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Apartment Marketers Are You Listening?

September 22, 2011 by 11 Comments

For nerds like me this has been a whirlwind week. Facebook has done its usual and made some game changing additions to their platform. This is not an opinion post and it really does not matter what I think. The fact is that it has happened again and in order for us to leverage it we have to understand it.

Take for instance the change to Facebook business pages. You no longer have to “like” a page in order to interact with it. Stop and take that in for a moment. Here we are up to this point so focused on our “like” count because it helps demonstrate the strength of our network. It’s gone now. Those who were focused on quality content from the beginning will be OK. But for the typical pages who still119825593 261x300 Apartment Marketers Are You Listening? only post about pool towels and rental prices you are in for a big shock. You see these were the numbers you go back to your boss with. “Guess what Vice President we now have 357 “likes” on our business page and last month we only had 299.” That will not fly anymore because that number may no longer be relevant to how your page is doing.

When Google + came out I quietly said to myself: “I wonder how Facebook will counteract?” With the above changes and new items such as the “Ticker” that was rolled out this week (I actually had my ticker last Friday) and the release today of the “Timeline” we can be sure that Facebook is not shrinking back. There will always be a continuing evolution on how people choose to interact which was one of many statistical reasons why Facebook did what it did. The point for us as marketers is are we listening? Do we know what to do about these changes?

It is a critical element to investigate or at the very least be aware of. Good questions to ask your self are now: “How will I measure my Facebook presence?” “What metrics do I need to pay attention to?” “Do I need to shift my content/conversation approach?” Perhaps you have others you are thinking about right now.

There are a handful of us who are already working like madmen to ascertain the effects of these changes so please pay attention to our reports as they come out. This week’s events once again teach us the value of being proactive and the value of being ready. Who knows what tomorrow will bring for us marketers so it is so important to keep listening! Feedback would be awesome on this topic. I know it’s hot so I would love feedback on how you are taking these changes and are you making considerations on its overall potential impact? Please share in the comment section below.

Written by Jonathan Saar

 

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About Jonathan Saar

Jonathan Saar is the Vice President of Marketing for The Training Factor. He also blogs on his personal website. You can follow along or contact Jonathan on Twitter via @JonathanSaar, Linkedin Jonathan Saar or on Google+.

  • http://www.bsitko.com Bill Szczytko

    Hey Jonathan great post. I think it’s too early to tell from a Marketing standpoint. I see the ticker being extremely helpful with spreading your message to those not aware of you but the implications of not having to Like a page certainly lower the importance of the “Like”. Engagement and relevant content will still be king. The more engagement you’re having, the more eyeballs that will see your posts, and the more people you can spread your message to.

    Right now it’s the personal sharing that is expanding exponentially here. Subscribing, lists, changed news feed, ticker, better apps with awesome media sharing, and the Timeline are all geared toward getting people to engage with each other in different ways. The Timeline is brilliant because it leverages your existing data to tell YOUR story. Been a big (and for those trying to keep up) and exhausting 7 days. Stay tuned…

  • http://www.thetrainingfactor.com/ Jonathan Saar

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts Bill.  I agree that the sharing things is going to go crazy now.  From a personal level I can see how Facebook was trying to leverage more of their users attention.  It should be fun to ride this marketing bus together and sort through all these changes. 

  • Anonymous

    Hey Jonathan, I actually do think the number of Facebook Fans/Likes DO Matter, greatly. That is not to say that is the only metric, but it is an important one, particularly of they are Geo Targeted. Facebook has analytics in place to gauge “Engagement” 

    What is your opinion of which of the “Insights” are most important to pay attention to?

  • http://www.millsapartments.net/neighborhoods Melissa DeCicco

    Great post – I love the focus on quality in content!  I think something similar to the # of likers stat will need to replace or compliment it going forward.  Maybe we need to be more transparent to people who visit and show a more valuable insight like a weekly number of people who participate/engage with our page?  Not sure what the answer is, but I am generally excited by the change – any way to get more participation is good in my book.  It’s our job to get them so excited by our content that they will want to make the comitment to click the ‘Like’ button – it will be a much more valuable stat in my opinion now. 

  • http://www.thetrainingfactor.com/ Jonathan Saar

    Good afternoon sir.  I agree that the amount does matter but with the changes that have taken place there will definitely be a need to jump past that.  You and I have enough experience where the numbers become part of the overall analytics not just a singular metric.  When it comes to Facebook insights the most important metric I evaluate is post impressions and interactions.  It shows to me what worked and what did not.

  • http://www.thetrainingfactor.com/ Jonathan Saar

    Great points Melissa across the board and I think that is why Facebook made those changes.  I have read a couple of sources that state there may even button options for interactions.  We shall see.  At the very least to your point it is crucial that we post just for the sake of posting but make sure we have conversational content.  Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I deeply appreciate it! 

  • Anonymous

    Post Impressions, That is interesting, How many on the average do you see over a (30) day period? Of the handful of Facebook Pages we manage, those numbers vary greatly, however I assumed that was more related to audience type than content, but maybe not. 

  • Anonymous

    For instance, two of the Facebook fan Pages we manage, both have around 5,000 Fans, two very separate markets, for the last thirty days; one has (214,000) Post Views and (387) Feedbacks, yet the other one has half that amount at (101,381) Postviews and (233) Feedbacks. 

    Any insight as to what kind of numbers you guys see? 

  • http://www.thetrainingfactor.com/ Jonathan Saar

    For me its an ongoing science project.  When to post, how often etc.  But we receive over 45,000 impressions per month and about 10-12% feedback.  I regularly look to what posts had the most traction and why.  It appears hands down that conversational posts have the deepest level of interaction over content sharing even if I share my thought on the content.  Then again that can fluctuate too.  This post here had over 400 hits in the first 30 minutes..go figure?  I love the game.  It certainly keeps me on my toes.

  • http://www.thetrainingfactor.com/ Jonathan Saar

    Your fan numbers make the difference for sure Eric.  We are at around 1200 currently but I will still keep the number increase as part of my program.  Thankfully I have had people personally tell me they love the content and conversation on the page.  That is encouraging for sure.  Just taking your numbers above and dividing them 5 it looks you and I are fairly close ratio wise.  You know I will be keeping at it.  Always thankful to have fellow comrades like yourself who keep pushing forward.  Thanks Eric for the stats share. 

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