Economical Tips, Tricks and How-Tos
Julianne McCollum – Yellow Duck Marketing
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Introduction
Census
Developing Marketing & Communication Plans
Branding
Public Relations
Social Media
Other Outreach
Q&A
» Who am I?
˃ BS in Consumer Sciences & International Marketing, Purdue
˃ MBA from Wake Forest University
˃ 14 years Real Estate marketing & market research experience with
Market Rate, Affordable and Commercial on client side
˃ Most recently Vice President of Marketing & Technology for Crosland
˃ Work with 7 real estate clients through Yellow Duck Marketing
» Who are you?
» What is good marketing?
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Delivers the message clearly
Connects your target audience emotionally
Confirms your credibility
Motivates your buyer
Motivates concrete user loyalty
» How are you perceived?
˃ How are you different than your competition?
˃ Do you have a distinct/unique position amongst competition?
˃ Attribute based vs. Image based
When developing your plans, ask:
» What are my goals?
˃ Occupancy?
˃ Corporate Brand awareness?
˃ Promote initiatives?
» What are major milestones?
˃ Grand openings/Groundbreakings
˃ Awards
˃ Full Occupancy
» Who am I trying to reach?
˃ End consumer – how do they get information?
˃ B2B – developers/subcontractors, etc?
What is your marketing mix?
» Depending on goals, mix will vary.
New Community
Corporate Marketing
Branding
Branding
Website
Website
Grand Opening
Social Media
PR
PR
Advertising
Awards
Search Engine
Search Engine
Eventing
Events
Signage
Collateral
Do you have a crisis communication plan?
» What happens in case of fire/death, etc?
˃ What is phone tree to get out information?
˃ Who is on point for media inquiries?
˃ Who develops talking points?
+ In case of TV, do you want to be on camera? Who should be?
+ Divert to police
» Corporate disaster
˃ Do you have disaster recovery plan for e-docs, connectivity, etc.?
The anatomy of a press release:
Only image in press
release should be
org/project logo
Make it easy if they
have ?s to find you
MOST IMPORTANT
INFO @ TOP
Not as important in the
world of email, but add
page #s
Boilerplate about
organization stays
consistent for every
release
LEAST IMPORTANT
INFO
Link to images or
respond to specific
request- do not
insert or attach to
release
### Signals the end of
the release
Use AP Style for places,
titles, state
abbreviations, etc…
Before expecting it to get coverage, ask: “Is it
newsworthy?”
» What is your goal for the release?
» Determine who the audience is, then determine the right media
outlet to reach that audience.
˃ Do you have a relationship with the reporter already?
˃ Do not send it to them right at deadline time. Mornings are best, as are
early in the week.
» Does it have a human interest element?
˃ Connect the dots & celebrate wins at your communities.
˃ Make sure you tee up a resident for them to talk to and media-train that
resident. Everyone chokes!
» What are the 3 main things you are trying to get across?
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Stack most important info up front
Don’t try to put too much in
Too many quotes are a turnoff
Headline & email subject are very important!!
Great! You got an interview- now what?
» Use 2-3 main talking points
» Create memorable messages:
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Think creatively
Talk in pictures
Short is sweet (cut out fluffy adjectives)
Back it up with facts and figures
Tailor to your audience
Say “Charlotte Housing Authority” rather than “we” so it gets in quotes/on TV
Repeat, repeat, repeat
» Avoid Misquotes
» Media Train your associates who might be interviewed!
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Reinforce organizational talking points
Practice bridge techniques
Practice creating memorable messages
Using Events as Public & Community Relations
Tools
˃ Anne Ehlers
What does your brand say about you?
» A brand helps set consumer expectations.
» Is it consistent with your value proposition?
» Do you have brand standards or a style guide?
˃ Logo
˃ Fonts, Colors
˃ Email Signatures
» Design matters, consistency matters.
People ignore design that ignores
people.
— Frank Chimero
Presentation is Everything!
˃ Which cake would you rather eat?
» Developing a logo does not cost $5. Or $500.
˃ If you pay $300 for a logo, you’re buying someone else’s logo.
Guaranteed.
˃ It’s the foundation for building the rest of your brand.
˃ Which is more appealing?
City Place
Apartments
or
˃ What do each of these say to you?
or
or
» Raster images
˃ Flat images with a finite # of pixels. Can be reduced in size, but NEVER
increased.
˃ Examples : JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, BMP
» Vector images
˃ Series of shapes based on formulas and therefore can be scaled to
any size.
˃ Preferred for high resolution documents, logos, signage, billboards,
etc.
˃ Examples : EPS, PDF, AI, WMF
Pixelated
“stretched” raster
image:
» Fonts matter.
