Let’s face it, social media can be challenging for large and small homebuilders alike. This is a topic that gets discussed a lot in industry circles.  We are guessing that this might be how the social media conversation goes in your office. . .
You: “Marketing Assistant, you handle Facebook; Receptionist, you take Twitter and Summer Intern A, you take Pinterest; I’ll oversee everything and handle the blog, LinkedIn, YouTube and all of the other sites.”
Marketing Assistant: “Is there a budget for this?”
You: “No.”
Receptionist: “Are we going to hire anyone to help us with this?”
You: “No.”
Summer Intern A: “How do we know if we are doing a good job?”
You: “I don’t know.”

If this conversation is hitting close to home, you are not alone. According to a recent survey by Ragan/NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions, the majority of organizations surveyed have no team dedicated to social media.

• 65% of respondents do social media on top of their other duties.
• Of the 27% who handle social media exclusively, nearly 83% work on teams of three or fewer.
• 69% of organizations do not have an increased budget for social media.
• 78% have no plans to hire social media staff in 2013.
• 69% are dissatisfied or only “somewhat satisfied” with how they currently measure social media.

So what does all this mean? While companies recognize the value of social media (respondents report using social media to increase brand awareness, boost Web traffic and improve the organization’s reputation); many are having a hard time figuring out how to incorporate it into their daily operations. This seems especially true in home building companies where often there may not be a full-time marketing person, or if there is, they are already overloaded with other tasks.

Most organizations use a multi-departmental approach to social media; with marketing playing the largest role, but public relations, corporate communications, advertising, customer service, IT and legal departments also participate.

We want to engage in social media, but with limited funds, time and staff; it is a challenge. So we have to learn to do it smarter. You have to learn how to prioritize your efforts to make the greatest impact.

Attend “Beyond Facebook: Google+, Pinterest and More” at IBS 2013 later this month. Presented by fellow MIRMs and marketing experts Kelly Fink of The Providence Group, Paula Huggett of The Bokka Group and Carol Morgan, this educational session will present the newest and fastest growing social media tools available and show how home builders, suppliers and other companies are using them. Get ideas of how you could use those tools in your own business.

“Beyond Facebook: Google+, Pinterest and More” will be held Wednesday, January 23 at 2:30 p.m.; be sure to be there.  If you have mastered blogging, Facebook and Twitter, this is the seminar for you.