what makes clients or prospects tick and how can I most effectively get corresponding content?
6. How do I find the true influencers by topic and focus/manage our outreach efforts?
7. What are the best sites given that many companies are blocking social networks to decrease reputation risk and productivity loss?
8. How do I convert our social media marketing efforts into tangible results?
9. How do we cohesively tie different social media efforts of our people and fans together?
10. What does the CREOpoint team know that we should?
Happy to discuss.