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Grow Socially is pleased to announced that they have been nominated for an award. Our CEO, John Foley, has been nominated for 2 awards as well. Below, there is information on all 3 of our nominations. We would love to have your vote!
Grow Socially is up for the National/lnternational B2B Services Company Award and John Foley is up for the B2B Boss Tweet Personality Award!
It’s easy! All you have to do is briefly explain why you think Grow Socially and John Foley deserve the awards and just click submit.
While you are there, check out their Q & A’s on each of the voting pages to hear how and why each of the nominees use Twitter!
SLMA is giving you the chance to vote for 3 people who you believe are one of the 50 most influential people in Sales Lead Management for 2010! If you think John Foley is one of the best out there, give him your vote!
Listen to John explain why social media helps sales lead generation on SLMA Radio!
Read how John used a Twitterview to create sales lead generation.
Social media can be utilized and effective for basically any business, but one industry that would benefit extremely well from it would be real estate. The procedure of finding housing has shifted vastly to the internet, which has many different types of sites for this particular need. But how can real estate agents separate themselves and the properties they are selling from the rest? Social media can help play a huge role in humanizing the brand of a real estate agent, keeping all of their property hunters updated on a continuous basis on a variety of properties, sharing statistics, trends, and facts on living areas, and in many more factors. The main social media sites, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, would support a real estate agent’s mission to deliver valuable, consistent, and accessible information to the people they work with. Here are some ways real estate professionals can utilize each of these sites in specific ways.
YouTube
Property Tours: When people search for potential homes on the internet, 6 pictures just never seem to justify what that property really looks like in real life. The pictures may not give the best idea of how big a room is, may only show a percentage of the house, and in some cases, only shows the property but not the surrounding neighborhood. Stand out from the crowd and give your viewers a property tour using a FlipCam. You can even make a 30 second to 2 minute video of each room in order to explain the reasons of why people should come see that property in person. Talk about the architecture, what type of furniture can fit into what space, what type of material the cabinets and floors are made out of, etc. Don’t let a few mediocre pictures do your job, put the open house tour online in order to attract a lot more people who don’t have time to see it in person.
Sell yourself: People usually think all sales people are just out to make a buck. Create videos of yourself and your real estate business so people can see the human side of you, not the real estate agent who just cares about the commission. Discuss why finding the right home for your clients is important to you, some of your past success stories, how long you have been in the industry, and why you enjoy your job. Short videos displaying personality and your expertise will create trust between you and a potential client before you even talk on the phone with them!
Success/Unique Case Studies: If you show video clips of some of the properties you sold, people will be able to see what you are capable of selling and how successful you were with it. Seeing these personal case studies would give them a better idea of whether they would want you as their real estate agent or not. Think about it, you can form you own online video portfolio for all to view just by sharing a link. That’s convenient, informative, and easy!
If you are on Twitter, you can share a vast amount of information to your followers. Here are some ideas:
-Links to different projects
-Information on why particular areas are better to build properties in
-Population in various areas
-Areas with new and thriving businesses
-A town or city’s infrastructure
-Nearby Activities
-Proximity of nearby cities to properties
-An area’s average income
-Why certain areas are great for families/singles/various age groups
-Property tax information
-New trends in building properties
-How schools in the area rank in quality
-Crime rates in areas
-Spreading information of the real estate industry
This would serve as an additional outlet for people to ask you questions, comment on properties that you may share on Facebook, and receive contact information for you and your business. It is another place to share information of what is on your other social media sites and what is happening in the real estate industry. Facebook is also a great place for announcements like when the next open house would be.
This is a great site to keep in contact with all of your colleagues, current clients, and past clients. You can sync up your Twitter feed so you are continuously updating your contacts on what information you are sharing to your Twitter audience. You may also want to sync up your online calendar so people know when you are holding an open house, attending a conference, or some other type of event. Keeping people up to date with what you and your business participate with can give them an idea of how you stay current with the industry and if they would be able to meet with you there. Testimonials are another excellent promotional opportunity that LinkedIn offers. If you have colleagues or former clients who are very impressed with your work, give them a testimonial in exchange for them to give you one. It gives life to your LinkedIn profile and people would be able to get a better insight of your work ethic, personality, and how great you are to work with.
