The Marketing Monsoon Part I

Monsoon season is here. When spring has sprung, the real estate ad budgets kick into high gear. Whether it's during the Today Show or the evening news, It seems just about every big label broker has a slick new commercial, all with the exact same messages. I haven't seen anything in the ads that, as a consumer, would compel me to pick one over the other. Don't get me wrong, I think they are all well done spots, the calls to action seems to leave something to be desired.

We've all seen the mind numbing stats regarding the sheer volume of advertising or marketing messages a consumer is faced with each day. Marketing firm Blackfriars reports in their white paper, "The Tyranny of Too Much":

"In one experiment, when researchers asked subjects to compare chocolate chip cookies from a jar of 10 cookies and a jar of two cookies, the subjects rated the cookie from the smaller jar better than the one from the larger jar. And the cookie wasn't just better. It was rated more valuable, more desirable to eat in the future, and more attractive as a consumer item, despite the fact the cookies were identical. More choice made the subjects feel that their sample was less desirable."

The job of the broker or agent might seem like it's getting harder every day. After all, how do you keep up with all the changes of technology based marketing and the overwhelming number of choices a consumer has at their disposal? Not only do you have to find a way to set yourself apart, you need to find new and better ways of marketing property.

Being Extraordinary
Extraordinary: 1.beyond what is usual, ordinary, regular, or established.
Every time a consumer selects you as to represent them in a real estate transaction, something extraordinary happened. You were picked on a strength. Those strengths should be the things that you use to market yourself. I find most marketing messages in real estate concentrate more on the goal than the processes used to achieve it. The goal is ordinary, it's the same for every transaction. In my opinion it make more sense to speak to the means than it does the end. To rise above the clutter of sameness take the time to identify your strengths and craft your marketing message around them. How do you make something ordinary, extraordinary? Take a look at the yard signs that Bloodhound Realty creates for their listings. If you can take something as nebulous as a yard sign and make it unique, what else do you think it's possible to improve upon?

Thinking Different
One of Apple's biggest strengths as a company is it's marketing prowess. One of the best campaigns they ever had was the "Think Different" campaign. The ads never even featured a shot of their product. They featured iconic figures in history. They were cults of personality that made their marks by thinking differently than the rest of the world, (Albert Einstein, John Lennon etc.) with the simple tag line, "Think Different". When your market share is the single digits, you need to come up with a compelling reason to get consumers to even consider your product. The same is true of your marketing and sales effort. If you're listing presentation is covering the same ground as your competition, you'll be counting on luck as much as anything else to help you succeed. Your prospect wants to hear compelling features of your service, each packaged in a way that directly benefits them wrapped up in testimonials of success.

How does all of this tie into Web 2.0? Simple. There are myriad ways to do things differently with regards to marketing yourself and your listings these days. Blogging, podcasting, social networking, contextual advertising etc. They are all means to an end, each of them with a unique features that will help you weather the marketing monsoon. My next post will address how thinking global and acting local can kick your web results into high gear. Stay tuned.

Is Your BSD Working?

I had a conversation with a client yesterday regarding a telemarketing call he received from an SEO (search engine optimization) company. Without looking at the analytics of the client's site, the SEO guy had determined that a selected key phrase was the ticket to web success. He also guaranteed he could receive top ten results in Google with this phrase for a whopping $250 per month plus a "set up" fee. He even sent him a follow up letter to the conversation. The masthead from the letter had Google's logo placed in manner that, in my opinion, was designed to mislead the reader. The offer didn't even explain how or what he was going to do in order to effect his guarantee. I responded to the client with a few points.

1. The site already shows up number 10 in Google for that Key Phrase. The "SEO" expert was going to sell him something he basically already owns. Don't you think this nimrod should have checked that before he started dialing for dollars?
2. Anyone that says they can guarantee the results of a service they have no control over is suspect at best.
3. How can someone sell you on "SEO" without seeing the log files to your site in advance?

So, here I am once more talking about "SEO". To me, those initials should stand for "Seek Expert Opinion". The quality of the web traffic you receive is inherently more important than the quantity. I do not recommend using SEO companies. I recommend hiring a web consultant that understands the real estate industry and has a grasp of branding, lead generation and how to properly determine the return on investment of a web marketing effort. It's common sense to start at the beginning.

A.)Analyze your web traffic using a good log file tool like Google Analytics. Your consultant needs access to several recent months of data. Look at the key words and phrases people are actually using to find you.
B.)Look at the number of page views per visit to your site. If people are not moving past the main page, your content sucks and no amount of SEO is going to fix that.
C.)Use the Overture (Yahoo) keyword inventory tool for a snapshot of how many people use a specific search term. Empirical data is hard to argue with.
D.)Look at the length of time someone spends looking at the data. If the analytics show you're site is performing poorly with it's current visitors, bringing more isn't going to do you much good. After you've tweaked the content and made sure the site is search engine friendly you can get to work on the traffic generation using tools and techniques that have a proven method of success. Try localizing your keyword buys, or buy banner ads on good local sites, like the newspaper, or city guides with a good track record.

