Social media plays an important role in marketing, so it’s crucial to anticipate where it’s headed.
Considering social’s ever-changing nature, we’re pretty sure there are things you’re doing today that you won’t be doing even a year from now. What exactly?
We posed that question —and more about the future of social– during this week’s #AptChat; these are the highlights. (Click on the links to jump straight to a specific question.)
- Q1: What are the most important social trends impacting apartment marketing today?
- Q2: What is part of your social media marketing that you won’t be doing a year from now?
- Q3: How is artificial intelligence going to affect your social media plans?
- Q4: How are you staying up to date and adapting to the latest trends? Where do YOU go for the best training and information?
- Q5: What’s your one wildest prediction for social media in the next year?
What are the most important social trends impacting apartment marketing today?
@AptChat A1: Think Live Video, AI, Chatbots will have an impact this year #AptChat
— RokitNow (@RokitNowInc) April 11, 2017
@RokitNowInc @AptChat Agree…I think to most in this industry, video seems like the easiest to tackle. AI & chatbots are more technical trends to master #AptChat
— Kristi Fickert (@Marketing_Mommy) April 11, 2017
@Marketing_Mommy @AptChat Completely agree, especially with Facebook, Instagram, & others now making it easy to adopt video don’t need much more than a phone #AptChat
— RokitNow (@RokitNowInc) April 11, 2017
@RokitNowInc @AptChat Live video is so much fun! Love being able to do FB live tours of lease ups…especially before we can do tours. Low cost and fun #AptChat
— Karen Kossow (@AthleteatHeart) April 11, 2017
@AthleteatHeart @RokitNowInc @AptChat Me too! I see so many using it in so many different ways. It’s easy and you can get really creative to tie it in w/offline efforts #AptChat
— Kristi Fickert (@Marketing_Mommy) April 11, 2017
@RokitNowInc @Marketing_Mommy @AptChat 1- Allows us to be able to do the professional shots/videos that show the property at its best but also show things quickly & #AptChat
— Karen Kossow (@AthleteatHeart) April 11, 2017
@AptChat A1: at CapCon 17, @llcurley from @BonaLiving raised a question about fair housing implications of targeted ads #aptchat
— Jordan Easley (@Uncle_Doodah) April 11, 2017
@AptChat @Uncle_Doodah @llcurley @BonaLiving We utilize Facebook’s behavioral options to target to those likely to move, renters etc #aptchat
— Dyverse (@dyverse) April 11, 2017
@dyverse @AptChat @Uncle_Doodah @llcurley @BonaLiving And in my opinion, we SHOULD be able to do that. No Fair Housing laws violated w/that strategy. #AptChat
— Kristi Fickert (@Marketing_Mommy) April 11, 2017
@Marketing_Mommy @dyverse @AptChat @llcurley @BonaLiving Agreed – and to my knowledge, that’s NOT what she was concerned about. Would love to hear more from her
— Jordan Easley (@Uncle_Doodah) April 11, 2017
@Uncle_Doodah @AptChat @llcurley @BonaLiving So curious about this…I get not targeting based on FH protections, but what about based on interest level or consumer behavior? #AptChat
— Kristi Fickert (@Marketing_Mommy) April 11, 2017
@Marketing_Mommy @Uncle_Doodah @AptChat @llcurley @BonaLiving IMHO Not any different than advertising on an ILS or the “guide” back in the day. That Is also Targeting based on interest level. #aptchat
— Stephanie Oehler (@StephanieOehler) April 11, 2017
@StephanieOehler @Marketing_Mommy @Uncle_Doodah @AptChat @llcurley @BonaLiving Re-target as well… take your customer list and “dump” it into FB ads for re-targeting #AptChat
— Karen Kossow (@AthleteatHeart) April 11, 2017
@AthleteatHeart @Marketing_Mommy @Uncle_Doodah @AptChat @llcurley @BonaLiving That’s an awesome clever Follow Up. #Aptchat
— Stephanie Oehler (@StephanieOehler) April 11, 2017
@StephanieOehler @Marketing_Mommy @Uncle_Doodah @AptChat @llcurley @BonaLiving We had decent results with small spends. Did that and look alike targeting. #AptChat
— Karen Kossow (@AthleteatHeart) April 11, 2017
@Uncle_Doodah @AptChat @llcurley @BonaLiving All ads could be deemed to target to a specific audience. Avoid any segment related to protected classes, and you should be fine. #AptChat
— Mike Whaling (@mwhaling) April 11, 2017
@AthleteatHeart @StephanieOehler @Marketing_Mommy @Uncle_Doodah @AptChat @llcurley @BonaLiving Also creating lookalike audience based on your remarketing lists! Can’t use dynamic options for #multifamily unfortunately #aptchat
— Dyverse (@dyverse) April 11, 2017
@AptChat A1(2): video content on social – how to produce consistent, relevant videos to keep followers engaged? Thinking back to #aptchat on renewals
— Jordan Easley (@Uncle_Doodah) April 11, 2017
@AptChat #aptchat Lots of brands inviting real people to participate in their advertising. Very authentic!