Social media is a great marketing tool for real estate agents to use. It helps you get connected and stay connected with people looking for a house, past/current clients, other real estate agents/developers, and businesses/colleagues who you work with in the industry. It is great to be on social media because people can easily refer you to other people online, you can create an excellent and creative online portfolio, you can spread the news of properties you are showing faster and to more people, and you can brand yourself as a leader in the real estate industry.
The internet is a great tool; use it to your advantage to grow your business today!
Read why interlinkONE’s Jason Pinto suggests using QR Codes with Real Estate!
Check out how other industries are using QR Codes.
John Foley recently participated in a Twitterview with the topic of “QR Codes and Video Tags in Tourism”. By taking part in this hour-long discussion, he was able to interact with tourism marketers from all over the country. Some of the places people were from were Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, California, and Montana. These were just the people who were speaking in the discussion; however, John was probably promoting himself to many more people who were just following along.
Throughout the Twitterview, all of the participants discussed where QR codes can appear, where the QR codes can direct a person to, and why it would be useful and beneficial the user. John was able to promote himself, QR codes, and QReateandTrack, a QR Code service that his other business, interlinkONE, provides. Using the Twitterview, John was able to promote himself in a variety of ways. The first way was by introducing himself as:
“Hi. I’m @johnfoleyjr from @interlinkONE #tourismchat“.
Here, he attached his Twitter-handle, “@johnfoleyjr”, his business’s Twitter-handle, “@interlinkONE”, and the Twitterview hashtag, “#tourismchat”. In that little tweet, John shared links to his personal Twitter profile and interlinkONE’s Twitter profile.
Further into the discussion, someone asked where he could learn more information about QR codes. John responded to this inquiry by including the person’s Twitter-handle in the tweet followed with:
“If interested – Whitepaper here #qrcodes ‘Using QR Codes to Reach the Busy, Mobile Consumer’. http://ilnk.me/5058 #tourismchat”.
Here, he not only acknowledged a participant’s request for more information, but also shared the link to everyone who was following the Twitterview.
Meanwhile, a representative from interlinkONE joined the Twitterview, as well, by using QReateandTrack’s Twitter-handle, “@QReateandTrack”. While using this, she was able to answer questions and promote QReateandTrack on behalf of interlinkONE. Some of the ways she was able to give great tips, answer questions, and share links were by tweeting:
“@Qreateandtrack: QReateAndTrack.com. There you can create the QR Code and also track it. You can see where and when it was scanned #tourismchat”
“@Qreateandtrack: – You could go about finding more info by setting up a landing page and asking people for more info. That would work. #tourismchat”
“@Qreateandtrack: We created this poster http://ilnk.me/5065. Each time it is scanned the QR Code changes its response. Try it out! #tourismchat”
Remember, Twitter only allows your tweets to contain a maximum of 140 characters, so that is why the tweets have to be very blunt and straight-forward.
When the Twitterview was close to conclusion, John gave a few final suggestions and tips by tweeting:
“@johnfoleyjr: Tracking needs to go beyond a scan to a page – Metrics are important #tourismchat”
“@johnfoleyjr: Don’t think big brother! Think reaching the mobile audience #tourismchat”
Lastly, John thanked all of the attendees for joining the Twitterview and gave one last promotion of himself and representatives from interlinkONE:
“@johnfoleyjr: Thanks! 
Any questions ask me PLEASE! or follow @qreateandtrack or @jasonpinto #tourismchat”
Twitterviews can be extremely useful when you are trying to market to a new group of people or industry. By participating in these online discussions, you are able to meet a lot of connections in a short amount of time, and you can learn a lot as well. Take some time and do some searches on your favorite hashtags and if you want to conduct your own Twitterview, ask some of your favorite Tweeters to join in. Good luck!
