Mike Brewer
Apartment Marketing: Delivery so cheap – measuring does not matter…
I really like what @jeffreyhayzlett CMO of Kodak has to say about the ROI of social media –
“What’s the ROI of social media?…I hope they are my competitors cause I’m gonna kick their ass.”
While the jury is still out as the to metric that means the most as it relates to measuring the ROI of social medium – I think the debate of important is settled. It’s a must if you are to win in the Art of Social Media War [Sounds like a cool book title – maybe it already is – need to Google it].
Delivery so cheap – it does not matter
My overarching questions is: When does delivery become so cheap [labor included] that it makes no real difference? That is not to suggest that some level of measurement is not important. But, if you can get your stimulating participatory content out there for less than any other traditional means – knowing that it’s now highly interactive in nature – how important is it really?
Will you refer us to your friends?
The only metric that really matters in my mind – is not absolute mass but rather is your offering [apartment living experiences in my case] really worth telling your friends about. If the answer is no, then 10k likes, 10k followers, etc…means little.
What do you think? Is deliver so cheap that ROI is taking on less of a real meaning? If not, what would you choose to measure and why?
Technorati Tags: @mbrewer, mbrewer, mbrewergroup.com, facebook.com/pages/M-Brewer-Group, apartment marketing, using social media to market apartments, apartment social meida ROI, apartment internet strategy
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Apartment Amenity
The U-Socket Charges USB Devices Without an Adapter
I am thinking this is a must have – must install in at least one to two places in our apartments. I think for student properties – you at have a least one per bedroom – plus any and all common areas through out your community.
Buy them here – no affiliate just sharing –
Technorati Tags: @mbrewer, mbrewer, mbrewergroup, mbrewergroup.com, apartment amenity
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Apartment Marketing: Invite the Thirty and Learn the Dirty…
I love what Mack Collier had to say a couple days ago in his post titled: The next evolution of social media for business is…
The following quote from his post struck me most…
Here’s the twist that makes this event so interesting to me; The 15 customers Dell will meet on the 15th are customers that have issues with Dell, and want to voice those issues to the company. The 15 customers Dell will meet on the 17th are evangelists of the company. So over the course of 2 days, Dell will be meeting with 30 of its most passionate customers, from both ends of the spectrum. I think this event is also an example of the next evolution of social media for companies.
Invite thirty and learn the dirty
The dirty little chatter that could work to make the your apartment living experience [read: offering] one that escapes the hand-cuffs of commodity. More times that not we as operators gather our troops in our conference rooms across this great land and decide on the next best thing for employees, prospects and residents alike. Imagine if we brought the thirty in like Dell is doing? That is once we have taken the time to understand who they really are.
Being a part of something bigger than yourself
Play along with me on this for a second – remember the last time you felt compelled – really compelled as a result of something you participated in something bigger than you? Remember how you felt leading up to, during and after the event? Do you still talk about it to this day? Did it shape your view of the world? Do you feel compelled to share not only the event but the organizer or organization that put on the event?
There is, innate in all of us, an underlying need to belong, to feel appreciate, to feel heard, wanted and important. As marketers – it’s not our job to exploit that but rather harness it and use it for a greater good.
Is it possible in our business? You bet it is. The questions is – are we willing to get those people in a room where there is no monitor to hide behind – where canned corporate speak is left to improv at the risk of authenticity and transparency? The second half of the thirty could be fun – it’s the first half I would be anxious about.
We have done our fair share of surveys and focus groups over the years but never did we go after the downside hardliners. Mack and Dell have me thinking hard about the obvious value of doing so…what do you think?
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Apartment Marketing: Creating Community
Meet Lisa Zagoren – Property Manager at Mills Properties. She is responsible for the amazing and over the top performance of a 758 unit asset in North St. Louis County named Oak Park Apartments. This summer she has taken on the responsibility of producing a full on kids camp. She and her team are hosting twelve children from in and around the community and running them through all kinds of fun and educational activities aimed at keeping them off the streets and actively involved in her apartment community.
