Social Media Marketing For Real Estate

Like any other business, industry or domain, Real Estate can leverage Social Media as a very effective Marketing, Branding & Communication Tool. Social Media can also be a potential tool for inquiry generation.

Real Estate Social Media Objectives: The Main Concern  Areas

·         Win customers trust

·         Online Reputation

·         Create Differentiation

·         Build Brand

Social Media can help addressing these objectives very effectively.

Real Estate is all About "REF" attributes of the brand

·         Rational -  It has to make sense - the price, location, requirement, etc

·         Emotional - It has to connect - dream home, first home, my own space, etc

·         Functional - It has to be useful - Kitchen, Bedrooms, Living space, etc.

If you are building your product keeping this REF in mind, it would help tremendously to connect to the right audience / potential customers through social media.

Social Media Mix for Real Estate Organizations

·         Facebook

·         Google+

·         YouTube

·         Twitter

·         Blog

·         Pin-interest

Don't treat social media as a fancy fad to be in vogue. Use them judiciously and correctly for maximum benefits and ROI.

How old is your Marketing Head?

It is said that Facebook has started to lose its sheen in the West, it is, however, performing exceedingly well in countries like India, Brazil and other Asian, African and some European countries.

Increasing internet penetration in India and lucrative Facebook features have led to rise in adoption of Facebook for social networking amongst web users. In India the social media giant has amassed 92 million users, which is now the 2nd highest after the U.S, according to Facebook’s own data.

The most interesting fact however, in all these numbers is that :

Teens Aged 18-24 Account For 50% Of Total Facebook Users In India!

Of the total 92 million (7.73% of the total user-base) Facebook users in India, nearly 50% belong to the age group 18-24 years.

Facebook, at an infancy stage in India, finds it's biggest follower in teens who find it exciting and are very active in Facebook. Nearly 11% or 10.6 million Facebook users in India are aged below 17, about 26 million (28% of total Facebook India population) fall in the age group of 25-34. Close to 6.6 million are between 35-44 years, 2.2 million between 45-54 years and the rest above 55 years.

India is also the youngest country in the world in terms of its population's average age which is between 25 and 29 years. With almost 65% of the population under less than 30 years we have, therefore, 65% of all consumers who are less than 30 years!

But how old is the man who is the Marketing Head or the Brand Head in your organization? Does he understand what a 21 year old gizmo freak, digital age, instant gratifying, fickle Indian wants to get from you that would either simplify his life or stimulate his intellectual wisdom? Nope! I am not recommending a 21 Year old Marketing Head. 

Want to know more? Write to me at susmita@thesmartideas.in 

The "Why" Marketing

"Marketing practitioners are divided on whether it’s necessary to understand why consumers behave the way that they do. One view is that understanding “why” enables marketers to develop appealing offers and messages to best match consumer needs. The alternative view is that “why” doesn’t matter when determining the effectiveness of marketing and ROI. Behavioral information is what’s required.

Basic consumer characteristics, such as income, assets and location, probably account for more than perceived product benefits and emotional needs.

Why invest significantly in understanding the consumer’s motivation when it’s costly, imprecise and not immediately linked to sales uplift? If the “why” question is important in today’s environment, how can it be proved in a behavioral way, such as in demonstrated sales impact?

Recent research findings related to mindset metrics and long-term marketing effects provide powerful support for going beyond immediate sales lift as the sole measure of marketing effectiveness. They give a compelling reason to measure consumer mindsets and incorporate the “why” question in comprehensive strategic marketing."