Archive for the 'articles' Category

Integrating Social Media into Your Online Marketing Plan

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NDG
on March 5, 2010
in advertising, articles, e-marketing, marketing, new home marketing and real estate marketing
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Continuing our Step-By-Step Process to Staying Focused and On Track in Today’s Market, this week, we’ll discuss how Social Media can help you distribute your content online to help achieve your search engine marketing and optimization goals, as well as help you achieve real authentic customer engagement.

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter—there’s a growing number of social media channels and platforms out there. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and off course trying to be everywhere, so we’re going to set the record straight about what you should, and shouldn’t, expect from your social media marketing efforts.

Make sure to review NDG’s online integration map for flowing data (content) throughout the fundamental online marketing components for Homebuilders, Developers, and Real Estate Brokerages.

NDG recommends that our clients have a living strategic plan for implementing, engaging, and monitoring your social media outreach. While social media can help build brands and maximize publicity efforts, do not expect these marketing components to instantly drive traffic or sales. Social media platforms are recommended because of their word-of-mouth generation capabilities and because of their wide-ranging reach across many varied demographic audiences. Do NOT abandon all other forms of marketing; rather, integrate social media into your current marketing strategy and, most importantly, your corporate website.

As a first, fundamental step, develop a blog to serve as the “content repository” to feed timely, relevant content to your corporate website. This same content can be distributed via a Facebook fan page. Then,  you can add other platforms such as Twitter and YouTube to your mix as you develop more content appropriate for these digital meeting places. Your website is the hub of all your marketing and advertising, and from this hub are distributed communications, each tailored to the channel you’re using.

Finally, remember that Content is Queen, and especially so for the social media. If you’re just shouting the same stuff down these channels, you’re wasting your time and money, and potentially damaging your brand and reputation. The ROI on your social media outreach will be directly influenced by your investment in generating good content, because this is what will help your Search Engine Results Page (SERPs) rankings grow higher and higher, and create more authentic engagement with your prospects—not repeating the same weak content over and over, which will just get you ignored by both your prospects and the search engines.

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Why CONTENT is QUEEN

Published
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NDG
on February 12, 2010
in articles, e-marketing and real estate marketing
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Continuing our discussion from our previous post, 2010 Online Marketing Fundamentals, we now turn to the importance of content.

For the real estate industry (and practically every other industry), the key to online success is the formula of CONTENT + TRACKING. Today we’ll talk about why CONTENT is the fuel of your online engine.

So, an engine will not run with fuel. As you know, the gas in your car won’t last forever—you’ll use it up and will need to fuel up again to get further down the road. The same is exactly true of your online content. You’ll need to put new content into the system continually to keep your company moving toward your online goals.

Since consumers start their buying process online, your website must be the hub of all your activities. Even with the numerous social media platforms and channels available, your website must be the central core that radiates content outward, and receives, processes, and interacts with inbound communications.

Content is everything. Content is what brings consumers to you. But once they’ve seen it—unless it is complex or incredibly compelling—they won’t be back. Thus, ensuring that your content is changing, fresh, and answers the needs of your potential audiences is absolutely critical to the success of all your online efforts.

But what does “fresh content” really mean? It means that you’re telling your story continually; and not just your story, but also the story of how you can fulfill your clients’ needs. It means that your representation of your product must stay fresh as well, even if the product or service itself has not substantially changed. And it means that you are getting your content in front of as many targeted faces as possible—adapting for each new segment’s unique needs.

So commit to regular fresh fuel-ups of your website and outbound channels with fresh content, tailored to the wants and needs of your audiences. Otherwise, you’ll always be going nowhere.

Next Week: Why Tracking is King

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Snowpocalypse2

Published
by
NDG
on February 9, 2010
in articles
. 1 Comment

As many of you may have heard, the Mid-Atlantic region has gotten a little bit of snow over the past week, and more is on the way. We managed to capture several images of the snowstorm as it fell over the NDG Companies offices, as well as some great shots of the aftermath around our building.

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See the entire album here.

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People Prefer to Watch than Read

Published
by
NDG
on February 9, 2010
in articles, e-marketing, new home sales marketing and real estate marketing
. 0 Comments

Sarah Yaussi of Hanley Wood, publishers of Builder magazine and many other publications that serve the residential and commercial construction industry, recently attended the IBS 2010 show in Las Vegas where she saw NDG Companies President Tom Nelson’s presentation on online marketing for homebuilders, developers, and realtors.

“I ran across this factoid on page 15: Google and YouTube are serving 10 billion videos a month. The take-away was that people online would rather watch than read. So, I’ve been taking this insight to heart of late, even purchasing a FlipCam pocket video recorder and shooting some video on my own with the intent to integrate more of it into my news stories and blogs.”

Sarah then shares “lessons learned” from her experience with video, which are good recommendations for everyone beginning with online video production. Click here to continue reading Sarah’s blog and see her new video experiment results.

