Real Estate advertising used to be easy. You put up signs in front of the property, held a few open houses and showed up to let people in when they wanted to check out the property. Life was good. Things began to get a bit more complicated as technology progressed. Eventually prospective purchasers wanted to access information about the property from home. You needed a website with property and contact information. As technology progressed you eventually needed to understand social media and be active on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Now with the rise in popularity of mobile devices (“smart phones” and tablet computers like the iPad), Real Estate professionals are now expected to know and use that medium as well. Technology is progressing so quickly, where do you even start? Don’t worry, I work with (and build) mobile marketing tools everyday, and I’m here to provide you with a brief primer on the essentials of mobile marketing for Real Estate professionals.

QR Codes

The biggest new trend in mobile marketing is Quick Response Codes, or QR Codes for short. These square barcodes can be scanned by a mobile device and display a website or video on the scanner’s device. QR Codes work best as a way to provide additional information to prospective buyers. They work well on property signs, sales literature you pass out as well as on your business cards. Let’s take a look at some of the dos and don’ts for QR Codes, as well as the steps necessary to get started using these.

The hardest part of using QR Codes is deciding how to generate one. There are two main options, each has it’s tradeoffs that we’ll cover here. QR Codes can be generated for free (a google search for free qr code generator shows many fine choices, bit.ly offers QR Code generation along with URL shortening and is an ideal choice for free QR Codes). The process for free QR Codes is fairy easy, you enter the web address of a mobile friendly page containing the information you’d like to display, and the program generates a QR Code for your site. You save the image file and use it wherever you’d like. The downside is that the code is always linked to that specific page. This technique isn’t recommended for places where the linked information will need to be changed (like property signs). The free methods also require you to have your own mobile friendly page.

Paid QR Code alternatives generally offer more flexibility. You can reuse a QR Code, and change where it points to, or change the content of the mobile page. Some of these paid versions allow you to easily create a mobile friendly webpage (without requiring you to be a web developer). The paid versions generally also offer an easy way to track how many people are scanning your codes.

The choice comes down to free but limited or paid and flexible. You’ll ultimately need to weigh the pros and cons for each method and decide which works best for your needs. There isn’t one “right” solution. We’ll take a look at some of the potential use cases for QR Codes next, so you can make a better, more informed decision.

Property Signs

This is a good first place to start with QR Codes. The code can point to a mobile website with additional information about the property. Adding options to share the information via email (this is included on several of the paid QR Code generators) and a contact form to collect prospective buyers contact information are great options to include. Including images of the house, or a property walk through video can be effective as well. Walk through videos don’t need to be fancy. Many Real Estate professionals find it easy enough to shoot video on their cell phone or an inexpensive Flip cam. These codes allow you to provide additional property information to anyone who happens to pass by.

Business Cards

QR Codes can be effective on business cards. These can direct scanners to a list of all your properties, your Facebook or LinkedIn page or a short video of you explaining what you do. There are a lot of possibilities, and it pays to be creative with it. Make sure to keep your audience in mind. Who do you give your cards to? What additional information would you like to make easily available to them?

Sales Literature

You’re likely already passing out property information to people who visit your properties. This is a great place to add QR Codes to provide even more information. The code can point to a photo tour of the house or give them an easy way to share property info. In general, the use case here is very similar to how you’d use QR Codes for property signs. The key is to figure out what additional information would be valuable to prospective buyers and give them that. Different information works best for different property types. It pays to think through what information a prospective buyer wants. Put yourself in their shoes and use that insight to create an informative mobile page linked to a QR Code on your sales literature.

Conclusion

These are a few of the easiest and most effective ways to get started with mobile marketing. QR Codes and the free and paid generators, make getting started easy. If you already have a mobile friendly website, you’re ahead of the game, and getting started is really easy. If you don’t have a mobile friendly website, a paid QR Code generator that helps you create a mobile site can get you up and running quickly.

Have you used QR Codes? Do you plan to? Where do you think they’d be most effective? Do you need help?
Just Contact Me

Source: geekestateblog.com

“Whenever I get the chance to talk to high schoolers,” Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg began, “I always ask them what they’re using” to communicate with one another. But it was the type of messaging they weren’t using that caught Zuckerberg’s attention.

“‘We don’t really use email. It’s too slow,’ they told me.” Zuckerberg found the statement “completely boggling.”

Thus began the next phase for Facebook. “What does ‘e-mail’ look like in 3, 5 10 years? Facebook is opening a new platform to manage how we communicate with each other.

First, it is seamless messaging, meaning users can now send and receive messages using chat, instant message, SMS text and Facebook e-mail address all users have the opportunity to own.  Basically, you will now have one message center able to process all your messages.

