Did You Know? - Blog

Did you know iDashboard offers custom marketing material?

Does your brand require new marketing material items, or an update to your pre-existing print marketing collateral in iDashboard?

iDashboard can easily help you with any custom marketing templates that your office or brand requires.
We have extensive experience in creating a wide range of templates for your company to use in iDashboard.

Whether you are a large International Franchise Group or a Independent Boutique Agency, we can work with you to create great looking custom marketing material that suits your brand and styling.

Already have template designs?

We can easily replicate your current designs and format these to work within the iDashboard system, simply provide us with your current marketing templates and we can have our designers format these to be easily printed at your convenience from the easy to use iDashboard system.

We offer a wide range of different custom marketing templates, some of the common ones are as follows:

  • Landscape & Portrait Window Cards
  • Handout Brochures
  • Property Lists
  • DL Cards
  • A5 & A5 Marketing Cards
  • Auction Invitations
  • New Listing & Sold Mailbox Droppers
  • Property Booklets
  • Appraisal Covers
  • Stock Reports

We welcome the opportunity to design and create custom marketing material for your company to produce through iDashboard, simply contact us today to discuss what the team at iDashboard can do to help take your business to the next level.

Image of Trends being a key on a keyboard

Six Key Trends Search Reveals and How to Identify Marketing Opportunities

Image of Trends being a key on a keyboardWelcome to the Third Part of our Three Part Series: 6 Key House Hunting Trends and Opportunities that Search Reveals.

As the behaviours and habits of home buyers change, it is important to know where consumers are, what they’re looking for, and how to respond accordingly. Knowing these trends and consumer habits creates huge opportunity for real estate consultants, brands, and businesses to influence purchasing decisions. Here are the six points to remember:

  1. Meet the Seasonal Rise in Demand 

Every part of the world sees a seasonal rise in demand for real estate searches. In the U.S., it’s July, but it may be different if you’re living in another part of the world. Know when the seasonal rise occurs in your area and be sure to meet it. The house hunting process is long, so remember to keep reminding home buyers of what you have to offer throughout the process. 

  1. Millennials to Make Market Entrance 

Millennials are making their way into the home buying market, and sales in this demographic are about to take off. Understand what matters to this group and how to attract them. 

  1. Mobile Devices Huge Part of Purchasing Process 

More people rely on devices for the home buying process (especially millennials). From financing a home to finding one, they are using mobile to get answers and find service providers. Use mobile ads and mobile-friendly sites to generate leads and to help them find what they need.

  1. Small and Mobile Homes Appealing 

Small and more mobile homes are appealing to many people these days, even for wealthy purchasers. Consider how you can tap into this growing market.

  1. House Hunting and Interior Design Go Hand-in-Hand 

People are looking for interior design ideas at the same time they’re looking for homes—if not sooner. They watch videos for ideas and inspiration. Increase your use of virtual home tours and video platforms to attract them. 

  1. Vintage Interior Design is the Rage

Vintage is incredibly popular in interior design. If you have a home for sale that has vintage décor or unique appeal, play it up. Consider the ways in which you can use the popularity of vintage interior design to attract potential home buyers.

First Part: How Millennials and Home Buyers Use Mobile When Purchasing a Home
Second Part: What Search Reveals About the “Mobile Home” Movement and “Vintage” Interior Design Trend
Image of vintage style lightbulbs

What Search Reveals About the “Mobile Home” Movement and “Vintage” Interior Design Trend

Image of vintage style lightbulbsWelcome to the Second Part of our Three Part Series: 6 Key House Hunting Trends and Opportunities that Search Reveals.

Searching for Mobile Homes

The dream of home ownership is still a huge thing, but people are searching for different types of homes. They are shifting from buying large and spacious homes to smaller and versatile homes that are often mobile. Mobile homes are increasing in popularity as more and more aim for financial freedom.

  • Since 2011, searches related to “mobile homes” have been rising
  • Since 2004, the tiny house movement interest has been on the rise
  • Over the past decade, searches for “townhouse” and “loft” have declined and continue to do so

Down-sizing retirees and sky-high real estate values are driving interest in mobile homes and trailer-living, according to The Wall Street Journal.

These mobile homes are different than the mobile homes of the past era, however. These homes are modern and upscale, attracting buyers with high-end features and amenities.

