The value of an informative web site targeted to the needs of prospects and customers can never be underestimated. But real estate professionals who take site development a step further – and create a simple system of web links and tools tailored to the industry and their own businesses – will enjoy continuous site traffic and the intake of qualified leads.

In my last column, I discussed the importance of producing email campaigns featuring links to web sites, blogs, and social media pages to complement real estate marketing strategies. These campaigns are a critical piece of a successful web site matrix. Think of your real estate business web site as the hub of the system. Your email marketing campaigns promote content you create for your customers and prospects, and they drive traffic to the hub. If you are not currently using this strategy to promote your business, it’s time to add email marketing to the mix.

Your blog is also a source of unique content that showcases your knowledge – and by posting links to it on your email campaigns, advertisements, and using real estate blog sites like Activerain.com – your web site will receive more hits. In addition, branded social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Flickr demonstrate your expertise and develop inbound traffic.

Everything else that connects and enriches the information on the hub will be content driven by external web sites. Examples include listing syndication services that update and promote market listings on your site, web sites that provide reviews of real estate agents and brokers, and sites that share press releases you’ve distributed or posted.

Using this organized and consistent approach to web site development will ensure that your site is content-rich and consistently updated. Not only does it encourage you to blog about current trends and design fresh email campaigns, but it also demonstrates your connectivity to the industry-at-large and to your target market.

By making your web site the hub of information about local listings, industry developments, tips for buyers and sellers, insights and commentary, your site will achieve high search engine rankings and online referrals that lead to increased traffic, leads, and sales. To learn more about developing a web site matrix for your real estate business, contact an integrated marketing firm.

Have you “checked in” today? If you are one of the 6 percent of U.S. online adults using geo-social (aka location-based) applications like Foursquare, you’ve probably done so several times already.

By sharing their physical locations at restaurants, shops, hotels, landmarks and entertainment venues via smartphones and other mobile devices, geo-social users can connect on- and offline with friends — and brands. This makes the platform one of the most innovative marketing opportunities for companies willing to experiment to attract a highly engaged and participatory audience.

Location-based mobile solutions encourage users to check in at cultural, dining and shopping venues to access information and tips — and even access deals and discounts — by sharing their physical location with their online network of friends.

SCVNGR is a location-based mobile gaming app supported by Google Ventures that rewards participants for completing fun challenges at venues and businesses. Other technology leaders like Apple, Google and Facebook continuously develop and tweak location-oriented features for their products, with Facebook even acquiring location-based social network Gowalla in December.

However, Foursquare is currently the unequivocal leader of the geo-social space with an impressive 15 million users — which caused Facebook to phase out its similar Places check-in feature after only one year (the social media giant still offers location-sharing, though; users have the option to tag posts and photos with their current locales).

In addition to the ability to check in to locations to meet up with friends and earn discounts and sales rewards, Foursquare offers competitive gaming. Users earn points and virtual badges for checking in to certain locations — and can even achieve “mayor” status of venues for having the most check-ins.

Foursquare also has a List Service that allows users to create lists of related venues. Colleges and universities like Texas Christian  University are leveraging this feature to offer targeted, self-guided campus tours to prospective students via Foursquare, including athletic and benefactor tours.

Narrowing the gap

The good news for business owners and marketers is that geo-social users are brand enthusiasts. According to Forrester Research’s 2011 geo-social user study, their likelihood for sharing product details with peers is double that of the typical online adult. They are also more liable to share discount codes, promotions and coupons with their networks.

Geo-social users are 37 percent female (up from 22 percent in 2010), and three-quarters of all users are between 23 and 45 years of age. This presents a significant opportunity for businesses to engage with a young, social and extremely active online audience that has already opted in to interact with brands.

Geo-social marketing is new and evolving, making campaign experimentation the norm for this medium. Major corporations like JetBlue, McDonald’s, Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts have leveraged location-based check-in campaigns to boost foot traffic and brand loyalty.

During the 2011 holiday season, Dunkin’ Donuts held a geo-social marketing campaign in the greater New York City area called “GetGifteDD.” By checking in via Foursquare or Facebook at Dunkin’ Donuts locations up to three times daily, participants had the chance to win one of 1,775 prizes from 1-800-Flowers, Travel Pro Luggage and American Express (which gave away $1,000 gift cards).

The campaign was promoted via Facebook, Twitter and banner ads on local media websites.