— Janet Rosseth (@Jrosseth) April 11, 2017
@Jrosseth @AptChat I was so ready to do FB Live video testimonials or resident tours before I left….. huge opportunity there. #AptChat
— Karen Kossow (@AthleteatHeart) April 11, 2017
@AptChat Dark Social! We really don’t have a clear picture HOW apartment seekers make decisions among social friends.
— Daniel Redman (@dredman) April 11, 2017
@dredman @AptChat So true. There are some tracking methods to help, but we never get to see *so much* of the shopping process. #AptChat
— Mike Whaling (@mwhaling) April 11, 2017
What is part of your social media marketing that you won’t be doing a year from now?
@AptChat A2: Experimented with Snapchat Geofilters during conferences & most likely won’t continue. Might work for student housing however #AptChat
— RokitNow (@RokitNowInc) April 11, 2017
@mwhaling My problem is getting the company to come out of the dark ages. So many STILL won’t invest in Google ads! #AptChat
— Mindy Sharp (@MsMin) April 11, 2017
@MsMin What’s the reluctance there? It’s the #1 “ILS” by a mile. #AptChat
— Mike Whaling (@mwhaling) April 11, 2017
@mwhaling @MsMin But it looks a heck of a lot scarier to manage than a listing on an ILS. I think that’s part of the problem (and reluctance). #AptChat
— Kristi Fickert (@Marketing_Mommy) April 11, 2017
@Marketing_Mommy @mwhaling @MsMin We sync live availability with our analytics platform so you can make the best decisions re: budget #aptchat
— Dyverse (@dyverse) April 11, 2017
@Marketing_Mommy @mwhaling You could change the whole resident demographic with the right marketing. Cut down delinquencies, more traffic that you dreamed of. #AptChat
— Mindy Sharp (@MsMin) April 11, 2017
@MsMin @mwhaling And either reduce overall marketing spend OR get more/better qualified leads that convert at a higher % w/the same money/budget #AptChat
— Kristi Fickert (@Marketing_Mommy) April 11, 2017
@MsMin @mwhaling You aren’t the only one – we see this, too. It’s a struggle and we need more digital education #AptChat
— Kristi Fickert (@Marketing_Mommy) April 11, 2017
@Marketing_Mommy @mwhaling YES! Every company needs dedicated Marketing leaders. #AptChat
— Mindy Sharp (@MsMin) April 11, 2017
@MsMin @mwhaling Yep! But someone has to also train those marketing leaders. That education HAS to come from experts. Too easy to get misinformation #AptChat
— Kristi Fickert (@Marketing_Mommy) April 11, 2017
@Marketing_Mommy @MsMin @mwhaling Agree with education as a need. Adwords can look like a serious black hole of spending w/lack of understanding. #aptchat
— Janet Rosseth (@Jrosseth) April 11, 2017
@Marketing_Mommy @MsMin @mwhaling It’s definitely been around too long for owners to still be in the dark on this source. #aptchat
— Janet Rosseth (@Jrosseth) April 11, 2017
@Jrosseth @Marketing_Mommy @mwhaling When their properties are highly occupied they figure, why spend the money? I say – don’t you WANT even better results???? #AptChat
— Mindy Sharp (@MsMin) April 11, 2017
@MsMin @Jrosseth @Marketing_Mommy @mwhaling One of the great things about paid search is that you can vary spend dependent on need #AptChat
— Karen Kossow (@AthleteatHeart) April 11, 2017
@MsMin @Jrosseth @Marketing_Mommy That’s just it, we’re often playing in the margins. Most property owners don’t need to be successful marketers to make bank. #AptChat
— Mike Whaling (@mwhaling) April 11, 2017
@mwhaling @Jrosseth @Marketing_Mommy But you could save your onsite staff time, expedite the leasing process, make it easy for your teams. #AptChat
— Mindy Sharp (@MsMin) April 11, 2017
How is artificial intelligence going to affect your social media plans?
