“If you don’t like change, you will like irrelevance even less.” – General Eric Shinseki
When I think of ILS’s as we know them today, I can’t help but to think about them in the context of irrelevance. Now that is not to suggest they are going away nor do I think they should. That being said, the apartment advertising community have long been the middlemen – positioned brilliantly right between owners and renters. They had the appropriate amount of influence that allowed them to assemble the audience that owner’s needed to put heads on beds. That is until the web became hyper social. As it stands, the tide has been shifting for the past few years and with the advent of social platforms, real time search, hyper-local content development and curation along with distribution – a wave is about to crash down.
Google and Bing and the great Twitter Integration
Jeremiah Owyang noted in a recent Forbes.com article that Google and Bing announced partnerships with Twitter that would move tweets into search results. He went on to say that, “Eventually, tweets, blogs and Facebook wall posts will influence these search results. The effects on paid search marketing are unpredictable.” I see that this way, the more consumer [user] generated content that is created via social platforms and migrated into search, the more the ability to influence falls away from the middleman. The point here for ILS’s is that you had better get social or you better get comfortable with irrelevance. The point here for owners is that you had better get social or you’ll continue being subject to the middleman.
Community Sherpa
I think what Dan McCarthy has done with the Sherpa is brilliant and in the same breath I would say it’s the same song just a far different dance. It’s the ILS re-imagined. And, it’s the middleman re-imagined. Moreover, to the extent that shrewd [I mean that in the smartest of senses] business leaders, like Dan, can influence the herd by accumulating and organizing organic and repositioned works of content then they keep their position in the middle and owners keep paying the monthly fee to feed from the audience trough. I must admit – it truly is a brilliant use of the very mediums any operator out there can use to their own advantage. My suggestion, don’t be seduced by the thought that it’s too difficult to manage. Is it difficult? Yes. Is it impossible? No. Is it worth the effort to do it yourself? Yes. I say re-imagine your organization and cut right to the consumer.
Raving Apartment Fans Equal Efficient Search Results
The game has shifted and giving consumers a reason to rave about you via any and all social platforms for the reason of generating Google and now Bing Juice is the end all be all. It’s about your opportunity to cut out the middleman. The writing that is drying fast on the walls of change is a more hyper local real time social content driven net means a more efficient consumer search. Today the consumer can miss the ILS and other apartment specific media all together and land right in the lap of an astutue apartment owner. The key? Care about your consumer’s experience. Engage them with relevant context and content. The point? You want to move them emotionally so that they [not the new middlemen] create the Juice.
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Amen Brother!!!
M,
Thank you for the Amen – I think this space is ripe for astute leaders like Dan and in the same respect I think there are a number of companies out there in the market place [yours included] that can own there respective MSA's with the very same tools and like kind approach. The next 18 to 30 months are going to be a blast to participate in.
On an aside – love the ugly sweater contest.
Have a great Holiday.
M
MBrewer Group Post: Raving Apartment Fans Equal Efficient Search Results http://bit.ly/68S4qs
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Raving Apartment Fans Equal Efficient Search Results: “If you don’t like change, you will like irrelevance even… http://bit.ly/68S4qs
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RE: @mbrewer Amen Brother!!! http://disq.us/4c0fb
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
RE: @mbrewer M,
Thank you for the Amen – I think this space is ripe for astute leaders like Dan and in the same resp… http://disq.us/4c1wi
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
From @mbrewer: Raving Fans Equal Efficient Search Results http://bit.ly/68S4qs
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Raving Apartment Fans Equal Efficient Search Results http://ow.ly/1640QY
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I loved this article greatly. By adding to the powerful mix you describe some really sophisticated search engine capabilities, we'll have something that is a near perfect solution to any user's needs in the apartment business. For example, I have started to use TipTop at http://FeelTipTop.com to see in real-time the sentiment associated with anything in the world including products and services – that people are talking about on Twitter. Try it for yourself.