A Picture of These Mobile Home Buyers

Data from Google search further reveals “mobile home” buyer demographics:

  • People who search for “small house” typically have a DIY independent spirit. They are three times more likely to search for garden information, eight times more likely to search for woodwork information, and four times more likely to search for knitting.
  • People who search for “mobile home” generally prefer the outdoors. They are four times more likely to search for “bird watching,” four times more likely to search for “outdoor,” and five times more likely to search for “hiking.”

Understanding these common interests can help inform marketing messages, cross-promotion, events, and other marketing opportunities.

Potential Buyers Consider Interior Design Immediately

People start thinking about how to decorate their new home well before they actually purchase a home. Many people who search for property listings for sale also search for interior design inspiration. Someone who is searching for a property listing is four times more likely to search for furniture than someone who isn’t.

New and Existing Home Buyers

It’s not just new home buyers who are looking to decorate a home, however. Many homeowners want to upgrade in order to increase their home’s value. Both new buyers and existing owners find inspiration on the internet. Sixty-eight percent of people who finished a home improvement project between October and December 2013 started their project by searching online, according to a January 2014 Google Consumer survey.

Video and mobile Google platforms are seeing this trend play out:

  • YouTube home improvement videos grew 35% year on year in July 2014, and watch time was up by 77%.
  • Homemaking and interior décor YouTube views grew 62% year on year in June 2014
  • Home project questions from mobile grew 69% year on year versus 11% on desktop computers.
Vintage Home Decorators

Instead of flashy, standard designs, people are searching for unique, vintage décor. They’re gravitating to vintage furniture and accessories that others don’t have. More people are interested in “antique” and “vintage” styles of furniture than any other category, according to Google search data.

If people cannot get what they want or if what they want is too costly, they “fake it” or do it themselves. “How to make furniture look vintage” is one of the most popular questions on Google when it comes to vintage style furniture.

Now that you have greater insight into how home buyers are behaving and thinking, check out our next post: Six Keys to Identifying Opportunities with Today’s Home Buyers.

First Part: How Millennials and Home Buyers Use Mobile When Purchasing a Home
Third Part: Six Key Trends Search Reveals and How to Identify Marketing Opportunities
Did You Know? - Blog

Did you know about Automatic Compositions?

Sending out newsletters and email notifications can be a full time job in itself, take the time and stress out of periodic newsletters and instant alerts with iDashboard.

iDashboard offers Automated Compositions which is a powerful ‘Set & Forget’ tool that allows you to automate various types of email broadcast to appropriate contacts in your database.

Automated Compositions is broken up into 3 types of composition:

  • What’s Happening Summary – an automated email including upcoming OFI times, upcoming auctions as well as new, sold, and leased properties.
  • Requirements Match – an automated email showing properties, whether rental or for sale, that match the requirements of contacts who are subscribed.
  • Early Bird Alert – an automated email with Early Bird alerts to subscribers for properties which have just entered their early bird period.

With iDashboard you can easily subscribe your contact to a Automatic composition when adding them into the system or at any point from the Contacts page or the Compositions subscription settings.

No longer do you have to call or email all the clients you think would suit a newly listed property. Once you have entered their Property Match requirements into iDashboard and subscribed them to the Requirements Match Composition, they will automatically be notified of any newly listed properties that suit their nominated requirements.

The What’s Happening Summary is a great Composition for letting your clients/subscribers know what has been happening within your agency, wether its New Listings, recently Sold or Leased properties or even upcoming Open For Inspection and Auction times.

With iDashboard you’re on your way to becoming a leading agent with a stellar reputation as an agent who keeps their clients notified with relevant information and properties. Little do your clients know that the system did this all for you, automatically.
Feel free to take the credit, we wont tell anyone.
Image of a couple using a mobile device at a cafe

How Millennials and Home Buyers Use Mobile When Purchasing a Home

Image of a couple using a mobile device at a cafeWelcome to the First Part of our Three Part Series: 6 Key House Hunting Trends and Opportunities that Search Reveals.

What’s On Home Buyers’ Minds?

With the influx of social media marketing, SEO-friendly websites, and online competition now is the prime time for businesses, real estate consultants, and retailers to emerge as relevant. To emerge as relevant, however, they need to understand how home buyers think. What are they looking for? Has it changed? How do they find what they’re looking for?

Let’s look at YouTube and Google data for insights.

Google Searches

In the United States, Google searches for property listings peak in July. While the peak month for Google home searches is different in Australia, the underlying insights are much the same. It’s important to understand that when search peaks for properties for sale, those searchers won’t purchase a home right away.

