Insights

Welcome back!

Last week we talked about where to engage at ICSC RECon16. You can check that blog here in case you missed it. This week we're focused on what to post. Content is key in engaging with ICSC’s profiles and followers – how many times have you heard this? It’s even more important when engaging with your prospects. The nature of it should vary from a company or personnel perspective on the basis of opinion, personal connections and experience. But the end goal should remain the same: thought leadership. This is how you stand out.

ICSC puts industry leading content out on all of its social networks – that’s not something you need to do or waste your time trying to find, repurpose or even creating organically – yuck. Instead, invest that time commenting on it and sharing it with your peers and prospects to establish yourself as a thought leader; cut through the minimal effort of likes, favorites and retweets; and start and join conversations that matter. This is exactly what ICSC wants you to do! Just as you network in person at the conference and meet new people, you can network online. Prospects always want to know “What can you do for me that’s new and exciting”. Well, use social media to tell them! It's such an obvious answer and so few people are doing it. (If you’re one of the ones that says, “I don’t have time”, make sure you come back next week where I talk about how to manage it.)

Our Recommendations:

• Tweet/connect immediately after you meet. (Especially on Twitter and LinkedIn.)
• Don’t be generic – stand out. Be a thought leader! Share your opinion and let your personality shine through. People want your opinion, they want you to challenge them, they want to know how you’re different – your intellectual property is the answer. Show them.
• Share something you just discussed, that’s personal, and directly relevant to their current needs that you literally just talked about.
• Include hashtags to stay in front of conversations and have your thought leadership appear in other people’s newsfeeds to. (Two birds, one stone.)
  • Popular conference hashtags are: #RECon16, #ICSC, #Dealmaking, #Networking
  • Make sure you use your corporate ones too. Ours is #infiniteeworks – as in the agency at large and our project work. Clever, right?

So we’ve now made it through Parts 1 and 2 of this three part series and so far you’ve learned where to engage and connect on social media and what to post for ICSC RECon16. Last week is our final post on how to manage it all and I’ve been told you don’t want to miss it.

Stay social, friends.

-Chelsea Smith

Social Media Strategistinfinitee Communications, Inc.

About Chelsea Smith: Chelsea started with infinitee in 2013 merging her two-year old start up with infinitee’s twenty-four year old agency to develop its in-house Social Media Department. She created a proprietary and strategic approach to address all social media projects applicable to any industry and vertical known as Social 7 and has since evolved it to include Social 5 and Social 3. With her strategic and analytical mindset, innovative ideas and constantly evolving services, and easy-to-understand consulting tactics, department personnel and annual revenues have since tripled since inception. She’s quickly made a name for herself in the Atlanta market and is now being asked to speak at industry wide conferences. You can catch her next one at ICSC MOCIAL in San Francisco this August 2016.

Want to connect on social media? Tweet @infiniteecom and ask for Chelsea!

Alright, you’ve made it the last part of this series! Today we talk about all about how to manage everything I just spent two weeks discussing – where to engage and what to post on social media at ICSC RECon16.

If you’re one of those people that isn’t ready for a personal Twitter, that’s okay – unless you’re a broker – totally not okay and unacceptable in 2016. (Give me a call, I’ll tell you why.) Everyone, however, needs a LinkedIn profile, and I’m sure that’s already taken care of. (If not, again, please, give me a call.)

Back To Twitter:

If your company has a Twitter account, ask for permission to use it, and, Companies, please, grant it! Allow your people to use your corporate profile to respond and engage with others by simply asking them to sign off each Tweet with something as simple as –Joe. This will personalize your brand, help with steady content flow, unite your followers and diversify the conversations. Don’t trust them to maintain brand standards? Do it for them. (Again, skip through.)

LinkedIn:

Login to your app, find the person you just met with, and ask to connect with a brief message including something unique you discussed so they remember you. Do not miss this opportunity. I promise it's better to do it now than wait until you’re back in the office, sorting through business cards, trying to connect and getting lost in the mix of the other 500+ invitations your prospect received from the conference.