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NDG’s 2010 Online Marketing Fundamentals

Published
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NDG
on February 3, 2010
in advertising, articles, e-marketing, new home sales marketing and real estate marketing
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Connect the Dot.com’s in Your Online Marketing

for Homebuilders, Developers, and Real Estate Brokerages

A Step-By-Step Process to Staying Focused and On-Track in Today’s Market

NDG is sharing a roadmap with our clients and friends this year. It’s a roadmap to achieving online advertising and marketing results in 2010. In seven steps—steps, which we admit, are complex, and which take time and dedication to achieve—NDG will show you how to lay the groundwork for online real estate marketing and sales success this year. We’ll share one step per post, starting this week with:

Follow the Content Path: The Fundamental Components Required for Integrating and Flowing Your Data

What to do, where to do it, and how to make it all work together: Revealed below is NDG’s online integration map for flowing data (content) throughout the fundamental online marketing components for Homebuilders, Developers, and Real Estate Brokerages.

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1. Utilize a Branded, Adminable, and Content-Driven Website

What does “Adminable” mean?

This term simply means that your website is easily updated with new content by non-programmers via a Content Management System (CMS) that allows you to modify the content on your website without the help of a programmer.

What does “Content-Driven” mean?

We mean that fresh content is critical to your success, just as gasoline is required to make your car’s engine go: Community Listings, Inventory Homes List, Customizable Interactive Floorplans, Product Photography, Customizable Driving Directions to Sales Centers, Homeowner Testimonials, etc.

2. Utilize a Customer Relations Management System  (CRM)

What is a Customer Relations Management System?

Software that helps organize, manage, automate, and ensure the quality of your company’s interactions with both sales prospects and buyers.  Utilizing a CRM system will help you convert browsers into buyers.

3. Export XML Data Feeds from your CRM to 3rd-Party Referral Websites

What is an XML Feed?

This is the programming code that feeds YOUR HOME LISTINGS into third-party referral websites such as NewHomeSource.com, Trulia.com, or Move.com, etc., automatically, ensuring your listings on these websites are current and accurate—without having to manage the data manually.

4. Connect with Social Media Platforms

What are Social Media?

These are the online communities, websites, and platforms (such as Blogs, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc) that allow people from any location on the planet to come together to share common interests. Social Media are today’s public relations.

5. Acquire and Analyze Website Analytic Performance Data

What are Website Analytics?

The hard numbers from your website and other online components that tell you who is interacting with you, or not, and why, where, when, and how. The proof is in the numbers, and the more you know and understand, the more you’ll be able to refine your approach and modify your outreach to create the greatest results.

By utilizing each of these fundamental components, and by properly flowing your content and data through them in the correct order, you can ensure that your online resources are structured for maximum efficiency, that no (or at least few) opportunities for exposure and connection with the right prospects are being missed, and that you are poised for the most return on your investment.

Next week we’ll discuss the fuel that makes this online engine run: CONTENT!

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CRITICAL HOUSING INDUSTRY NEWS

Published
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NDG
on November 5, 2009
in articles, new home sales marketing and real estate marketing
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In service to our clients and partners in the real estate industry, NDG Communications often shares important news and research on our blog. Today the United States Senate announced that the homebuyer tax credit will be extended and expanded, and we present this exciting news here to keep you abreast of the facts as they develop.

Senate Acts to Extend Aid to Homebuyers; Passed $6,500 Tax Break; Headed for Quick Vote in House

Buyers who have owned their current homes at least five years would be eligible for tax credits of up to $6,500. First-time homebuyers—or anyone who hasn’t owned a home in the last three years—would still get up to $8,000.

To qualify, buyers have to sign a purchase agreement by April 30, 2010, and close by June 30. The credit would be extended an additional year, until June 30, 2011, for members of the military serving outside the United States for at least 90 days.

The bill is HR. 3548. “This is probably the last extension,” said Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia, a former real estate executive who championed the credits. The new $6,500 credit for existing homeowners “is going to help us boost what is the problem in the U.S. housing market today and that is what is called the move-up market,” said Senator Isakson.

The credit is available for homes purchased at under $800,000. [The bill] doubles the income ceiling for qualification to $125,000 for individuals. The credit would be phased out for joint filers with incomes above $225,000.

The measure also strengthens the ability of the IRS to stop people who are not eligible for the program from filing fraudulent claims.

“Buyers right now have an incentive to hold off, not knowing whether the credit will be extended,” said Lucien Salvant, spokesman for the National Association of Realtors.

About 1.4 million first-time homebuyers have qualified for the credit through August. The National Association of Realtors estimates that 350,000 of them would not have purchased their homes without the credit.

ALL MATERIAL HERE EXCERPTED AND ADAPTED FROM ARTICLES by STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writer, 8:53 a.m. EST, November 5, 2009, and by JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer, 1:20 a.m. EST, November 5, 2009.

