Multifamily

Resident Places Launches Facebook Coupon Reveal Tab for Apartments

Posted by TJ Goulet on Jan 9, 2013 in Advertising, Branding, Content Marketing, Coupons & Deals, Marketing, Multifamily, Multifamily News, Multifamily Tech, Press Release, Resident Communication, Resident Places, Social Media | Comments Off

For Immediate Release

Resident Places Launches Facebook Coupon Reveal Tab for Apartments

Philadelphia, PA January 9, 2013 – Resident Places has expanded its local coupon amenity program.  We now offer participating communities a reveal tab for their community Facebook pages loaded with co-branded local coupons that can be printed and shared by their residents and prospects.

Resident Places (www.residentplaces.com) is pleased to announce the launching of our new Reveal Tab for Facebook that allows participating apartment communities to place hyper-local coupons on their Facebook page for their residents and prospects.  The coupons are easily printed and shared directly for the social site of each individual community. 

The Resident Places Coupon Reveal Tab will support the social activities of apartment communities by providing them with valued content that will generate more likes, more shares, referrals and recommendations, and increase visit frequency by their residents and prospects.

Resident Places President TJ Goulet stated, “We are very excited about the prospect of supporting our client’s endeavors to build a robust and active social network with their residents.”  Goulet went on to say, “Coupons have both real and perceived value to residents and the cobranded printed coupon increases our client’s reach into their local neighborhoods.  Resident Places is a win for residents, for local businesses and, most importantly, a win for the participating apartment communities.”

Coupons, deals and giveaways have the highest response rates and share rates on Facebook.  An Exact Target Survey showed that the top two reasons Facebook users like a fan pages was to get discounts (40%) and freebies (36%).  Wildfire Interactive reported that coupons had a 49% response rate and a 34% share rate among 10,000 Facebook campaigns surveyed.

Increasing Facebook “Likes” improves brand loyalty and referrals according to a survey by Syncapse.com.  They surveyed 4,000 Facebook users for 20 top brands and found that Facebook Fans are 28% more likely to stick with a brand and 41% more likely to recommend a brand than non-fans.

About Resident Places

Resident Places is an amenity program for residential and mixed use properties that delivers property branded, hyper-local coupons.  These neighborhood deals enhance current resident retention initiatives, while augmenting community outreach to local businesses.   Every coupon printed through the property specific co-branded portal includes the name of the property and are shareable via social networks like Facebook and Twitter.  The Resident Places call center handles all sales and service activities related to the coupons and target businesses that are in close proximity to each property ensuring that they represent the businesses most desired and used by residents.

Property Managers interested in offering Resident Places to their residents should contact Rob Remus at (484) 474-0590 or by email at rremus@residentplaces.com.  Learn more at Property.residentplaces.com.

 

 

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5 Ways to Increase Your Facebook Engagement | Social Media Examiner

Posted by TJ Goulet on Dec 19, 2012 in Advertising, Branding, Coupons & Deals, Marketing, Multifamily, Resident Communication, Resident Places | Comments Off

5 Ways to Increase Your Facebook Engagement | Social Media Examiner.

Looking to increase your Facebook page engagement?

Wondering why some pages have very high engagement and others nearly none?

In this post I’ll share five tips you can put to work right away.

About Facebook Engagement

What is it that makes some Facebook fan pages wildly successful with constant high engagement rates where the fans and their friends eat up the content like there’s no tomorrow… while other pages sit there dormant with hardly any activity, yet they produce great content, too?

Making Facebook work for your business can often take a bit of trial and error… and time.

You need to have patience and be willing to invest your own time and/or invest in a team to help you. You might refer to my post Facebook 101 for Business: Your Complete Guide and scroll to the section on Recommended Six-step Approach to Building Your Facebook Page for a refresher.

Though Facebook has introduced a plethora of changes since I wrote that post, the six-step approach remains valid.

In order to create success on Facebook, you need to have a clear objective and great design, plus:

• Solid content strategy (what you’re going to post on your page)
• Promotion strategy (how you’re going to continually increase your fan base)
• Engagement strategy (how you’ll respond to fans and build community)
• Conversion strategy (how you’ll turn your fans into customers)

In this post, I’ll explore five factors that contribute to exceptional engagement and measurable results!

#1: Launch Creative Incentives

From time to time, keep your fans engaged with fun promotions. That mayinclude contests, offers, games, vouchers, codes and more.

Arby’s recently rolled out a clever campaign to celebrate its 48th anniversary. The company added a nifty retro-style coupon as a Milestone way back in the year 1964 (the year the company was founded) on its Facebook Timeline page.