According to an April 2014 Google Consumer Survey:
  • Half of people formally begin their home buying search 6-12 months in advance. Three-quarters start their formal search within one year of the date of purchase.
  • Two out of three people extensively researched real estate agents online prior to selecting an agent.

Home buying is a major life event, so it should not come as a shock that people devote a significant amount of time to research it.

Home Buying Happens Around Other Major Events

We know that home buying is a major life event; it also happens around other major life events. For example:

  • People searching for property listings for sale are also five times more likely to search for retirement planning, too.
  • They are four times as likely to search for child care.

In these moments of significant change, consumers’ shopping habits and loyalties will dramatically shift. They will buy things they have never before purchased, many of which they didn’t even know existed. Due to this, big decisions will trigger many smaller decisions for years to come, which is why not just real estate consultants should care about home buyers, but financial service providers, luxury retailers, and others should, too.

Millennials Are Looking to Buy Property (Finally!)

Millennials are known for being slow to enter the home buying market. Due to economic challenges, millennials moved back with their parents or lived with roommates. The recent data is optimistic, however:

  • 18-34 year olds were twice as likely to say yes to plans to purchase a home in the next year as 35-54 year olds were. (Google Consumer Survey, July 2014).
  • From May 2013 to July 2014 real estate web usage by millennials grew 30%. Mobile usage for the same group grew by 81% during that same time period, says Smoke of comScore Media Matrix data.
  • In July 2014, exactly half of all millennials viewed websites that were real estate related. 36% of millennials viewed real estate related websites or real estate applications.

Trends in web traffic reveal that mobile usage and real estate visits are increasing for millennials. Smoke states, “Looking at trends in web traffic, it is clear that mobile usage and real estate visits are increasing for millennials. It is likely that we are on the cusp of millennials starting to emerge from mom and dad’s basement.”

This demographic is more likely to use the internet, more specifically mobile, when searching for a property for sale. They also spend much longer researching before they make a purchase.

Buyers in General Using Mobile

In today’s mobile world, more home buyers use their smartphones throughout the process. In June 2014, 27% of home buying searches came from mobile phones – that increased 19% from June 2013.

Data revealed the following:

  • Most people use their smartphone or tablet to: search for property listings, learn more information about a home for sale, find directions, call or email an agent, and watch a video while hunting for a home (Google Consumer Survey, April 2014).
  • Home buying searches are highest on the weekends (Google data).
  • Desktop searches for open houses were unchanged year on year in 2014, while mobile searches grew by 36%.

It’s evident that home buyers can be reached through their mobile devices, including mobile videos and advertisements.

Second Part: What Search Reveals About the “Mobile Home” Movement and “Vintage” Interior Design Trend
Vector of 4 business people riding an upwards line graph

How to Use Content Marketing for Lead Generation vs Demand Generation

Vector of 4 business people riding an upwards line graphContent Drives Social Media

Social media is driven by content, which means the type of content you share will impact your success on social media and how social media helps your business. There are different types of content that serve different purposes, and every business should choose the right content for their business goals. With this in mind, there are two widely confused marketing concepts: demand generation and lead generation.

Demand Generation vs Lead Generation

Demand generation is marketing that creates a demand for or interest in your product. Lead generation is used to collect specific information about clients and to eventually turn them into sales leads. The purposes for both are the same: to get people to buy from you. With lead generation, however, the purpose of the marketing and the results of the marketing efforts are different.

Lead generation is geared to make people want your content. The result or business goal is the information you gather from them. When you look at it this way, the difference between lead generation and demand generation is really one of data vs perception. Which one do you feel is more important to your business?

Unfortunately, B2B marketers often use these terms interchangeably which results in one content marketing strategy that is expected to deliver leads and drive demand. It doesn’t work that way, however.

These two marketing operations need to be approached in different ways.

Content You Should Use for Lead Generation

Lead generation is used largely for gated content. You advertise and promote your content to a wide range of people, usually on social media, and anyone who is interested is driven to a landing page. On the landing page, there is a form fill or registration form which needs to be completed in order to access content. Those who aren’t really interested in your content won’t bother, but a small segment of the people you reach will be. They’ll be willing to exchange their information for your content, even knowing that they’ll be a sales target in the future.

The people who exchange their information likely believe your content will greatly help them or may be passionate about the subject matter. This gate weeds out unlikely buyers and provides you with more solid leads.