We had the opportunity to analyze the traffic generated to our client's site and the impact podcasting has had. We're delighted to say that over one third of the direct referrals from other domains has been from a podcasting link. What's more important though is the quality of those referrals. The average number of pages views per visitor overall is between 3 and 4 pages. The average number of page views from the podcasting referrals is between 6 and 7. This indicates the fact that the traffic from the podcasting effort is more relevant and offers a better opportunity to establish all important "top of mind" branding awareness or generate a lead.

There isn't enough time to talk about every intricacy and nuance of web marketing in a single blog post. Don't get hung up on finding yourself in a search engine unless you know that the terms and phrases you are using actually create quality traffic. If you see a competitor popping up in sponsored results, they may be getting clicks, but they could just be expensive ways to add to a log file. If you can't afford or find a consultant, make an investment in the time to educate yourself on the issue of web marketing from sources you know you can trust and have track records to back it up.

As you can see, this last incident has renewed my interest in exploding the many myths of web marketing and expose some of the snake oil for what it is. I plan to start a series of posts on the subject, until then here are some annoying acronyms to get you started. I think we should establish a rule that anyone that uses 2 or more of these in one sentence must submit to a bruising punch in the shoulder until such time as that person has decided to converse in common sense business speak.

SERP = Search Engine Ranking Page (how well a site is ranked)
SEO= Search Engine Optimization
SEM= Search Engine Marketing (could mean a million different things)
SEP= Search Engine Positioning (see SEO and SEM)
PPC= Pay Per Click (advertising term for paying for an click on a sponsored link)
PPCSE= Pay Per Click Search Engine (uh, O.K, Google, Yahoo, MSN )
PFI = Pay For Inclusion (no tickie no washie)
PFP = Pay For Performance (either the oldest profession in the world or......)
PPL = Pay Per Lead (define lead)
PPS = Pay Per Sale (there's an idea, put it on the HUD)
CPA = Cost Per Action (pay to play?)
CPC = Cost Per Click (see pay per click)
CPS = Cost Per Sale (paging captain obvious)
CTR = Click-Through Rate (the number of people that click on an ad)
DH = Direct Hit (a visit to a site that did not come from a link on another one)
Last but most important
BSD = Bull Shit Detector (you're probably going to need this if you get a call from an "SEO" expert)

Google Upgrades Webmaster Tools

Google announced yesterday that they are expanding the ability for a site owner to query and evaluate the incoming links to a domain through Google Webmaster Tools (free). The new reporting feature also separates the links as internal and external, allowing the ability to filter results from within the domain itself. Reports can be classified, filtered and downloaded.

This is a huge improvement over the old link:www.mydomain.com method of viewing inbound links. Previously this data was limited to small sampling of information. You'll need a Google account to set the service up. You will also need to verify your site. It's a simple process.

Here's a tip. Generate reports from Google Analytics (also free) and Google's webmaster tools. Include brief sample reports in your listing presentations. You don't need to get into the intricacies and nuances of metrics like organic and direct search etc. The idea is to demonstrate to your prospects that you've done more than slap up a web site and put their listing online. If you use a webmaster or template site, ask them to help you generate the reports.

Global Neighborhoods - A Preview

The co-author of the wildly famous book Naked Conversations, Shel Israel, is working on a new book entitled "Global Neighborhoods -- How Social Media are moving power from institutions to people". What intrigued me the most in reading the preview was the correlation to the real estate profession's bread and butter lead generator, referrals.

"We know the best shortcuts and what areas to avoid. When we need a recommendation, we ask a neighbor. We trust local experts.

This behavior is now moving to the internet, where people do not have to be physically present to live in a community, or for that matter, be recognized as a leader in it."

I think it's critical for one to understand how these networks are being used by internet empowered consumers to exchange information. Whatever means can be used to infuse your brand and top-of-mind awareness within social networks will pay off in spades in the long run. Social networks survive on target advertising and the level of sophistication regarding how relevant that targeting will be is increasing rapidly. Search engine keyword advertising campaigns are becoming more difficult for the average entrepreneur to participate in. Social networks may provide an opportunity to target contextual ads at a very narrow target. One would do well to understand how and where these networks operate and seek out opportunities to participate as both a member and advertiser.

"Global Neighborhoods also examines the likely outcomes to the workplace of a generation that gets its information and places its trust on peers rather than institutions. It asks what happens when they enter the mainstream marketplaces as customers, employees and potential competitors. It examines how businesses will need to adjust course to gain credibility with a generation that has cultivated a Teflon resistance to traditional marketing techniques."

If banks were robbed because "that's where the money is", your marketing will need to be focused on "where the prospect is". Social networks are shaping up to be one of those places.