Social media allows us to build a connection with clients.

A client will never buy a home off your twitter profile, etc because you are doing it wrong

If you connect, build a relationship and care, of course people will use to buy a home

Hate it or love it, social media is here to stay.

I don’t know of any builders in Georgia who have deserted all forms of marketing and are only using social media, nor would I recommend only using one form of marketing.

What you said was that builders ONLY need to be two places and named REALTOR.com and Atlanta New Homes Directory. Both of these sites offer ways for home builders to reach target audiences, they are components of a marketing program, but not a total approach. Shouldn’t builders incorporate other tools as well? What about billboards, signage, print, radio, SEO, Realtor programs?

And you apparently missed the point of my post and the comments above. The point of social media is to increase traffic and provide optimization to the builder’s main Web site. Like any form of marketing, this is marketing. . . not sales. Besides, isn’t marketing (promotion) ONLY one of the 4 Ps? I think a few other factors influence sales. Price and place seem to be the biggest factors influencing sales in this market, promotion can drive qualified traffic (people), but if the other Ps are not a perceived value then a sale is unlikely.

Thanks for venturing onto a social media site to participate in the conversation. I know that was hard for you. And I appreciate a good debate!

Also, you completely missed his point on “market share” versus “web hits”. Market Share in our world refers to REAL SALES, not “unique site visits”. And, as we have the actual market share (sales) of all builders in Georgia, we can confirm that builders who have taken a promotional stance that is social media heavy have lost massive market share (sales) to those using a more balanced approach. That was my point, and I think it is valid.

Thanks for joining in the conversation! Measurement is critical, builders shouldn’t pay for or waste time on marketing that doesn’t work. And you are absolutely right web HITS aren’t as important as unique site VISITS. Internet browsers (home shoppers) coming to builder Web sites from effective blogs spend on average 4 to 6 minutes on the Builder’s Web site. That traffic is as good, usually better than any we see on tracking and analytic reports from the listing services. Next time you meet with a builder that has a blog, why don’t you ask to see their tracking report? Go ahead, make sure is it a blog we built, lots aren’t built right to begin with and couldn’t attract a buyer much less Google.

Yes, this has been a popular post. As you can see it has attracted experts from around the country. Real estate topics aren’t usually this exciting, thanks for the inspiration.

Now, go get a Gravatar so everyone can see that you are the REAL Steve Palm and not some cyber bot spamming as MR. Smart Numbers.

Why would any savvy marketer deny themselves the ability to have multiple pipelines of traffic? That’s crazy.

Social media sites are GREAT for SEO and that alone should be enough reason to participate in them. Unless of course your goal is to never be found in Google…

As @dana implied a critical component of an agent/real estate blog is to maintain those relationships. Think of the percentage of sales coming from referrals or word of mouth. Sure search can bring traffic to your site but online dynamics are just beginning (which is a comment for another post!). I would encourage any real estate agent to look at blogs/social media from a more holistic, integrated initiative.