Real Estate Social Media Marketing, Community Building, and Search Engine Optimization

Hybrid strategy: Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Optimization via Community

The panel argues for a hybrid strategy social media and SEO strategy that has a significant pay it forward ethos. Build an SEOed site. Then bring the community in and cultivate it.

This is my non-live blog of an Innman Connect 2008event in San Francisco about real estate social media, blogging, and online marketing. They do a great job of explaining how online and offline can be coupled in really amazing ways in almost a social entrepreneurial fashion that honors the notion of creative capitalism:

Growing Pains: Take Your Blog to the Next Level
Going the distance and maintaining your blog.

Moderated by: Jeff Turner, President, Real Estate Shows

Panelists:
Jim Cronin, Owner/Author, Real Estate Tomato
Dustin Luther, Founder, 4Realz.net Consulting
Nicole Nicolay, Co-Founder, Effektive Solutions, MyTechOpinion
Daniel Rothamel, Realtor, Strong Team REALTORS; Blogger, Real Estate Zebra

This is their collective work, with some questions from the audience near the end. I hope you enjoy it. I actually talked about the need to push the online/offline envelope in my post about 2009 Social Media Trends about a month ago–whether this is Meetups, unConferences, the PTA meeting, or a conversational interview:

How do you taking your blog to the next level?

• Define what the next level is.
• Is your goal to just be social?? Being a community can create leads, in the same way that engaging in the PTA, because you get referrals and get business.
• Can make better calls to action.
• Can look at metrics
• Or can engage community
• More authority. More relationships.
• Comes down to conversation on blog (?)

You Engaging Others: Social Media Optimization for SEO Linkbuilding

• A lot of real estate blog is real estate v. real estate conversation, which isn’t sexy.
• YEO–You engaging others, not SEO
• Chosing a section of the community
• Offline engagement–I’m choosing schools specifically
• For instance, education is a conversation that’s happening and it will always be.

Social Media Community Building Tactics

• Life does not happen inside your computer. We don’t operate online businesses. Find ways to use what you do online to engage people in the real world.
• Flickr. Link to locals. Landmarks in your town. Send them an email or a phone call. We shouldn’t just use the computer back and forth.

Social Media Community Engagement Case Study

• Banker, roofer, inspector, landscaper, home seller knew who to connect with, and home buyer. Include their voice, their authority. They have to have a voice. Interview or quote. Just engage. Will help break the cycle of realtor v. realtor discussion.
• Interviewed head of investment club. He forwarded it to everyone in his rolodex. We started a radio show, but its actually a podcast (Rain City Radio) We interview 4 bloggers—and we get links. Its all local, and specific and referral based. That’s a formula for the next level.
• How clients can meet each other. Feature what your clients are doing. Everybody loves to talk about themselves. Allow them to do that through you. (there is a viral and social benefit to that, honoring someone who hasn’t been honored)
• Uncovering the real need in the community (ie schools) You are the communication hub of that community.
• Statistics and demographics is cold. If you’ve talked to the principal, then you’ve got something that’s really tangible.
• Great schools.net has school scores for $250.

Researching for finding Local Community Social Media Influencers

• How do you research . Outside. In to reach your local community. Technorati, Flickr, YouTube, and Google searches in your niche. • You can use their content. Thank them and engage their community. That’s the lowest hanging fruit.
• Go into community and engage. Its not about taking.
• Great social change case study. East bay. Realtors getting real about schools. And raised $100,000 for schools.
• The next step is personally, physically.
• Let them spread your message.
• YEO can drive SEO.
• It’s a holistic strategy

Audience Questions and Closing about this Real Estate Search Engine Optimization Tactic

• Audience question: Video to enhance? Integrate into your blog, unless you want to brand it as a TV type outlet
• Utterz
• Walk your neighbor hood. Stay at home moms.
• More content. More exposure. More sales.
• How to convert.
• Its about having the opportunity.
• Search analytic. Often it’s a search traffic with a ???
• Option two: Ask buyers if they found you, what worked and what didn’t
• Ben Martin Listen four times more often than you like.” More likely to trust.
• Tell them exactly whats in it for you. Its give and take.
• You’ll weed out the bad ones.
• E-book. Awesome resource.
• Don’t be afraid to help to put home search.
• Polls can be fun and engaging—may be apt to leave a comment.
• Doesn’t replace…it just enhances
• Real estate is a content [also relationship]
• What makes you unique. Bring it home by providing great resources. Sharing your uniqueness in a way that no one else is.
(47:34)

My Summary of this Social Media/Search Engine Optimization Hybrid Strategy:

• Focus on your passion and uniqueness.
• Lift up your community: honor, engage, and cover your crowd and future customer base.
• Give people a voice, include a crowd (perhaps your vendors)
• Call your podcast a radio show
• Education and PTA is a great case study.

To me, this sounds like a great idea, it leverages connecting via keyboard and technology to connecting in real life for social good and for pragmatic financial gain. And uses that for small business and real estate SEO.

I think the idea of having a blog network around this idea which mirrors active rain would be pretty sweet.

You can check out the video for the Innman Connect 2008 social media and SEO session by clicking on the link.

Social Media Strategies and Tactics for Real Estate Agents, Brokers, and Bloggers
This is a quick powerpoint presentation that Evo Terra gave at the National Association of Realtors in 2008 on social media.

Check out Chris Brogan on social media real estate starting moves

55 SEO Tips for WordPress Bloggers on Creative Fusion

My Christian SEO profile and white hat seo tips on Active Rain.

Nice breakdown of to use AIDA method for social media on your Real Estate website.

What a Wordpres real estate blogging network can look like, although the content seems largely about social media, as opposed to real estate

(image credit: Jess3)