Twitter Tips for #CRE

Those of you that follow me on Twitter know that I am a pretty prolific user of the micro-blogging service and I have written in the past of how the platform is rapidly gaining popularity with the commercial real estate industry.

Social media scientist Dan Zarella released a new report on how to get the highest number of click-throughs for your tweets. In addition, with 3 years of daily tweeting under my belt, I have a few tips specific to the commercial real estate industry you may want to consider.

Don’t tweet your listings: People don’t spend time on twitter to search for commercial real estate. I know it’s hard for you to resist as the email blast/push mentality is ingrained in most of us, but I assure you that nobody clicks the link to your listing advertisement. If you insist then at least try to keep it to a minimum.

Diversify your content: Most of your clients and prospects don’t want to read about commercial real estate 100% of the time. In my opinion the real value in Twitter is that it is a great tool to gain visibility and credibility. Pick some other content relative to your niche but outside the scope of CRE and your likely to attract more attention to your stream and a more diverse group of followers beyond just commercial real estate brokers.

Don’t over-do the self promotion: I know you are all awesome, but most people don’t want to hear about how you closed two deals today and picked up a listing. Try to add some value with your content.

Pay attention to the frequency of industry tweets: Twitter is a great news source if you follow the #CRE hashtag. However, if you are tweeting only the links to a news article from the standard industry news sources i.e. CoStar, GlobeSt, Commercial Property Executive etc. and the story has already been tweeted hundreds of times, then chances are people that might be interested have already seen it. Look for some less prominent new sources and tweet interesting information. This will bring attention to your stream and enhance your reputation as a content curator.

Build rapport: Ultimately if you spend time on Twitter consistently then you will begin to build rapport with other Twitter users. Send them a direct message and further the conversation or even pick up the phone and call them if appropriate. The secret sauce to getting the proverbial ROI from Twitter is to advance your best online connections into real business and personal relationships.

Time management: I would strongly recommend using HootSuite or Tweet Deck to manage you twitter stream. I won’t elaborate on all the features, but Twitter can be one of the biggest time munchers of all the social networks. These tools are great for getting the most out of your time on Twitter. Also use google reader to organize your favorite websites and blogs so that you can quickly scan interesting content to select what you want to share.

You might also like:

• Twitter Gains Traction in the Workplace
• The Opportunity Cost of Not Tweeting
• Is LinkedIn or Twitter the Best Social Network for CRE?
• Why is CRE Gravitating to Twitter?

Location Selection Criteria for Data Centers

The adoption of cloud computing by the enterprise is expected to accelerate as the trend toward a more virtual work environment evolves. The proportion of companies that plan to establish or expand data centers rose four percentage points, to 85 percent, this past year, according to San Francisco-based Digital Realty. This creates a whole new set of real estate decisions for the corporate user.

What are the most important criteria for the selection of a site for your data center?

Source: Cisco

This post is courtesy of The Tenant Advisor

The Big Data Explosion

Big Data, On Demand

Measuring the ROI of Social Media

I think that it is safe to say that the Commercial Real Estate Industry has been somewhat of a late adopter to social media as a strategic business tool and there has been noteworthy skepticism, albeit dissipating that it is an important resource. The one question every commercial real estate professional has is, “Can I generate new business with social media?”

Social Media is no longer a short term investment but rather a long term strategic effort and when integrated with other marketing efforts, allows brands to connect with users over time. One of the most common debates regarding social media for businesses revolves around what is the return on investment (ROI). However, marketers currently have no standard of measurement for the effectiveness of social media efforts

Social Media management firm, Wildfire surveyed over 700 marketers from all around the World  and put together this infographic based on this data. Social media is no longer a short term investment but rather a long term strategic effort when integrated with other marketing efforts, allows brands to connect with users over time.

source: Wildfire

The Digital Revolution

How to Market Your Brand with Video

This is a promotional video below from Cisco that is very well done and filled with some great statistics. Also from a content marketing perspective the piece is informational and the promotion doesn’t come until the very end of the video. This is the kind of video content that captures my attention. I would love to see more of the CRE industry begin to produce video of this high quality.