“But there’s no time” is not an excuse. It takes two seconds – if it’s taking you longer, let me know. I’m thinking of hosting a webinar to show people quick and easy tips to manage social media before the conference. If you’re interested in joining, email me at Chelsea@infinitee.com. We’ll get all the right social media management apps downloaded to your phone, iPad, and everything else and you’ll be a fast tweeting millennial in no time.

Seriously not interested in doing this at all? Give it to someone else. Find a partner or someone that you trust to build your social presence on your behalf. How does that work at the conference?

• You send content to your “home base” such as your pre-planned schedule of appointments and personnel you’re meeting with, pictures you take during the conference, cool facts or things you’ve seen (something you would normally text to a colleague or friend), special notes like additional people you met with or schedule changes, and of course, spontaneous meetings.
• Home base personnel connect, tweet and engage for you. Those special notes like new acquisitions and specific project needs give them a driving force to find relevant content and share with your prospects using thought leadership tactics like we talked about. (Again, you’ve got to find someone who you trust and really understands your industry and objectives.)

The right partner will have all the tools: social listening software, analytics reporting, strategic mindset, and efficiency in time management, creative copywriting, and so on. If you have someone in house that can do it, great! Still find the right partner to get them all set up – and tick tock – the conference is around the corner.

So let’s sum this up:

1. Get on social media and engage with ICSC’s profiles.
2. Post the right content and be a thought leader.
3. Learn how to efficiently manage it or get someone else to.

This year I’m staying back with my team to serve as the “home base” for our company and many of our clients who will be there. We’ve got our plans in place; our listening monitors ready and we’ll be here behind our screens getting in front of yours just as quick as we can.

I wish all of you the best of luck at #RECon16 and, please, reach out with questions before you go to make sure you’re prepared! Remember, you can download the entire series here to pass along to your team. Our Founding Partner & CEO, Jocelyn Smith, and, VP of Digital Strategy & New Business Development, Vince Vitti, will be there. Tweet us @infiniteecom to make an appointment.

Stay social, friends.

-Chelsea Smith

Social Media Strategist

infinitee Communications, Inc.

About Chelsea Smith: Chelsea started with infinitee in 2013 merging her two-year old start up with infinitee’s twenty-four year old agency to develop its in-house Social Media Department. She created a proprietary and strategic approach to address all social media projects applicable to any industry and vertical known as Social 7 and has since evolved it to include Social 5 and Social 3. With her strategic and analytical mindset, innovative ideas and constantly evolving services, and easy-to-understand consulting tactics, department personnel and annual revenues have since tripled since inception. She’s quickly made a name for herself in the Atlanta market and is now being asked to speak at industry wide conferences. You can catch her next one at ICSC MOCIAL in San Francisco this August 2016.

Want to connect on social media? Tweet @infiniteecom and ask for Chelsea!

infinitee, a full-service, strategic marketing agency in Atlanta, GA is proud to support its client, the North Fulton Community Improvement District. As agency of record, infinitee recently generated a comprehensive marketing plan for the NFCID, as well as developed the organization’s 2015 Annual Report for current and prospective members. infinitee will continue to oversee the branding and messaging of the community services the NFCID provides and will help grow awareness of the organization among the many property owners and employees of North Fulton. infinitee is thrilled to support the NFCID’s efforts to widen the Encore Parkway Bridge over S.R. 400 and transform the Alpharetta thoroughfare into a multi-modal complete street.

This $14 Million project will widen the existing two-lane Encore Parkway between Westside Parkway and North Point Parkway, a distance of 0.7 miles. The new roadway will include two 14 ft. travel lanes, two 6 ft. bike lanes, 8 ft. sidewalks, landscaped buffers on each side, and a raised, landscaped median. A sidewalk will be constructed on the east side of North Point Parkway, using shared lanes to connect the new Encore Parkway bridge to the existing Big Creek Greenway trail and parking area. The existing bridge over GA 400 will be replaced and upgraded to accommodate future GA 400 widening. The new bridge and roadway will include streetscape features such as trees, landscaping, pedestrian lighting, street furniture, and architectural bridge elements.

