What Every Social Media Type Should Know About Commercial Real Estate

by dukelong on October 31, 2010

If I were a  Social Media Type person looking at Commercial Real Estate as gold mine of consulting fees,speaking engagements and training events. I might consider this:

-Explain a blog and what,how and why they need to use one.  As in location specific.

-Show how and why they need to use pictures. Cost ,ease of use and how to put it on a blog.

-Show how to use simple video maybe a Flip doing community interest shots and also how to post.

-Show examples of hyper local blogging.  Make them understand that may be the only way they will have a chance to connect.

-Get a real haircut…not a faux hawk.  Wear a tie not jeans and a bad beard. Think the commercial real estate world is casual?  Suit up or stay away.

-Take the time to get involved in the Commercial Real estate community. Have some CRE cred. We are a tight community. If we are just one of your many “global” ( in your mind) network of clients…. you  might want to consult,speak, educate….. play somewhere else.

-Encourage the use of LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the only site they are barely comfortable with. The professional barriers still provide comfort. Teach interaction and conversation.

-Twitter use.  They do not want to waste time trying to find clients.  Believe me the clients they have don’t waste time on Twitter either. Connection, research,brand building maybe….you need to come up with a hell of a lot better reasons than that…or don’t show up. Hint: Measurement!

-Tweet ups and Meet ups.  Show us that the people who attend these things are not there to pitch “Social Media” or” Digital Marketing”  with a straight face…and we will show up!

-Online local community network building. Go ahead and pitch it. The commercial real estate business is all of that already…add in local and location…you may get to stay in the room for a couple more minutes. Case studies and practical applications.

-Analytics and Measurement. You better at least trot out something like Radian 6 or something similar. Don’t think it is necessary?  Don’t show up!

Just some thoughts….We can see, smell, and detect bullshit a mile away in our sleep……and right now it’s pretty ripe

Comments

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  • Bob Schectyer

    Somehow, between the lines and amid what seem to be either misplaced anger or extremely dry humor, you’ve made some very good points about the profile of your average CRE professional.

    Given that you are a prolific blogger and deeply entrenched in Social Media, I would be remiss if I didn’t ask…. WTF?

    • http://dukelong.com dukelong

      Bob,
      Anger no, dry humor I am famous for. Hopefully, I did not miss the point of the post. There are a lot of SM types out there pimping their vast interwebs knowledge like it is the Holy Grail. My position is that if the want to jump into the pool with us they better suit up, tread smoothly and be authentic. The pool they want to get in is cool, dark and full of very smart,sleek,savvy,experienced…………

  • Bob

    Gotcha. We have yet to see the real onslaught of social media marketers. As the economy rises up, so will they. The reality of this downturn, that marketing to a group with little or no resources, isn’t lost on them. They are busily retooling their weaponry and recruiting among the worst off in our sector. My guess is that by this time next year, your email box will be filled with garbage from the very connections you’ve been speaking to and networking with.

  • http://www.radian6.com Genevieve Coates

    Hey there,
    Always nice to see a straight shooting look at social media and how it should be applied in a particular space. I agree that research is the most important part of approaching a particular market or vertical of business. I won’t even pretend to know the in’s and out’s of commercial real estate since I haven’t hard a chance to do the necessary research, but I found the different points on how people within your industry would use certain parts of social media really interesting. I was wondering what you thought the most important metrics/analysis would be for people in your field and if you felt the current social media platforms/tools are meeting all those needs?

    Love to know your thoughts and thanks for including Radian6 in your post.

    All the best,
    Genevieve Coates
    Community Analyst – Radian6

    • http://dukelong.com dukelong

      Well,
      I think that is a whole other post….working on it….your thoughts would be helpful!!

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