Learn how to use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube and Google+ for Apartments!

Using Social Media for Apartment Communities (Infographic) originally appeared on Socially Engaged Marketing on December 30, 2011.

Update your page daily

Did you know that your Facebook page content is viewed by less than 10% of your fans? Typically, the updates you post are viewed by 3-7% of your fans. For each consecutive day you update your page, your chance of appearing in the newsfeeds of your fans incrementally increases.

If a fan doesn’t click, comment, or like your posts for a long period of time, there is a good chance they are no longer seeing the content you post. EdgeRank, the Facebook algorithm that determines the visibility of your page updates within news feeds, is a little complicated. Activities that require a higher level of engagement weight heavier in the EdgeRank algorithm.

News Feed Optimization - Using EdgeRank to boost visibility

What post types does EdgeRank look for?

• Questions
• Videos
• Photos
• Links (use long URL’s – not shortened ones)
• Tags
• Updates (keep these short – approximately 80 characters or so)
• Apps

What can we do to get more comments, likes, and shares?

• Ask questions that are polarizing.
  On one page I asked “Had dinner last night and got into a food debate. Who knew there was such a divide over mushrooms? Are you pro or anti-mushroom?” – We received 25 comments!
• Ask questions that are easy to respond to, like fill-in-the-blank.
  “You might work in property management if _____________. (fill-in-the-blank)” – We received 22 comments.
  “You might be a military wife if you ___________” earned us 29 comments and 2 shares.
  “When I move, the firsst thing I clean in my new place is _____________.” received 23 comments, 2 likes, and 1 share.
• “This or that” questions work well too.
  We asked “iPhone, Blackberry or Android?” and received 21 comments.
• Ask for likes.
  “Like this post if you’re working today” earned 18 likes.
• Share moving or funny photos and videos.
  One recent video posted received 40 likes and 12 shares.
• Tag other businesses in your updates to get responses.
  “We’re diggin’ the light show at Villa Pallavicini ”Villa P” in Arizona! Their facebook page is VERY Socially Engaging – go “like” it and see for yourself. Great job Liz!” Liz responded with a like, a comment, and a wall post that tagged us from their page “Thanks to Socially Engaged Marketing for letting everyone see the “light” this holiday season!! Check out their page for all the best in Social Media and Marketing.”
• Ask poll questions.
  Poll:”What is your favorite Holiday movie?” received 13 votes.
• Follow-up to answers – creating conversation:
  When someone replies to your question or update, you can now tag them in response. To tag, simply type @ and start typing the person’s name you wish to tag. The key to business pages is that the person has to comment on a post before you can tag them in response. This is great for following up, starting conversation, and getting more visibility in the Tickers of the friends of your fans.
• Ask questions that you can follow-up with a blog post sharing everyone’s responses.
• Post frequently – 1-3 times a day Monday – Friday
  BUT only if they are funny, entertaining, or interesting – boring posts will kill your engagement.
• Test out different times to post. 
  My clients get the best responses to posts I make approximately 8am, 12pm, and 3pm EST.
• Post to Facebook manually for best results.
  Although Facebook has stated that they are no longer docking EdeRank scores for third party apps like Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, etc., my experience shows higher engagement with posts made manually to Facebook.

What to do if your page has fans but the responses have dwindled?

• Sponsored stories or Ads may help boost connectivity
• Tag friends in comments requesting their response “Hey Amy, what do you think about this?”
• Post photos and videos – ask for tags
• Take it offline: Ask everyone that visits your office to “like” your page, comment on an update, and share updates with their friends

How To Get More Facebook Comments, Likes and Shares originally appeared on Socially Engaged Marketing on December 30, 2011.

My apartment industry friend, Leigh Curry from Curry Conduit Services, Inc., posted this on Facebook this morning:

What would you have done if this were your community Facebook page?

Here’s what others had to say:

And now, this is what I would’ve advised, had the community been my client:

1. Thank the resident for their feedback and award he/she with the prize – they did win, after all!
2. Have the resident schedule a visit to the office and discuss their list of concerns – be calm, laugh it off if the situation warrants it, and be understanding.
3. Make all possible improvements – give a deadline for construction, see if you can start construction work at 8 am, fix the elevators, and provide window coverings if available or recommend reasonably priced window covering options.
4. Ask that the resident follow up on the update with positive comments once the issues were resolved to their satisfaction Perhaps something like “Thanks for fixing all of those issues!” and ask them to state why they love living at the community (only if they really do once these issues are fixed.)
5. Prepare a procedure for responding to future negative commentary.