Construction began on January 4th, and the bridge was closed down to accommodate an aggressive construction schedule. The bridge will be closed from January 4th, 2016 - November 15, 2016, opening up to traffic just in time for the 2016 holiday shopping season. A detour map can be found here. Construction of the project will be complete in the summer of 2017. Click here to see live construction progress.

Source: North Fulton Community Improvement District

One of the biggest topics in retail for 2016 is the rise of e-commerce. New technology and the digitization of the industry will bring a lot of change to the retail industry in the coming year. Some predictions for the direction of e-commerce in the new year include:

1. Facebook will surpass YouTube for branding. Facebook videos receive more total views than YouTube videos, which will lead to Facebook becoming the top video branding platform in 2016.
2. Amazon will launch Amazon Prime Air, which provides drone-based deliveries in as little as a few hours, effectively kicking off the drone era.
3. Mobile shopping will exceed desktop shopping. It is expected that 60% of holiday shopping will come from smartphones and tablets in 2016.
4. Personalization and hyper-localization will drive growth in global commerce. Retailers will be challenged with creating deeper, more personalized and localized experiences for their global customers.
5. E-commerce will rise to become 10% of all retail by the year’s end.

With all of this talk about the rise of e-commerce, it is important to address the common misconception that e-commerce will soon replace brick-and-mortar retail stores. This idea couldn’t be farther from the truth. Rather than take over the retail market, e-commerce will simply be one of many purchasing paths from which a consumer can choose.

Perhaps the biggest development to expect in 2016 is the blending of physical (brick-and-mortar) and digital (e-commerce) purchase channels. The Oculus Rift virtual reality headset is gaining popularity with retailers as a customer engagement tool. Retale Virtual Reality for Oculus Rift updated version is being released this year, and will provide customers with an immersive, 3D environment where they can shop context-based local offers. Users will be able to browse virtual showrooms and select products or stores and add them to their shopping list on the Retale mobile app. Based on the users’ selections, Retale will then send the user navigation information to guide them to the nearest retail location to purchase their selection, driving traffic to store sites.

Star World is another example of digital and physical commerce coming together to create the ultimate shopping experience. A hybrid of brick-and-mortar and e-commerce, Star World combines the convenience and selection of online retail in a physical environment through interactive store kiosks. These in-store kiosks allow shoppers to browse the warehouses of Star World’s suppliers and make online purchases while simultaneously saving Star World warehouse costs.

Star World and Retale Virtual Reality for Oculus Rift are just two examples that highlight the need for e-commerce and brick-and-mortar to work together to create profitable new points of distribution and increase consumer awareness. A study completed by L2 and sponsored by Simon Property Group found retailers who use an omnichannel strategy that includes both online and physical stores are the most successful. Online only retailers are disadvantaged due to their high marketing and shipping costs, whereas online retailers that leverage physical stores drive higher organic site traffic and lower customer acquisition costs, all the while elevating brand awareness across multiple channels.

infinitee’s expertise in integrated marketing, digital and social media, and branding gives us an advantage when it comes to finding the optimal combination of physical and digital channels. The time to get started on this rising trend is now. Call Jocelyn Smith (404-231-3481) today to get your business on track for 2016.

Emerging and evolving digital trends continue to change the marketing and media landscape. Companies are faced with a decision: maintain their current pace and undoubtedly fall behind the pack, or pick up the speed and stay ahead of the competition. Adapting your company’s marketing strategy to incorporate these seven digital marketing trends in 2016 is a must.

