If you are serious about social media marketing, you have probably considered creating extra tabs on your Facebook page. You know about the business potential they carry—companies use separate Facebook tabs to create landing pages, interactive elements and special offers. But how do you go about doing it?

We recently explored the tab creation path and found a fast and easy way of doing it. Here it is in three steps:

Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6168/How-to-Create-a-New-Facebook-Tab-in-3-Easy-Steps.aspx#ixzz0sv4RVxnt

Post by Property Centric.

How can multifamily executives use social media for their business? View the slides from the presentation presented to the Apartment Association of Greater Orlando by Greg Starr from Property Centric and Mike Whaling from 30 Lines on October 14, 2009.

Post by Property Centric.

To follow up on my last blog post and illustrate just how much strangers now influence our opinions and decisions, I thought I’d post some revealing findings about the importance of worldwide input via social media.

In Universal McCann’s recent report, “When did we start trusting strangers“ in the “Proliferation of influencer channels” section, it is posited that the web is encouraging trust among strangers the world over. This trend does not correlate with the societal assumption that strangers are out to get us. Rather, we see the web as an equalizer; a readily accessible platform for expression of all peoples. Tapping into that global authority expands our knowledge boundaries and allows us to shape our opinions based on the widest range of (assumably) unbiased, unsolicited and candid information. If knowledge is power, then it seems that we’re craving the power of that collective voice so much that we now hold stranger’s opinions in nearly as high a regard as the people we personally know.

• We trust strangers online almost as much as face to face recommendation
• The top four trusted forms of recommendation are all direct conversation -significantly two of these are now on internet channels: email and Instant Messenger
• We would much rather trust a stranger than a celebrity, by a long way
• We trust a stranger over any paid-for communications or advertising
• We trust a stranger more in a regulated environment like reviews in a retail site such as Amazon or an auction site like eBay
• Blogs are becoming a trusted form of opinion, blogs from people you know rank at number 7 and those by from professionals or micropublishers, number 15.
• Blogs are almost as trusted as their written word counterparts, magazines and newspapers
• Not everything online is trusted: emails from companies are only marginally more trusted than celebrities

(Source: “When did we start trusting strangers?” page 35.)

Those in our strangers sphere might not be our BFF just yet, but from the looks of this report and others cropping up weekly, it seems that they’re quickly becoming PGF (pretty good friends).

Post by Jennifer Gosse.

When you’re looking to purchase, what mechanisms drive your opinion and finally form your decision? As media changes, so do the channels that we rely on for information and the weight we give to those channels.

Word-of-mouth has always been a major influencer, with friends and family topping the trusted list. But it is the advice from strangers with experience in what we’re seeking that has nearly doubled in value in the past 10 years.

Other influentials include teachers, religious leaders and then media such as newspapers, magazines, radio personalities, TV news reporters, followed by bloggers, advertising and finally, telemarketers (from eMarketer’s chart, “Trusted Sources of Information according to US Consumers, 1997 & 2007″). But a revolution is well under way: we now trust the opinions of strangers whose material we read or view online as much as our friends!

So when did strangers become such a heavy influencer of our decisions? The boom of social media has given us access to billions of ratings, reviews, videos, blogs and micro-blogs, from people we don’t personally know. This state of affairs has been referred to as the “democratization of influence to the masses.”  This is a serious call-to-action for all marketers. Social media is now key in our hierarchical decision-making processes and must be recognized as a tool to meet your audience on the new communication grounds.

So how do we come to trust Stranger X’s opinion more than Stranger Y and Z? What strangers have to say is obviously important, but perhaps as important is strangers’ ability to identify with us that makes the difference. As we look at avatars, read profiles, skim comments and blogs and view video clips, we look for clues that help us decide whether this is an opinion we’d trust. It might be abstract, but it’s the little things that influence whether we identify with that someone in one way or another.

It might be their work or life experience, notoriety, social life, family situation, appearance, personality or their style of communication that help form our “online” opinion of these strangers. As we gather those clues, we filter them through our own prisms of experience and knowledge. Does their opinion add up? Can we supplement our knowledge base with the views expressed by Stranger X? We’ll count or discount these influencing factors, and move onto the next review, comment, tweet, chat message, email or video until we’ve reached our own decision-making comfort level. And, we’ll add in a dash of traditional media opinion if applicable, and wrap it all up into our defendable decision.

You may be a little ahead or a little behind this curve, but the reality remains that the opinion of the masses is increasingly important in our lives. Its wise to join the conversation but don’t jump in without some preparation.  Transparency and good user experience are essential ingredients if your goal is successful viral marketing. Consumers want to know what makes your company tick, they want to see the faces behind the image and most importantly, they want a great product or service.

Post by Jennifer Gosse.

A new shopping behavioral trend has emerged in recent months: the info shopper. Fiscal responsibility is top of mind and whether we need or want something, we’re going to pour over the details before we spend our hard-earned cash.