Lead generation is more suited to detailed content. People expect a little more when they have to fill out a form which is why ebooks, reports, and other long-form content are used for lead generation. Webinars and panels are also forms of lead generation.

It’s also useful to have a lead management tool in order to track and manage the leads you generate.

Content You Should Use for Demand Generation

Demand generation typically focuses on brand awareness and brand positioning. To generate awareness, you need to remove any barriers between people and your content, which is the complete opposite of gated content. In this instance, the wider you cast the net and the more people you draw in, the better.

Content that works for demand generation has wide appeal. Blog posts, lists, videos, and other accessible resources are well suited for demand generation. These are classified as inbound marketing efforts. Demand generation content typically performs better than lead generation content on social media, which is really the point.

Search engine optimisation can play a big role in demand generation because the focus is more long-term than short-term. Blog posts and websites that rank high in search will place your business or service at the forefront of people’s minds for the particular subject matter they searched.

How to Choose Between Lead Generation and Demand Generation

As demonstrated, lead generation and demand generation have different approaches to content. They aren’t, however, mutually exclusive and can overlap. Leads you’ve gathered can be targeted in order to increase demand among that same list. Excellent content can also result in increased demand for your product or service.

If you have to choose between one or the other, the first thing you should do is determine how you want social media to add value to your business goals. If you’re focused on brand awareness or community building, you’ll want to focus on demand generation. If you see it as a sales tool, lead generation may be your best bet.

Small businesses or entrepreneurs might begin with demand generation for its broader applicability, especially if there is no sales team or marketing department. Larger companies may get more value out of lead generation.

Did you know? Sticker

Why put your buyers into iDashboard?

Did you know? StickerA lack of communication is the Number 1 Complaint about Real Estate Agents. Using iDashboard you can make sure you’re the agent clients are boasting about, not complaining about.

Wether you are a business owner, sales consultant or personal assistant, iDashboard is powerful online CRM System that maximises the efficiency of your Real Estate business, saving you time but most of all increasing your communication with your clients, so you can be ahead of the pack and increase your reputation and repeat business.

Quiet often a buyer will attend an Open Home and fill out their contact details, then on Monday when the agent gets back to the office they will call their Open Home visitors to find out their interest in the property, if the buyer is not interested, then for a lot of agents this is the end of the relationship, when it should be The Beginning of the Relationship.

Why should you put your buyers into iDashboard?

  • Preform Buyer/Property Matching

    iDashboard provides a great way to perform matches for your buyers and tenants to properties based on their specific market requirements. iDashboard performs exact matches, not partial matches, which ensures the results are far more accurate and matches exactly what your contact has requested.

  • Subscribe them to Email Alerts

    By adding in a Buyers Property Match requirements, iDashboard can then automatically email current and future property matches to your contacts.

  • Easier to track Open Home Visitors & Feedback

    By adding in your buyers you can add them as a Visitor on a property so you can easily keep track of the visitors through a property and their opinions/feedback on that property. Giving you a better index of what exactly that client is after, and more data for your Vendor reporting.

  • Show more real time data to Vendors via VendorPad online reporting

    With VendorPad your Vendors can log in and see the information on their property in real time. Giving them 24/7 access to viewing Open Home Visitors, Private Inspection Visitors and their Feedback, Offers, Listing History etc. By entering your Buyers and their Feedback, you are providing more data and information to your Vendors that they can access at their leisure.

  • Assign tasks for New Clients through Action Plans

    You’ll have no more paper to-do lists that can be easily lost with Action Plans (sometimes known as trails). Action Plans are effectively automated to-do lists that are triggered by events in your office. Action plans help you stay on top of day-to-day tasks and maintain a unified work effort amongst your team – ensuring no tasks or to-dos are forgotten along the way. When you add a New Buyer into iDashboard, simply start an Action plan, and you can keep track of tasks you need to do for these buyers, it might be giving them a call 7 days later, a letter in a months time or a Market Appraisal 3 months after being added.

  • Create Call Back Reminders

    Quiet often when we call a client, they may be busy, unable to answer or simply ask you to call again another day. Keeping track of all these call backs can be a job in itself. There will be no more scribbles in your diary or on post-it notes/With iDashboard you can simply set yourself a reminder for to call the client back on a certain day.