1. Mobile Will Dominate Desktop

With more and more users adopting smartphones and tablets, the percentage of Internet visits via mobile platforms is skyrocketing. Mobile searches surpassed desktop searches in over 10 countries in 2015. With an increasing number of people resorting primarily to mobile screens, creating smartphone-friendly websites and emails is imperative.

2. Eruption of Apps

Mobile apps offer all the same services as mobile websites, but present functionalities in an intuitive and convenient manner. Additionally, an app offers companies better control and customer retention by avoiding the clutter and distraction that ads bring to websites. With Google introducing app indexing in April—which drops app content into Google mobile search results—apps will soon replace the need for mobile websites for many companies. With that said, know your target audience and make mobile adjustments accordingly.

3. All Eyes On Social Media

Ad-blocking software is turning all eyes on social media. With ad-blocking software rising 48% over the last year, brands are shifting even more of their dollars to social media marketing to engage and track consumers.

4. Virtual Reality

Multiple virtual reality devices, such as the much-anticipated Oculus Rift—a virtual reality head-mounted display headset—will be introduced in the next few years. The emergence of this type of technology will bring about an entirely new form of online marketing that will integrate social media platforms, video channels, and many other forms of direct messaging.

5. Wearable Technology

Wearable technology like the Apple watch is revolutionizing the way people digest online information. Globally, the consumption of wearable technology is expected to grow 35% between 2015 and 2019. Given the smaller size of this technology, marketers will have to adapt the format of their content, consider how to best provide “on-the-go” information, and develop keywords easily searched via voice commands.

6. Marketing Automation

The use of automated content marketing systems for scheduling email marketing and social media posts to segmented databases will save time while improving quality.

7. Demand for Personalization

Consumers are expecting more from their favorite brands. Interaction with customers and knowing what they want next, is now necessary to cultivate fans. Using data to develop strong relationship marketing will set your company apart from its competitors and reward you with more loyal customers.

Staying up-to-date with the ever-evolving world of digital marketing is nothing shy of a test of stamina. But when it comes to online success, the early-adopter of trends is always the front-runner. If finishing first in the digital marketing marathon is on your agenda for 2016, look no further. Contact infinitee today to develop your plan of action.

Recent CRE marketing trends and technological innovations are about to change the way highly data driven, mobile and collaborative, commercial real estate companies do business. Over the past decade, a rise in competition and institutionalization of the real estate asset class has transformed the CRE industry. The shift towards a desire for portfolio visibility, data analytics and workflow optimization has triggered an unprecedented thirst for CRE-specific technology.

Twenty years following the launch of Craigslist—the pioneer technology in transitioning the CRE industry from its pen-and-paper norm—buyers now have all sorts of tools at their fingertips. How real estate brokers research and share information with prospective clients and their respective companies is easier and more collaborative, delivering real-time solutions on the go.

Some of these technologies enable the client or end-user to find and explore information on their own. The CRE industry has been traditionally a relationship based, depth of experience industry for most companies, but brokers should take note of these latest innovations and start accessing and using them to stay ahead of the curve and competition (which may also include your client):

• Reonomy’s comprehensive and validated data coupled with powerful analytics enables CRE investors and lenders to make faster, more secure, and informed decisions.
• CompStak uses a crowd-sourced model to gather real estate information that is hard to come by, difficult to compile, or otherwise unavailable through the exchange of commercial lease comps. Users receive points for submitting comps and may use those points to buy other comps. The result - a comprehensive database of all of the commercial lease deals completed in a given market.
• TenantRex enables companies to manage the data that is important to them online, and access it across office boundaries to protect the confidentiality of their clients.
• Floored is an interactive solution to touring a space before it is repositioned or even built via a browser or mobile device.
• With over $200 million in deal flow to date, The Honest Buildings Network connects the real estate industry to information on over 20 million buildings and the most relevant industry professionals to enable decision makers to find the best building solutions, fast.
• Hightower is improving leasing workflow by providing landlords and their broker’s information that will allow them to collaborate on deals in real time. This technology allows for owners to see all their properties in one place and compare deal flow and progress from one to another.
• PiinPoint helps companies find and select their next physical location with 80% accuracy. Its technology helps retailers looking to relocate, expand or close, predict future sales and check out new locations, factoring in geographic and demographic variables.
• Desktime allows agents to assist clients looking to convert unused office space into co-working space.
• Auction.com connects clients with potential investors and lenders and allows buyers to act as their own real estate agents by creating accounts to monitor new listings that meet their filtered criteria.
• Matterport and Oculus are both technologies that create virtual tours of properties allowing prospective tenants to take tours from the comfort of their own home.

