e-marketing » NDG Communications, Inc.

With 10.4 million monthly visits originating on mobile devices, Trulia is releasing a new ad platform that will allow advertisers/homebuilders to place geolocated ads on the most trafficked pages of the Trulia smartphone app and mobile website.

Mobile banner ads will appear above search results mapped by zipcode and will show a contact name, phone number, and photo.

Why is this such a big deal?

30% of Trulia’s weekend traffic is from mobile devices
Homebuyers searching on mobile are 60% more likely to take the next step
Mobile searches have grown by 250%

However, it’s about more than advertising to mobile users—it’s about offering content specific to a user’s geographical location and tapping into the buyers who are most likely to visit your communities and homes.

Click here to learn more about Trulia’s new geolocation
mobile advertising platform.

On Friday, several NDG Communications team members and I attended the Mid-Atlantic Marketing Summit on Intelligence & Insights on the Future of Communications at Gannett headquarters in McLean, Virginia. We learned some interesting new things and found affirmation about the effectiveness of tactics we’ve begun to employ for our clients—and ourselves.

For example, when it comes to online content, presenters reinforced the importance of micro-targeting—the more focused and relevant the conversation, the better the engagement and response. Make your messaging so specific to your target audience that they not only read it, they start to see themselves in it.

In terms of social media engagement, we were reminded of just how critical it is to talk to and about your prospects. Research has shown time and again that when companies talk about themselves, engagement drops. But, talk about your buyer—what’s important to them, what’s trending in their world, what keeps them up at night—and watch engagement go up!

Click here to learn more about the event.

Infographics are hot on the marketing scene right now. An infographic is an eye-catching graphic representation of information, trends, or statistics. Whether for real estate, healthcare, or any industry, infographics can make facts and figures much more interesting.

Lately, I’ve had the pleasure of designing a number of new infographics, including this one detailing some fun facts about our agency’s culture.

How can you make infographics work for you? First, the text in your infographic should be brief, representing the basic facts and figures you wish to convey. Second, successful infographics offer intriguing titles and perspectives about topics that draw people in. Third, effective infographics are presented in a visual style that delights and inspires.

And when it comes to building links and generating online publicity, infographics have the power to take your message viral, especially on social networks. Marketing doesn’t get any better than other people spreading your message for free, and infographics are one thing that people definitely love to share.

Click here for more insights into how infographics can be a smart and cost-effective vehicle for marketing your brand.

While the number of social networks continues to grow, only a few of them have unique value to you and your clients.

The latest one on our radar—“Pinterest”—is a great example of just such a network, and here at NDG, our “pinterest” was sparked right out of the gate. This unique photo-sharing website allows users to “pin” images to theme-based boards, which can be shared and commented on.

Instead of tearing pages out of catalogues or bookmarking countless websites, now you can store images quickly and easily on Pinterest just by adding them from your web browser.

But Pinterest isn’t just for personal use. Companies are using it for design inspiration and brand promotion—you can capture and share the essence of your brand and company culture through pictures, hold contests, and observe the types of people that are liking or repining your pins.

Who are the early adopters? West Elm, The Today Show, and Travel Channel are already on Pinterest. Will you be next?

Click here for 5 Hot Tips for brands on Pinterest. Or, click here to learn how to use Pinterest to boost consumer engagement.

Our BDX (NewHomeSource.com and its affiliate network) account manager has just informed us that a recent campaign for one of our national homebuilder clients has achieved record-setting CTR results—“the highest performance we’ve ever seen from corporate creative”—a 570% increase over the industry average.

Research, testing, best practices, solid strategy, and superior creative helped us generate these exceptional results, but still we are not satisfied. NDG’s commitment to our clients inspires us to further refine and constantly improve our results, even record-setting ones like these.

Sarah Eckel,
NDG Director of Account Services

Nearly a week after the launch of the new Google + social network, Facebook has just unveiled its anticipated Skype-powered video chat feature.

Skype CEO Tony Bates described the new Facebook video feature as a “mini-Skype client”—built right into chat, easily accessible with the click of a button at the top of your chat window. And if the person you’re calling doesn’t answer, you can even leave a video message.

Unlike the Google + “Hangouts” feature, which allows up to 10 people to engage in video chat, Facebook’s video chat offers free one-on-one capability only. So why didn’t Facebook launch group video chat from the start in effort to stay head of Google +? Facebook responds that one-on-one chat on Skype is more popular; however, it’s worth noting that Skype currently charges for group chat and relies on this feature for revenue, indicating that Facebook is unlikely to offer group video chat capability anytime soon.

All in all, both social networks’ video chat features are useful for entirely different reasons: Facebook’s Skype-powered video chat is simple, direct, and easy to use, while Google + “Hangouts” offers a number of social options for connecting with various groups of friends or colleagues in different ways, in any combination you like.

Do you use video chat now? Will you be more likely to use it on Facebook or Google +? And do you anticipate incorporating this capability into your company’s public response, just as “live chat” has become a necessity for many websites? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Sara Badr,
NDG Marketing Manager

Big news in the social media realm: No longer are the days that you must share information in the form of status updates with hundreds of friends or acquaintances all at once. Google launched a trial of their new Google+ social network to a limited number of users this week.

Now, Google+ wants you to be able to connect with others in more ways than one. The new social network includes features such as a news feed known as “the Stream,” video chat in “Hangouts,” and the ability to group chat on mobile devices with the “Huddle” option.

The creators at Google+ also recognized that you may only what to share something with a certain group of friends. For example, maybe you want to brief industry professionals or interested clients on an upcoming meeting you’re holding. With Google+, you’re able to group friends into various social groups or categories called “Circles” and relay information to those people only.

Google+ will gradually open up to the public over the coming weeks. Will you try it out?

Cindy Mellott,
NDG Interactive Media Specialist

Here’s some big news we wanted to share: Over the weekend, Foursquare became the first location-based social network to surpass the 10 million user mark.

Foursquare allows registered users with smart phones to connect with friends and update their location by “checking in” at venues, and a check-in can be posted on Facebook and Twitter.

Since its launch in March 2009, the social network has had more than 3 million check-ins per day—not only tracking check-ins at popular chains such as Old Navy, Home Depot, Target, and Bank of America, but also major life events including 6,350 wedding check-ins at chapels and churches and 1,061 birth announcements on hospital check-ins. And, Foursquare has also gone global with 358 million check-ins outside of the United States, including 1,105 beer halls in Germany and 6,230 sake bars in Japan.

Social media platforms such as GoWalla, Facebook Places, and Foursquare all offer check-in capabilities to promote participation and bring added value to the home shopping experience. Real estate companies and builders can use social networks to track and encourage engagement, and create special deals for customers—when and where they are actually shopping.

NDG Communications, Inc.

Category Archives: e-marketing

NDG Sets New Online Advertising Record for National Homebuilder Client