Learn more about Twitterviews and see how United Airlines have been using QR Codes!
On a recent flight on United Airlines, one of the Grow Socialites noticed something on the back of an in-flight magazine. On an advertisement for a zero gravity tourism experience was a QR code placed right above the company’s logo and website address. Seemingly innocuous, this code could be mistaken for a magazine’s barcode or a sticker placed on the magazine to the untrained eye. However looking past the QR code lays an entire second wave of advertising and direct marketing. A QR code, also known as a Quick Response code, is a barcode of sorts that is used for mobile tagging and identifying. However a QR code’s use in advertising has unleashed a much more broad use. With an equipped mobile device, a consumer can scan a QR code and be led to basically anywhere the advertiser decides. A link in the QR code can directly send a potential consumer to a discount, a video, or website of a business within seconds via their phone. It adds a sense of mystery to the product or service and forces a consumer to ponder where the code will take them.
From the advertiser’s standpoint it creates a sense of customer engagement and assures that a potential consumer is learning more about the product or service almost instantly. This trend has reached new levels in Japan, where QR codes on print advertising are almost standard in some demographics. There are realistic concerns over how well this would translate in the states. The argument has been made that not enough of the population have mobile devices with the capability to read the codes, and the other major issue is the ease of scanning a code, as it can be difficult to scan a barcode from a phone while packed in a subway car or passing by a poster. However, this exciting addition could be the saving grace that print advertising needs. If such a standard were to be set here, QR codes could help drive sales of print advertising in any form, helping businesses in every aspect. So the question is, are your QR ready?
Learn how you can scan a QR code with your smart phone or learn more about how you can use social media on your smart phone!
John Foley is already gearing up for the upcoming Dscoop6 FastForward Conference happening this February in Orlando, Florida. He explains to viewers how social media helps fast forward marketing efforts for your business. Take a look! Watch more Grow Socially videos on our YouTube Channel!
Right now, I am currently on a bus that goes from school to Boston, which provides free Wi-Fi to its customers. This is a very convenient feature when it comes to accessing and updating social media on the go. People are busy and usually when running a business or an organization, there is little time to sit at your desk and work through your social media sites. Free WiFi in public transportation venues gives you the opportunity to use this downtime effectively. I can update my social media sites together while using HootSuite and individually check each site if I choose. This way, if you are someone who constantly is on the go like me, you now have the opportunity to complete work tasks throughout the day instead of having it pile up.
Another convenience of having the Internet in public transformation venues is that you can interact with potential clients through social media sites. In my case, I just had a quick conversation with a parent that had their child attend my summer camp at Camp Forty Acres through Facebook chat. It was quick and easy and I was able to get her the information she needed. Free public Wi-Fi spots are a very useful tool because it creates a good opportunity to develop successful interaction in this face-paced, moving world. The further we go into the twenty first century, the amount of services the Internet provides will increase. Accessing these new services quickly and efficiently is going to be very important.
Another device you can access the web with besides a laptop is a smart phone! Find out how to use social media with one by reading this blog post. You can also scan QR Codes with a smart phone. Read this post to find out how!
Sifting through the cluttered confusion of college life, there are few things that a student will truly hold sacred. There is the cell phone, a laptop, perhaps a favorite shirt or some video games.
But one thing is for sure, college students love social media.
Social media sites, Facebook in particular, still reign supreme in dorms and apartments across the country. Facebook’s popularity is still rising, which is incredible considering its already staggering usership.
Consider this: a company called Anderson Analytics did a study about which websites college students enjoy the most. Facebook accumulated nearly 28% of the votes. Second place? Google, with less than 7%. Furthermore, Facebook had a higher vote total than Google, MySpace, YouTube, ESPN, Ebay and Yahoo, combined.
According to an article on eMarketer.com, “Nearly six in ten female college students learn about products on social networks, along with 44% of males. In addition, 80% of females and 76% of males get product information from websites they visit regularly.”