Second, your conversation with someone will be more coherent. Whether they email you, text you, or write in chat, you will see all of their messages in one thread. You will have a “history” of the conversation.

Third, your “inbox” will become more Social, with three areas for your messages. Your Social Inbox will know who you want to communicate with, who you don’t really care about and what mail you think is junk.

We all know Facebook is the 3rd largest country in the world. Zuckerberg said Facebook’s messaging service is “growing at a much faster rate” than Facebook’s user base. Wow. And most of the messages are one-to-one messages between users, not via e-mail.

I’m not sure Facebook Messaging will oust Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo, but I do believe we will see a paradigm shift in what email “looks” like. The adoption of a messaging center where all of your conversations are threaded and sorted by importance will likely be engaged by all major e-mail providers.

We live in the exciting times of ever changing technology. Don’t blink.

My recommendation? You should claim ownership of your business just to ensure the information posted is accurate. Then decide if you want to utilize this marketing avenue. Claiming your “place” ensures the business name, location, hours of operation and contact information is accurate. You can also control your profile pic.

Not every business will be listed, especially in smaller towns and rural areas. If your Facebook Place doesn’t exist yet, you can use the Facebook app for smartphones and check-in at your business to create it. Once your business has a Facebook Place, there is a link at the bottom that says “Is this your business?” Click that to begin the verification process. IF you choose not to create your Place, any customer can (and will) do it, and they may not enter your information correctly. If this happens, just click that “Is this your business?” button and make the appropriate corrections once you are authorized to do so.

Claiming your “Place” is a little more difficult than just creating it. It requires some supporting evidence–so random strangers should be prevented from claiming your Facebook Place. Aside from basic information like the name, URL, and address of the business, the Claim Place page also asks for the Federal EIN (Employee Identification Number), and requires that you upload a scan of official documents.

You can choose from articles of certificate of incorporation, certificate of formation, local business license, or Better Business Bureau accreditation. Once you submit the necessary information, the Place will not become yours until you receive an e-mail confirming the submission and notifying you to “stand by as we should be back with you soon.”

According to the Facebook Help Center, you can also advertise your Facebook Place on Facebook. The Help Center FAQ explains “To advertise your Place, click “I want to advertise something I have on Facebook” in the ad creation flow and choose your Place from the drop-down menu.”

Facebook Places is new to the location-based check-in application, so opportunities such as the ability to target market Facebook users who have checked in to your business doesn’t exist yet. Watch the blog below to keep up with the latest updates to this new marketing service and as always, just get in touch with me if you have any questions or just need a little help!

For the latest Facebook Places info visit the official Facebook blog.

Well, it’s time to get off the fence and join the party. Geotagging is here. It’s hot and it’s driving revenue into small “local” businesses right now.

Geotagging uses GPS technology and basically adds a location to media, such as photos, posts, websites, RSS feed, etc. Geotagging is used by mobile social networks. Foursquare is the leader, Gowalla is in the mix and Facebook and Twitter are fast adopting this hot new way for people to communicate, share and connect. Instead of spending big bucks worrying how your business places in a “global” search engine such as Google, Yahoo and Bing, you now have a tool which allows you to use the internet on a local level. Local search, local tweets, and local coupons are all part of how you can use location based services to reach your potential customers and reward your existing ones in new and fun ways! Location based social networks are all about real-time connections.

Let’s say you own a pub and business is slow tonight. You have a band coming in at 10pm with a cover charge. I’m visiting your small town from Dallas with 6 friends. We’re across the street at a different restaurant and bored. You “tweet” a 2 for 1 special on all drinks and free cover charge for the band later tonight to anyone who mentions your tweet. I happen to be using Foursquare to check in and I “view tweets nearby” and see your post.  My 6 friends and I head over to your establishment and spend the rest of the night and a lot of our vacation cash in your pub.  All you had to do is post an offer on Twitter, at no cost to you.

Maybe you own a hotel and occupancy is down tonight. You know there is a huge concert in town. Locals may not want to drive home. You post a deal specifically playing to that crowd. You sell 5-10 rooms that night.  You didn’t spend any marketing dollars and you had a positive affect on your revenue. All you did was send a tweet.

Starting to see your opportunity?

You can post a coupon, offer loyalty programs, even reward the person who checks in with you the most with the title of “Mayor” of your business. (And believe me, as a user of Foursquare, I can tell you that we fight ruthlessly to be the Mayor or just about every place we love to frequent.) This week, I got 10% off my purchase at Coldstone, 2 for 1 at a local water slide and the satisfaction of being the “Mayor” of a ski lift right before the season ended, meaning I’m the mayor until next season.

