Time to Get Social

Social networking is a relatively new phenomenon that we would be remiss to overlook. Please read on to see how you can help our marketing efforts in very simple ways.

According to Wikipedia,

a social network service focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.

As for Eastbrook's role in this new frontier, we have focused on the the most well-known and, consequently, most used services: Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogger and Twitter. We have also started to dabble with Picasa and YouTube. I am continually evaluating our presence on these networks and looking for others that maybe a good fit.

Why bother? Consider this:

• Upwards of 80% of home buyers are researching their builders on the web, most of these before they ever walk in the door of a model.
• More and more we are hearing from customers who found us first on the web.
• We can quantifiably identify traffic to our website as a direct result of our social network marketing efforts. Most notable is Facebook which generated over 800 links to our site in the last 30 days.
• Each time a link to a page on the Eastbrook Homes website appears our visabilty and "page rank" are increased. This improves where we appear in "organic" searches (the primary, non-paid results from a search engine search).
• These networks provide yet another outlet to get our message out to, not only the public, but to various media outlets who may be inclined to interview and pursue articles.
• Social networking is even playing a major role in politics because of it's prevalence check out this article regarding Iran.
  

Here are some ways you can help:

1. Link to us - make sure you are linking to our website in your profiles on the networks you are a part of. There is usually a place for employer web site or favorite web sites. Get our links out there.
   
2. Word of mouth - direct people to, not only our site but to "Find us on Facebook" or "Follow us on Twitter"
3. Use links in your messages - I have encouraged you all in the past to add links to our website in your message signatures. You can also create a link when you reference us in the body of your messages. This is especially useful to direct readers to a particular page on our site. You can copy and paste the address from your browser directly into your document or message (example: http://www.eastbrookhomes.com/communities/ccs.html) or you highlight text and use the hyperlink button in your tool bar for a cleaner look (example: Lowing Woods)
4. Be a Follower, Friend and Fan - network from your own accounts to ours and to others. Use these network sites for what they are intended - Networking! Specifically this means subscribing or following our blogs, being a fan on Facebook, following Eastbrook on Twitter, etc. There is a link section at the bottom of this blog for reference. (please keep in mind our corporate policy on restricting personal use of these sites during business hours)
   
5. Buttons - there are a variety of icons/buttons you can copy and paste (see our home page or below for some) to connect people with our various outlets.

Twitter



Facebook




Please comment here or e-mail me with questions. I would like to make it very easy for you to add value to your communication through the use of social media.