Even offline purchases are scrutinized these days. People are increasingly suspect of TV ads, particularly frustrated with the lack of critical decision-making information available via the traditional format. Consumers are pursuing their curiosities online, learning a lot and gaining confidence throughout the process. 92% of respondents to a recent survey by Penn, Scoen and Berland have more confidence in the information they glean rather than in store clerks or other sources. Cars, homes, computers and medical care are top info-seeking areas, with 4 out of 5 shoppers gathering data online before buying.

As is usually the case, consumer behavior is changing more rapidly than marketers of products. People want full disclosure upfront. Dyson’s model of sharing the secret of their unique products with customers builds trust and increases loyalty.But many companies fail to divulge details that have become necessary for consumers to even consider buying their products.

The trend manifests in everything from big ticket items to daily personal care products. For instance, instead of just buying the same shampoo they’ve always purchased, people want to know whether it will work well with their hair type, color, whether the plastic is recyclable, what the ingredients are and what other shoppers think of the shampoo. Trivial information perhaps to some, but important to others who care more about value then ever before. After all, why waste money on a purchase that isn’t in the good to excellent category when better buying decisions are a few clicks away?

Well-informed decisions are now a right, not a luxury. That’s why aggregator and search sites will become more valuable, as they mash-up content from reviews,  manufacturers and press, giving buyers more of an unbiased story from which they can draw their own conclusions.

Post by Jennifer Gosse.

The social media hype continues and is enticing companies of every shape and size to dabble in creating new networks. To facilitate the craze, dozens of open source social networking platforms have launched. Jeremiah Owyyang’s blog lists over 60 brandable software platforms that can plug into your existing domain, allowing you to create your very own social network.  But does every company really need to have a social network?

In a Deloitte study of 100 businesses with online communities, Ed Moran found that 35% of these communities have less than 100 members and less than 25% have 1000 members. 6% of the businesses studied spent over $1 million on their social networks. Sadly, all too many fail at their attempts to connect customers to their brand because instead of focusing on the community itself, businesses are focusing on the value that social community could provide for their business.

Despite the failures, there are definitely industries that DO have ready-made communities with well-established brand alliance, and have a greater chance of building successful online communities. The multifamily is definitely well-positioned for this. Other verticals include: local television networks (daily news watchers), radio (listening audiences), niche local communities (customized hyperlocal search) and education (school districts, private schools, universities).

Most multifamily companies have a couple clear-cut missions in life (e.g. collecting rents and driving occupancy rates), but a newer mandate is to establish and promote your brand for a longer-term connection with an increasingly transient population.  Before signing a rental contract, an individual needs to identify with what that apartment provides – far deeper than price points, the rental market is now driven by amenities. “Lifestyle” is the buzzword for providing more than a roof over people’s heads. Now, apartment companies need to provide easy to use services ranging from online rent pay to pet sitting to VIP concierge services and customized local search while hosting real live community pool parties, golf instruction classes and more. While it may sound exhausting (and it is), apartment companies are finally optimizing their built-in community of residents and finding creative ways to connect the residents together, along with meaningful lifestyle amenities that cement the value of their brand, while gaining loyalty in the minds of renters.

Riverstone Residential, the nation’s third largest apartment management company, offers a moving program, Riverstone-to-Riverstone which helps transfer residents to another Riverstone community sans application process and deposit fees. Combined with their Living Made Easy features, including “Your Neighborhood Directory,” a local search engine launched in three metros, where users can find “just down the street” local businesses via a true search results format (e.g. not just Yellow Page data), residents benefit from buying into Riverstone’s “community” and the value it provides to their daily lives.

Morals of the story:

• If you don’t have a pre-existing community, don’t assume that you can create one (and don’t spend a lot of money trying to create one).
• If you do have a pre-existing community (and they already visit your website regularly), focus on the value that your social network will provide to your users.

Post by David Gosse.

Do you ever log into an online community, see an ad and think, “Nice try but no cigar” and go about your business? I don’t think I’m alone in feeling superior these days to some of the irrelevant online advertising attempts that I’m hit with daily. For example, Myspace thinks they’re going to “reel me in” with giant electric blue hyperlinks to buy “Frank Lloyd Wright Gifts” just because this world famous architect is listed in my interests? I might read about his work and appreciate his style, but I doubt I will ever be shopping online to get all my friends an FLW keychain. I suppose if I cared to be more liberal in exposing my personal likes and dislikes, the ads generated for me might make more sense?
 
In a recent Online Media Daily Commentary entry called Shopping 3.0 In A Web 2.0 World by Gordon Gould, a refreshing concept is posed, “The question should be: how can consumers discover products (or brands/companies) that fit their unique tastes? And not how can data be used to tell consumers what products they want/need?” Facebook, though not super discreet in some ways, practices this concept well with a small rotating ad space within a permanent left panel of their site navigation.

Once logged in from the ad-free homepage you are greeted by a newsfeed of your friend’s recent activity, complete with icons and descriptions. Occasionally I’ll become consumed by the sometimes enticing feeds and perhaps click one. After all friends share interests, right? But in the more traditional sense of plain ‘ol ads, the permanent ads in the left panel are almost always more relevant to me than the marketing from other online communities.

