Apartments.com held its first Virtual Summer Showcase June 18-19, featuring digital media and marketing presentations from a rockstar lineup of industry experts.
“Physical distance can’t stop us from connecting with each other.”
Facebook Industry Manager Elena Kwei-Raley made that declaration during her Apartments.com Virtual Summer Showcase presentation.
“Behavior we’re seeing now is probably here for good, or at least for a long while,” she said. “And activity on social media is up 51 percent since Covid-19. This upswing in social media usage has been steady. We’ve seen that from March 28 to May 3, the increase has held by between 46 percent and 51 percent.”
Facebook has kept the momentum going from its rising popularity by introducing new platforms (Facebook Rooms) and enhancing some of its most popular applications (Facebook Messenger, Facebook Live).
Kwei-Raley says Facebook Live has grown by 4x during the past year. Facebook Live is its platform that enables companies to shoot videos that tell success stories about their businesses and their products. Companies can archive these live videos so they can share them with people who missed watching them.
Kwei-Raley suggested that marketers use Facebook Live to coordinate with some of their most loyal customers and ask them to provide live testimonies about their products. Authentic “pitches” resonate well with consumers.
She added, “You can also have people tell a story about why a particular charity is near and dear to them and use it to raise donations.”
Facebook Messenger has become a more common communications tool through its “instant replies” option. Using Messenger, companies can quickly reply that they will get back to the customer, and offer a link to FAQs to assist in the meantime. This helps to establish a trusted connection.
Messenger Rooms was launched a few weeks ago. It enables as many as 50 people to join in for conversation in much the same way that Zoom works. Anyone can join a “Room” even if they don’t have a Facebook account. Messenger Rooms has added fun features and filters so that users can customize their broadcast with brief text and visual accents.
“Stories” on Instagram is a phenomenal hit, especially with the younger set.
Instagram’s Stories engage your audience and allow you to develop deeper connections in a more frequent, authentic and casual way. You can share pictures and short videos to bring your audience behind the scenes. Getting a timely message out to your audience can be helpful when sharing updates on business operating hours, inventory and special offers.
Stickers, text and special effects can be added to spice them up. Stories also has a polling option that enables marketers to discover what their users find to be most important. Also, adding custom links or buttons will prompt your audience to “Shop Now,” “Call Now or “See Offer” on your Story.
Recap compiled by freelance reporter Paul Bergeron.
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