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Being Ready for the Bounce: Four Marketing Fundamentals

Published
by
NDG
on July 30, 2009
in articles and new home sales marketing
. 0 Comments

From the Washington Post:
“The battered housing market appears to be on the mend, with sales climbing nationally and prices leveling off, even rising in some spots….On Tuesday, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller price index, a closely watched gauge, showed that single-family-home prices rose 0.5 percent from April to May, the first monthly increase since 2006. Earlier this week, the Federal government reported an 11 percent rise in new-home sales from May to June, the largest monthly gain in nine years.”

So, according to a key indicator of the housing market, for the first time in nearly three years home prices actually rose month-over-month across the nation. Foreclosures have slowed as well as lenders address new loan-modification programs, and economists think there’s now enough data to show that the housing market is  recovering and even bottoming in some parts of the country. Even the conservative Wall Street Journal reports this indicator data as a possible “change in momentum” for the housing market.

Now that reliable data shows that the bottom is being reached across the nation, it’s time to prepare for the bounce in your market. But your budgets are still tight, and you’re not even sure how to prepare after such an extended downturn. Here are the four marketing fundamentals every homebuilder or real estate brokerage should be doing to prepare for the bounce, with little cash expense required:

1.    Follow Up: Odds are, you already know the person who’s going to buy that house. They’ve likely already visited the community if not the very same unit. Go back to your prospect list and follow up.

2.    One Person’s Inventory is Another’s Content: Utilize the free and low-price targeted online advertising available to you, including trulia.com, zillow.com, newhomesindex.com, move.com, craigslist.com, realtor.com, google base, and others to give the right online searchers numerous opportunities to encounter your offerings, all at incredibly low cost or, at some sites, for free.

3.    Reach Out: Nationwide, more than 50% of all new home sales in 2008 were through a realtor. In fact, some builders saw this figure rise as high as 90% in the last year. It’s not enough to have just an introductory event and send out an occasional postcard. Your outreach must be coordinated, consistent, and actually connect—create events that encourage realtors to bring their clients to experience what your products or communities have to offer, stay up-to-date, and boost the frequency of your contact with them. Get more solid advice on Realtor Outreach from the NDG Blog.

4.    Start Listening: All those nifty social media tools like facebook and twitter are just the means to an end. We’re not just using them to be using them; we’re using them to have a new kind of conversation. Social media channels aren’t like the old, 1-way, broadcast channels where you just yelled at people, frequently. Online, people are talking back, and you must hold up your end of the conversation by genuinely listening and honestly responding. Listening will give you incredible insights; not listening will become dangerously reckless.

Commit to doing these four marketing fundamentals, and you’ll be cost-effectively connecting with your prospects and opening new channels in preparation for the rebound.

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Facebook Users Now Exceed 250 Million

Published
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NDG
on July 23, 2009
in articles and e-marketing
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Just a few months ago, social networking behemoth Facebook announced that it had reached 200 million users. Now, just over 3 months later, the site has reached 250 million users, acquiring up to 750,000 new users per day in recent weeks.

And though much of this growth (approximately 70%) has come from outside the United States, the site is now the most visited in the United States where it is the undisputed #1 social networking site.

“For us,” says Facebook creator and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, “growing to 250 million users isn’t just an impressive number; it is a mark of how many personal connections all of you have made, and how far we at Facebook have to go to extend the power of connection to the billions of people around the world.”

So, everybody’s jumping aboard the social networking bandwagon, and Facebook is the leading platform, but what about engagement? Facebook reports that users spent an average of 4 hours, 39 minutes on the social network in June 2009, that 20 million users log in at least once a day, and that 30 million update their status daily, making the company’s apparent inability to fully monetize all the more mystifying—though there are hints that the floodgates of revenue may be opening soon.

Read Mashable’s take on this impressive milestone here.

Read Facebook creator and CEO Mark Zuckerburg’s blog post here.

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Applications Going Up, Fed Pressure Moving Down

Published
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NDG
on July 9, 2009
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The Washington Post reports that  loan applications “rose a seasonally adjusted 10.9 percent to 493.1 in the week ended July 3, after slumping the prior week to the lowest level since November.” Mortgage demand has now recovered from seven-month lows last week, easing pressure for more Federal Reserve intervention. Along with signs of home prices stabilizing, this rise in mortgage applications “suggests mortgage rates may not fall much lower.”

Read the entire article here.

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Making Your Website Searchable and Social Media Friendly

Published
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NDG
on June 26, 2009
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There is an increasing demand for fresh, live web content as well as an increasingly high expectation of consumers to be able to interact with what they find in search results. This naturally requires that website owners and content publishers make their websites both search and social media friendly. Here are 5 ways to do just that from Lee Odden at Mashable.

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