On one of my favorite t.v. shows, the star always says ”Never ask a question that you don’t already know the answer to.” The same can be said for your Facebook status updates! The moral of the story is to A. ask easy-to-answer questions and B. respond politely and professionally to negative commentary online.

What would you do differently?

Stay tuned for Monday’s upcoming post for ideas on what to post on your community Facebook page: “How To Get More Facebook Comments, Likes and Shares.”

How Would You Handle This Facebook Disaster? originally appeared on Socially Engaged Marketing on December 28, 2011.

I would like to thank Shana Treger, the National Apartment Association, and the webinar attendees for the opportunity to present the Facebook for Property Managers webinar on Thursday, November 10th.

We explained how to understand the purpose of Facebook, provided instructions on converting from a profile to a page, building landing tabs, contests, and conversation.

“Facebook for property management: from start to finish, everything you need to know to create a presence on Facebook that attracts and retains residents at your community. Stand out from the crowd, don’t be left behind! There’s nothing worse than being ignored online. We can show you how to differentiate your community from competitors.”

It was an honor and a privilege to present this for NAA. We look forward to providing additional educational opportunities in 2012.

For those that missed the presentation, I’ve included it below.

Facebook for Property Managers: Presenting for National Apartment Association originally appeared on Socially Engaged Marketing on November 14, 2011.

Jolene Sopalski is a friend and an apartment industry professional. I have asked her to share her thoughts with us today regarding all of the “push marketing” we see on Facebook. This guest post is from the perspective of an everyday social network user:

“Don’t sell to me – connect with me.”

With every company wanting to get their product out in the public view, social media has become the main focus for marketing. We see this every day when we are watching TV, buying food and viewing the advertisements on the side of your Facebook page. The “Like Us” on Facebook is everywhere you go. There is not a place that is free of the Facebook mantra. With all of this going on, how are you to decide on whom to like and not to like? How can you, as a company, market your product without turning away your customers by over-selling them via your social marketing?

One of the most annoying things a company can do is over-sell their product to their customers using social media. As consumers, we want companies we purchase from to know who we are, to care about us and most of all – have a relationship with us. Social media has become the platform for consumers to get what they want a relationship. There are a few companies that understand how to truly connect with their consumers; and then there the other companies that just don’t get what social media is about. Read this right now and repeat this line to yourself every time you start to post on your social sites: “Don’t sell to me – connect with me.” This motto is very important to your company social marketing plan if you want to be successful like Publix, CVS Pharmacy, Peggy & Lowe’s. These companies know how to use Social Media and are not afraid to respond to their consumer’s comments.

How can we connect without directly selling our product to the consumers?

As humans we want to believe that we cannot be “sold” to. So we naturally avoid any message that is intended to market to us. From those pesky door-to-door sales people from the old days, to a social media message that does nothing but promote their sales… I don’t know about you, but I will “unlike” a social media page in a heartbeat!

Take a look at Publix Facebook page; they do an excellent job on connecting with their customers! They respond to every comment regardless if it is a negative or positive. They have mastered the indirect selling part of their face book page. The more I read, the more I want to keep shopping at Publix in spite of a bad experience at one recently. Comments posted are answered quickly! I posted about an experience I had and within seconds I had a response that was not automated.  They mentioned me by name to be sure I received their reply. I am now a diehard fan of Publix!

Instead of posting sales all the time, (you know the same ones we get in the email and in our snail mail?) post content that is valuable. New York & Co. will post about how to wear their jeans or where to wear with them. This is connecting with the consumer by using a how to tactic.

If you look at the Discover, Peggy’s page, they have nailed it with engaging their customers or the public in general with humor that we love from the commercials! The best part is that Peggy actually communicates with the fans of the page. The posts are never stale, and you never feel pressure to use Discover.

Take a look at Sequoia Equities, Inc. and EnVision Apartments! Talk about really understanding their consumers! Both of these companies know that it is important to their fans to feel connected and know that they matter.

Build connections and relationships.

To be successful on any social media format you have to understand your consumers and what they want. What may work for one company may not work for another. Keep this in mind when you are building your social media platform. A good way to know what will keep your consumers interested is to perform a survey of what updates they would like to see or what would cause them to interact with a page.

The companies that I have listed above really have this down and are successful. As we say in sales “know your demographics,” – you must do the same for social media.  No one wants to “like” a business social page that is only going to sell to them; it is just not what we want as consumers. We, as a society, have this need to feel connected with the people behind the businesses that we purchase from.

Please remember this post the next time you are itching to promote your latest sale on a social network. A company that is smart about what they post and how they interact will be a company that will succeed! Use social media for what it is meant to be used for – building connections and relationships.

