With social platforms constantly cropping up, being a socially savvy marketer is no small feat— and the learning curve never really ends.
So there’s no better time than the present to discuss what’s new, what’s next and, more importantly, where your customers are. Which brings us to this week’s #AptChat, where we discussed all of the above and then some.
These are the highlights. (Click on the links to jump straight to a specific question.)
- Q1: Personally, what “new” social sites/apps are you using regularly? Snapchat? WhatsApp? Periscope? Instagram? Any others?
- Q2: Based on personal observation, which social sites/apps do you see your customers using more often lately?
- Q3: How is your social/content strategy shifting? Are you spending more time marketing on “new” sites, or mostly watching for now?
- Q4: Are there any big overarching themes you’re seeing in where social is going? Is “dark social” going to dominate? Video/images?
- Q5: If you’re starting from scratch with a social plan today, where would you start? What’s the objective? Where do you go first?
Personally, what “new” social sites/apps are you using regularly? Snapchat? WhatsApp? Periscope? Instagram? Any others?
@AptChat I have recently fallen in deep <3 with li.st #aptchat
— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 31, 2016
@AptChat li.st is newish – 150k user base, made by / pimped by B.J. Novak. Android and apple. #aptchat
— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 31, 2016
@AptChat and I also like we <3 it, but not as much as I like li.st #aptchat
— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 31, 2016
Regular use though: FB, instagram, twitter, li.st, pinterest, LI #aptchat
— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 31, 2016
A1: For personal use I keep it pretty basic. Instagram, Pinterest. Got rid of Snapchat. #aptchat
— Khara (@leftnwrite08) May 31, 2016
A1: Mainly WhatsApp. #AptChat
— RokitNow (@RokitNowInc) May 31, 2016
@AptChat The group chat feature is a big hit with my family and friends. We all use different devices and live across the world #AptChat
— RokitNow (@RokitNowInc) May 31, 2016
@AptChat all of the above minus what’s app. And I’m addicting to FB live. Not an app obvs #aptchat
— Danielle C. Noel (@daniellecnoel) May 31, 2016
@AptChat also telegram, google plus, FB messenger, Pinterest. #aptchat
— Danielle C. Noel (@daniellecnoel) May 31, 2016
A1: IG, FB, Twitter, Snapchat, pinterest, houzz, and FB Messenger. #AptChat
— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 31, 2016
Based on personal observation, which social sites/apps do you see your customers using more often lately?
A2: Still the classics. Facebook, Twitter. Ours use Instagram for PERSONAL, not business connections. But shifting. Slightly. #AptChat
— Khara (@leftnwrite08) May 31, 2016
A2: Instragm, Snapchat, Twitter and FB Messenger for customer service, Pinterest for inspiration. #AptChat
— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 31, 2016
@ashleylynnolson I use pinterest & we <3 it 4 insp too. Li.st 4 cheer and creativity. FB is a bit depressing st, so u need an upper #aptchat
— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 31, 2016
@AptChat a2: all the normals plus depending on demos likely Reddit, tumblr, Flickr, Etc. #aptchat
— Danielle C. Noel (@daniellecnoel) May 31, 2016
A2: Depends on the demographics, but Facebook is still a hit. Eventually we’re looking into making a chat bot with Facebook #AptChat
— RokitNow (@RokitNowInc) May 31, 2016
How is your social/content strategy shifting? Are you spending more time marketing on “new” sites, or mostly watching for now?
A3: Still focusing of creating great, useful content but working to offer it in different ways to utilize the different networks. #AptChat
— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 31, 2016
@30lines @ashleylynnolson I’m not!! Most don’t have a robust mktg dept and are still doing old school tactics. #aptchat
— Danielle C. Noel (@daniellecnoel) May 31, 2016
@daniellecnoel @30lines this is where @AllianceLiving is able to stand out. We have a team of 35 marketers with diff skill sets. #AptChat
— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 31, 2016
@30lines @ashleylynnolson because content is hard. And putting out #ContentNotCraptent is even harder #aptchat
— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 31, 2016
@AptChat @artchickhb @30lines being the go to source for apartment living, delivering helpful content for different stages of renting.
— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 31, 2016
@AptChat @30lines @ashleylynnolson people forget you if they can’t see you. Non annoying Visibility has always been the benefit #aptchat
— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 31, 2016
@ashleylynnolson @AptChat @30lines that’s part of the approach that #apartminty has been taking, which is why it works. #aptchat
— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 31, 2016
A3: Targeting different audiences/goals on each platform. Focusing on the sites that work, not the sites that “glister.” #AptChat
— Khara (@leftnwrite08) May 31, 2016
@leftnwrite08 YES! Social takes a lot of time & strategy – gotta have a strategy before hopping on the bandwagon “just because” #AptChat
— Kristi Fickert (@Marketing_Mommy) May 31, 2016
Are there any big overarching themes you’re seeing in where social is going? Is “dark social” going to dominate? Video/images?
@AptChat LOL “dark social”…this industry will never dominate there! #AptChat
— Danielle C. Noel (@daniellecnoel) May 31, 2016
A4: From a computer programming standpoint, we’ve seen a lot of buzz about chat bots in social apps – intelligent AI conversations #AptChat
— RokitNow (@RokitNowInc) May 31, 2016
@RokitNowInc functional AI has come a long way but most of it is still not as good as it needs to be – yet. 6-12 months… maybe #aptchat
— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 31, 2016
@RokitNowInc not saying it doesn’t get the job done – just saying most people realize it’s a bit and don’t like bots #aptchat
— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 31, 2016
@artchickhb Totally agree. The bot we’ll make will explicitly say it’s a digital assistant bot so users know its not human #AptChat
— RokitNow (@RokitNowInc) May 31, 2016
@RokitNowInc I am super excited to play with chat bots in FB Messenger #AptChat
— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 31, 2016
A4: “Dark social” is going to be an interesting “sell” to the C-suite. How can what we can’t see impact us? #aptchat
— Khara (@leftnwrite08) May 31, 2016
@30lines Yep! The trick is analytics: tracking where the traffic is coming from, and showing the “direct” is impacted by the “dark. #aptchat
— Khara (@leftnwrite08) May 31, 2016
A4: I do think dark social will be making a takeover as the younger demo becomes are target audience. More offline messaging. #AptChat
— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 31, 2016
If you’re starting from scratch with a social plan today, where would you start? What’s the objective? Where do you go first?
@AptChat Content. Content, content, content. and a clear plan of demographic need meeting targeting via content. #aptchat
— Heather Blume (@artchickhb) May 31, 2016
A5: FB, IG, start building your community to drive traffic to web forms and capture leads. Follow up with retargeting and email. #AptChat
— Ashley Olson (@ashleylynnolson) May 31, 2016
@ashleylynnolson YES – #AptChat folks…retargeting is KEY!
— Danielle C. Noel (@daniellecnoel) May 31, 2016
A5: From scratch, developing the SM strategy: knowing your audience, and how you’ll target them on each platform. #aptchat
— Khara (@leftnwrite08) May 31, 2016
A5(cont): For each platform, target ways to drive traffic there. How to get them to your blog? FB? IG? etc. #aptchat
— Khara (@leftnwrite08) May 31, 2016
A5. Start with where you want to send that social traffic. Blog? Landing Page? Get those optimized to capture traffic 1st. #aptchat
— Holli Beckman (@Apartmentalist) May 31, 2016
A5: Know your demographics at each community – social is not a one size fits all. #AptChat
— Danielle C. Noel (@daniellecnoel) May 31, 2016
During our next #AptChat —on Tuesday, June 7, 2016 at 12 pm Eastern— we’ll be talking about marketing through the move-in. In the meantime, be sure to sign up for #AptChat updates to get these recaps and more delivered straight to your inbox!