Think of it as a form of gaming, and the primary players are adults 24-55 with a healthy income. Wouldn’t you want to engage these folks?

Foursquare

Yelp, Twitter and Facebook are joining the game, but Gowalla and Foursquare are strictly location based mobile social networks and are the leaders. Foursquare offers Foursquare for Business, a program which keeps track of activity related to your business and even lets you know who your best customers are.

Let’s Play.

If you have a smartphone, you are in the game. Just download the application to your phone.  Obviously, I’m a fan of Foursquare, so we will be “playing with Foursquare”. As you go through your day, you just check in anywhere and everywhere. Foursquare is user driven, which means you can add places, provide tips for others, and make a list of things you really want to do. You can’t cheat.  Your phone has to BE where you are checking in, or the application will let you know you’re fibbing. You can check in, but you won’t get any points (or credit for checking in) and for those of us using location based social networks, it’s all about the game.

Foursquare awards badges for various achievements such as “Super Mayor” for being the “Mayor” of 10 places at once and “Local” for visiting a place more than 3 times in a week. You can even get a badge for visiting too many bars, or staying out “past 3am on a school night”. Accumulating badges is part of the fun and new badges are constantly being added.  There is even talk of allowing businesses to create their own badges.

Get Your Business on the Map.

You don’t need a smartphone – you just need to take a few minutes to sign up for Twitter and for Foursquare for Business. Both companies offer you lots of helpful advice and ideas to use their services to promote your business.

Foursquare is very new and growing rapidly. In the past THREE weeks, users have grown from 500,000 to over 725,000 and there is no sign of slowing.  This growth has made it hard for Foursquare to keep up with demand, so right now, only business “where people gather” (coffee shops, bars, restaurants, etc.) are allowed to join the party.  However, in the very near future, more “foot traffic” businesses will be invited to participate.

gowalla

The cell phone is the future laptop… well, not completely, but you get the picture.  People are demanding more and more of their mobile device and smartphone companies are delivering the goods. As people rely on their cell phone as their main contact to the planet; your deals, offers, reviews and information can literally be available 24/7 to your customer. Now is the time to ask yourself: Is my current website “mobile friendly”, as in – can people easily navigate my site on their phone? Am I represented on location based social sites?  Do I have a “social marketing strategy”?

Need help? Contact me. I love this stuff.

Social networking has finally become something “valuable” for brick-and-mortar businesses. Smartphones and location-based social networks allow users to interact, share, meet up, and recommend places based on their physical coordinates. This real-world connection to social media can mean more foot traffic and profits for business owners.

So-called “lo-so” networks like Foursquare , Loopt, and Gowalla enable any business with a physical location to not only communicate with customers online, but actually get more of them to walk in the door — and that’s exciting.

The question any brick-and-mortar business owner should be asking him or herself is no longer “Should I use lo-so networks?” It’s “How do I do it?” The following tips are essential to getting started.

1. Learn the Platforms

First of all, you need to understand how the technology works. Generally, people use lo-so apps on their phones to “check in” whenever they go places. Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) locate the users and determine what “venue” they might be at, giving them options to select a location or create a new listing. These “check ins” allow their friends to know where they are now, or where they frequently go. Some services allow users to leave location-based tips for friends to discover later, and several involve social competitions, or the ability to unlock digital badges, stickers, and prizes. Businesses can announce specials or promotions through these apps, so when users “check in,” they receive notifications of nearby deals.

Item one on your to-do list should be to become familiar with the prevailing platforms. Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, Brightkite, and Google Latitude are the most talked about in general, though others exist, and popularity varies by geography (e.g. Foursquare reigns supreme in New York City, and Loopt has a lot of clout in Silicon Valley). Other platforms to be aware of include Yelp and Facebook, which are just now dabbling in lo-so. Sign up for all of these, and download the apps to your phone if you can, so you can become familiar with how someone would use each one. Most of the networks have iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry (BlackBerry Rocks!) apps, and all of them allow you to “check in” via desktop and mobile web browsers.

2. Determine Your Goals

Before you can optimize your business for lo-social networking, you need to step back and determine what you want to accomplish.

* Are you hoping to increase foot traffic to your store?
* Do you want to sell more of a particular item?
* Do you want more patrons at certain times of day?
* Do you want to promote a specific product?
* Are you looking for new customer acquisition?
* Repeat customers?

You may say, “I want all of those,” but to be effective, you need to set specific objectives. These will determine your approach to the entire process. Luckily, if you need to change things around to fit new objectives in the future, the cost of doing so is very small.

