by Michele Gillis
Staff Writer
Getting connected can really help your business.
That’s what members of the Commercial Real Estate Women of Jacksonville learned from Jan Korb of Broadbased Communication last month at their monthly meeting held at Maggiano’s Little Italy.
In Korb’s presentation, “How the Commercial Real Estate Industry is Using Social Media,” she researched and presented broad-stroke examples of how the top 10 CRE firms as listed by Tenant Advisor are using Social Media.
How a company uses social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogs, You Tube and Twitter are usually determined by changes in the industry, size of company, available assets and other contributing factors, she said.
Korb showed the Social Media Revolution video from Youtube.com, a video that states that 80 percent of companies are using LinkedIn as their primary tool to find employees.
According to the video, social media are not a fad but a fundamental shift in how we communicate.
Korb said social media can be used for recruiting, reputation building, competitive intelligence (such as checking out your competition), marketing and promotion and thought leadership.
“It creates visibility,” said Korb. “People can see where you are, what properties you have to offer, what types of business you are doing and the type of people you are doing business with. It makes you easier to do business with.”
Korb said many companies, including Colliers International and some financial institutions, have recruiting videos on YouTube.
Korb was really surprised when she looked at the real estate industry and saw that not many real estate companies are using YouTube to recruit or list properties.
“It is an opportunity to differentiate your company by using YouTube,” said Korb.
Another recruitment tool that companies are using is Twitter.
“They are posting jobs online and Twitter is enormously searchable,” said Korb. “Go to who you admire and see who they are following on Twitter.”
The key is to get your name and company out there where people are meeting online and to let them know who you are and what you have to offer.
Another way to build your reputation is to become an expert source for journalists.
“The journalists have to be able to find you,” she said. “They are not looking in the Yellow Pages anymore. They are going online and doing research.
“So, not only should your company be visible, but your personal brand should be visible as well. You want to be easy for reporters to find you because that is one way to become an expert source for them.
“It’s very easy with social media to develop conversations with them and establish yourself as someone who is knowledgeable in your industry. You can pass tips onto them and story ideas to them.”
The industry is multi-faceted and there are a number of ways and opportunities to use social media for business.
“The key to determining how, when and where lies in establishing the business purpose,” said Tonisha Landry-Gaines, Digital Media Strategist of Broadbased Communications. “Once the purpose/intent is defined, it becomes easier to be effective and measure results. Social Media should be one tool/channel used to market services, complementary to other marketing activities.”
Blogs are also another way to get your name and company out there for people to see. Korb said you provide articles on industry trends, local trends and educational topics.
LinkedIn is more for business contacts and can be used to promote your properties and update information about your business.
Specific to real estate sites such as Trulia.com is a great place to connect browsers, buyers and sellers.
“Those participating in the questions and answers section of Trulia may be further along in the buying process which creates some value,” said Landry-Gaines. “But, using a popular network like Facebook creates a different experience than Trulia. I’ve seen Realtors use social media and the Web to promote listings and information about the community or neighborhood around the listings.”
Landry-Gaines said the steps they recommend before jumping in to social media is to define the why, set goals or success measures.
“Then create strategy and internal policy/posting guidelines, but most importantly, consider the audience on the network of choice always remembering to listen first, then provide valuable resources,” said Landry-Gaines. “For real estate professionals, I would recommend directing the same level energy in creating and maintaining in-person relationships towards on-line relationship building.
“Connecting on social media does not involve tacks on a bulletin board. It is very similar to the handshake before the exchange of business card.”
Joining groups is important. It allows you to listen what is going on before you decide to engage.
“Test the waters. You don’t have to interact right away,” said Korb. “People post questions in groups. You don’t have to join just your industry’s groups, join groups with industry’s you’d like to do business with. When someone poses a question, be the first one to answer.”
She said to start by signing up, create your biography and a link to your Web site. Start by participating by keeping your status up to day with business related activities.
NAR has an online field guide for social media. Visit http://www.realtor.org/library/library/fg125 to check out the guide.