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Created by Olivia Poglianich
55 Northern Boulevard Greenvale, NY 11548
Phone: 1 (516) 626-‐1500 E-‐Mail: [email protected]
Web: www.laffey.com
Laffey Fine Homes Social Media Strategy: When & How To Engage
Summer 2012
Laffey Fine Homes Social Media Strategy
Objective & Goals: The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of Laffey Fine Homes’ social media strategy. Platforms of interest include but are not limited to: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. These strategies were created in June 2012 and are meant to carry the company forward for the duration of the fiscal year. This overview is meant to assist the future social media team and all internal partners in planning a web campaign, but is subject to change.
The success of our strategy will be measured in terms of viewer engagement and an increase in page likes, followers, web traffic and etcetera. In visual form, here are our objectives:
Note about Paid Advertising
While paid advertisements on social networking sites are useful, we will be conducting this social media strategy in as simple and organic a way possible. No paid advertisements will be used in any way, shape or form for our purposes.
Gain Facebook Likes
Gain TwiYer Followers
Create an Instagram
Ac[vely use Pinterest
Laffey Fine Homes Social Media Strategy
Step 1: Design a Conversation Calendar
Ask the administrator to email a blank copy of the conversation calendar I designed. Use it to develop topics for daily posts. In general, we limit Facebook posts to one a day, 7 days a week, with the exception of multiple open houses on Saturday & Sunday. It shows constant activity without the risk of being overbearing and cluttering newsfeeds. If relevant articles or pressing information (i.e. just featured in NY Times) arise, a second post is allowed during the day.
Step 2: Schedule posts with pictures
Once an administrator approves the calendar, access the Facebook Fan Page and schedule the posts. It’s important to include relevant pictures with every post because this captures the viewers’ immediate attention. Pictures are also a major reason why fans share our content. The best pictures to use are ones taken directly from Laffey’s listings. When using Laffey images, be sure to include a shortened link to the listing (via Bit.ly) that viewers can click on to view more pictures or contact an agent. In general, schedule posts periodically throughout the day. The least active posts tend to be scheduled around lunchtime (11:30-‐1:30) but the greatest traffic is generated early in the morning (8:00-‐9:30 am) or, particularly on Mondays and Tuesdays, the early evening (5:30-‐7:30 pm). On weekends the best time to post is Sunday night. (7:00-‐10:00 pm)
FACEBOOK Overview The Facebook strategy began in June 2012. The statistics below (with the exception of ‘likes’) represent page activity for the entire month of May and for half of August (through the 15th). ‘Likes’ correlate with the first day my strategy was put into effect, and my last in office.
The Plan
Facebook Likes June 4th: 341
August 15th: 447
Facebook Reach (Global) May: 279
August : 1,739
Facebook Page Views:
May: 335 August: 794
The “Reach” page is useful if you know what to look for. ”Cities” (as pictured on the left)
allows the social media plan to be crafted towards specific
geographic areas. As this chart illustrates, Glen Cove & Queens
listings should be incorporated into the Social Media plan with
greater frequency.
Laffey Fine Homes Social Media Strategy
Step 3: Actively Engage
People will share posts they like, ask questions or offer comments. When asking a Trivia Question, be sure to post the response by the end of the day. When someone asks a question, be sure to provide an answer. For general comments, it’s nice to ‘like’ their reactions to show that Laffey Fine Homes is engaged as well. Social Media is unique in that it’s no longer B2C communication: it’s 2-‐sided. Customers love being heard. Tips for Future Improvement Add More Photo Albums: Specific ideas include publishing more events (to show customers Laffey “Behind the Scenes”) or Office Showcases and Agent Headshots. More photographs will highlight Laffey as a company, in addition to helping agents and executives build their photographic portfolio (after being “tagged”).
Change Themes From Time to Time: Not only does this make it easier for page managers, but it also helps retain viewer interest. If certain posts seem to be getting minimal traction, change that day’s theme.
Crafting the perfect Social Media Strategy takes time.
Here are several ideas for new themes if the current ones do not engage enough viewers:
vMust See Mondays: Long Island hotspots (Old Westbury Gardens, Oheka Castle, etc.). This theme could also be done on a different day and named “Local Living.” vWellness Wednesdays: Popular topic in fitness & lifestyle industries. Include mind and body exercises (yoga/tai chi) in edition to healthy recipes to try at home.
vFashion Favorites (or Fridays): Business & business casual attire, including jewelry and accessories
vHappier Homes: DIY links for crafty ideas around the home (interior design tips, organization, games to play with the kids, etc.)
Involve the Executive Office: Several managers, Vice Presidents and well-‐known agents are already actively using their personal Facebook pages to post listings, relevant Real Estate articles or congratulate agents on their quick sales. Repurposing their information on the corporate Facebook page is a useful tool to expand our reach & inter-‐office communication.