The Weather Channel is one company that has taken geo-social marketing beyond the check-in campaign with location-based mobile ads. Using its mobile app that provides details on local weather, the company partnered with Westin Hotels and Resorts to execute the 2011 “Wipe Away Your Weather” campaign. The app showed users the weather in their geographic locations, and they could “wipe” it away on their mobile device screens to show warmer weather being enjoyed by visitors of Westin Hotels and Resorts.

If you’d like to dive in to geo-social marketing, make sure you claim your business on the major location networks, including Google Places. This will ensure accurate business data, contact information and branding.

Also, create a Foursquare page for your business and leave tips targeted to your typical customer base. Then start brainstorming. Check-in campaigns with discounts, prizes or rewards are a great way to gain geo-social experience — as are partnerships with local businesses or nonprofit organizations.

Geo-social marketing has narrowed the gap between businesses and their customers. By connecting brands and consumers online through a casual and fun gaming experience, businesses know when customers are nearby — or even in — their physical business locations. Using targeted geo-social marketing, businesses can then deliver instant brand information and deals in the palms of their customers’ hands that will increase sales and online referrals.

The redesigned site is the result of detailed analysis, team collaboration, creative design, and master programming. Featuring a streamlined navigation that makes the site more intuitive and user-friendly, the site provides both current and prospective residents with practical resources and information that convey the community’s mission, services, and lifestyle. In addition to the Retirement and Assisted Living options at Presidential Oaks, the site also includes details about its Rehabilitation Center and Children’s Center day care, which are both open to the public.

“This new site is the result of a collaborative effort with our partners at Presidential Oaks,” explains Linda Fanaras, President of Millennium Integrated Marketing. “The site’s graphic design, intuitive interface, and robust content dramatically improve the user experience, and highlight the wide range of senior living options and rehabilitation and day care services that Presidential Oaks provides the greater community.”

The Presidential Oaks site is online at www.presidentialoaks.org.

While businesses are rapidly increasing their use of social media, blogging, and mobile applications to increase leads and retain clients, email continues to serve as a central marketing and communication strategy. In an October 2011 survey, Constant Contact found that 97% of U.S. small businesses use email to connect with customers and prospects. By developing targeted email campaigns as part of an overall integrated marketing plan, real estate agents and brokers can significantly generate qualified leads and expand client bases.

Email campaigns are a fairly low-cost marketing solution that are easily executed with user-friendly software platforms such as Campaigner (an e-newsletter campaign program) or MailChimp. These types of programs provide professional templates for achieving corporate brand alignment, as well as a variety of methods for tracking campaigns – including open rates, click-throughs, non-delivery rates, sales conversions, and list opt-outs. Tracking campaign performance is a critical aspect of email marketing. When done correctly, it leads to accurate lists that deliver improved results with each subsequent campaign.

Content for email campaigns should be tailored to specific audiences rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. It is best to develop separate campaigns for prospects interested in first-time home buying and downsizing, another for previous clients, and an additional one for existing clients. While some campaign content can be about the sender’s business (like open houses, new listings, awards received, etc.), there should also be quality, useful information focused solely on recipients and their needs. This will lead them to value your messages and be more inclined to continue subscribing to your email list.

When developing campaigns, be sure to include the name most likely recognized by recipients in the “from” field (either yours or a senior manager’s), and create subject lines that attract attention and persuade them to open the emails. Also, experiment with sending emails at different times of the day. Mid-morning and mid-afternoon deliveries often achieve higher open rates, but this can shift based on the real estate market and target audience.

As with every marketing tactic, email campaigns should complement and enhance existing on and offline efforts. Therefore, always include links in your email campaigns to your web sites, blogs, and social media pages to drive online traffic and engage leads.

Once comfortable with email campaigning, try creative solutions like video messages (provided by services like EyeJot) and virtual business cards that produce eye-catching, high click-through results (check out BOJO). Integrated marketing firms are great resources for providing additional ideas and strategies for implementing successful email campaigns.

“With more than 3,600 ballots cast for the 2012 Awards, the BOBs have really become a standard of excellence in New Hampshire’s business community,” said Jeff Feingold, editor of New Hampshire Business Review. “If other business owners have named your business a BOB business, it really says something about the high caliber of the company you’re running.”