Today I experienced an ad offering a photo booth rental. Perfect for someone with quirky tastes and who cites their status as being engaged in their profile, right? Well, let’s just say my fingers did the clicking and I was on their site and having a phone conversation about their services within minutes. Even though I’d been suckered, I didn’t care. I was too busy imagining how cool it would be to have a photo booth at my reception. 

How do they know my quirky tastes you ask? Well for one, they know which feeds interest me and then they proceed to track my activity. But even if an individual barely utilizes them or ever at all, enough of your online friends are likely to use them and likely have similar tastes which are also linked to your profile. Secondly, the groups you join and other movement within the site tell even more about you.

So it’s all about the clues the user leaves behind and how intelligently a site uses those clues to market to a specific user. The trick is not to bombard the user but rather provide a sense of ease in finding unique new products and services.

Post by Stephanie Santoro.

More and more these days the web has become my all-in-one tool for managing just about everything. I live a virtually paperless lifestyle with the exception of stubborn vendors who have yet to adopt online billing. Personally I can attest to about 80% of my waking hours being spent online. Like a growing number of professionals, I communicate with co-workers primarily via email and instant messenger, complete most projects with online software and manage professional and personal schedules through various web-based systems. Regretfully, I am also guilty of maintaining friendships via every popular social network out there. Being the self-professed “online junkie” that I am, it is no secret to me that I am exposed to a lot of target marketing online. As it becomes easier and easier to track one’s online activity, user-specific, strategically placed ads become easier to spot.

Blushes aside, unlike the small percentage of users that actually notice this, I could care less that a profile for marketing directly to me is being updated every time I visit a site. Heck it’s more thoughtful than some of the interactions I engage in, given the decline in customer service I experience in the average dining or shopping establishment. It’s no wonder online buying is on a steady rise as claimed in this eMarketer article on retail eCommerce.

Most of the time ads are discreet enough not to bother me and probably just burn themselves into my memory for intentional future exploitation. Surely this could be a sort of trigger system which is all worked out in advance during campaign conception, but we need not concern ourselves with all of that. Since my priority is usually to meet a deadline or carry out a more meaningful task, the occasional fumble en route to my “tool of convenience” is worth the unsolicited pop up or blinking banner. I’ll take that any day over obnoxious paper trails and extra notes in my head that take away from life’s big picture focuses. More often than not, these online tools are free or cheap.  In exchange, we tolerate a peripheral collage of seemingly meaningless images with vague potential for future recall or for capturing my attention at the exact moment in time when the meaningless becomes relevant.

Post by Stephanie Santoro.

If ever there was a time to engage and reach out to your customers, it’s now. There are so many ways of letting your good customer practices shine. Yes, social media and customer-centric practices can be uncomfortable to step into, but the end product can mean loyal customer partners for life.

Take in this real-life story about a company with heart – and get some inspiration for your own sincerely driven efforts to positively impact the lives of your customers. Zappos’ uncalled for sympathy, as reported by Zaz Lamarr in her personal blog, “Writing, Cooking, Life,” has sparked a lot of publicity online. We doubt that was the end intention of Zappos, but rather that it was a random act of kindness. There were people at the company thinking from the heart rather than the head who went beyond the rules to let a customer know they really care.

I Heart Zappos

I really do.

One bright, extraordinary note in all of the sad stuff of the last few weeks - in May we had ordered several pairs of shoes from Zappos for my mom. She’d lost a lot of weight, and her old shoes were all too big. She had a whole new wardrobe of clothes in pretty colors, that fit, so I wanted her to have some pretty shoes that fit, too, when I took her up to Oregon to stay where her sister is. Out of seven pairs, only two fit. Not bad considering she’d never been this thin, so I was winging it, and the return shipping is free.

The rest were here waiting to be returned. Because of various circumstances - lost label, my mom being hospitalized and me being away, the shoes were never sent back. There’s a time limit on the return of 15 days. Remember this. When you do a return to them, they pay the shipping, but you have to get the shoes to UPS yourself. Remember this, also.

When I came home this last time, I had an email from Zappos asking about the shoes, since they hadn’t received them. I was just back and not ready to deal with that, so I replied that my mom had died but that I’d send the shoes as soon as I could. They emailed back that they had arranged with UPS to pick up the shoes, so I wouldn’t have to take the time to do it myself. I was so touched. That’s going against corporate policy.

Yesterday, when I came home from town, a florist delivery man was just leaving. It was a beautiful arrangement in a basket with white lilies and roses and carnations. Big and lush and fragrant. I opened the card, and it was from Zappos. I burst into tears. I’m a sucker for kindness, and if that isn’t one of the nicest things I’ve ever had happen to me, I don’t know what is. So…

IF YOU BUY SHOES ONLINE, GET THEM FROM ZAPPOS.

With hearts like theirs, you know they’re good to do business with.

You’ve inspired us all, Zappos. We encourage all companies to think outside the sometimes stuffy lines of corporate-to-consumer relations and think like a human, with heart.

Post by David Gosse.