Commercial Real Estate and Social Media Trends

From Kim Kardashian to the Allstate Insurance “Mayhem” guy, people and businesses alike are making you remember them, for better or worse. They are having a bigger and bigger impact on our daily lives via arguably the most important medium of communication in our world today: Social Media.

Over the last decade, Social Media has brought about a variety of brand new channels for companies to communicate directly with current and potential customers. There are few people without any kind of social media presence, so the ability to spread your message to a mass audience is truly an incredible resource for growth in both brand awareness and your bottom line.

Now, if you’re relatively new to sites like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, you’ll quickly recognize that each allows you to potentially influence your peers and customers alike in slightly different ways. Facebook is great for finding a wide range of people and utilizing pictures to show all you can offer to prospective clients. Twitter can be an excellent site to see what people in your industry are talking about and allows for more direct communication with others if you desire. Finally, LinkedIn is a great resource to showcase your company and connect with professionals with similar interests or those that could become customers.

Let’s go over some begginer’s tips for CRE professionals to get the most out of each of these sites:

Facebook – Be sure to create a Business Page, not a personal profile. It’s important to keep this current by posting at least a few times per week. You can post anything relevant to your industry, area, or something special that might be going on with your company. Feature your own tenants through posts as well! They will feel appreciated, and potential customers will see how much they enjoy working in such a great space. Your current tenants are just as important as those that will come on board in the future. Finally, post pictures! This is a great way to continue engaging potential and current customers that will be excited to see what you have to offer.

Twitter – Twitter allows users to follow all kinds of accounts from people to businesses to sports teams to bands. Connecting with those both inside and outside your industry is crucial to gaining traction on this site. Like everything else, people will follow if you have something to offer. In 140 characters or less, it’s your job offer up a question or statement to illicit increased interactions with your followers. Start by having your own employees follow your new account and participating in tweet responses. The more your posts can spread to the profiles of others, the greater your chances increased exposure to an even larger audience will become. When you do receive tweets and messages back, always reply! It shows that you care about the customer and the overall image of your brand.

LinkedIn – This professional oriented social media platform can open up many doors to connect with others both in your community and industry. While creating a LinkedIn company page, be sure to complete every section it asks. Not only will it paint a better picture of what your company can bring to the table, but it will also allow others to see your page while searching the site. The next thing you’ll want to do is join groups. There are a wide variety of community and industry groups for you to join and network within. And, speaking of networks, have your own employees follow your company page! This again, will ensure that their networks will be able to gain exposure to your page and content you post. Finally, LinkedIn is a great place to showcase your work. Whether it’s a new project, community event, tenant spotlight, or employee interview, all kinds of content can allow others to more personally connect with your company, which will hopefully lead to increased business as well.

I know Social Media can be intimidating – and there seems to be a lot of work that goes into it. But honestly, your marketing plans are not complete without this extremely important component. Follow the basic steps, and hopefully your brand will be the next that everyone is talking about – in person and online.