˃ They can be free.
+ www.fontsquirrel.com
+ www.dafont.com
+ Caveat Emptor: Free = Can be used by everyone.
+ Other sources: fontshop.com, kernest.com, myfonts.com &
fontspring.com
˃ “Standard” fonts are great for shareable documents but not great for
design.
+ Never use Comic Sans. Ever.
+ Times New Roman is boring.
+ But non-boring are even more
noticeable if overused.
What feeling do you want to convey?
» Do your preferred demographics have certain
preferences?
» Reflect the site/surroundings/corporate culture
» Have one brand advocate who has authority to
police/develop brand
» What is your brand proposition?
I’ve always held to the belief that the
practice of creating compelling graphic
design occurs not by employing the
principals of a democracy, but rather,
that of a monarchy.
— Thomas Vasquez
Make sure the brand is cohesive.
Business Cards
Printed collateral
Signage
Preconstruction Microsite
Full Property Websites
Must Haves:
-Visible Phone Number
-Address, Hours & Map
-Floorplans
-Equal Housing Logo
-Clear call to action
-Easy Contact form or
email
-Diverse people
-Text! - Huh?
Optional:
-Project Photography (if
not built)
-Translate button
-Social Media/Blog
-Apply online
-Pricing/income
Restrictions
-News / Newsletter
Signup
-Pet Policy
Informational Microsites
» Pre-development website to share information
with neighbors/potential residents
» 1-3 Pages (could include floorplans) with signup
for waiting list
» In house? Use Wordpress templates
1) Do you have a Social Media Policy?
2) Social Media is sexy, but not a panacea.
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Who is your audience and where do they get information?
Who cares?
Are they even on Facebook/Twitter? Ask them!
What are your goals?
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Communicate with your residents/constituents?
Engage them?
Boost Occupancy?
Boost Search Engine Rankings?
Keep informed?
» What can you do well?
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If you can’t hang, don’t do it at all.
» Don’t forget about email!
Social media is more about
sociology and psychology than
technology.
— Brian Solis
Which Social Media Style is your organization?
» Comprehensive Policy: This camp believes Social Media Policies
should be comprehensive with strict rules for employee use and
content. Comprehensive social media policies often require
approvals for blogs, posts, and content and involve strict oversight
to ensure compliance with company policies, branding, and
marketing messaging.
» Broad Guidelines: This approach relies on common sense on the
part of both management and staff as well as trust. Another line of
thinking with this approach is that existing organization policies
already cover or can cover employee behavior and actions. Note
with this approach you should review and update your existing
policies to cover social media use and content and give examples.
» Laissez-faire: The thinking here is that there is no need for an
organization Social Media Policy or that existing policies sufficiently
cover this. This is a common approach in small and mid-size
companies and organizations with an entrepreneurial culture.
Facebook
» Most popular site on web, outpacing Google.
» People don’t want long posts.
» Use images
˃ Don’t forget to post photos of resident functions- people like to see
themselves.
˃ Brands have seen that photo posts often have more interaction than text/link
posts.
˃ Phrase posts as questions to engage. (e.g. What’s your favorite thing about
fall?)
» Create an editorial calendar!
» Beware of oversharing
» How do you use Facebook?
Twitter
@yellowduckmktg
» How many people use Twitter?
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200 Million User Accounts but only 13% of population
88% of people are aware of Twitter
54% are female & 47% have children
The majority of Twitter users are 30-49 – 42%
25% of African American adults online are on Twitter
» Like Facebook feed on steroids
˃ 1 Billion tweets every week – 1,650 tweets every second!
˃ 52% update status daily
˃ 5PM is best time for RT
» Don’t have time?
Use SM management
software like Hootsuite
Source: Twitter.com, The Pew Research Center
Be aware of what cues people will use to form
impressions of your brand:
» Use a compelling subject line!
» Grammar & spelling should reflect your brand.
» [Small] Images in email signatures are OK, but never use
a preloaded “stationery”
Other tips:
» Remember many programs/ISPs strip out images
» Small attachments ideally below 2MB – use file send
services or FTP for large files
» For e-blasts try and keep under 500 words.
» Build your list!!
Inbound Marketing:
» Use free tools to your advantage!
1.
2.
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4.
Google & Bing Business Listings!!
Yelp.com
Every listing service/directory possible
Craigslist
» Consider paid search & SEO
Other methods:
» YouTube
» Blogging/Blogger outreach?
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Content is king
Who in house can blog for you
Editorial Calendar
Get on other blogs!
Questions?
Julianne McCollum
julianne@yellowduckmarketing.com
@JulianneMcC
@yellowduckmktg
Facebook.com/yellowduckmktg
704.271.9555
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