@AptChat A3: A.I. is already helping w/ mgmt of ad campaigns, conversion optimization, and faster responses to customer requests. #AptChat
— Mike Whaling (@mwhaling) April 11, 2017
@mwhaling @AptChat Some level of common sense and creativity will always be required, but A.I is certainly helpful #aptchat
— Janet Rosseth (@Jrosseth) April 11, 2017
@Jrosseth @mwhaling @AptChat It’s only as good as the people behind it. Feed it BS data and that’s what you’ll get out of it. #AptChat
— Kristi Fickert (@Marketing_Mommy) April 11, 2017
@Marketing_Mommy @mwhaling @AptChat YES @Marketing_Mommy, and if your trust it entirely, it could really steer you wrong #aptchat
— Janet Rosseth (@Jrosseth) April 11, 2017
@Jrosseth @mwhaling @AptChat This happens b/c people (marketers) just don’t know the right questions to ask (of their teams, their marketing partners, vendors) #AptChat
— Kristi Fickert (@Marketing_Mommy) April 11, 2017
@mwhaling @AptChat Could you elaborate a little please? #AptChat
— Karen Kossow (@AthleteatHeart) April 11, 2017
@AthleteatHeart @AptChat Yep, we’re using automation to adjust AdWords campaigns on the fly, test landing pgs & serve higher converting content. #AptChat
— Mike Whaling (@mwhaling) April 11, 2017
@mwhaling @AptChat #LoveThis #AptChat
— Karen Kossow (@AthleteatHeart) April 11, 2017
@AthleteatHeart @AptChat It’s way faster. Campaigns get updated automatically based on what’s working, stuff that would otherwise take weeks to analyze. #AptChat
— Mike Whaling (@mwhaling) April 11, 2017
@AthleteatHeart @AptChat And we just started testing automated chatbots in FB Messenger, that can automatically fact find and submit leads to property CRM. #AptChat
— Mike Whaling (@mwhaling) April 11, 2017
@AptChat A3: Think AI will help reduce response times. Machine learning will help in determining behavior for marketing automation #AptChat
— RokitNow (@RokitNowInc) April 11, 2017
@AptChat A3: AI already helps with optimal posting time and scheduling for social media. #AptChat
— Places4Students (@Places4Students) April 11, 2017
@AptChat Not necessarily improved engagement , but higher reach + CTR rates using @recurpost to autoschedule evergreen blog content #AptChat
— Places4Students (@Places4Students) April 11, 2017
How are you staying up to date and adapting to the latest trends? Where do YOU go for the best training and information?
@AptChat Our customers, local apt assn events, NAA, NMHC, and AIM conferences, and, of course, #aptchat!
— Jordan Easley (@Uncle_Doodah) April 11, 2017
@AptChat A4: The best way to learn is to do it. Build a campaign. Break it. See what works. #AptChat
— Mike Whaling (@mwhaling) April 11, 2017
@mwhaling @AptChat yes – breaking it on a regular basis is is what causes positive change – isn’t that what we call the creative process? #aptchat
— Janet Rosseth (@Jrosseth) April 11, 2017
A4: I agree w/the others – gotta get outside the industry. One I like to follow: Marketing Profs @MProfsWire – good stuff! #AptChat
— Kristi Fickert (@Marketing_Mommy) April 11, 2017
@Marketing_Mommy @MProfsWire I try to look at things that I like as a customer and see if they can be applied to our industry. #AptChat
— Karen Kossow (@AthleteatHeart) April 11, 2017
@AthleteatHeart @MProfsWire If you just walk yourself through an apartment website like a prospect, you’ll have a list a mile long of items to fix for better UX#AptChat
— Kristi Fickert (@Marketing_Mommy) April 11, 2017
What’s your one wildest prediction for social media in the next year?
@AptChat A5: Instagram will allow external links in posts. Wishful thinking #AptChat
— RokitNow (@RokitNowInc) April 11, 2017
@AptChat Lol….site teams who understand what is engaging content, why social is important, and that spelling and grammar do still matter #AptChat
— Karen Kossow (@AthleteatHeart) April 11, 2017
@AptChat Wild prediction:. Looser regs on ISPs & data collectors will result in more VPN & hyper small sharing. Social web will constrict.
— Daniel Redman (@dredman) April 11, 2017
Our next #AptChat is slated for Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at 12 pm Eastern, and we’ll be discussing customer relationship management. In the meantime, be sure to sign up for #AptChat updates to get these recaps and more delivered straight to your inbox!