Recently, the Gunn|Jerkens team tried something new – hosting a nationwide social media workshop via webinar! With 14 participants, representing three time zones, the webinar provided insightful information to building industry executives eager to turn their companies into social businesses and propel their brands to the next level.
The dialogue was great. Attendees asked numerous questions, engaging the Gunn|Jerkens team in the ongoing conversation about social media and its impact on new home sales and the consumer buying cycle.
We’re continuing to see measurable results with the use of social media. After tracking the behavioral patterns of potential homebuyers through the buying cycle, social media has proved to be a powerful link in nurturing brand-consumer relationships as buyers weigh all their options and conduct product research online. The focus of the recent national webinar concentrated on the current state of the social world, employing conversational engagement as opposed to traditional push marketing techniques, successful social media strategies, understanding how to measure ROI and the future of the digital and online marketing.
The conversation is only beginning! If you want to join the conversation, contact us to get connected and stay tuned for the next workshop coming to an area near you.
An unclaimed Facebook page is like an unclaimed star on Hollywood Boulevard. You know that someone’s name should be on that star, but you don’t know whose and don’t know when that star will be claimed. Likewise, when you see an unclaimed Facebook page, you know the page is representative of a certain brand, but it’s unclear as to whether or not a designated representative of the company is moderating that page. For all you know, it could be your next door neighbor or that disgruntled patron who now spends countless hours posting blog stories about how horrible his customer experience was during his last encounter with the brand.
According to a recent article titled “Unclaimed Facebook Pages Torment the Fortune 50,” by B.L. Olman, managing director of emerging media at Proof Integrated Communications, Fifty-eight percent or 29 of the Fortune 50 companies have an official Facebook page. Forty-two percent or 21 of the Fortune 50 have at least one unclaimed Facebook page – sometimes in addition to their official Facebook pages, and sometimes as their only representation on Facebook. Who is managing these unofficial pages on behalf of the brand?
Facebook actually created community pages using information found on Wikipedia. While the free exposure might initially be enticing – it’s actually highly detrimental to the brand’s reputation. Anyone in the Facebook universe can add photos, information, videos, negative reviews and spam, just to name a few, and there’s nothing your company can do about it – it’s a reputation management nightmare!
Don’t let someone else take control of your brand’s social presence. Be proactive rather than reactive – claim your company’s Facebook page today!
Millions of technology junkies around the globe have become card-carrying members of the Social Media Age. Facebook. Tumblr. Twitter. (And in a not-so-distant past) Myspace. You name it—We’ve created a username, logged in and tried it.
However, nothing stays stagnant (especially the world of social networking), and so these multiple memberships might ultimately prove superfluous—that is if Google and its latest social networking project Google Plus (Google+) have anything to say about it.
A newcomer to the social media scene, Google+ promises to connect you to your friends and interests with a more personalized organizational system than other websites.
Its streamlining features will include:
+Circles: Instead of a friends list, Google+ allows you to create social circles with a list of certain people and share information with those people only.
+Sparks: Similar to blogging websites like Tumblr, this feature uses the resources of Google’s famous search engine to compile news and content about your passions from Harry Potter’s final cinematic chapter to the Wall Street’s dips and dives.
+Hangouts: Taking a leaf from video-chatting services like Skype and Oovoo, Hangouts allows you to connect with people face-to-face in a multi-person video chat. Also, this feature allows you to specifically indicate when you want to participate—so no more inconvenient instant messages at work! (Theoretically.)
+Mobile: This feature, like most social networking sites of merit, allows you to connect via your phone. Google+ offers instant photo uploading, location tagging and +Huddles, a feature that connects a specified group of contacts in a phone-accessed chat room.
For more information on the functions and features of Google+, click here.
Google+ seems to be accomplishing its “intuitive” design by consolidating the features of other social networking websites into one go-to mega website. What do you think: is this an ingenious idea or an unoriginal move by Google to get into the social networking world?
Regardless, the big question remains: will it topple the almighty Titan that is Facebook? Click here to find out what people have said.
So far membership to Google+ is by invitation only. Will YOU try Google+ when it becomes public?
Social media tools have become like Starbucks runs. If you don’t visit one at least once a day, something is seriously amiss.
Social media tools: we all use them. So why not celebrate them?
Mashable.com created Social Media Day to do just that.