Millennium Integrated Marketing utilized a social media and video marketing campaign to promote its BOB Award nomination. The video featured the firm’s staff deliberating over what the eventual acceptance speech should sound like – while taking turns pretending to be firm president and founder Linda Fanaras by sporting her eyeglasses and blouse. A follow-up video pledged that if Millennium Integrated Marketing won the BOB Award for Best Advertising Agency, chief creative strategist Vince Paratore would wear the blouse to the awards ceremony. The videos are posted under Favorite Videos on the firm’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/millenniumIM or can be viewed by clicking http://bit.ly/yxWXaJ.

“It is an honor to be acknowledged for our excellence in the advertising industry with this BOB Award,” stated Ms. Fanaras. “I’m especially proud of my creative, knowledgeable, and dedicated staff; the foundation of Millennium Integrated Marketing’s success.”

Details about the BOB Awards are online at www.bobawardsnh.com. For more information about Millennium Integrated Marketing, call 877-873-7445 or visit www.mill-im.com.

The psychology behind public relations makes it more valuable than advertising in developing brand identity and garnering brand loyalty. Consumers know that companies pay for placed ads and commercial spots, but place more esteem on communications from these firms in the forms of earned media, featured articles, events, and community sponsorships. According to the Public Relations Society of America, public relations “…is a communications discipline that engages and informs key audiences, builds important relationships and brings vital information back into an organization for analysis and action.”

Truly, the primary function of public relations practice is the development of relationships with target audiences. This can only be achieved once the preferences, needs, and desires of these audiences have been fully researched and understood. This research serves as the foundation for messaging that resonates with audiences and public relations strategies that deliver positive business-to-consumer relationships.

A quality public relations strategy is outlined in a plan that includes a market and target audience analysis, key messaging, and tactics. These tactics should be defined by their benefits to the brand, visibility, or profitability of the business or organization, and must be tailored to the unique needs of the business and its target audience(s). Public relations tactics may include any combination of: whitepapers, case studies, broadcast and radio interview opportunities, feature articles, press releases, media list development, letters to the editor, op-eds, event planning and coverage, community sponsorships, RSS feeds, webinars, speaking opportunities, and award nominations. Long-term plans should also include a crisis communications component.

Upon plan execution, it is prudent for spokespeople to engage in media training for message solidification and preparation for print and media interviews. To ensure connectivity with target audiences and improve plan outcomes, all plan tactics must be consistently measured and evaluated.

The execution of a customized public relations strategy is an essential investment toward the achievement of long-term business goals. By providing opportunities for businesses and organizations to engage with target audiences via the news media and community events, public relations practices deliver results that achieve top-of-mind awareness among consumers. This leads to brand credibility and reputation-building that consumers view as earned – securing brand loyalty that is unsurpassed by the sole purchase of ad spots.

With 6 billion text messages sent daily in the U.S., texting has seemingly become a national pastime. This is evident to any casual observer in a public place, where most people can be seen texting while walking, shopping, and even talking with friends. Imagine if these texts were not just about the cute guy in the coffee shop or the upcoming Justin Bieber concert – but consumers actually interacting with brands. Luckily for businesses, that day has come! Texting has evolved from facilitating small talk into a viable marketing strategy.

Text message or SMS (short message service) marketing is highly effective because customers and prospects opt-in to receive texts from businesses. This creates the perception among subscribers that businesses are providing a welcome service rather than overtly marketing to them. In addition, approximately 95 percent of text messages are opened and read; a significantly higher open rate than any other form of marketing. This provides businesses with a rare guarantee that their marketing messages will be received.

Integrating text message marketing into an overall marketing plan is relatively simple and inexpensive. Businesses can register for a five or six digit short code or choose to share one with another company. The short code should then be promoted across all marketing strategies – from web sites, social media accounts, and signage to marketing collaterals, direct mailers, and print, radio, and television ads.

Prospective customers opt-in by texting a message to the short code in order to receive information about the business and its products or services. Sign-on incentives like discounts, coupons, product giveaways, and contests are quite effective in garnering subscribers.

SMS programs assist businesses with capturing phone numbers (and any other data voluntarily provided by subscribers) in order to build and maintain customer databases. Services like Ez Texting and Mobivity make opt-in texting affordable for small and medium-sized businesses. Trumpia is a SMS service that even allows users to select how they want to be contacted – be it by text, social media, or email.

With a solid subscriber list in place, businesses can text sales notifications, announcements about new products and services, and other customer-focused news on a regular basis. While it isn’t wise to bombard subscribers with daily texts unless you indicate that frequency in your advertising, restaurants have found success in sending text alerts about their daily specials.