  • Easier to Track Private Inspections and Comments

    Like your Open Homes, you can easily add your Private Inspection visitors into iDashboard so you can easily keep track of the visitors through a property and their opinions/feedback on that property. Giving you a better index of what exactly that client is after, and more data for your Vendor reporting.

  • Send and Track SMS Communications to your Buyers

    Within iDashboard you can easily SMS your clients and keep a tracking lodge of the SMS communications so you can always check what was sent to them and when.

  • Centralised address book of Buyers that you can access on the road with iDashContacts and TREA

    The days are gone of having a folder of business cards, or a diary full of names and numbers which can be hard to remember who was who. By loading your Buyers into iDashboard you can easily access their details from anywhere in the world by going into iDashboard or by using one of our mobile applications. You could even see someone you know in the Supermarket who has just told you that they are looking at buying. Simply open up the iDashContacts application on your iPhone or Android and easily add them into the system along with their Property Match Requirements.

By using iDashboard to your full advantage you will save yourself valuable time and will be well on your way to boasting a reputation as an Agent who excels at ongoing communication with their clients.

Image of a coffee mug over top of a blueprint with the words Trends 2015

Australia’s Top 10 Digital Marketing Trends in 2015

Image of a coffee mug over top of a blueprint with the words Trends 2015The competition among companies is expected to heat up this year with over 50% set to increase their marketing budget in 2015. This is crucial for all businesses – regardless of size – because every business needs to vigilantly protect their brand as competitors tailor their strategy for growth.

Many of these strategies will include efforts to ramp up internet marketing. So, what does it mean to be on top of internet marketing in your industry? How do you keep growing your online traffic and funneling leads via your website and social media?

We’ve included a fairly definitive list of the top 10 digital marketing trends in 2015. Here’s what you need to consider:

  1. Mobile Optimisation is Stepping Up

    Today, people spend more time on their mobile devices than on computers. For most people, their smartphone is the first thing they touch in the morning and the last thing they touch at night. Marketers are spending more money on mobile campaigns in order to penetrate the mobile scene. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you are losing traffic and leads. 

  1. Higher Quality Content and More of It

    Higher quality, relevant content is crucial to more leads. A well-thought-out content strategy will differentiate businesses in the online community. More time and money will be poured into creating more relevant content that resonates with customers. 

  1. More Money on Social Ads

    Since Facebook changed its algorithm, which changed what shows up in the news feed, more companies are expected to spend more money on paid social media advertising. 

  1. More Video

    Video ad campaigns are successful and have viral potential, which is why companies are expected to start using more video. People can relate to videos and when they can relate and connect, they’re more likely to share the content. 

  1. Increased Visual Stories

    Instagram is a huge hit, because pictures often reveal more than words do. People connect to the visual element of not just videos, but pictures as well. Companies are expected to increase what they spend on infographics, quote graphics, and other image-related marketing. 

  1. Increased Consumer Targeting

    Companies will focus less on globalisation and more on personalisation. Algorithms that target customers will be the marketers greatest tool. 

  1. More Marketing Memes

    People love humor and they love sharing it, so companies are expected to include memes in their content sharing strategy as well.

  1. Inspirational Marketing.

    People also love to be inspired and to receive positive messages every day. Whether a quote, picture, or video, companies are expected to share more positive and inspirational messages in order to connect with customers.

  1. Targeting With Increased Effectiveness

    We’ve all checked out a product or service online and then had an ad for that product or service “haunt” us for days – showing up in our Facebook news feed or on banners in other sites. Companies are expected to use ad retargeting more and more; it’ll be a minimum requirement to compete.

  1. Increased Real-time Marketing

    Real-time updates and promos excite people, which is why they follow you or your brand. Companies are expected to increase their real-time marketing in order to increase their social media relevance.

There is the list of the top 10 digital trends for Australia in 2015. We’ve already seen a huge increase in the use of many of these digital marketing methods. We anticipate that companies will continue to spend more on internet marketing in the days and months to come.

Image of Servers

Data Retention Obligations in Australia Become Law

Image of ServersFrom the Attorney-General’s Department

Telecommunication service providers that use communications infrastructure may be required to retain telecommunications data for two years. From 13 October 2015, the obligations apply to internet service providers, licensed carriers, and carriage service providers, irrespective of size or customer base. Some services, such as broadcasting services, are excluded.

This law is meant to provide law enforcement and security agencies access to data. The data will be kept under strict controls to limit unlawful access.

What Does the Data Set Include?