Early Elements • In morning: post pictures + bit.ly link of libraries, stairwells, kitchens & other home accents of interest.
Tuesday Trivia • Long Island/Real Estate Trivia. Vary between asking a ques[on & "fact of the day" format.
Water[front] Wednesday • Feature Laffey homes w/ view of the Long Island Sound, pools & bathrooms.
Tasty Thursday • Entrees & cocktails from Local restaurants (tag in post and/or link to site)
Fantasy Friday • View from cliffs, tropical paradise etc. Include info about des[na[ons. Can be anywhere in the world.
Weekend Whereabouts • Ask audience about plans, tell them what agents are up to, feature ar[cles & upcoming concerts.
Open Houses • Include image & list [me/loca[on. Link through to Laffey page. No more than 3 & spread out during day
Sample 7 Day Calendar
Laffey Fine Homes Social Media Strategy
Example of “Early Elements”— highlighting property
Example of Water[front] Wednesdays
This post should have “Bora Bora” tagged (helps increase reach). It was one of my earliest posts so I made the mistake of omitting the tag.
Remember: The more shares a post gets, the better. You’ll reach a wider audience! To try gauging what will get the most shares, monitor post analytics. Take advantage of Facebook’s built in analytics page to track reach and potential for going viral.
Laffey Fine Homes Social Media Strategy
Before Followers (June): 16 Ater Followers
(Aug): 78
TWITTER Overview A Twitter account existed for Laffey Fine Homes, though activity was infrequent and audience engagement was not yet included. With 16 followers, our audience was minimal at best so it was time to make some changes. Reading through old tweets and observing Twitter strategy helped to reshape the plan for this platform in hopes of increasing exposure. The Plan Step 1: Come up with more creative content This can primarily be an outline (similar to the weekly Facebook Calendar) or it can be specific posts scheduled for a period of time. Initially I included Twitter posts on the conversation calendar: 1 for each day along with a Facebook post (not the same post on both sites and scheduled at different times). However, it is recommended to have 2 posts a day: one in the morning & one in the evening.
Step 2: Schedule on Hootsuite If not familiar with the Hootsuite application, ask an administrator for assistance. It is easy to use and serves as a crucial tool for maximizing Twitter activity. Hootsuite also allows users to schedule posts on Facebook (though I prefer using Facebook’s scheduler) and Google+ as well. Include lots of hashtags in posts. Browse around popular trending topics to see what other people are taking about. Schedule at least 2 tweets a day and vary the times between 8-‐10 am and 4-‐7 pm.
Step 3: Engage with Audience Look up trending topics such as #LongIsland, #NassauCounty and #PortWashington to find other tweeters in the area. Retweet their content that is both relevant to Laffey Fine Homes and to our audiences. Some past retweets include Instagrammed images from the 4th of July (Jones Beach, Fireworks on the LI Sound, BBQs) and entrees from local restaurants. Retweet local news when appropriate. (Newsday and Channel 12 News are great for this). In addition to retweeting, take time to tweet at followers thanking them for the follow & encouraging them to check out Laffey.com. Find and follow other real estate agents/agencies across the nation that can offer inspiration and networking opportunities. An excellent find was AOL Real Estate, a segment of AOL that repurposes properties across the nation using their own hashtag, “#houseporn.” Tweeting several Laffey homes with their hashtag has resulted in communication with AOL Real Estate and inclusion on their Twitter. Use similar strategies in the future to build our reach. The more companies that tweet at, retweet or even follow us, the greater our chances of gaining popularity on Twitter. The Future While it is possible for Laffey to come up with our own hashtag much like AOL Real Estate did, it may not have the same leverage on the web yet because we still don’t have a lot of followers . Once we surpass 100 followers at minimum, it’s a good idea to start our own hashtag for inclusion on every posted listing. Eventually people will catch on and hopefully utilize our hashtag as well. Several ideas include: #LongIslandLuxury, #LaffeyListings, #HotHomes and etcetera. (Alliteration is quite helpful in hashtagging)
Laffey Fine Homes Social Media Strategy
PINTERESTOverview As a relatively new social media platform, many companies have not yet utilized Pinterest for marketing purposes. This will soon change because Pinterest is one of the best marketing tools on the web. 87% of users polled in Sarah Aarow’s book, Pinterest for Business, said they trust the site. This compares to just 67% who trust Facebook. Thus, it is a lucrative outlet for potential sales. Users who post pictures (“pins” in Pinterest lingo) have the option to link images to a click through destination on the web. In Laffey’s case, clicking a pin links directly to the listing on our site. An existing Pinterest page was established, but pin boards still had their default category titles and nothing had yet been done to shape our Pinterest influence. Step 1: Rename Boards Creating clever titles will increase the chances of gaining followers. At first glance people looking at your Pinterest page observe the “Board Cover Photo” and board titles. A bored titled “Destinations” sounds much less appealing than the same board named “Journeys to Take.” In addition to renaming boards, tweaking the page to maximize viewer interest is key. This includes changing cover photos to the most eye-‐catching pin on the board and ordering pins in terms of relevancy-‐ while business fashion is useful to include (tying in with our corporate image) a board about Long Island Restaurants is more useful to potential buyers. This step of the strategy has already been implemented, but in the future, keep in mind that board order matters, as do the cover photos. Pinterest is an extremely visual platform. Step 2: Repin Anyone Find images that fall into the pre-‐established categories for Laffey’s Pinterest page. If another theme comes to mind, establish a new board. Pin from anyone’s page. This will increase our exposure and send notifications to other users that we have repined their images. It is also important that
