Apartment Internet Marketing – Exclusivity

Came across an interesting survey at over at emarketer that spoke to the want’s of social following. The results were captured in the following chart:

Reasons for Friending or Following Companies Through Social Media According to US Consumers, December 2009 (% of respondents)

Using this chart as a catalyst, we are going to do a five part series titled: The Five E’s of Apartment Internet Marketing. The overarching premise will be playing to the want’s of would be apartment Facebook, Twitter and other social medium friends. We start the series with Exclusivity.

What is Exclusivity?

Exclusivity can be defined as the sole right to a specific business function. AT&T’s exclusive right to market the iPhone is likely the most paramount example of this. Beyond that there is a huge push by aggregators to secure exclusive rights to content. We have seen this with the likes of Harvard Business Review striking a deal with an aggregator and Steven Covey striking a deal for distribution on Amazon’s Kindle. These are mass examples of exclusivity but the concept can be applied to things as simple as white papers. In this case the exclusivity comes in the way of getting for giving or more specifically, give me your email address and I will give you the white paper. It’s exclusive in the sense that not everyone would be willing to give personal information to get.

Value Exchange

The overarching point is that exclusivity has a give and take scenario baked in. You give up Sprint to get the iPhone, you give up buying from B&N and buy a Kindle so you can read Covey, you give up personal information to get information. The goods, services, experience or information requires an action on the part of the consumer and guess what, it’s the overriding reason they friend brands. They want to learn about specials, sales, etc..

Consumer Expectations

Human beings have a few things in common – one being the innate need to feel important, wanted or needed. When we apply that fact to the concept of exclusivity we can clearly see that the perception of being a part of what could be considered an elite group is compelling. We own an iPhone so we can feel cool. We read the HBR so we can feel cool. We read the latest Covey book so we can feel cool. We found our apartment on Craigslist and it was a great deal so we feel cool. Consumers are willing to give up stuff and things to feel important, wanted or needed – all day long.

Offer it and they will come

As it applies to Apartment Internet Marketing in the context of social mediums – more times than not, if you offer it they will come. Now, before I go on, I am not suggesting that you can just put any old thing out there and expect participants to join in, you have to work it. You have to willing to commit to listening, joining in, trying, failing, retooling and trying again. Otherwise it’s all for naught. I am suggesting, however, that if you do things as simple as offering a rent concession to the resident that increases your fan page base the most, or something we eluded to awhile back with tryvertising, or simply setting up a kiosk in your lobby set with twitter and facebook and asking anyone that walks in the door to friend you – you will gain an audience. However, it does not stop here…

…in part two of this series we will talk about what to do with that audience: Education

In the mean time, feel free to continue the Exclusivity conversation by leaving us a comment below.

And, have a compelling day!

0 Responses

  1. The concept of people talking about their communities is no longer something to question. Whether it is good or bad they are talking. The next challenge: a proactive approach to channeling this. Multifamily topics seem to hinge more on addressing the bad comments and little as of yet on a comprehensive plan to embrace and encourage positive feedback. This will be more of a challenge since humans are more prone voice complaints than satisfaction. I like your thoughts on exclusivity regarding the “great apartment” a resident finds and the medium for them to express that. I look forward to seeing more living examples of resident feedback and how it impacts a property managements overall brand. Great post Mike- Have a great day.

    1. J,

      In many ways it reminds me of Bonnie Raitt's old song: Let's give them something to talk about. I agree wholeheartedly that its a bit more rare to see a positive comment than it is to see the negative feedback.

      I think the solution to that is two fold, 1. Give them a compelling reason. 2. Give them [Twitter, FourSquare or the like] a very simple and quick way to share. And, most importantly – be ready to market that piece of marketing –

      Thanks again for sharing your thoughts –

  2. Mike, Good Morning,
    It would be good to hear about real examples of this, and the actual results, if they exist or you know of them, or how your own company is or are doing this, if you can share that.