The legislation details the specific types of data that must be retained. The data sets include information relating to:

  • Destination and source of a communication
  • Time, date, and duration of a communication
  • Type of communication
  • Location of the communication equipment

Subscriber and service level account information must also be kept for two years. Other subscriber information must be retained for as long as the account is open or for two years after the account is closed.

Service providers do not have to retain data that relates to services offered by other providers. For example, a service provider that only provides wholesale service must only retain information that is relevant to the provision of that specific service.

If service providers cannot comply with the regulations by 13 October 2015, they should apply to the Communications Access Coordinator for an exemption or exception. The details are as follows:

  • Lodge an implementation plan that details how you will achieve compliance, and receive an exemption up to 18 months.
  • Apply for an exemption from the obligations for a specific service or apply for a variation of the obligations relating to the retention of data for a specific service.
Help for Upfront Capital Costs

The Australian government will provide a package of $131.3 million over three years to help the industry cover the upfront costs of the data retention obligations.

More information will be available on http://www.ag.gov.au/dataretention .

Questions can also be emailed to cac@ag.gov.au or you can call the Office of the Communications Access Co-ordinator on 02 6141 2884.

Did You Know? - Blog

Did you know about SMS from iDashboard?

Approximately 90 percent of SMS are read within the first three minutes of delivery. This messaging channel should be used to deliver business-critical information to provide a superior user experience to your customers.

With our iDashboard CRM system, you can send SMS communications to your clients all within the easy to use interface that is iDashboard.

Consider the benefits of using SMS from iDashboard

  • Personal

    It goes straight to the recipient’s mobile phone. The message is literally delivered directly into their hand. The average time for all mobile carriers and SMS services is less than 7 seconds from send to received.

  • Convenient

    An SMS message can reach a customer wherever they are at any time.

  • Short Messages

    The 160-character length of SMS is great for marketing. It forces you to be clear and concise. Instead of having your subscribers slog through content that isn’t always relevant, SMS gets to the point immediately without anything that is unnecessary.

  • High Conversion Rate

    Whatever your SMS is – promotions or contests – there is more action taken compared to any other marketing or promotion strategies.

  • High Open Rate

    Compared to email marketing, SMS has a much higher open rate. Almost every SMS sent is opened (and read), whereas only a small percentage of emails notifications/communications are read. When a client receives a text message, they almost always look and opens the SMS whereas subscribers have a choice to open your email.

  • Reliable

    People are more likely to receive and read an SMS than an email. Cellphones do not have a spam box. Many emails are “lost” because of the junk mail filter. Also more people have access to a cellphone than they do the internet.

  • Affordable

    At only 8 cents a SMS/Text, this is a very affordable means of communicating with your clients/database. When you consider the costs of print marketing or the time spent on calling your clients, being able to send a notification or message to 100 clients for $8 , that has a very high chance of being read in full is a very inexpensive but effective way to stay ahead of your competition.

The ways you can use SMS from iDashboard

  • Send through a link to a property on your website to contacts in your database or a one off number
  • You can create your own SMS message templates which are great for reminders or notifications that are sent often
  • Send SMS notifications to your vendors when adding in Open Home times
  • Add clients/contacts to your WorkSpace for custom SMS targeting
  • SMS all interested buyers, property matched contacts or even a group of contacts an upcoming Open Time

Audiences you can target from iDashboard with SMS

  • From an Individual Contact
  • From a List of Contacts
  • From a Property
  • Contacts in your WorkSpace
  • A properties Open Home Visitors/Private Inspections Visitors

When shouldn’t it be used?

SMS shouldn’t be used for information the user will need to reference later, such as receipts or confirmation codes. Compared to emails, SMS are easier to delete and harder to search through. Any information sent by SMS should be readily actionable in a short timeframe.

Lastly, SMS can only contain a maximum of 160 characters, which limits you on the amount of information communicated to the user. SMS should mainly be used for critical information requiring the user to take an action, such as notifications, reminders & alerts etc

Image of people sitting around a table with inbound marketing words in the middle

5 Reasons Why You Need Social Media for an Effective Inbound Marketing Strategy

Image of people sitting around a table with inbound marketing words in the middle“Inbound marketing” is a new term that is popping up in internet-land, causing some to wonder what exactly it means. Inbound marketing is the process of creating and sharing content which is aimed at turning strangers into clients and promoters.