Today, June 30, Mashable.com invited fans of social media websites and networks to join together and praise the technology that links us to each other.
Mashable.com, a website devoted to social and digital media, technology and internet cultural news, created Social Media Day in 2010. Although it is a relatively new (and unofficial) holiday in the US, Social Media Day has garnered attention and support around the world. The state of Arizona, New York City and eight other cities (Victoria and Vancouver, B.C.; Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada; San Carlos and San Jose, California; Dublin, Ireland; and Toronto, Canada), have officially proclaimed June 30 as Social Media Day. Pretty wild, eh?
Social Media Day happened everywhere. Mashable.com’s Meetup page boasted a vast array of participating cities. From San Francisco to New York and from Antwerp to Buenos Aires, people from all over the globe showed interested in meeting (and Tweeting) in celebration of social media.
Although some city Meetups were more organized than others- San Francisco’s celebration took place at the indoor trampoline park House of Air—all social savvy tech users were encouraged to meet up in some way and say “Hooray!” to updates, virtual walls, news feeds and alerts.
The hosts of these updates go by recognizable names: Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, Foursquare, Yelp and of course, the irrepressible Facebook. These websites have become as integral to our daily communication as actual face-time conversations.
Social media not only connects us to each other in real time but also to information, events, trends and possibilities. In spite of distance, weather and time (elements that would naturally divide us), social media users remain closely knit in the bonds of community, friendship, business and common interests.
With this in mind, why wouldn’t we celebrate such a wonderful, revolutionizing tool?
Did you celebrate Social Media Day? We want to hear how social media has impacted your life and communication, so tell us about it!
Rules Don’t Apply: It’s Time to Join the Conversation
On Tuesday, June 14, 2011, Gunn|Jerkens hosted a successful social media workshop for a group of building industry leaders in the Southern California region.This exclusive event was held at the Lutron Experience Center in Irvine, CA.
For over a year Gunn|Jerkens has been tracking the behavioral patterns of potential homebuyers as they move through the buying cycle. The findings correlate the downturn of the economy with the extended buying cycle, resulting in greater amounts of time homebuyers are now taking to assess all their options before purchasing a new home. For homebuilders, this means that establishing and nurturing relationships with these potential purchasers over this extended period of time is more critical than ever. But how do you reach potential customers if they have never set foot in the sales office? You have to meet them where they are – online and on social networks.
The Gunn|Jerkens Social Media Workshop was an interactive forum designed to begin the conversation on how social media can be used in the building industry to build brand awareness and loyalty, cultivate meaningful relationships with homebuyers, and at the end of the day, help sell homes.
Tuesday’s workshop was filled with valuable and engaging content, including two guest speakers from GE® and Newhall Land. One of GE’s online marketing team members presented an in depth case study on their L.O.S.S. (Laundered and Orphaned Socks Society) campaign which debuted earlier in 2011. L.O.S.S. was the company’s first campaign created specifically for social media. The speaker from GE® offered insight into its strategy for creating the GE® social footprint, lessons learned throughout the campaign and its measurable results. Newhall Land also presented a case study on their ongoing Awesometown campaign, which was created by Gunn|Jerkens to reinvigorate the master-planned community of Valencia, California after two years without any marketing. The study focused on integrating social media marketing with traditional marketing techniques to maximize brand exposure. Social media was presented as a tool to build community and a major force in driving traffic both online and onsite.
In addition, some of the major topics covered included the current state of the social world, the paradigm shift from traditional push marketing techniques to conversation, successful social media strategies, understanding what and how you can measure to determine ROI and the future of online marketing.
Gunn|Jerkens would like to thank the Lutron Experience Center for providing the ideal space to host the workshop and to the guests in attendance, including Brookfield Homes, D.R. Horton, Playa Vista, The New Home Company, Newhall Land, The Building Industry Association, Orange County and William Hezmalhalch Architects, Inc.
Founded in 1983, Gunn|Jerkens Marketing Communications is a premier Long Beach-based marketing communications firm specializing in real estate marketing and advertising. A leader in the industry, Gunn|Jerkens prides itself on providing fully integrated branding and marketing solutions that embrace the future and propel marketing to new heights, utilizing the latest trends in mobile, web and social media. With a passionate commitment to excellence and superior quality, Gunn|Jerkens partners with clients to ensure they receive measurable results and are kept up to date and in touch with their target markets.