    Your post, or at least where I think you are headed with the series is at a complete opposite end of LT's recent post “Is Engaging Your Residents with Social Media a Bunch of BS” More examples of why this works and that the buyer/renters habits have changed will help folks.

    With things like Yelp's recent app where you can point your iPhone at any business you are walking past and see all of the Yelp reviews show up is akin to pasting the reviews to your front door.

    Ratings and Reviews management and strategy will soon become part of every businesses DNA

    1. E,

      Good morning to you –

      It's interesting – I really believe that we are in the first inning of a nine inning ball game and furthermore I think we are staring the first batter in the eye about to throw the first pitch. That is to suggest there is little to draw from in terms of real examples in our space. That is not to suggest that writing conceptually is not valuable. It is most of what I do here. And, nothing jazzes me more than to see people run off with concepts from time to time and turn them into real burning examples. If nothing else – my hope is that people get entertained and or have a a-ha moments. It's counter to your results driven manta and in the same respect has tremendous value.

      In the context of LTs ending questions, yes I am taking the counterpoint and drawing it out over four concepts that I think lead up to what we are all ultimately after – whether we know it or not [I look forward to your thoughts as the series unfolds]. Again, all prognosticating but on the premise of tons of reading, writing and participating in the social space for a long bit of time.

      With regard to reviews – it's the eight hundred pound gorilla in the room that no one wants to take on – as you imply, it's not an option anymore. I think operators are mindful of it and unfortunately we will likely see some catastrophes before people take it seriously. I think the point here is to be the lead influencer with regard to what shows up on your front door. And to speak to the Google Juice point in LTs post – it's that [dare I use the word] paradigm shift that will have to take place in this industry before people see it for what it is. That is to suggest we have to turn it upside down and understand that the GJ is a result of the what some consider the BS and the results will come in the 9th inning when the Cubs finally win….[maybe a bad example but I think you get the point.

      Have a smashing – sir and thank you, as always for moving the conversation along.

  3. Great lesson Jay. verse 6 form above says: 6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.’”
    You put God’s statements that “I will bring you out… I will redeem you… I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God in bold print. May I suggest that those that emphasize the sovereignty of God do exactly the same thing. They place the emphasis on what God does and regard it as primary and regard what man does as secondary and the result of what God does. Someone has said that even Pelagians like Calvinism until someone points it out and then they back off of it. Thus they take a little of the credit and glory that belongs to God and appropriate it to themselves for making the right choice and deciding to give their lives to Jesus. Granted, they don’t see it that way, but it is logical to see it like that when they say the difference between them and a lost person is their free will choice. Calvinists do not deny man making a choice and being responsible for the choice he makes. They just believe the credit for their choice belongs to God rather than themselves.

    A second point has to do with Jesus drinking the cup of wrath. NT Wright seems to be the darling of many progressives in the CofC as well as the emerging church movement. I can’t get my head wrapped around his teaching that Jesus is my substitute but NOT a penal substitute. I wish someone could explain it to me better than what I’ve heard. In your post above Jesus certainly drinks the cup of wrath that is intended for, and deserved by sinners. This seems altogether consistent with the Calvinistic doctrine of penal substitution atonement. That is, he paid the penalty for my sin and his righteousness is imputed to me through faith. Did you intend for us to understand it that way?
    Peace,
    Randall

    This comment was originally posted on One In Jesus.info

  4. NO NO NO! to quote Paul in this instance leaves us with an empty hope.
    Paul was given progressive revelation. The offering of the kingdom was still in his sight. That is why is went to the synagogue first and then to the teaching of a new message that salvation was being offered to the Gentiles. Remember what he said about another gospel? That was mixing law and grace together. The old testament is used to study from a point of where have we come from. Not to be used on where are we going. I really don’t do communion any more because of its Jewish nature you just explained.

    This comment was originally posted on One In Jesus.info

  5. Considering that this whole thing is just a tradition of the elders and that Jesus and the apostles had a tendency of disregarding those, I don’t think any of this is accurate.