One goal that should be on every business’s list is to be easily findable on every network, which brings us to number three:

3. Establish Your Presence

Make sure that your business is listed on each network. Then make sure the address, phone, and details are correct and current. Don’t assume that users have added everything correctly. On some networks, once a venue is there, it’s stuck. Others let you edit. Don’t be afraid to contact the network itself to ask them for help if you can’t fix your venue listing. Gowalla’s Jonathan Carroll says, “We receive dozens of e-mails a day from businesses around the world asking for additions or tweaks to their Gowalla locations, and we’re happy to help out with them.”

It’s also a good idea to put up notices or stickers (on the door, order counter, or table centerpieces, for example) announcing “We’re on Foursquare” or “Find us on Yelp.” This will remind people to “check in” and spread the word about you.

4. Customize

Different networks have different options for customization, but it’s important that you do as much as you can to build out your listing. Add your website. Integrate with your other social networking accounts, like Twitter (Twitter). Features are constantly being added to each network, but great customizations you can try right now include the following:

On Foursquare: Create to-do lists for users to explore around your area. And if possible, work with Foursquare to create a custom badge for your venue or event.

On Gowalla: Ask for a custom icon for your location, rather than the generic one for your category. Examples: Shake Shack, NYC, Austin Java, and Coop Ale Works.

5. Implement Compelling Promotions

Lo-social networks allow you to run promos to increase engagement and get people into your store. Foursquare’s Tristan Walker says, “Any type of in-store promotion you can conceive we want to make it so Foursquare can run it.” Many businesses offer specials like “check in 10 times and get a free appetizer” on all the major lo-so networks. Establish well-conceived promotions based on your goals, then evaluate the results. The biggest mistake you can make is to do this sloppily or half-heartedly.

Carroll cites Lift Cafe as a good example. “They offer 10% off every purchase when you check in on Gowalla, which they include in their description and also as a reminder in the success screen after check-in.”

“[What] we’ve seen across all channels again and again is that what works is a good local offer,” says Loopt CEO Sam Altman. Businesses with offers that cater to people “making that gametime decision” when they’re out and about do the best. “Offer value to the customer so it doesn’t feel like an ad,” he advises.

Shelley Bernstein, Chief of Technology for the Brooklyn Museum, talks about how the institution uses Foursquare to create a multi-faceted campaign and experience for museum goers.

“We knew that many people coming here wanted to know more about the local neighborhood, which is something Foursquare does well. We asked our staff for their opinion of the best stuff in the neighborhood … and left tips at all these venues for Foursquare users to find. Second, we added a promo for our mayor to reward the people who are consistently identifying themselves with us. Third, Foursquare has given us a badge which unlocks after three visits, and this helps reward our community for coming in the doors.

“All of these things together help create a total presence on the platform that works well for the Foursquare community, the Brooklyn Museum visitor, and the local merchants in our neighborhood.””

Common promotions across various networks include the following:

* Raffles (e.g. “Every person who checks in gets a chance to win an iPod.”)
* Specials for the user who checks in most often. This is a staple of Foursquare promos for a lot of venues (e.g. “Top user/mayor gets the first drink free every time he/she comes in.”)
* First check in specials (e.g. “Get 30% off your order when you check in for the first time.”)
* Digital punch cards (e.g. “Check in 5 times, get a free coffee.”)

Tips for developing effective promotions:

* Advertise particular incentives, rather than your business in general (“20% off between 2 and 4pm;” “Buy one burger, get one free;” etc.).
* On platforms that allow you create your own banner ads (such as Loopt), include your address and opening hours in the ad itself, when possible.
* Be creative. For example, Incase, the bag and protective case maker, recently ran a promo with Gowalla to put virtual versions of its products into the app to be collected and traded. Carroll remarks, “The result has been phenomenal: Thousands upon thousands of their virtual items have been distributed in Gowalla to an audience who could benefit from their products, but many of whom had not previously heard of Incase.”

6. Engage With Your Customers

It would be a mistake to use Twitter as a one-way corporate megaphone, never interacting with your audience. That’s a quick route to an audience of zero. One of the most effective uses of social media is personal engagement and relationship building with your audience. The same goes for lo-so networks.

7. Track Everything

Foursquare just released a slick analytics dashboard for venues to track their stats. Other networks have metrics you can view as well, and they’ll certainly be releasing better and better tools. From data you can study online to qualitative observations at your own store, it’s important to keep track of everything so you can learn what promotions work with your audience. Be aware, though, that your ROI may not be directly measurable, and aside from increased sales, you’re working for brand exposure and increased awareness of your business.

