Social media is still a main player in our world for communication between companies and customers. Most of the time I hear people are not on social media because, "I don't want to see what people had for lunch." While some people use their social media to post food photos, it is no longer the majority. Making Connections with Stories People are connecting with organizations in a way they never have before. They are learning what the company stands for, their values, their personality, and their creativity. It has become more about your story than simply blasting information out to the masses. Users want to be impressed and feel a connection to your brand before they buy your product. This isn't saying that you need to feel a personal connection before purchasing an ink pen, but there are people that will pick a brand over another simply because of what that company believes. A great example of this type of brand loyalty is Dove. They started a campaign a few years ago about loving your body type and accepting your flaws as Real Beauty. Dove has continued this campaign throughout their website and marketing. Rather than selling the fact that they make amazing soap, they are selling the story of who their company is and the by-product of the marketing is sales.

How it Works for Homebuilders

If you're thinking to yourself, "this is great and Dove is fabulous, but how can I relate this to my homebuilding company?" The answer: its easier than you think! Being someone that purchased a house within the past 6-7 months, I have gone through the emotions of loving the house, fearing the finances, wondering if I could handle the work, and then back to being excited about owning a piece of property. Everyone goes through some mix of excitement, fear, worry, second-guessing, and content when they purchase either an available home or build their own. If your business has emotion, no matter the size of your company, you can share a story to your customers. Maybe you're the builder that gives back to the community, or helps the environment by using energy efficient products, or the president of the company personally welcomes the new homeowners into their new house. Whatever you do, or whatever you stand for, there is a story to tell...and social media is the place to share it. Top Social Media Players Once you have your story or vision for your online voice, you need to decide which social media networks you want to use. Not all of them make sense for every business, it is not a one-size fits all solution. Also, don't sign up for an account just to sign up - make sure you have time devoted to manage each network. A social media faux pas is a network with absolutely no posts or engagements. If you are only able to manage 2 networks, only sign up for 2 networks. There are great options out there for managing multiple accounts - Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Buffer, etc. are options to help schedule posts, reply to comments, and manage messages. We have our thoughts on each network listed below. Feel free to post how you use your accounts in the comment section!

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Facebook

  Worldwide, there are over 1.79 billion monthly active Facebook users which is a 16 percent increase year over year. (Source: Facebook as of 11/02/16) With that many users, Facebook is still the top network. For businesses that don't have a great website or a website at all, this has been the place for companies to create an online presence. It is a perfect spot not only to show your products, but tell the world what you're all about while engaging with your customers. Our clients see a great response on their Facebook Pages when they combine advertising, links to their website, photos of the homebuilding process, the team of employees, or new homeowners. Once again, sharing their story with the world and letting people see how they interact with their customers. Are you guaranteed to sell a house just on Facebook? Potentially - we have seen it before. But 9 times out of 10, that probably won't happen. What will happen is, gaining new customers and brand ambassadors because they'll tell everyone how awesome you are on your Facebook Page.

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Twitter

  The company reports, they have 313 million active users on their network. Thats no small number! With more people looking to Twitter for breaking news and current events, its not one that should be ignored. Some people see Twitter as a place for news and the NFL games, but it is also a great place to quickly connect with customers. There are always certain hashtags trending and that's due to the amount of people talking about a specific topic. Wouldn't it be cool to have a large group of people talking about your business? While we can't guarantee you'll start trending, it is a great untapped opportunity to engage your potential and current customers. Creating Engagement Using Twitter Say your company name is Modern Builder and you have a Twitter account that you manage on a regular basis. The account has decent engagement and some @ replies, but you want to expand it and see what people are saying about your homes. A great way to do this is by including a hashtag on all your marketing materials and encouraging people to use it when they post photos or thoughts. After awhile, the tag #ModernBuilder begins to gain traction and you start to see tweets like: "Just got the keys to our perfect #ModernBuilder house! Can't wait to move in and get settled!" Even if they didn't include an @ reply, they used your hashtag and you've made a connection with a customer. You then embed the hashtag posts on the Modern Builder website and continue to receive great interactions from customers. Twitter's user population ranges from 18-65 years old with a good majority in the 25-34 age range. If you decide this is a network you want to pursue, you will be interacting with a younger generation and will need time to devote to posting. You do not have to post 20 times a day and monitor the account 24/7, but we would recommend you remain available during business hours to answer tweets that come through.