The camp runs daily from 9 to 4 and each of her team members to include herself are responsible for facilitating the activities. I got my first chance to observe the Kid’s Club last Thursday during a weekly site visit. At the time the kids were playing musical chairs and having a blast. The program goes beyond just having fun, however.
As you can see from one of the fliers created to promote the program, they are offering math, reading, language and arts, exercise programs, entrepreneurship training along with a host of other activities aimed at helping the children. Many of the educational programs are facilitated by four high-school students who also participate in the Kid’s Club. Their participation will yield them school credit for participating in a community service over the summer.
I had the privilege of meeting one young man who definitely exuded a community spirit. His firm handshake and confident demeanor assured me that he was aiming for a bright future somewhere in the world. It jazzed me to know – in the mean time – that he would be serving the Oak Park children this summer.
I got the real sense that this program is just the beginning of something of something really special as it relates to building community. And the marketing benefit? A whole host of kids and parents are talking about the Oak Park Kid’s Club and how cool it is…as such we will be checking in and reporting out often.
I’d be remiss to avoid sending out some major crazy cool – hat’s off to the Oak Park Team! Great Cause! And, thanks for rocking the house – always!
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Apartment Leadership – Lessons from THE CALL
Much has been written and much will be written about the perfect game that was not –
I see a major leadership lesson in the action that rocked the baseball world just a few nights ago.
Lesson #1: Admit
How many times do we as operators and managers drop the ball? I would be humble enough to suggest that I employ the super bouncy ball dropping method of dropping balls on a near daily basis. I exercise such strategies as forgetting to write it down, ignoring the reminders I have set in my phone and laptop and plan old fashion ignorance. All that being said, I have come to understand the power of Admitting the shortcoming.
As it relates to THE CALL – I admire what Jim Joyce had to say after he viewed the replay:
“I just cost that kid a perfect game,” Joyce said. “I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay.”
“It was the biggest call of my career,” said Joyce, who became a full-time major league umpire in 1989.
Lesson #2: Apologize
I read a book nearly ten years ago titled: All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum – one of the lessons described is the ability to say – I’m Sorry. How many times do we launch into the why-for’s and what-not’s – siting policies, procedures, protocol and make-it-up-on-the-fly alternatives to simply saying – You know – I apologize that we gave cause for you to drive 27 miles to our corporate office to meet with upper-management over the fact that your faucet has been leaking for over a month now and despite 33 requests to fix it – nothing was done. I agree that that is far from the service you should expect in exchange for the biggest check you write out each and every month – faithfully.
As it relates to THE CALL – I admire what Jim Joyce did and said later:
DETROIT—Armando Galarraga squeezed the ball in his mitt, stepped on first base with his right foot and was ready to celebrate the first perfect game in Detroit Tigers’ history.
What happened next will be the talk of baseball for the rest of this season and likely a lot longer.
Umpire Jim Joyce emphatically called Cleveland’s Jason Donald safe and a chorus of groans and boos echoed in Comerica Park.
Then Joyce emphatically said he was wrong and later, in tears, hugged Galarraga and apologized.
Lesson #3: Acknowledge
The end all be all mother load of goodness played out the following night:
In a classy gesture meant to show the world the Tigers had moved on from the night before, manager Jim Leyland had pitcher Armando Galarraga — instead of Leyland or a coach — bring the lineup card to the home-plate umpire.
All I can say is -WOW! Class Acts All The Way Around. I often joke that watching baseball is like watching paint dry – and if given a choice I ask that the color be multiple shades of red and black preferably in a satin finish. But, this episode has given me a whole new perspective of the game – namely the people who played it well over the last two nights and the actions they exercised despite the wholly emotionally loaded circumstances! Yeah – for the kids old enough to understand what happened – that is where it mattered most.
Have a smashing weekend. – M
Photo credit: NJ.com
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