I subscribe to several online marketing trade journals so that I can keep abreast of how other industries are using digital media and even how they are still using traditional media. I have to admit that at least one of the several e-mails that I receive daily will give me a new idea for real estate.
My favorite daily e-mail comes from Media Post Publications and it’s the email insider. Last Friday, Ryan Deutsch of StrongMail Systems had a post entitled Monetizing Social Media is about Targeting First, Everything Else Second. I read the post and then I read it again and thought ‘Holy Cow this is Brilliant.’
Although he was speaking of a retail company who wanted to increase participation in their loyalty program, I saw great value in how they sent an invitation to their current customers and asked them to forward the invitation to their friends and to share with them their experience with the loyalty program. The results of this campaign surpassed past ‘un-socialized’ e-mail campaigns by three times!
The majority of our business comes from referrals, right? We ask our buyers and sellers to refer us to their friends and family. It’s word of mouth marketing at its best. So, why not apply the old basics to Web 2.0 (Social Networks and Blogs). Being a true marketer I doodled out a few programs.
- Send an e-mail to all past clients with a link to either your company or business Fan page on Facebook. In the e-mail, ask them to write a few words on your Fan page about their experience with you or your company. Results – you start building a strong referral network online as the comment is also posted on your client’s Facebook page. Don’t just do this for Facebook, do the same for LinkedIn and My Space.
- Find the local ‘Super Influencer’ blogger for your community. These bloggers have great impact upon their readers. These folks are always looking for new content to share with their readers. I would recommend that you reach out to them to arrange a meeting to discuss how you can provide the local real estate data to them to share with their readers. Become the ‘Barbara Corcoran, Real Estate Expert’ for your local market.
I invite you to share with us how you are using Web 2.0 to generate new business for you.