Rest assured the conversation is just beginning! Do you want to join the conversation? Contact Gunn|Jerkens to get connected and stay tuned for the next workshop coming soon to an area near you.
Each of us on Facebook understands that picking a profile picture is a very big deal. This the first image that people visiting your profile will see. For example, if you haven’t been in contact with your high school class since graduation, people will more than likely remember you a certain way and be even more interested in how you look after all the years they haven’t seen you.
Remember the 1997 movie, Romy & Michelle’s High School Reunion? Well, Facebook is sort of like an online class reunion. Every one is anxious to see if the jock and head cheerleader gained weight, or if the brainy nerd is now the suave and wealthy CEO of a major tech company or if the kid who played in the school band is now a famous musician. It’s safe to say that after 20 years everyone wants to make the best impression possible.
Here are the top five basic types of Facebook profiles pictures:
Type 1 – The Portrait: A clear photo of the subject from the waist (or higher) up and includes the entire face.
What does it say about you? That you are a normal, well-adjusted adult who is confident in your appearance.
Type 2 – The Far & Away: The subject is so far from the camera that you can discern there is a person in the frame, but can’t pick out any details of his face or appearance.
What does it say about you? You are a private person who doesn’t want any old gawker knowing what the hell you look like. You are probably slightly shy and reserved until people get to know you.
Type 3 – The Up Close & Personal: The subject is so close to the camera that you can only see part of her face or appearance.
What does it say about you? You want people to think that you don’t want to be recognized on Facebook, but you really do and you mask that in pseudo artiness.
Type 4 – The Family Photo: A photo of the subject’s children and/or baby usually without the subject.
What does it say about you? Being a mother or father is the most important job there is.
Type 5 – The Party Picture: The subject, often with someone else, clearly at a party. She may be holding a drink, drinking a drink, dancing, or giving duck lips at the camera.
What does it say about you? You are young and will one day regret this picture and replace it with a wedding picture and then pictures of your children.
By now most of you have probably watched the royal wedding on TV. And chances are you’ve even checked your favorite social media sites to learn more!
While Princess Diana’s wedding was strictly a television affair, Prince William and Kate Middleton’s nuptials are on a whole different level–a level in which social media is at the forefront.
Here are some fun social media facts about the royal wedding:
-There were 1.7 million total tweets about the event by the time the couple said their vows (13,000 tweets per minute)
-A whopping 29% of online mentions come from blog posts
-17% of internet buzz arrived in the form of tweets
-There’s an official site for the royal wedding, where you can learn all there is to know about Britain’s most happening ceremony
-The wedding has its own official Twitter hashtag, #rw2011
-The British Monarchy has its own Facebook page that connects enthusiasts to all things royal wedding
-65% of social media outpour hails from the United States
-Last week, the royal wedding was mentioned one time for every 10 seconds on the internet
For more information on social media’s role in the royal wedding, check out this article or read this story.
Remember the days when you had to actually go shopping when you needed something? You would drive all the way to the mall, brace hoards of shoppers and search endlessly for your product of choice. Then after you got home, you would open your new purchase only to find out that it was nothing like what it looked like on the box. And even worse, it barely worked!
Luckily for us, times have changed. Today buying your goods is as simple as a click of a mouse. Just make your purchase online and wait for it to make its way to your door. And even better, you can read product reviews and opinions beforehand, so you know exactly what you’re getting into.
Now the idea of social commerce is about to go even one step further. Internet search engines Bing and Google are launching Social Search Result updates to include information from your social network in your search results, everything from Facebook “Likes” and comments to YouTube videos, tweets and blog posts. So next time you start a search, you may just find your friends’ advice to help you make your purchasing decision.
This is a win-win situation for consumers, but what does it mean for retailers? False advertising simply doesn’t stand a chance in this new shopping age. Hopefully, marketing firms will discover ways to sell their products while remaining truthful to product performance.
Regardless of what direction this takes us, one thing is for sure: thanks to social media, your shopping experience will never be the same. To learn more, check out this article.
Social Media sites are full of messages to go vote today.
From Facebook letting you tell your friends that you voted to trending topics on Twitter to Foursquare badges to election-related videos on YouTube’s home page, you’re reminded to exercise your right to vote today.
Gunn/Jerkens Marketing Communications is based out of Long Beach, Ca. Stop in frequently to see what’s happening, share your stories, questions and perspective.
