Tag Archives: Automotive

Social Media Guide For Realtors

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Buyers are online, but where are you? Many Realtors realize that the majority of property searches take place online; unfortunately the busy nature of being a Realtor can make it difficult to take the time to research and learn the technologies behind a successful online marketing strategy. An ever increasing number of home buyers are utilizing Google to find their new homes; this has made it imperative that Realtors get found online. This guide will give you the tools and knowledge to get started on a successful strategy that will increase leads and sales through an effective online presence.

Google is making changes to it algorithms that will make social media and blogging an integral part of your online marketing mix. As these platforms are very inexpensive (Facebook and twitter are free) it is vital that you start now, to ensure you are found online in the future.

Blogs A very simple and inexpensive method to get started is by creating a blog. Your blog is a great way to open the communication lines to your potential customers by providing interesting and relevant information. Blogs are a quick and effective way to keep clients and buyers up to date on industry news, tips, listing info and are great for generating leads. Clients, employees and visitors can comment on your posts thus building the foundations for a relationship in the future. Your blog can be linked to your website to keep the homepage fresh and relevant. Website users will have more of a reason to return to your site (and view your listings) if there is new and interesting content regularly posted to your website. Your blog can be used in place of a newsletter to keep yourself in front of potential clients on your email lists.

Social Media Integration Blogs are a great way to feed your social media channels. This saves time and adds relevant content to your accounts automatically via RSS feeds. By linking your blog to your Facebook fanpage and twitter account, your fans and followers will always know what’s new with you and your business. This can be a great time saving tool as it is instant and automatic. It is important to login to your social media accounts to interact with your followers and fans. Linking your blog is a great way to get the conversation started, but you must follow up and interact to receive the full benefit of social media marketing.

Twitter Twitter is a fantastic way to communicate with real estate buyers and industry members in your marketplace and across the globe. Many Realtors are turning to twitter to post their news articles, new listings, showings, open houses and all other relevant information. Twitter allows users to share and discover information very quickly and only takes minutes to use. Google is utilizing twitter feeds in their new search algorithms, so it is recommended that you have a twitter account and use it to promote yourself, your listings and your business.

Facebook Facebook is another great way to interact with clients and promote your business online. You can create a personal page and add all your friends, colleagues and clients. You can also create a fanpage and list all your business information, post interesting articles and relevant news. It is important to remember with both twitter and Facebook that they are about two way communication. Think about what your friends, fans and followers want to read about and post engaging material that gets the conversation started. Blasting your social media contacts with non stop sales oriented material is a great way to get blocked and dropped quickly. It is important to understand your social media goals and follow a strategy so you can measure your success.

Are you trying to:

  • Become a Real Estate thought leader
  • Generate Buzz
  • Get lots of friends online
  • Garner leads and sales
  • Improve your online presence
  • Promote your listings

By developing a strategy you will have an easier time with the day to day usage of social media, and enjoy yourself much more. While this may seem a bit overwhelming, it is imperative to get a start on your social media strategy now, to ensure you have an online presence in the future. Realtors with a successful social media program will start seeing the benefits in both their website’s Google rankings and in general brand awareness from the public. So whether you start a blog, Facebook &twitter account, or do all three, the most important thing is that you get started. By Kelowna Web Design Company

Can Accountants Measure the ROI of Social Media?

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Accountants that are using Social Media for business have either recognized and set specific goals that they expect to achieve, or at a minimum have anticipated general benefits that they feel they will realize from using it as a tool in their accounting firm. To find out if your strategy has been successful and is attaining the desired results you must quantify some things over time and measure your Return on Investment (ROI). So we now have to determine, is there an appropriate way of measuring the ROI of Social Media?

Business strategists say that everything that is done for and within the parameters of a business’s activity has to be measurable. Unless social media can be measured, its effectiveness as a business tool remains questionable. The argument for the measurement of everything, including social marketing expenditures, is that it provides a basis and a guide for decision makers whether or not to increase the budgetary requirements in the future. These statistics or measurements are used to calculate a “value” or perceived benefit that is being realized, your Return on Investment (ROI).

Wikipedia defines Return on Investment as: “The ratio of money gained or lost (whether realized or unrealized) on an investment relative to the amount of money invested.” Simply put, the definition of ROI is already in itself — a (1) RETURN on (2) INVESTMENT. But this definition is limiting because it is based purely on the assumption that there is an amount of money invested. Hence, the expected return is also an X amount of money.

In measuring the ROI in Social Media Marketing, assumptions can be easily skewed because there is no “monetary” investment, it is technically free. Does this mean that if there is no money “invested” that there is no tangible return to measure? The answer is no. The investment comes in a different form, your time. We can apply the same principles used to measure financial ROI to calculate the ROI of your non-monetary investments.

The first crucial step that every accounting firm must take is to set clear goals and expectations for their social media strategy. It will be difficult if not impossible to determine if you are making progress if you really have no idea of where you are going, or what you expect to achieve.

Baseline measurements must be obtained before you begin to track and monitor your progress. You must know where your accounting firm stands before you begin. Where are you today? You will be unable to measure your progress if you don’t know where you started.

In Social Media, a lot of your activities are based on human interactions and conversations on your firm’s Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn sites. These types of interactions are not easily measured. In this case your firm will need to rely on a variety of statistical tools to accumulate your “metrics”.

Being Accountants, we love to play with numbers. A quick tip: Metrics alone will not provide you with a clear ROI measurement. You will need to use the metrics to recognize the trends and correlate them to activities within your business. Some examples of trends that Accounting Firm Partners might want to look out for.

Example 1: Your Accounting Firm Partner’s Twitter page’s followers increased 100% from the previous month – did this correlate to an increase in inquiries for your Accounting Firm’s services?

Example 2: Are your fans or friends on your Facebook site proceeding to your Accounting Firm’s corporate website after checking you out on your Social Network? After which, how many new clients did you get?

In closing, remember that measuring the ROI of Social Media is unlike any other typical calculation. You must first begin with clear goals and expectations, and baseline measurements. While “metrics” are required, they are not the sole determination of success. These numbers must be used to determine trends and correlation of these trends to changes in your business. You will then be able to make informed decisions about adjustments to your strategy for the benefit of your accounting firm.