Besides being informative, Facebook is also interactive.
Facebook can go on your mobile device. It provides notifications of new activity. You can create your own activity. According to the Facebook statistics page, the average user creates 90 pieces of content monthly. Studies have shown that smart phones are increasing rapidly in population among college students, and they are used for surfing the web in great quantities. Cellular-News.com actually reveals that more college students use smart phones than working adults.
Facebook is quickly becoming the predominant source of news amongst college students. Businesses are clearly aware of this. Product placement throughout the social media giant is becoming the strongest form of advertisement for its users. Businesses, young and old, can greatly benefit from an expansion into the social media arena. At the very least, college students will notice.
If you were thinking about creating a mobile-friendly corporate website due to the rising popularity of smart phones, check out this blog post for some tips on how to design one! For more information on how to use social media on a smart phone, watch our very own Ed Cianci explain how he uses it with his iPhone.
In case you missed it yesterday, check out Chief Marketer’s Q & A with John Foley (CEO, Grow Socially, interlinkONE) in DIRECT Magazine!
The Q & A session is titled “Making Money While Email and Social Media Make Nice“.
Some key topics in this interview are:
The importance of having your target audience subscribe to both your eNewsletters and social media sites, and what the benefits are.
Common mistakes marketers make regarding leveraging email and social media.
How you should be using and promoting your social media sites.
Why you should differentiate the emails you send to people who also follow you via social media from those you send to non-followers.
We hope you find this interview helpful. Feel free to leave comments or post questions on any of our social media sites, we would love to hear your feedback!
For more tips from Grow Socially, read how you can become more interactive with your online audience or listen to John explain how social media can increase lead generation for your business.
Are you stumped on finding ways to interact with your target audience online? No need to worry any longer. During John Foley’s radio interview last week with SLMA Radio, host, Will Crist, and he came up with plenty of different ways for you to creatively engage with your audience using social media and your company website.
Have them sign up for a webinar. You can announce webinars in your blog, social media sites, website, or eNewsletter. Webinars are an opportunity to share your expertise with any number of people, and you are able to have them participate, ask you questions, and share their ideas during the webinar, as well. Webinar programs, like GoToMeeting.com, even allow you to record the webinar so you can post it on channels, like your blog, for future reference.
Have them sign up for your eNewsletter. eNewsletters are always a great way for them to stay up to date with what your business is doing. It also gives companies the opportunity to show a more personable side to their audience. Ways to humanize your brand on eNewsletters are integrating YouTube videos of staff members discussing a particular subject, blog posts, and sharing pictures of events the business participated with.
Invite them to an event or seminar. This can create an opportunity to see which of your social media channels work the best. If you advertise the event on all channels with a link that directs them to the event’s registration page, create a survey question of which one of the company’s pages did they learn about the event. It will give you insight on how much traffic flow is occurring and where it is happening the most.
Invite them to download an eBook or White Paper. Sharing information and industry expertise are two big trends in social media and it is a great way to promote business to them. If you announce to your online audience that these materials are available online, they will be able to learn more about you and would be able to easily pass along that information to their colleagues. Try to set up a landing page to the free download as well. Having them enter their e-mail address and answer 2-3 survey questions before they download the document would give you the chance to gain more information about them. Check out how we promoted John’s new eBook on our blog.
Create a Contest. You can incorporate this into your eNewsletter, blog, social media sites, events that you are going to- basically anything. Have them enter the contest by submitting their e-mail address, and by answering a few survey questions. This information will give you material to see if any of the participants could be possible prospects. You can also create a “Thank you for entering” e-mail for all of the participants in order to encourage future interactions with them.
Create a Poll. Polls are a fantastic way to learn more information about who is following you online. They are quick, easy, and efficient for both you and the participant. You can have the poll focus on any type of subject matter. Some subjects could be which of our services are most beneficial to you, how often do you need our service, how do you search for businesses like ours, etc. Display a poll on your website, eNewsletter, and social sites!