for boards such as “Amazing Kitchens” or “Dream Homes” we include homes that aren’t listed with Laffey. Viewers won’t subscribe to our subtle marketing as readily if they expect it will be the only aspect of Laffey’s Pinterest presence. Show that we like other realtor’s homes as well. Also, it’s a good idea to vary posts with prices. It is useful for some pins (a “sticker” appears on the upper corner of the image with a price tag) but if prices are on every pin, we will lose pinners. Step 3: Create Pins Similar to the Facebook strategy in which we feature elements of the home; pin boards should do the same. Repurpose kitchens from our listings, or bathrooms or water views or anything else of interest. A unique feature about Pinterest is that it allows up to 500 character descriptions. While this would annoy someone on Facebook, it is useful for Pinterest because our posts will come up in search results. Fill in the descriptions either manually chock full of keywords (much like SEO but for Pinterest) or copy and paste what agents have to say on the listings' pages.
Laffey Fine Homes Social Media Strategy
INSTAGRAMOverview Similar to Pinterest, Instagram is a relatively new platform with great capabilities. This platform is built on photo sharing and clever marketers will use the right hashtags to increase exposure. Unlike Pinterest, Instagram has special hashtags (“#instagood, #instamood, #picoftheday” etc) that often mean nothing, other than the fact that a lot of users follow the tags. So after posting a picture of a gorgeous stairwell, add “iphoneography” to the end and see the “likes” soar instantly. There is only one downside to this social media platform; it has to be done via mobile phone (iPhones or Androids exclusively). Step 1: Repurpose Images This can be done from Laffey.com specifically, or, to expedite the process, pictures can be taken from our Pinterest boards. With the Pinterest app for iPhone, it’s easy to save the images directly to your iPhone’s camera roll and upload them onto Instagram. Step 2: Include MLS ID Links don’t click-‐through on Instagram, so instead, label each home by their MLS ID. Encourage those interested in “seeing more” to search the MLS. Clever captions aren’t as important on Instagram as they are on Facebook, but as long as everyone knows what an MLS ID is the job is sufficiently done. Examples: For more pics Google MLS ID: 11111, Want to see the rest? Search MLS ID: 222222, etc. Alternative: Use Picstitch (another iPhone application). It takes longer but splicing two images makes it easier for the viewer to see price, MLS ID & a picture of the exterior.
Step 3: Hashtag Effectively As stated in the overview, this is the most important part of gaining exposure. If we hashtag the images (up to 30 hashtags are permitted. It is advised to use all 30.) the followers will come shortly after. Start by tagging a location (#Brookville #LongIsland #NewYork) and continue with basic elements (#bathroom #bathtub #sink #marble) and keywords to describe all of our listings (#luxury #dreamhome #beautiful) in addition to the Instagram specific tags as mentioned before.
Shortcut While images cannot be uploaded on the Internet, there is a way to view our Instagram profile from the computer. www.pinstagram.co lets you log in via Instagram to follow other users or check on your page.
Above: Features MLS ID Right: PicStitch example
Laffey Fine Homes Social Media Strategy
GOOGLE+ Overview This social media platform is crucial for search engine optimization. For Laffey Fine Homes we have a corporate Google+ page, in addition to a page for every individual office. Each office page is meant to repurpose listings in their geographic realm, while the corporate page will reemphasize what is said on Facebook. The goal for Google+ isn’t so much to increase fans (or in G+ speak, “people who have us in their circle”) but rather, to help us in the search engines. Step 1: Schedule in Hootsuite A new feature with Hootsuite’s upgrade, Google+ has become much easier to manage. Most of the content on Google+ is often repurposed anyway, but instead of manually doing so, Hootsuite allows us to schedule simultaneously with Facebook or Twitter. Repurposing from Twitter to Facebook is discouraged because of hashtagging, but from Twitter/Facebook to Google+ it is encouraged.
Step 2: Monitor Google Analytics This step is useful for all platforms, but the integration of Google+ and Google Analytics allows us to track following in more depth. What time of day gets the most traffic? Or, which of our office pages yield the highest hits? Google Analytics helps us answer questions like these. This allows us to better shape our posts to cater to our audiences.
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