A Thank You to Inman News
I would like to start this week’s Social Juice with a big thank you to Inman News for recognizing us as “The Most Innovative Real Estate Brokerage/Franchise” at the 2011 Innovator Awards in San Francisco. I feel it is only appropriate to thank them within this series of posts, because the preface of Social Juice is to encourage agent innovation-to serve as a catalyst for a revelatory moment when the agent decides on altering the tried and true to new and bold ways of doing business in this rapidly changing industry.
This could be your moment.
We’re All Going Mocial
Though I love the northeast-raised in CT and upstate NY and lived in Nyc-I have to say that I sometimes feel awfully behind when it comes to the digital/mobile/social information race. Why is that? Well, though us nor’easterners hate to admit it, most of the tech advancements come from the valley of perpetual sunshine-Silicon Valley, CA. And for me, this latest one does not even have to do with a new social network, a shiny new app, or a tablet that’s 20 percent thinner than the iPad 2. It has to do with a tweet I saw from someone I follow from, yes, Silicon Valley. The tweet talked about the power of “mocial.” I had heard this term being tossed around the web, but figured it was just a spontaneous play on words from a blogger hoping to initiate a new social morpheme. But, now I was sucked in.
Mocial refers to the combination of social and mobile marketing. The reason the word really caught my attention is due to the astronomical usage of mobile to access the internet and social networks. According to a TechCrunch article, 81% of people browse the Internet and 77% search on their smartphones. Nine out of ten smartphone searchers have taken action as a result of a mobile search, with over half (53%) leading to a purchase.
According to Mark Zuckerberg, there are now 750 million active users on Facebook. Twitter averages approximately 600,000 new accounts per day and recently set a record for 7,196 tweets-gasp!- per second during the women’s World Cup Final between Japan and the United States. Google+ has hit 25 million users in barely a month of operation. My point here is social networks are an integral part of people’s daily lives-not just for social purposes, but for commerce, as well.
Mobile device and social network creators are ahead of the curve. They know people depend on them-and for good reason. So, they went ahead and started making people even more dependent by combining offerings. Mobile Marketing Universe, a blog covering mobile apps and html5 developments, stated that 91% of mobile internet access is to socialize. And with most viable social networks offering a mobile app, this makes sense. One third of Facebook posts and half of all tweets are coming from mobile phones. Mobile and Social aren’t just having an affair, they’ve exchanged vows. Mocial is in full effect.
As a realtor, you should be aware of the various ways you can use mocial marketing for your business. Update your social sphere from your mobile phone using facebook and twitter. Start a check-in campaign using the foursquare app to drive people to open houses (providing an incentive, such as a giftcard, helps!). Utilize built- in features such as Google maps to show buyers around a neighborhood. Utilize QR codes for lead generation. And the list goes on and on.
We are only scratching the surface of mocial possibilities for real estate to help you work smarter and faster.
Stupeflix
Video is essential in real estate. Period. You’ve heard this statement many times if you’re a realtor, but you’ve probably dismissed it just as many times. And that’s because video editing is not cake. It takes some time and effort. Luckily, there are web-based platforms that are becoming increasingly available to help streamline the process. One such platform is called Stupeflix.
Stupeflix is cool because it is built right into YouTube. There are pre-made themes you can use so you are not starting right from scratch. Then add images or video clips as you see fit. Adding titles on top of your video is super easy and you can even add music tracks-either right from your computer or from youtube. An added plus-you can add in a pinpoint location of a property from Google maps, instantly giving potential homebuyers a visual of where the home is. Oh yea, this service is also FREE.
Check out Stupeflix’s website and test out the waters for yourself! http://www.stupeflix.com/