Inbound marketers must use content to attract readers, convert leads, close deals, and delight visitors in order to obtain customers and promoters.

As a real estate agent, you’re an inbound marketer when you use content to draw in strangers to convert to leads to convert to home buyers or home sellers.

Social media is one of the most important channels for sharing your content. Here are five reasons why social media is crucial to your inbound marketing strategy:

  1. Social Media Helps With Content Promotion

When you share your content on social media, it helps attract new readers and repeat visitors. It’s a great platform for promoting your content and reaching the masses. Remember, key to promoting your content is a content promotion plan. Don’t just shoot blindly in the dark, but follow a strategic plan that includes paid, owned, and earned social media marketing.

  1. You Can Find Content Ideas on Social media

Social media provides limitless content ideas. You can find inspiration for content on:

  • Personal Networks
  • Interest-based Networks
  • E-commerce
  • Media Sharing Networks
  • Discussion Forums
  • Bookmarking Sites
  • Social Publishing
  • Online Reviews

Discussion forums—because they’re made up of people’s opinions, questions, and thoughts—are a great place to source content ideas. Reddit and Quora are also great sites to check out if you want to know what kind of content people are sharing or talking about. In addition, there are a number of social media monitoring tools available, including: HooteSuite, Brandwatch, ReviewInc, and 76Insights.

  1. Social Media Insights Provide Understanding 

The insights available on social media provide you with a better understanding of how your audience behaves. Use social media analytics tools to gain insight into their behavior as well as their demographic and geographic information. Then, use the information you gather to create content that engages your audience. When you create engaging, seo-friendly content, Google will rank you higher in search engine results, and you’ll attract and retain more followers.

Listen to what your audience is sharing and create the type of content that resonates with them.

  1. Social Media Benefits Your SEO

As mentioned in the last point, social media helps you gain greater insight into your audience so you can create search engine optimised content. Social media is also excellent for building relationships with other bloggers, brand advocates, and social media influencers. These relationships help with link building, which is important for ranking on Google’s search engine results page. A higher ranking on the search engine results page gives you a higher chance of gaining more site visitors.

  1. You Can Find New Opportunities on Social Media

You may already know your target audience and geographic location, but social media might provide insight into new groups or territories that are interested in what you have to offer. Use social media to listen to who is engaging with your content, and see if there are any new opportunities. You might come across a demographic or location that you didn’t even think of. Look for growth opportunities and jump on them before your competitors do.

If you’re not currently using social media in your inbound marketing strategy, consider its many benefits and add it to your mix.
Lessons Learned written on a chalk board

Lessons from the 10 Best Facebook Marketing Campaigns

Lessons Learned written on a chalk boardThe 10 best Facebook marketing campaigns from this past year provide insight into what works on social media. This year marked the fourth year for the Facebook Awards, where top creative work is honoured. The winners received blue, gold, and silver honours in various categories.

This past year, more than 160 countries submitted award entries—more than twice the amount of countries than participated the previous year. Of the submissions, the popular entries were mobile advertisements and video. In fact, seventy percent of the submissions involved a component of video for building a brand story.

Facebook chose six award categories, considering creative content, use of targeted technology, social strategies, and results.

This year was also the first year that Facebook included winners of impactful Instagram campaigns.

In 2014, Facebook made $12.5 billion in advertising revenue.  Seventy percent of the business is made up of mobile advertising sales.

Marketers, agencies, and brands use Facebook to get creative and tailor promotional content to their target audiences.

1.     The Ice Bucket Challenge

Client: The ALS Association
Goals: Awareness, sales, online traffic
Award Category: Facebook for good

People with ALS raised awareness of the condition in the summer of 2014 by having others dump buckets of ice over their heads, record it, and share the video online, issuing a challenge to another individual to do the same thing.

The best use of Facebook marketing this past year was The Ice Bucket Challenge. This viral campaign received an unprecedented amount of praise, even inspiring Mark Zuckerberg to participate. Zuckerberg was one of millions to dump a bucket filled with ice water over his head to raise awareness for ALS. The challenge became a powerful online movement that achieved its objective.

Results: 17 million videos were uploaded from 159 countries. It generated 70 billion views and raised $220 million. No money was spent to promote the challenge and 440 million people saw it.