Visitors to Arby’s Facebook page were encouraged to click on the beginning of its Timeline to get a coupon for a Classic Roast Beef sandwich at the 1960s price of $0.64.

Coupons could only be redeemed on July 23, the company’s anniversary date.

The post announcing that the coupon was coming got over 2,600 shares and the poston July 23 got over 3,000 shares. Both posts received thousands of likes and hundreds of comments.

This was a wonderful opportunity for Arby’s fans to play a ‘treasure hunt’ game of sorts, and clearly yielded significant engagement.

Jo Ann Herold, VP of communications and public relations at Arby’s Restaurant Group, said,

“One of our goals for this promotion was to increase engagement and entice sharing, so we wanted everyone to explore our Timeline and have access to the coupon.”

The promotion was also featured on Instagram and Twitter, both directing people to Arby’s Facebook page.

Simple campaign, yes? What can you take away from this idea?

It’s perfectly within Facebook’s Terms of Use to do a giveaway on your fan page. The rule of thumb is does everyone get one? If the answer is yes, you’re good to go—that’s a giveaway. If the answer is no because you’re drawing select winners, then that’s a promotion where you must adhere to Facebook’s Promotions guidelines and use an app to administer the contest/sweepstakes. More on that here.

#2: Post Highly Shareable Content

You might be familiar with the expression “Facebook candy.” This is the type ofcontent that Facebook users get very excited about and immediately want to share with all of their friends.

Your own Facebook news feed is likely peppered with such candy!

This is almost always an image, which tends to get a higher EdgeRank (more news feed visibility). And often, the images contain inspirational or motivational quotes along with an eye-catching photo.

My friend JB Glossinger does a great job of posting consistent shareable content. The interesting thing is JB frequently shares what I call “OPC”—other people’s content.

And, JB’s team engages well with his community (see below).

JB has a daily podcast and has grown his subscribers considerably through his highly engaging Facebook page.

For more on this topic, see this post: 7 Ways to Craft Your Facebook Posts for Maximum Shares.

I’ve compiled a Facebook Interest List, Facebook Candy to Inspire, featuring 83 fun sources of content to share. (Let me know in the comments below if you have any fan pages to suggest for this list!)

Could your content use a bit of a boost? How many images do you post vs. links? The latter does tend to get much more visibility!

#3: Build a Tight Community

Some Facebook pages just seem to have a knack for building a real community—onewhere visitors and fans often engage with one another and there is much peer support.

Plus, you can feel the page owners’ presence. They don’t just use their Facebook page as a one-way broadcast channel.

Bridal Hotspot page owner Sylvana Spiby stated on this post that she can’t remember the last time her engagement rate (ER) was lower than 100%.

Now that’s saying something! Given that the average ER for most brands and businesses is a mere 2%!

To calculate your own engagement—or that of any fan page—here’s the formula:

(PTAT / Likes)*100, where PTAT is “people talking about this.”

This is the most common and quick way to calculate ER.

The screenshot below shows an example of an ER over 100%. This is Modern Parent‘s fan page:

However, there’s also per-post engagement rate which is:

(Likes + Comments + Shares on a given day) / # of wall posts made by page on a given day / Total fans on a given day)*100

On Bridal Hotspot’s fan page, Sylvana responds to ALL posts by others, always has a warm and personal style and often uses people’s first names. Plus, something else that stood out for me: she encourages others to share their own content… even if he/she could potentially be a competitor!

Do you have an active community on Facebook? Are you or someone on your team consistently responding to fans’ posts and comments?

#4: Have a Quirky Brand

Have you seen the Dollar Shave Club‘s comic marketing video featuring CEO Michael Dubin’s dry humor? It’s exceptionally well done and currently has well over 5.5 Million views on YouTube!

The Dollar Shave Club is an innovative concept where members pay a small monthly fee to receive razors by mail. That’s it—super-simple and highly successful!

The company culture is clearly fun, quirky and creative, and this spills over onto the company’s Facebook page, too. Although DSC doesn’t post that often on its fan page, the fans post regularly… and they frequently get a personal response by DSC admins.

The company involves fans with giveaways such as flasks, t-shirts and “handsome-ass bottlekeys!” Fans can participate via Twitter and DSC’s blog, too.

Along with a hilarious marketing video and quirky brand, this company clearly filled a niche that people didn’t know they needed, and as such the company has built a cult-like following.

Even though he doesn’t shave often, Sir Richard Branson was so impressed he felt compelled to blog about this fun company! See also this writeup on Inc.com. (I first discovered the DSC in an article in the July 2012 Inc. Magazine.)