Alternatively, service providers often use texts to remind customers about upcoming appointments. Messages can also be tailored to certain customer groups, like boutique customers who only purchase accessories or auto shop patrons who get oil changes but not repairs. This allows for targeted marketing efforts to specific aspects of a business that need a sales boost, while also connecting with customers about their interests.

After building an impressive text message subscriber list, ARMANI nearly broke a sales record when it held an exclusive subscriber sale at its New York City location. Businesses of any size can follow this lead by offering subscriber-only sales and promotions. Loyalty programs and competitions that involve customer voting are other ways to boost subscriber interaction.

When messaging subscribers, remember to be succinct – texts are limited to 160 characters – and lead with your offer to attract attention. In addition, resist the temptation to use abbreviated texts (e.g. “This $ale will b gr8!”). A more professional approach is most appreciated by patrons of all age groups.

Lastly, always provide the option for subscribers to opt-out of your text message list. This demonstrates respect for your customers and their privacy, and when utilized by subscribers, assists you in maintaining an accurate customer list.

The unique customer interaction and precise campaign measurement that result from text message marketing make it a winning strategy. When integrated into an overall marketing campaign, texting has proven to build customer trust, loyalty, and significant business revenue. It’s time to text!

The Davey Awards is an international awards competition tailored to small creative firms. The awards are judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts (www.iavisarts.org), whose invitation-only members include executives from Disney, MTV, Microsoft, and Sotheby’s Institute of Art, among many other major corporations. Award categories cover traditional, interactive, mobile, and video marketing solutions, and entries are scored on creative distinction.

“The international Davey Awards competition honors the ingenuity of small marketing and design firms,” explained Linda Fanaras, President and Founder of Millennium Integrated Marketing. “We are proud to share this important recognition of our work with Speare Memorial Hospital.”

View the 2010 Speare Memorial Hospital Annual Report here or visit Speare Memorial Hospital online at www.spearehospital.com, and details about the Davey Awards are available at www.daveyawards.com.

Her primary responsibilities will include project development and conducting creative, thorough research to support initiatives. Specifically, she will participate in the development and execution of press releases, articles, whitepapers, case studies, web copy, and social media outposts. She will also assist in the creative development of marketing and public relations plans.

“Ms. Steele’s proven writing, research, and problem solving skills will enhance the firm’s existing public relations services,” said Linda Fanaras, President and Founder of Millennium Integrated Marketing. “The team is excited to collaborate with her on new ideas and initiatives.”

Ms. Steele is a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University, holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a minor in Creative Writing.

Texting is no longer just for teenage conversations or for making meeting arrangements. It is a viable marketing strategy that has swiftly become a realtor’s best friend. The Center for REALTOR Technology’s 2010 Smartphone Survey Report found that use of the texting and SMS (short message service) feature accounted for nearly 74% of time spent on realtor smartphones.

In addition to being one of the most budget-friendly marketing strategies, text message (or SMS) marketing is highly effective. Coupled with the fact that 95% of text messages are opened and read, SMS users opt-in to receive texts. This creates a win-win situation wherein the prospective customer feels they are receiving a service, not an advertisement – while the realtor captures their contact information for follow-up calls and texts.

SMS services like House4Cell and RI Tracker provide realtors with a five or six digit short code. Each property listing is then assigned its own keyword, and interested prospects can text these to the realtor’s short code for property details, price, and realtor contact information. The SMS service then secures prospect phone numbers and preferences data to build and maintain customer databases.

To fully integrate SMS marketing into an existing marketing plan, short codes and keywords should be promoted across all marketing strategies – from web sites, social media accounts, and signage, to marketing collaterals, direct mailers, and print, radio, and television ads. For leads generated by other strategies, inquire whether they would be willing to communicate via text message. This will increase efficiencies while also demonstrating your commitment to customer service.

When replying to listing inquiry texts, send photos and videos of the property. This delivers additional information while saving in-person property viewing time on a possibly uninterested customer. Also, remember to be succinct – texts are limited to 160 characters – and always lead with customer-focused data.

Texting has created a unique platform for personal interaction with prospects and customers. When integrated into an overall marketing campaign, texting is a smart solution for increasing leads and revenue. If you would like additional ideas on how to leverage text message marketing for your real estate business, or if you require assistance with selecting a SMS service provider, contact an integrated marketing firm.