2.     Like A Girl

Client: Procter & Gamble
Advertising Agency: Chicago, London/Holler, Leo Burnett
Goals: Build awareness and boost purchase intent, drive an emotional connection to Always
Award Category: Craft (blue winner)

Using the hashtag #likeagirl, Always—a feminine-hygiene brand— asked people to change their perception of what it means to “act like a girl” and confronted gender norms. This video showed young girls running, throwing, and punching with positive representation of what it means for a girl to do those things.

Results: This was the most watched video in Procter & Gamble’s history, with 76 million views around the globe. Emotional connection increased from 38 percent to 41 percent, ad recall was 47 percent, and brand linkage 59 percent. Teen purchase intent rose from 40 percent to 60 percent, and earned impressions hits 250 million.

3.     #KISSaLOT – The World Under Mistletoe

Client: LOT Polish Airlines
Advertising Agency: DDB and Tribal Warszawa
Goals: Awareness, Drive Traffic
Award Category: Media Strategy (gold)

This airline added mistletoe to their planes and encouraged people who were on the ground to track flights and kiss when they were flying overhead. They used Facebook ads to target people when planes were en route to different cities.

Results: Campaign received more than $300,000 worth of free media attention in the form of blog exposure, likes, and shares on Facebook.

4.     KAFA

Advertising Agency: Leo Burnett Beirut
Goals: Awareness
Award Category: New Frontier (gold)

This campaign supported legislation in Lebanon aimed at protecting women from domestic violence. People all over the world showed support by dipping their thumbs in red ink and showing a thumbs-up, making the “red thumb” a symbol for the cause.

Results: The law passed, the campaign garnered $1.7million in free video, 20,000 red thumbs were shared, and there was a 700 percent increase in online conversation about domestic violence.

5.     I Will What I Want

Client: UnderArmour
Advertising Agency: Droga
Goals: Brand lift, traffic, sales, drive purchase intent, awareness
Award Category: Integrated (gold)

UnderArmour wanted to broaden its appeal among women and used a social campaign starring ballerina Misty Copeland and Gisele Bundchen to do so. They invited people to comment, and the messages were used in the campaign as well.

Results: Garnered $35 million in free media and a 42 percent boost in traffic to their website. Women’s sales lifted 28 percent, and they received 5 billion media impressions.

6.     New Friend Request

Client: Kraft Foods
Advertising Agency: CP+B
Goals: brand positioning, sales, and awareness
Award Category: Craft (Silver)

A1 Original Sauce, in an effort to friend other foods, created a Facebook campaign showing that it was in a relationship with steak, but could connect with other meets, like pork, too. The ad was used to show people that the sauce is versatile and goes well with a number of meats.

Results: The video received 200 comments, 3,000 likes, and 1.3 million views.

7.     Build a GLA on Instagram

Client: Mercedes-Benz USA
Advertising Agency: Razorfish
Goals: Lift traffic and sales, and drive intent, preference, and awareness
Award Category: Craft (silver)

Mercedes sought a younger audience for its GLA, so it launched a campaign that allowed people to customise a car on Instagram. It also promoted the video on Facebook to a specific target audience.

Results: 20,000 new followers on Facebook and 100,000 Instagram likes.

8.     Buds for Buds

Client: Anheuser-Busch
Advertising Agency: Gratafy
Goals: Increase online and offline traffic, sales, awareness, and drive intent and preference
Award Category: Social Technology (silver)

This beer brand created a promotion to buy a friend a beer with a redeemable coupon at a local bar in Denver or Chicago. They targeted people with Facebook friends in the two major cities.

Results: A threefold lift in in-bar sales from consumers who spent more than the value of the coupon on additional beers and 23 million earned media impressions.

9.     Love Has No Labels

Client: AdCouncil
Advertising Agency: R/GA
Goals: Raise awareness
Award Category: Integrated (silver)

This campaign was meant to show that differences are only skin deep. A large X-ray screen was installed for public viewing and couples danced, hugged, kissed, and interacted behind it before stepping out to show the public who they were.

Results: The second most viral public service announcement in history with 40 million views in two days.

10.  Newcastle Band of Bands

Advertising Agency: Droga5
Goals: Drive traffic, sales, brand awareness, preference, and purchase intent.
Award Category: Integrated (silver)

This beer company got into the Super Bowl once again without buying advertising space. It did so by crowdfunding a commercial with approximately 30 like-minded brands, which would briefly be featured in the video. The ad ran on Facebook and one time during the game.

Results: 33 million online views overall with 2.9 million views on Facebook and 2.3 billion total campaign impressions.