How can you add humor and maybe a wee bit more quirkiness to your brandand Facebook engagement? People LOVE to be entertained!

And, when you mix entertainment and education, you get edutainment. Social Media Examiner’s own community manager, Andrea Vahl, has an alter ego as a fun social media edutatiner, Grandma Mary.

#5: Be a Beloved Personality

Last, but by no means least, is the inimitable George Takei. He’s really in a league of his own on Facebook!

George is a widely recognized actor, starring in some 40+ feature films and hundreds of television shows. But, he is probably best known for his portrayal of Mr. Sulu in the acclaimed television and film series, Star Trek.

On Facebook, George seems to have an incredible knack for posting extremely viral content—his fans just can’t wait to share the next nugget of wit.

At any given time, George frequently has an engagement rate GREATER than 100%. At the time of writing this post, per the screenshot below, the ER is 135%. (Remember, the average is just 2%.)

Almost all of George’s posts are fun and quirky Facebook candy. Notice that the majority of his posts are photos and he typically posts a very short (humorous) narrative, both factors in getting higher news feed visibility and engagement rates.

What we can learn from George and the way he’s built his Facebook community is that he is extremely consistent. He posts around 3-5 times per day, every day. And, in terms of driving his fans to action, George does get the word out about the upcoming musical Allegiance, in which he stars (and was inspired by his family’s experience).

Nonetheless, aside from being a celeb, you can definitely take away from factor #5 how it’s important to give your fans plenty of excellent content on a regular basis that they just love.

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What Do Facebook Users Expect from Brands?

Posted by TJ Goulet on Dec 18, 2012 in Advertising, Branding, Content Marketing, Marketing, Multifamily, Multifamily Marketing, Resident Communication, Resident Places, Social Media | Comments Off

Facebook users have both positive and negative expectations when “liking” a brand

Companies are often on the hunt for more “likes” for their Facebook pages, hoping to get more brand advocates and social media fans. However only 42% of US Facebook users think marketers should interpret a “like” in that way.

This data comes from a June 2011 study from ExactTarget, “Subscribers, Fans and Followers: The Meaning of Like,” which found that 25% of US Facebook users disagree that marketers should interpret “like” to mean they are a fan or advocate of the company.

Facebook users themselves have some preconceived notions about what to expect when they “like” a company on the site, and among those who do not become brand fans, many are negative. More than half of users expect to be bombarded with messages or ads (54%), while 45% do not want to give companies access to profile information and 31% do not want to push content from a company into friends’ newsfeeds. These possibilities have prevented users from making brand connections on the social networking giant.

On the flip side, many US Facebook users also have certain expectations of perks they should get after following a company’s Facebook page.

The ExactTarget study found that 58% of US Facebook users expect to gain access to exclusive content, events or sales after “liking” a company, while 58% also expect to receive discounts or promotions. Additionally 47% expect to see updates about the company, person or organization they “liked” in their newsfeed, which bodes well for brands as they work to have their content always show up for their followers.

Additionally, younger consumers, ExactTarget found, have fewer expectations and generally “like” brands as a form of expression, not to get certain perks. Meanwhile, older consumers want something of value for “liking” a brand. By listening to what their target fanbase wants out of the Facebook relationship, marketers can get more interaction on their page and encourage more people to “like” rather than avoid brands on Facebook.

 

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Resident Places Expansion Surpasses 16,000 Households

Posted by TJ Goulet on Aug 9, 2012 in Marketing, Multifamily, Multifamily News, Press Release, Resident Places | Comments Off

For Immediate Release

Resident Places Expansion Surpasses 16,000 Households

Philadelphia, PA August 8, 2012 – Resident Places announces the expansion of their coupon amenity offering to 66 Philadelphia apartment communities reaching over 16,000 households.

“We are excited at the early success of our coupon amenity program at our initial 17 properties and are excited to extend our reach to over 16,000 Philadelphia households,” states TJ Goulet, President of Resident Places.  Goulet also states, “The response from local businesses has been incredible.  They immediately see the benefits of partnering directly with the apartment communities through the Coupon Reward Sites.  We have seen all kinds of businesses participate.  Everything from pizza shops to fine dining restaurants, fitness center, dog walkers, local retail stores, auto repair shops and beauty salons – All offering discounts and coupons exclusively for the residents of our participating apartment communities.”

Resident Places plans to continue their expansion by adding additional communities in Philadelphia and expanding into neighboring metropolitan areas like Baltimore MD, Washington DC & Boston MA.