These technological tools will allow for better transactions, improved process management and information aggregation and sharing for the future CRE industry. These rising trends paired with the CRE technological revolution also create improved transparency for the real estate industry. With this year’s investments in real estate tech startups on track for more than $1.4 billion, it remains imperative that brokers and buyers stay up-to-date on the latest tech trends in the industry.

Keeping abreast of the latest innovations is critical for commercial real estate companies and partnering with experts in real estate marketing solutions can keep your firm at the forefront of the industry and ahead of the curve. If you have any further question regarding how infinitee can support your CRE company’s marketing needs, please contact Jocelyn Smith at 404.231.3481 ext. 119.

2015 marks the year of the boomers. No, we’re not talking about population trends; we’re talking about the commercial and retail real estate industry in the greater Atlanta area. Atlanta’s retail market alone is booming, reaching peak statistics since the mid-2000s. The city’s retail occupancy is the highest it has been in seven years, and vacancy levels have dropped to 10.8%. These numbers result from a few recent trends:

1. Overall expansion of the metro Atlanta area population
2. Increase in employment base
3. Increase in construction activity primarily in urban locations like Buckhead, Central Perimeter and Midtown

infinitee is currently partnering with Fuqua Development on the largest retail project under construction in Atlanta, the Braves SunTrust Park. As developers realize the rising importance of the “customer experience,” creating a mixed-use environment that establishes a strong consumer base shifts into focus. Equally important is the marketing strategy for generating interest in the new development amongst targeted tenants. infinitee has employed multiple tactics to spark curiosity and interest about the retail component of SunTrust Park, including the creation of a leasing website, SunTrustParkRetailLeasing.com, an email marketing program, leasing brochure and touchpoint package. A unique touchpoint package was developed and sent to targeted tenants that included a Rimowa suitcase filled with memorable collateral material including: travel itinerary information about the development, a guidebook containing information about the project and area, and an offer to visit the development to see the anticipated “customer experience” in person.

Other Atlanta submarkets showing strong occupancy gains include the urban markets of Midtown and Buckhead. In the second quarter of 2015, Buckhead saw just less than 200,000 square feet absorbed. Its vacancy rate is half of what it was in 2010 with Class A vacancy at the lowest rate in seven years. OliverMcMillan engaged infinitee as the local marketing agency for their new mixed-use project, Buckhead Atlanta, encompassing 8 blocks of new development that totals 1.5 million square feet of retail, restaurants, office space, luxury apartments, entertainment and more. Additionally, this development now serves as the new headquarters for the $1 billion dollar company, Spanx, Inc. infinitee launched two separate social media marketing plans to brand both Buckhead Atlanta and The Residence. The results of the digital branding strategy were a significant gain in followers for both platforms as well as high levels of fan engagement. The majority of followers and engagement across both social media profiles stem from upscale Atlanta neighborhoods and wealthy suburban communities aligning with the property’s target retail audience and residential objectives.

Over the past four years, PM Realty Group (PMRG) has retained infinitee’s marketing and design services to secure new management contracts for the commercial real estate firm as well as branded leasing efforts resulting in occupancy rates as high as 98% in some markets. For Tower Place 200, also located in Buckhead, infinitee created a visually appealing marketing center—where potential tenants were invited to experience Tower Place 200—coupled with graphically intriguing sales collateral. PMRG was able to increase occupancy to a level that positioned the building for sale within just two, short years after the launch date of the new marketing strategy. The Buckhead submarket is expected to see continued, positive growth through the end of the year predicting a vacancy rate below 10% by January 2016.

