5. >> Why bother?
>> What apartment companies are doing
>> What others are doing
>> What you can do
6. “The power of the consumer’s voice
has never been stronger...
It’s impacted consumer behavior
and how companies operate.”
>> David Daniels, VP & Research Director, Jupiter Research
7. The Internet is booming...
MyNewPlace estimates over 70%
of apartment searches now begin online.
8. ... Yet, your website is less important.
53% of online users consume content
outside traditional corporate websites.
9. Internet searchers are impatient.
Less than 10% of searchers read
beyond the first three pages of results.
10. Social media impacts your reputation.
One-third of all Internet users post opinions.
36% think more positively about
a company that maintains a blog.
17. >> It levels the playing field
by giving you a voice.
>> It gives you a direct connection
to your customers.
>> It gives your customers a direct
connection to each other.
18. Those conversations are powered by...
• Social networks • Widgets
• Blogs • Social bookmarks
• Online chat • Message boards
• Podcasts • Photo sharing
• RSS • Video sharing
• Microblogs • Wikis
19. Where does it fit?
>> Marketing
>> Branding
>> Customer service
>> Resident retention
>> Internal communications and training
22. Residents can search for local info,
community events or merchants by keyword
Merchant directory represents
95% of local searches
Integrates directly into
property’s resident portal
23. Mark-Taylor Results
• Website traffic: 55K -140K searches per month
in Phoenix metro area
• Traffic rank: 518K to 145K in 6 weeks
(Alexa.com)
• Organic ranking in search engines
• SEO expenditure savings: $4,500+ monthly
42. Internal Resources
>> 2 employees spend 1 - 3 hours per day
>> 4 - 6 compensated resident bloggers
43. Results
• Website traffic up over 65%.
• Blog traffic up over 4,300%.
• Participation in Urbane Lobby tripled.
44. Urbane Results
• No paid advertising in past six months.
• Nearly 100% increase in lease conversion.
• Rents consistently higher per square foot than
local competition.
• Brand awareness drives referrals and resident
retention.
63. Look at the whole picture.
>> Your brand is how people perceive you.
What other say about you is more
important than ever before.
>> Like it or not, social media leads to
conversations about your company.
Participating helps you control the
message.