Social Business Video…the Next Big Thing

Business Video such as this example from Cisco that can be distributed through various social platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and of course blogs and websites is a rapidly emerging trend in the new era of digital marketing.

According to comScore Video Metrix, 184 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in October 2011 for an average of 21.1 hours per viewer. A year earlier, comScore reported that 175 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in October 2010 for an average of 15.1 hours per viewer.

Twitter Gains Traction in the Workplace

Report: 300% Increase in Active Social Networking in the Workplace

Social media use is more active in the workplace according to a new report from network security company, Palo Alto Networks who analyzed data captured by their customers’ firewalls last year. The study indicates a 300 percent increase in active social networking (e.g., posting, applications) compared with activity during the same period in the latter half of 2010. Twitter browsing at work alone grew by more than 700 percent year-over-year.

“Whether or not employees are using social networks or sharing files at work is no longer a question; this data clearly demonstrates that users are embracing and actively using such applications,” said René Bonvanie, chief marketing officer at Palo Alto Networks.

You might also like:

• The Opportunity Cost of Not Tweeting
• Is LinkedIn or Twitter the Best Social Network for CRE?
• Why is CRE Gravitating to Twitter?

iPad Use is Widespread by Business Professionals

A new survey from IDG Connect shows the widespread use of iPad’s for business communication by professionals. The research also indicates that almost 25 percent of the employers supplied the device to employees.

Source: IDG Connect

You might also like:

• Here Come the iBrokers

Making Your Company More Social

Social Selling in B2B (Video)

What is social selling, and why is it a great opportunity for B2Bs

Source: Cisco

5 Steps to Operationalizing Social Media in the Enterprise in 2012

Don’t Ask Me No Questions and I Won’t Tell You No Lies

You want to purchase and awesome tenant database? … Keep Dreaming

The number one thing it seems I hear on every commercial broker wish-list that they want  is comprehensive and accurate Tenant Data, to which I say, “keep dreaming” unless you are going to compile the data yourself, it’s not available for purchase.

The reality is until all companies are required by law to disclose the specifics of their lease data this information in a comprehensive accurate database will never be available. Public companies are required to disclose the details of their lease transactions if it is considered “material”, but public companies make up such a small segment of the total market. Companies do not want to willingly disclose this information and for good reasons; (1) they don’t want their competitors to have this information and (2) they would prefer not be inundated with sales calls from brokers and every other type of salesperson.

Presently, the best tenant database in the marketplace that is available for purchase in my opinion is CoStar Tenant, but even this product has its shortcomings in that the critical details of the tenant data is subject to the leasing agents providing that information. I always get a chuckle when I speak to the CoStar researcher who is assigned to our account (she is fantastic, by the way) and she asks me about the details of the lease transactions I have been involved in, to which I reply, “don’t ask me no questions and I won’t tell you no lies.”

The reality is that leasing brokers both agency and tenant representatives have caught on and don’t want their competition to have their information, they just want their competitors data. Then there is the overriding issue of the client fiduciary relationship. I don’t believe the companies we work with want us providing the details of their lease transactions. So if you want to have a really great tenant database with stacking diagrams, pertinent lease details and the decision maker names, you will have to build your own. CoStar Tenant is a good starting point, but you might want to remember the “garbage in, garbage out” principle.

The Enterprise and Mobile Applications

Many are predicting dramatic changes to the workplace stemming from the emerging utilization of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets, cloud computing, changing demographics in the workforce and corporate efficiency initiatives

Mobility is slowly becoming a critical part of IT strategy. As employees and business processes go mobile. [x]cubeLABS put together this infographic on mobile applications in the enterprise.

source: visual.ly

You might also like:

• The Impact of Cloud Computing on CRE
• Why the Enterprise Needs Office Space