Articles

By Chris Kaucnik, CEO/Founder of SPICE Communications & Interactive Group

We’ll bet you’ve been told Social Media requires a new strategic plan and loads of time in planning in meetings determining objectives, strategies, tactics and more. If so, we’ll also bet you’ve either not entered the media yet, or if you have, it’s just become another chore you’d like to eliminate with no measureable results.

If this about sizes up your efforts to date, take heart, all you have to do is read the rest of this short article and you’ll know exactly how to proceed quickly and effectively with your social media. Additionally, we’ll point you to a popular social media management and monitoring tool allowing you to be effective in it spending just 10 minutes a day or less!

Step One is just to determine one, no more than two, main goals for your social media that dovetail or align with your current traditional marketing efforts.

Example Goals: To attract more first-time homebuyers.

Step Two is just to ask yourself and others, how to begin achieving this goal in a fun, yet expedient way. It may be as simple as immediately posting properties whose prices have been reduced in your market that fit in the general price range of this target audience. This gives them a first or new look at these properties and could offer them a distinct advantage against investors

Results include building the relationship and your social media pages as a valuable destination for this key audience. More posts as you encourage them to communicate to others about these properties when they visit. Post open houses on these properties and any other incentives offered, and when these properties sell due to your targeted, increased efforts, post and tweet it!

What else can you do with this example? Post, tweet and blog to this audience educating them on short sales and what to expect; engage and answer their questions as first-time homebuyers. Create special contests to test their knowledge and reward winners with small, but fun prizes—perhaps T-shirts with your company’s name and logo to extend your brand? This will build your following getting them to invite their friends and family.

Can’t post and tweet daily? No problem, enter Hootsuite.com. HootSuit.com is just one popular tool to manage your social media profiles, schedule messaging, and analyze your growth and effectiveness in social media.

Still Sounds like a commitment? Remember, social media grows and is the most effective when others in your organization participate. Allow them to answer followers’ questions and post information about the expertise they offer related to your goal. Any mistakes can be easily corrected with a new post or tweet.

Social Media is not any brave new marketing world. It’s just a fabulous extension of your current one. Fill in the Example above with your own goal(s) and get going today!

SPICE Communications & Interactive Group Principals have over 12 years of combined real estate marketing experience and over 50 years of market development experience in other growth industries such as healthcare and manufacturing. Chris Kaucnik is the former Director of Marketing for the National Association of REALTORS and SPICE’s Co-Founder comes from Google-Performix.

The SPICE Group offers strategic planning, brand development and integrated market planning including web development, social media, and SEO/SEM. If you’re looking for Strategic, Planned and Integrated Communications that Engage, contact the SPICE Group at www.SPICECommGroup.com or at 224-800-1492.