8. Be Prepared to Adapt

Location-based social network technology may be the newest and grooviest incarnation of social media, but it certainly won’t be the last. And in a year it won’t look exactly like it does today. Be prepared to adapt your methods when features change, as new tools emerge, and as you review your own promotional results. Again, keep your objectives in mind, and be ready to keep up with new technology.

9. Avoid Common Pitfalls

In talking with representatives from the major lo-so networks, several common mistakes came up. Here are a few things you should try to avoid:

* Don’t leave fake reviews or tips. They’re easy to spot, and you’ll lose all on- and off-line credibility immediately when people catch on.
* Don’t throw up poorly designed ads. “A badly designed banner ad performs so much worse than … a good one,” Altman says. “It’s an insane difference.”
* Don’t forget to monitor activity. Carroll points out, “Chances are if someone has a gripe or praise with their check-in, it’s a real-time thing: The patron is probably still there … so the business has a chance to make the experience even better.”

Although the concept is a direct copy, Facebook engineer Tom Occhino explains that the @replies do come with some extra level of usability: auto suggestions.

Basically, in the world of Twitter, an @ in front of a name (example: @lavalilly let’s grab lunch) posts the update to your public feed AND alerts the person (LavaLilly) in her feed. This allows you to essentially “tag” someone in your update. You use this function to say something to someone publicly (example: @lavalilly awesome blog post on how to use linked in http://tinyurl.com/nekg68) or to include a link to their profile in your tweet.

Now, when you are writing a status update in Facebook and want to add a friend’s name to something you are posting, just include the “@” symbol beforehand.  A drop-down menu will appear as you type, allowing you to choose from your list of friends and other connections, including groups, events, applications and Pages. Soon, you’ll be able to tag friends from applications as well. Unlike Twitter, in Facebook, the “@” symbol will not be displayed in the published status update or post after you’ve added your tags.

Facebook hopes “that tagging your status updates and others posts from the Publisher will enable you to share in a more meaningful and engaging way, and connect with even more people.”

Any questions? Just contact me!

SEO and Bing …Optimizing Your Rank Result

Our advice to optimize your ranking results with bing isn’t too far off what you or your SEO’s strategy would be with any other search engine – but it’s always good to remind ourselves of what is expected:

Content is Still King.  Relevant and rich content is where it’s at.  What is rich content? It’s information that is considered valuable to your target audience and relevant to your subject matter.

Place Those Keywords Carefully.  As with Google, the right keyword in the right place counts. Be sure your headings, page titles, your tags and your links all include strong keywords.

Use Strong Inbound Links.  Bing likes inbound links. Choose wisely – it seems Bing rewards you for having links from sites that have a high number of links themselves. Bottom line – link to the big dogs, not your mom.

Clean Sites are In.  Be sure your code is clean. Check for broken links, be sure you validate your code and employ appropriate redirects. As with most search engines, the good guys are win in the end.  Cheap, shady shortcuts will only bring you pain.

Bing is Microsoft’s newest search and is already a significantly more competitive product that Live Search.  While Bing rates higher than Yahoo in initial polls, it still falls below Google. This isn’t surprising, as the Google brand influences many of us before we even try the competition. (Think Kleenex or Saran Wrap). It’s a hike to get past Google’s branding.

In addition, the search giant is the default de jour in Apple’s Safari and Mozilla’s Firefox and the Google toolbar comes pre-installed in many new PC’s. Microsoft is budgeting $80-100m in advertising, but will this be enough to change our search habits?

I, like many techies, jumped in and used bing for a few days and found it to be impressive…but like many, I reverted back to the “tried and true” Google, mostly because it is where I am comfortable.

Intuitive Features

A few things I like about Bing? The features seem more intuitive than other searches. The table of contents feature, the enhanced search history, the pop-up balloon showing a glimpse of content, the cool panel to the left of my search – giving me more specific searches.

Want to take a test drive?

A great place to do this is on the new site: Bing vs. Google.  Here you can see real time results side-by-side and compare for yourself.

I “binged” it?

Honestly, I think Bing looks better and acts more intelligent, and I think it may actually be a better search engine…but moving me from my comfort zone will take a little effort.

Marketing will help, but Bing will have to gain the “hip” factor and that’s a marketing strategy in itself; it doesn’t require $100m in marketing… just good old fashioned word of mouth.

My favorite example of word of mouth marketing is presenting this question “Did you ever see a Google ad?”

Well, Microsoft really can’t call Google for advice…maybe they should give Twitter a call.  My advice to Bing?  Listen. A lot. Because the masses will determine your future, not your marketing dollars.