Meet Jolene Sopalski from FLY Apartment Leasing Ideas

Meet Jolene Sopalski from FLY Apartment Leasing Ideas

Jolene is the Imagination Guru at FLY Apartment Leasing Ideas, an assistant community manager at an affordable housing community in Jacksonville, Florida and the mother of three beautiful children who are the source of her inspiration. She has a passion for the multifamily housing industry and blogs regularly on multiple industry sites. 

Don’t “sell” to me – Connect with me originally appeared on Socially Engaged Marketing on October 14, 2011.

Here is my 8th idea from the Brainstorming presentation: All-Time Greatest Strategies, Tools, Resources and Results on September 16th!

What about a "Show Us Your Space" Contest?

If you’re looking for a unique Facebook contest idea for your community, try a photo contest similar to Domino’s. Have your residents contribute REAL photos of your community. No Photoshopping allowed!

Use the photos online on your website and Facebook page. Leverage the results of the contest by promoting the winning photo in your newsletter and across all of your social networks.

Food for thought: purchase a unique and memorable URL for your contest and redirect the URL t the location of the contest. At the time of this idea submission, the following URL options were available for $11.99:

ShootYourSpace.com
RealResidentsOf______________.com
ShowUsYourSpace.com
KeepItRealAt_________________.com
ShowUsYourPlace.com

On that note, you can purchase a URL that is hip, cool, or fun and redirect it to your community Facebook page!

Here are a few tips for running a successful photo contest on Facebook:

1. Define objectives for success: What is it that you want to achieve? For engagement, you may want to count the number of registrations, photos, likes, or comments.

2. Offer an incentive: People enter contests to win! Boost participation with appropriate prizes/awards. Feature their photo on your home page and in your Facebook profile to reward with recognition. Gift cards and discounts are good too.

3. Make the contest social: Allow people to vote as an incentive to share their submission with friends and increase the activity and engagement on your Facebook page.

Have you held a photo contest at your community? What other kinds of contests and redirected URL’s would work?

Brainstorming Idea #8: Shoot Your Space Contest originally appeared on Socially Engaged Marketing on October 6, 2011.

Idea Number Four for Apartment Communities

This is my fourth idea from the Brainstorming session, All-Time Greatest Strategies, Tools, Resources and Results. Because there were 12 of us on this panel taking turns sharing one idea a minute, with 10 ideas each we went pretty fast. If you were there and need more details or if you missed this event, here are my thoughts for idea number four!

Use Facebook Flair to spread word of mouth

Why not add a little flair to your Facebook page, literally? Facebook Flair is simply the collection of digital buttons to decorate Facebook profiles. They are typically funny or cute, and people seem to enjoy collecting and sharing unique and cool buttons.

Create your own Facebook Flair

Be cute, be fun, be creative with FLAIR!

Flair is easy and fun to create! Tell your residents about your Flair and have them share them with their friends to spread the word about our community in a fun and non-promotional way. Include pictures of your community, staff and furry residents to capture the attention of your residents.

But wait… there’s more: You can even make the Flair into real buttons to give away at your community!

Had you ever heard of Facebook Flair before? Do you or anyone you know use Flair?

Brainstorming Idea #4: Add a Little Flair to Facebook originally appeared on Socially Engaged Marketing on September 25, 2011.

This morning we have a special treat from an apartment industry professional, Stephanie Brown. Stephanie would like to share a fresh perspective with insights from her onsite experience. 

Combining Team Recognition with Social Media

When Charity asked me to do a guest post on her page I was really excited for the chance to share my ideas with others in the industry. Choosing a topic came easier than I expected because I am very passionate about the fact that happy team members who enjoy their jobs and feel appreciated perform better. Besides, who wants to work with unhappy people? I know I don’t. My current team has been with me for over 2 years and we just celebrated the exciting benchmark of achieving 100% physical occupancy for all 675 units for the 3^rd straight year. Here are two ways that I used social media throughout the last year to recognize my team members and make them feel valued while tying it in to engaging posts that enhance our community pages.

Recognize and reward in person and online for special talents:

One of my leasing agents, Pam, has a flair for having unique knowledge. Her stories she shares with us and our residents are always so entertaining. One day at a social media conference taught by Kim Cory, she suggested we put together a weekly series on our community Facebook page. Just like that, the Pam-A-Gram was born. Pam is empowered each week to come up with a topic, write, edit and publish it. 30 weeks later she has covered every topic from different styles of handshakes, to her thoughts on the Casey Anthony trial, to Oprah ending, to a detailed look at different hugging styles. I found out I do the “A-Frame” hug. She has a huge sense of pride and ownership in this responsibility and our residents now recognize her in the office as the author of “Pam-A-Gram.”

