Situation
Well branded company with award winning marketing with no real online marketing strategy. The objectives were to increase awareness, improve search results from page 53 to something better etc.
Strategies
J.C. Hart and Firebelly Marketing formed a marketing partnership approximately 14 months ago. The objectives were to increase awareness and improve the company’s reputation online. The first step was to create MySpace and Facebook assets and begin inviting residents to be friends. Next all newsletters were eliminated and all content repurposed into blogs for each of the company’s communities. The website was broken into two components – a comprehensive corporate site and a site for each community. The branding was extended consistently and all community sites focused on vibrant imagery, floor plans, and immediate pricing (with an option to lease online). All sites included a solid SEO approach to assist with search. A video contest focused on residents was launched with the goal of capturing user generated content, to activate evangelists, and to get great testimonials. J.C. Hart also eliminated all print/guide marketing which placed a greater emphasis on web marketing including ILS generated traffic and leads.
Results
- Increased website traffic 75% compared to June 2008
- Eliminated print/guide marketing (saving thousands of dollars)
- Increased foot traffic and showings 4.15% Year to Date 08 vs 09
- Received nearly 50 video testimonials via a YouTube video contest (plus the JC Hart YouTube Channel received over 10,000 views in 2 months)
- Generated qualified traffic/leads via Twitter
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Kids usage of twitter up according to Silicon Alley Insider
I'm a fan of Dan Frommer's Chart of the Day pieces. This one is particularly interesting. Here's a direct quote and the chart, followed by some questions for you to ponder.
"While Twitter's user base historically favored older users, people
between ages 12-24 have been Twitter's fastest growing age group of
late. And now that age group is actually disproportionately visiting Twitter, according to comScore.
This chart shows comScore U.S. unique visitor stats for different
age groups. A "100" score means that age group is represented among
Twitter's user base in perfect proportion to how much that age group
uses the Web as a whole.
In July, people ages 12-14 scored a "121" — meaning they were
represented among Twitter visitors 21% more than they were represented
among total Web users. And that's up from the mid-70s — significant
underindexing — on Twitter six months ago. In summary, if comScore's
stats are accurate, people between ages 12-24 are using Twitter, and a lot more are using it now than before."
So here's the questions (some are sort of pseudo-statements)
- 35 – 54 seems odd but I might be able to palate it.
- 25-34 makes sense. Hell even 55+ makes sense.
- But 12 to 24? Some are pre-teens. There are teens in there and there is the totally different (IMO) 22-24 demo. Very weird.
- Clearly someone under 24 is using twitter a hell of a lot more. That's good news I think.
- 2 to 11? This needs actual evidence in my opinion. This just seems wild!
What do you think?
Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Blip.fm
I don't have to tell you that everyone is talking Twitter. If you haven't heard about it from your friends, co-workers, or favorite social media "guru," then you've certainly heard about it via CNN, Oprah, The Today Show, USA Today, and countless other media outlets that are constantly talking about it lately. There are a lot of great things things about it. I've met some wonderful people and value it for online reputation monitoring and live search purposes, but there are downfalls that many overlook. Allow me to be the "fun sponge" and share 10 sobering Twitter statistics found after scouring nearly a dozen comScore, eMarketer, Nielsen, HubSpot, Pear Analytics, and Alexa reports :
94% of Twitter users have under 100 followers
90% of tweeting is done by 10% of Twitter users
60% of new Twitter users fail to return the following month
50% of Twitter accounts are inactive (haven't tweeted in the past week)
40% of tweets are "pointless babble"
35% of Twitter users have 10 or fewer followers
21% of Twitter accounts are empty placeholders
11% of Twitter users interact with brands on Twitter
9% of Twitter users don't follow anyone at all
3% of followers click on links tweeted
The next time someone tells you that you and/or your company need to be on Twitter because it grew 25% between April and July (the already much larger Facebook grew 30% during the same time period) and both Zappos and Comcast are on it (so, of course, you should be too?) keep these stats in mind. Don't get me wrong – Twitter certainly can have value. But as a marketer I think it's my job to be responsible (not reactionary) and help manage client expectations. Now excuse me while I tweet this post!
I wanted to post today about some great design blogs that I constantly check and follow. These are some great sites to use for RSS! They have a lot of tutorials, inspiration, tips, tricks, and knowledge! Check them out!
Tuts+ is the makers of the great communities: http://psd.tutsplus.com, http://vector.tutsplus.com, http://net.tutsplus.com, and more!
What design blogs do YOU follow and RSS!?
Article by: Zach Reed // Firebelly Designer (Follow me @bluetidepro)
Forrester Research has released a new report that reveals over 80% of American use social media monthly. A breakdown of their activities is here:
My friends and I were looking for a movie to see, but we didn’t know what was
out and good. While the others in my group were texting friends and reading
movie critic Websites, I turned to good ole’ Twitter for help.
Starting at my account’s homepage, I found two Trending
Topics were about movies — District 9 and Inglourious Basterds
People were talking about them, so I took that as a good sign I would find the
opinions I was seeking. Although many of the Tweets were simply about plans to
see the films, a good number were 140-character reviews. Convenient, yes! But
where they more helpful than the word-of-mouth of friends or reviews by the
pros?
The reviews for District 9 were mixed, about half Tweeting
it is “like most way over-hyped movies” (@sportsandpoker), while others Tweeted it is “amazing.
The best movie of 09.” (@DeadmanCX7).
Because they were so wishy-washy, my friends and I decided to skip this one.
Moving on to Inglourious Basterds, I found not just
Tweet-style reviews but full-length blogs reviewing the movie. These Tweeters
aren’t critics; they’re your average movie-goer sharing his or her thoughts on
a film like you would in the ticket line. The reviews weren’t about complicated
cinematography or how this work compared to the creative team’s past work. They
were simple, to-the-point reviews that answered my one and only question, “Is
this film worth my money and Saturday night or not?”
remembered the new Reba McEntire album came out earlier in
the week, so I decided to search and see what Tweeple were saying about it. I
searched the title of the album, “Keep On Loving You,” and was greeted with
several links to Amazon to buy the album. This caught me off-guard because I
was seeking reviews from fans, but these Web links were helpful because they
showed me that the album was in the Top 10 country albums for the week. I
finally found a review saying the album “runs my life” and said listening to
the album at work “doesn’t get any better than that,” so I decided to give it a
shot, and I can safely say my Tweeters did not lead me astray. The album is
great (but that’s another blog for another place and time).
Summary: Turning to Twitter for music and movie reviews is a
great way to skip the professional lingo and get straight talk. It’s quick. It’s
convenient. And it gives answers! Downside
of this approach: Spammers add Trending
Topics to their Tweets about filling out surveys and free money that have
nothing to do with the topic. It’s annoying, but you can skip through them
easily enough.
Let me know how else you use Twitter to help make decisions.
I know the possibilities are endless…
Alyson (follow me @alyandthecity) social media marketing