About Resident Places

Resident Places is an amenity program for residential and mixed use properties that delivers property branded, hyper-local coupons.  These neighborhood deals enhance current resident retention initiatives, while augmenting community outreach to local businesses.   Every coupon printed through the property specific co-branded portal includes the name of the property and are shareable via social networks like Facebook and Twitter.  The Resident Places call center handles all sales and service activities related to the coupons and target businesses that are in close proximity to each property ensuring that they represent the businesses most desired and used by residents.  Learn more by visiting Residentplaces.com.

Property Managers interested in offering Resident Places should contact Rob Remus at (484) 474-0590.

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The Summit Apartments Launch Resident Places

Posted by TJ Goulet on Jun 1, 2012 in Coupons & Deals, Marketing, Multifamily, Multifamily News, Multifamily Tech, Resident Communication, Resident Places | Comments Off

The Summit Apartments in the Roxborough area of Philadelphia launched the Resident Places program for their residents over Memorial Day weekend.  The Summit was one of the first properties to join Resident Places and launched with over a dozen hyper local coupons available to their residents with more to come.  Check out their reward site for their residents.

The announcement to the residents included social postings on Facebook and Twitter,as well as a full page ad in their June 2012 Newsletter and adding a “Local Coupons” link to every page of their property site.  Future resident communications will include addition of Resident Places to their closed circuit TV system in the club house, continued inclusion in their monthly newsletter, an email blast to all residents, weekly sharing of coupons and local deals on their Facebook and Twitter pages and inclusion of a flier and printing local coupons in their Welcome Kits.

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Zillow Launches First Mobile App for Rentals – MultifamilyBiz.com

Posted by TJ Goulet on May 22, 2012 in Leasing and Releasing, Marketing, Multifamily, Multifamily Marketing, Multifamily Tech | Comments Off

SEATTLE, WA – Zillow, Inc, the leading real estate information marketplace, today announced the launch of Zillow® Rentals for Android™ App, the company’s first dedicated rentals app, optimized for renters who need to make decisions quickly.

The Zillow Rentals for Android App is the only rentals app that allows users to access Rent Zestimates® – Zillow’s estimated rent prices on more than 100 million U.S. homes and apartments. Additionally, the app allows rental shoppers to:

• Compare and contrast favorite homes on a side-by-side list, a rental app feature exclusive to Zillow.

• Draw one or more boundaries around neighborhoods to narrow a search by geography.

• Use Android’s voice search capabilities to quickly search for-rent homes in an area.

• Quickly browse color-coded results organized by time on market, so renters know which homes are new to the market and which have already been viewed.

• Automatically receive on-screen notifications when new rental homes matching search criteria hit the market, with no login or sign-up required.

• Contact landlords by phone or email instantly. These properties are automatically added to the renter’s list of favorites with a time stamp to help keep track of when landlords were contacted.

“Renters shop differently from buyers and look at many homes quickly, in specific locations, in a short amount of time,” said Jeremy Wacksman, vice president of consumer marketing and mobile at Zillow. “The Zillow Rentals for Android App was created specifically to address their needs by organizing listings in an easily-accessible way and allowing them to shop for the right home on location, in the neighborhood where they want to live.”

This is Zillow’s 10th mobile app, adding to the most popular suite of mobile real estate apps with dedicated apps available on every major platform. Zillow’s early investment in mobile is fueling the company’s growth. In March, 155 million homes were viewed on Zillow mobile apps – that’s 57 homes per second.

Zillow Mobile’s full suite includes: Zillow on iPad®; Zillow iPhone® App; Zillow Mortgage Marketplace iPhone App; Zillow Android App; Zillow Mortgage Marketplace Android App; Zillow Android Tablet App; Zillow BlackBerry® App; Zillow Kindle® Fire App; Zillow Windows® Phone 7 App.

Zillow Rentals for Android App is free to download, and is available in the Google® Play store starting today:

Search for “Zillow” in the Google Play store, or find it in the Lifestyle category.

Zillow (NASDAQ: Z) is the leading real estate information marketplace, providing vital information about homes, real estate listings and mortgages through its website and mobile applications, enabling homeowners, buyers, sellers and renters to connect with real estate and mortgage professionals best suited to meet their needs. In March 2012, more than 32 million unique users visited Zillow’s websites and mobile applications. Zillow, Inc. operates Zillow.com®, Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, Zillow Mobile, Postlets® and Diverse Solutions. The company is headquartered in Seattle.

Zillow Launches First Mobile App for Rentals – Multifamily News Headlines – Breaking News, Stories, Top Headlines :: MultifamilyBiz.com.

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