Make your employees feel valued, it is the little things that count:

This evolved from a simple idea of making someone feel special on their birthday and evolved into this: Olentangy Village Birthdays. We began coming up with themes for each birthday based on likes, interest or events happening in that person’s life. It is open to anyone who wants to participate and we all go to the dollar store or party store to pick out decorations for their desk. It has really taken off in the last few years to be something we all really enjoy and look forward to. We then take photos and post them on our Facebook and Twitter pages for our online community to see. Some of our highest views & engagements happen on these days.

How has your community combined recognition with social networks? Do you see better engagement when you share real employee stories and experiences?

Meet Stephanie Brown from Olentangy Village:

Meet Stephanie from Olentangy Village

Stephanie Brown is the Leasing and Marketing manager for Olentangy Village, a portfolio of 5 communities totaling 675 apartments and condos near the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. She started at this property in 2009 when it was only 84% occupied and quickly led the sales team to 100% occupancy in just four months. She specializes in marketing, branding, sales training and resident retention. She began her career as the Assistant Leasing Manager at University Village apartments, a 1007 unit property, after she graduated with a Marketing degree from Ashland University in 2006.

Combining Team Recognition with Social Media – A Guest Post by Stephanie Brown originally appeared on Socially Engaged Marketing on September 23, 2011.

Many apartment communities and small businesses have signed up for 3rd party social media services to help manage their social networking activities. We won’t debate if this is advisable today. Today I will describe out what happens when the contract ends.

Did Your Sherpa Leave You Stranded on the Social Media Mountain?

These 3rd party contracts typically include the set up and management of a blog, Facebook page and Twitter account. What you may not realize is that all three accounts may be left in shambles when the property elects to leave the program. After investigating, I have located over 100 pages that need immediate attention.

Social CPR: The Recovery Process

We can fix this! It will take some time, but with a little work your online presence will be back on track! Let’s start with the most obvious issues:

1. The lost blog: Your content is gone. It was hosted on the server of your 3rd party provider. You paid for it, but the investment was short lived. Did you ask for the content? Some 3rd party service providers will download the text and send it to you. Besides the lost content, you are left with up to hundreds of broken links leading residents and prospects to a dead end.

Deleted blogs leave dead ends

Fix it: Address this issue on your website, Facebook page and Twitter account by deleting every link to your former blog.

2. Deactivated Facebook applications: Did your service provider install an application on your Facebook page? Is it your landing tab? Does it reference your deleted blog?

Does your business have a broken application? Is it your Facebook landing tab?

If your blog has been deleted, links from Facebook will be broken

Fix it:  Reassign your landing tab and uninstall the defunct applications on your Facebook page.

3. Twitter confusion:  Your Twitter account is visible in search engines and could be confusing prospects and residents. Broken links could harm any SEO (search engine optimization) advantage you may have acquired.

Fix it: Any link to your former blog should be removed. If your contract was active for 12 months, you may be looking at the removal of 100-160 Twitter updates.

Are You Prepared to Cancel Services?

If you are considering canceling your contract with a 3rd party provider:

• Remove all 3rd party applications
• Delete 3rd party admin access
• Change Twitter password
• Request download of all content
• Clean up all accounts and your website to remove broken links
• Request all usernames and passwords
• Determine the person on your team that will replace the 3rd party provider to generate content, monitor for spam and comments and manage the social networking accounts
• Create social media policies
• Provide social media training

Can you think of any other ways in which companies would need to be prepared when they leave a 3rd party service provider?

PLEASE NOTE: If your company is experiencing difficulty transitioning, we wish you the best of luck bringing your online presences back to life. And if this sounds daunting, don’t be afraid to reach out for help!

Recovering from 3rd Party Social Media Providers originally appeared on Socially Engaged Marketing on September 9, 2011.

Just a brief note here to let you know Facebook has updated their iPhone app.

I don’t know about you, but that last version was impossible to use! I couldn’t see the navigation icon at the top left or the notifications bar at the bottom. The chat was buggy, photos were difficult to load/view and the darn thing kept crashing.

In addition to fixing those little issues, Facebook added in a few features as well:

• Privacy settings for groups and walls
• Tag friends and places in posts
• Easier to share links

Here's what the new 3.5 Facebook iPhone app update looks like

Facebook iPhone updates I would like to see in the future:

• Links for pages (now that we have them for profiles, this should be next)
• Post and comment removal from pages and profiles (why is it that I can like a comment but not delete it?)
• List management for friends and fans (currently, I can approve a request but not add to a list)

Facebook 3.5 iPhone Update: New Features Needed originally appeared on Socially Engaged Marketing on September 7, 2011.