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Pinterest

  This network typically has a reputation of the place to pin things like 'yoga workouts' or '10 best crockpot recipes' and not a lot of homebuilder related items. It is reported that there are over 110 million users on Pinterest and they spend, on average, 98 minutes on the site each month - which is a lot of potential customers to interact with online! One option for your Pinterest profile is to show off your Design Center. If you're a homebuilder that has a variety of features for your customers, why not create boards on Pinterest for your 'modern' client...or 'traditional' client...or even 'eccentric' client? You can display different countertop options, paint colors, or flooring on your Pinterest boards as inspiration for homebuyers. By doing this, you're also helping your vendors by promoting their products in your pins - its a win-win! And recently, Pinterest announced a new feature that allows you to see who has tried something and either liked it or didn't like it so you can track engagement. Even if you don't have a lot of custom features or a specified Design Center, your account could be the place to go for people looking for home inspiration. Whether they're thinking about building or renovating their home, they might see your boards and repin to their followers...and who knows where that might lead. When adding this network for your company, think of it as a way of sharing your fun expertise from the industry rather than a place to sell your best cabinets in your favorite floor plan. This network is all about sharing ideas and new ways to do things.

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YouTube

  It is one of the top places for people to post their videos, and since Google owns YouTube, it can benefit your search results. Almost 5 billion videos are watched on YouTube every day. The beauty about today's technology is that you don't have to have a full camera crew to create an engaging video - all you need is a smartphone and some creativity. Even if you don't have time to create a real video, there are options out there to create a video using your photographs. Whatever way you decide to go, this channel is perfect to highlight available homes, new plans, or community features. Another way to use this network is create weekly or monthly tips for new homeowners or those searching for homes. For example: how should you care for your new home? or what is something I should look for when picking out my floor plan? The videos can be short clips from one of your employees. You not only would create a resource for your current customers, but potential buyers as well. Once you have your video created, its really easy to embed the video or Playlist on your website. We would recommend spending time building up the profile of your YouTube account to include links and descriptions so when users visit your Channel, they see a professional looking account.

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Instagram

  With a growing population and over 500 million active users, Instagram remains one of the more popular social media networks today. Since it is owned by Facebook, you can easily place ads on both channels - attracting additional customers. Instagram also has the option to post the image to multiple networks from their app so you don't have to worry about creating an image multiple times. Going back to our Modern Builder company, here's an example of how easily you can use Instagram and integrate your other channels... A young couple just came into your Design Center and talked to your staff about creating their perfect kitchen. You took a photo of the meeting (with their permission), used #ModernBuilder in the caption, and sent the photo from Instagram to Facebook and Twitter. Not only did you just post to 3 social media networks in one click, but you also engaged your company's hashtag! Homes sell with great photography and so do businesses. If you can share your company's events, interactions, and products on this wonderful photo-based network, it will only enhance your company image and show off your amazing products.

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Houzz

  This network is the home buyer and home owner bread and butter. It is the place to go for inspiration, shop items for your home, and find professionals. According to Houzz, there are 350,000+ 5 star reviews on their website...and you could be one of them. You can add projects and information about your company and request reviews from your customers - all on Houzz. This is another great area to add Ideabooks for your customers. If Pinterest isn't your thing, definitely look to Houzz to create books for your potential customers to view. The amount of engagement you can promote on Houzz is wonderful and the fact that most of your audience is already interested makes it one of the best places to put your information out there!