Make a video. Creating videos is so easy with the help of FlipCams, digital cameras, etc. They only have to be 30 seconds to 2 minutes long in order for it to send a valuable message to your audience. You can do so much with videos. Some ideas are announcing a contest winner, wishing your audience happy holidays, live footage of events, interviews with colleagues, or company announcements. Let your audience see the personable side of you and give your staff members the chance to participate with your marketing efforts. Integrate your videos on your website, eNewsletter, and your social media sites. Check out how we integrate YouTube videos into our blog!
Organize Testimonial Interviews. Having your testimonials in video-form would bring new life to your testimonial page on your website. People would be able to see the clients you have worked with, how they talk about your business, and it would be easier for them to explain their experience with your business in person. Words can only capture so much, but videos are able to show how happy a customer was with your business, and they may even be able to bring in the product you made for them. Posting videos are possible on all social media sites and you would be able to monitor how many views and comments it gets.
Create a Blog. Blogs can be used as your daily eNewsletter. It is easy to keep them updated on a daily or weekly basis and you can blog on just about anything. Integrating videos, announcements, poll results, experiences at events, or subject matter are all fantastic topics to discuss in a blog. Your audience can be able to leave comments and share it with friends, and you would be able to easily announce news in a quick manner. Promoting new entries across all of your online channels immediately after is possible as well. Don’t be intimidated by the blog, entries can be as short or as long as you want!
Host a Twitter-Chat. Twitter chats can be very useful when it comes to attracting an online audience and giving those participants a chance to engage or respond to what you are saying. Twitter makes sharing and interacting so easy because of their hashtags, retweets, and your username handle. You can promote Twitter Chats and Twitterviews easily and seeing how people shared the information after the chat is always interesting to check out.
Online marketing can be used as a very helpful tool for your non-profit organization in terms of building your network, providing information, and creating an experience for your online audience. I have experienced this success first-hand by serving as the programming coordinator for Camp Forty Acres Summer Adventure in Wilmington, MA. It is a small non-profit organization developed in the Wilmington Town forest. This program was built to provide Wilmington and its vicinity with an outdoor summer experience that is educational and entertaining for the youth of the community.
Last summer, the staff at Camp 40 Acres wanted to create new marketing strategies for the organization in order to bring the non-profit more success. The first step we took was re-building our website to make it easily managed and attractive. These two factors are very important for redesigning a website because you want it to appeal to your audience and not have them click away from it. Once we were done redesigning our website, we wanted to promote it. In order to do this, we created a funnel-effect strategy. This strategy involved us advertising our organization using different marketing channels in order to funnel traffic to the website.
We decided to use Facebook as our additional marketing channel. We developed a solid Facebook page for Camp 40 Acres, which included enough information to direct people towards our website. Whenever we made wall posts, uploaded pictures, or created videos for Facebook, we advertised our website address. It was plastered throughout our Facebook and as our network grew, more people had the opportunity to explore the website and generate interest in the camp. Another benefit of Facebook is being able to incorporate and embed other social media sites into it as well, such as YouTube videos.
One way we connected Facebook with YouTube was by featuring our biggest attraction, our 20′ high Zipline. We showcased the Zipline by creating a YouTube video of people using it and then posted it on Facebook. It was amazing to see how much interest was generated just by displaying what we had to offer. We also uploaded pictures that illustrated our activities and the lessons we administer at camp, which gave people an opportunity to view the product in advance. As we got closer to the summer, we offered deals to our friends on Facebook in regards to discounts and promotions. This can only enhance your network. One person tells their friends that they got a discount for your organization through Facebook and soon enough you will see your network growing.
Lastly, Facebook provides a communication opportunity for your customers. It is fast, easy, and sometimes more effective than emails. You can receive and provide answers quickly. Find a way to successfully enhance your non-profit through Facebook and I can guarantee you will see growth in your network.
If your business is also related to the hospitality or tourism industry, learn how social media can help promote your business by reading the blog post, “The Changing Face of Tourism”.
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FROM THE BLOG
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May 26, 2013