Hey Mike,
You have articulated your points well, and thank you for the mention of Community Sherpa, Much Appreciated. Full Disclosure, NCI, the parent company behind Community Sherpa is a client.
I do think that folks are in for a surprise, and that the Sherpa product is much more than the same song but a different dance. At one end of the spectrum, you can add digital content, such as blogs, and never have a visitor, nor any comments and still move the Google Needle significantly.
But we all know, the real magic is Engagement, and when you Engage Your Social Influencers, you can Peg the Google Needle. We have and continue to enjoy the fruits of that at Urbane. With that, Engagement Brand Camps will start popping up, thus training folks on how to lead Influenceres, and provide a platform for them, will be of great value to our Sherpa Clients
We all say, “Create Community”, however the “Community” already exists, we just need to tap into an engagement with them. Apartment Operators are already doing that, or at least they should be.
E,
Thank you for taking the time to comment…
I can appreciate the enthusiasm in and under the context you put it and in the same respect I feel strongly that astute owners across the PM world can/will mimic the very thing that Sherpa represents – call it needle pegging or engagement. Frankly, owners are likely able to be a bit more nimble and creative with their strategies.
My overarching point/question is why would owners employee a middleman/third party to do what they can do themselves? Urbane is a good example of the point. Moreover, why would you work to load a third party platform with content from your influencers and brand evangelists?
Question: If I were to ask you, today, to give all the content your evangelists have created over to the Sherpa to house, manage, curate and repackage under the premise of creating engagement/community – would you do that? If the answer is no, then why would anyone else?
Thanks again for taking the time as I think it is a good topic…
M
Well said Mr. Brewer. While I agree content is key, it takes a unique talent or group of talent to produce interesting/engaging content week after week. I'm not sure if the online magazine concept is realistic. The majority will not be able to pull off the same thing Eric has, and will be left with an expensive blog that they could have built for much less (while still getting some Google juice with lesser content). Even large corporate brands typically have been unsuccessful with a customer based magazine and many resources backing them. Maybe the sherpa has something up their sleeve, but I'm skeptical myself. Something like this has a LONG way to go. http://blog.promenadeoaks.lincolnapts.com
Mike, Good Morning, A great thread going here,
BTW, I really like how your blog organizes the thread, allowing comments to comments, it really streamlines the conversation, great design.
A couple of counters to your points, The short answer is Yes, of course any property management company could create digital content, find and rally the evangelists, lead the evangelists and live happily ever after with a full glass of Google Juice.
So, No, most, the majority of, property management companies will not/cannot do this themselves. You know from your own experience, that writing regularly and consistently isn't something that folks just do. And, producing relevant content isn't something that just spins off by itself. Further, find, rally and lead the evangelists isn't easy or for the faint at heart either.
Lot's of property management companies have trouble just drafting and placing successful Craig's List ads regularly. Too, most apartment Marketing Directors are not up to speed on digital marketing, SEO and the array of stuff required to actually Move the Google Needle, How could they, they have been tasked with Renting Apartments.
So, that's the case for a property management company to use a third party service for digital marketing, they do not have adequate or qualified resources to do it in house.
Regarding what I would do is a rhetorical question, I already did it myself, so it is sort of hard to answer, BUT, getting there alone requires one to be ready to Fail Faster, Skin Your Knees, and Fall Down more than a few times before you figure out what works and what doesn't. I was willing to do that, mostly because I was in a unique position that I really didn't answer to anyone, I didn't have a boss that I needed to convince or prove things to, which makes all the difference in the world.
My last point is, as you say, apartment owners should be “nimble”, but in reality Mike they are not, because folks along the way, up and down the chain of command are afraid, and fear stifles growth and creativity.
Engagement. Content. Engagement. Content. Engagement. Content.
He who shares the content (I mean REALLY SHARING – not nickel & diming) will truly engage in Engaging. And apartment shoppers and residents will be ConTENT.