As expected, we learned quite a bit, confirmed some that we already knew and met some great people in the process. Particularly, the 1st general session confirmed that incorporating social networking and understanding social media is critical to the success of a property’s marketing campaign. It was notable that students are constantly accessing technology but it’s primarily for personal interactions, so an approach with that in mind is best when looking at advertising. Bombarding residents with property tweets or Facebook posts could potentially annoy rather than inform them. The student market is also hip to paid Google ads. A panel of students discussed various ways they look for a property and Google was a top answer, but they said they avoid the paid ads. As suspected, organic search rankings should be the focus versus only devoting marketing dollars to bump up position through paid ad placement.

A special shout out to Theresa, Dave, and Kent with PEP. It was great to see you all and we love working with you!

What does this mean for marketing? It’s 24/7, no sales team required, access to your product. You give instant access to your brand and can monitor the effectiveness of your advertising efforts by enabling lead generation applications and setting up automatic responses to inquiries to help convert prospects.

What are some suggestions for implementing mobile marketing? Keep the content simple and usable, the navigation clean to avoid long download times, and provide a simple call to action whether it’s an email for more information, an application submission, or an order form for the product. Consider live chat as an option for instant communication for product or customer service related inquiries. Link in all company information including mapping features for driving directions and contact information. Look into lead generation including conversion tracking to see who, where, and how often your information is viewed.

As mobile device usage continues to expand, mobile marketing will continue to grow as the most popular method of delivering your advertising message. It’s a cost effective, time efficient, Green (no paper usage required) way to instantly connect with your audience, provide valuable lead conversion data, and bring a call to action to millions of potential buyers.

Merging style and livable space, this Jefferson property is designed for college roommates as a higher-end, more private alternative to dorm living. When showcasing the property, it’s important to portray the appeal of each unit as a home rather than an empty space. Small details, like lit candles, plants, and accessories allow potential residents to visualize themselves living there.

Jefferson 26 in Austin, Tx

This hip Austin, TX property needed a website that captured the unique essence of a discriminating college crowd. With stylized appeal and high functionality, we created a website with all the latest features including real time by bedroom unit availability and rent pricing, the ability for residents to apply for a room, pay rent, and submit service requests online, and an interactive lifestyle map that showcases local restaurants, entertainment, and retail.

If the navigation and programming aren’t sound, the site won’t deliver. It loads too slow or the browsers won’t pick it up. Any designer worth their snuff knows how to program for basic SEO. Don’t let someone tell you that you have to pay a huge amount of money per month to get the best search results without consulting with your designer first. There are inexpensive and basic ways you can maximize searchability including keyword programming and underlying pages.

Flash is not your enemy. Browsers (Google, Yahoo, etc.) are more sophisticated than they used to be and recognize Flash programming. A good designer knows how to layer the Flash movie so your site doesn’t take 5 years to load. Flash is the norm now and your site just doesn’t do the cool stuff without it.

The cool stuff is important. How else do you stand out and attract visitors? That’s the whole point of a website, to attract visitors, to market your product. If you don’t offer the latest and greatest, they’ll click on by in less than 2 seconds. That includes strong photography, no grainy, some guy on property took with his camera phone, shots. You’re selling your product in a  glance, so that glance should be compelling and make people want to be there or want to have it. Don’t skimp on the important pieces of your project and the great thing about photos is that they can be reused for other aspects of your marketing portfolio including business cards, brochures, and e-greetings/e-postcards.

Speaking of reusing, what’s the latest buzz in marketing? Going green. How better to serve the environment than by investing in a virtual marketing strategy. You can take care of all marketing aspects without killing any trees by having a strong website and sending out e-invites, e-postcards, or e-newsletters for upcoming events, news, announcements, and promos. The beauty of going green is you not only help the environment but you save time and money in printing and shipping costs.

Social networking and blogging is key. If you want to be hip, cool, chic, trendy, in other words, viable, consider these fairly simple and low cost ways to get users to stay on your site and interact with your product/property/service. Whatever you’re selling, make that connection with the user. Myspace, Twitter, Facebook- all valuable ways to inexpensively make those connections. Think blogging is a waste of time? Think again, because now more than ever, people rely on blogging- you’re reading this, right?- to stay in touch with the world.

The bottom line is you need to find a designer that speaks the lingo, understands the latest trends, and can show you a strong portfolio of current work that you can relate to. You need to be able to speak to a real, live person when you call. You should feel like a priority, because in this roller coaster of an economy, you, the client, are the safety bar we’re clinging to, so that when we step off the ride, we’re safe and sound.