    Fascinating article, I never knew that. Um, according to your article, “one-cuppers” would be totally un-biblical in their practice.

    Anyone who is literate can clearly see that he only said “This is the New Covenant ratified by my blood over one cup” regardless however many other cups they had at the Passoever. For example, with the first cup mentioned in Luke he doesn’t ascribe this meaning to it. Only to the second. Just sayin.

    “This seems altogether consistent with the Calvinistic doctrine of penal substitution atonement.” Leave it to a Cavinist to make every discussion about bashing God’s grace.

    “I really don’t do communion any more because of its Jewish nature you just explained.” What does that mean ‘really don’t do communion’?

    This comment was originally posted on One In Jesus.info

  6. Heavenbound,

    If I insisted on Passover as a condition to salvation, that might be another gospel. Understanding the Jewish history behind communion is not remotely another gospel.

    It’s unfathomable to me that you reject communion because of its Jewish roots. Faith has a Jewish nature. So does the concept of a Messiah/Christ. So does Jesus. Christianity has a Jewish nature.

    (Rom 11:24) After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

    We Gentiles were grafted into a Jewish tree. We therefore have and should honor our Jewish roots.

    This comment was originally posted on One In Jesus.info

  7. Heavenbound,

    You stated, “I really don’t do communion any more because of its Jewish nature you just explained.”

    Is that the reason you give Jesus in the assembly when you decide not to take communion? Do you express that thought to Jesus when communion is served? Are you telling me that . . . had you been in the upper room when Jesus was serving the communion meal . . . that you would have said, “No thanks.”

    I don’t understand your reasoning. Anyway, didn’t Jesus say, “Do this in memory of me.” Isn’t the bread and the wine something to embrace? Something To cherish? I would think that someone who was heavenbound would cherish this gift Jesus gave us.

    Some other questions for you:

    My god is the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Is not my god your god? You wouldn’t reject my god would you . . . seeing that he was their god first?

    Wasn’t the “prophet like me” prophesied by the prophet speaking in Deuteronomy 18 . . . Moses the lawgiver? You wouldn’t reject The Prophet Greater Than Moses would you . . . seeing that the very god at work in Moses brought to completion that which Moses prophesied?

    Didn’t Paul tell us to study the scriptures . . . the Jewish scriptures? You wouldn’t reject the Psalms would you?

    This comment was originally posted on One In Jesus.info

  8. Bishop Jay,

    Back to the lesson on the 5 cups. I really found myself nourished by this information, as I do in all of the summaries you are giving us on the faith lessons by Ray Vander Laan.

    After reading the lesson above, it seems to me that the bread that represented his body and the wine that represented his blood were incorporated into a passover meal that was already in practice. So instead of these two things taking the place ot the passover meal, or being instituted as something separate, they were made a part of the passover meal. The passover meal was “upgraded” or reshaped into the communion meal Christ initiated. Am I reading correctly?

    We see this practice in other aspects of what Jesus gave us. Christian baptism is an example that comes to mind. Baptism wasn’t new in Acts 2. There was already a baptism for forgivenss of sins. Jesus took the baptism that John the Baptizer was administering to the people and “upgraded” it. Not only was there foregiveness of sins as John taught . . . but also the gift of the Spirit was promised. A pretty good upgrade!

    So God’s practice of taking existing expressions of faith . . . and incorporating them into new expressions of faith . . . is well established. Did I get this right?

    Is it a stretch to conclude that it was Jesus’ intent to incorporate the symbolism from the original passover meal into the new meal that Christians would partake? This seems reasonable because, as the lesson illustrates, it would help us “understand our own Christianity in much greater depth.” and help us “understand the Lord’s Supper in greater depth.” By dropping the original components of the meal, we have lost the symbolism that Jesus intended to hand to us. Did I read this correctly? Is that what Ray Vander Laan is thinking? Is that where you are leading? I like it.

    This comment was originally posted on One In Jesus.info

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