With an anticipated job growth of 200,000 jobs in the next two years and demand for retail space remaining high from corporate relocations, existing tenant expansions and new-to-market leases, it is clear that Atlanta’s real estate market has no signs of slowing down. Now more than ever, it is essential for commercial and retail real estate firms to ensure they are taking the necessary steps to maintain a strong brand image and build meaningful connections with their respective tenants. Employing the right marketing partners is a necessity in today’s “new” development landscape to create your competitive advantage and point of differentiation.

For more information on how to stay ahead of the competition, call Jocelyn Smith at infinitee, 404-231-3481.

Social awesomeness – That’s what! infinitee made history winning the first ever, monthly NUVI award for our Winning Strategy and Implementation of NUVI, a monitoring, analytics, and data visualization platform for social media. We implemented the real-time social media intelligence tool in late February to provide a more in-depth data analysis of our clients’ social media landscapes, allowing us to see what people are saying about each across the Internet in real time, respond to the most important conversations and ultimately influence social behaviors.

infinitee’s social media team established a unique strategy for using NUVI that is unconventional to most major agencies and brands, eliciting the following statement from the NUVI team:

“We cannot share infinitee’s secret sauce and how they’re using NUVI because then you’ll all copy them. But infinitee is proving NUVI is not a cookie cutter solution that fits just one type of industry as they are finding a lot of success with their agency and clients, and are having a great experience using NUVI as their social media platform. Congrats on being awesome.”

Other winners of the inaugural NUVI award include:

1. Jonathon Miami for pitching Donald Trump on his presidential candidacy announcement: “Mr. Trump, I’m a web developer. Let’s talk about that $3 website.” receiving more retweets than Trump’s announcement itself.
2. The Denver Broncos for participating in American Pharoah’s first Triple Crown win since 1978: “We know a thing or two about being the best horse. Way to run. #AmericanPharoah #TripleCrown”
3. Bellator MMA for its wonderful review of NUVI’s ability to monitor real-time conversations via keywords and hashtags during one of their biggest fights to date.
4. Taylor Swift and Apple for their quick conversation and the solutions social media provided to solve the Apple Streaming Music Services in protection of new artists.

We are proud to be recognized for our strategic implementation of the product among thousands of other NUVI users and global brands. infinitee’s social media department is comprised of three dedicated team members who manage all of the social media needs for a notable list of clients with unique tactics developed to capitalize on the intelligence data NUVI provides. Additionally, our team leverages NUVI as a market research tool when applicable across other agency verticals including market research, competitor analysis, consumer demographics, behaviors, interests and lifestyles.

Having the best tools available to date is what keeps infinitee cutting edge among our clients. Having the right team and strategy to use those tools, is what keeps infinitee cutting edge among our competitors. If you work with a retail or commercial real estate company, a global brand or a b2b entity and are looking to optimize your online presence, contact us today. We have the resources and the team to effectively analyze your social landscape and strategize the best plan of action to capitalize on the most effective tactics working for you.

Call our social strategist, Chelsea Smith, directly at (404) 231-3481 Ext.114 for more information on what infinitee and NUVI can do for you.

infinitee, a full-service, strategic marketing agency in Atlanta, GA made history winning the first ever, monthly NUVI award for it’s Winning Strategy and Implementation of NUVI, a monitoring, analytics, and data visualization platform for social media. The agency implemented the real-time social media intelligence tool in late February to provide more in-depth data analysis of its clients’ online presence, allowing the team to see what people are saying about each client across the internet, respond to the most important conversations and ultimately influence social behaviors.

infinitee is proud to be recognized for its strategic implementation of the product among thousands of NUVI users and global brands. infinitee’s social media department is comprised of three dedicated team members who manage all of the social media needs for a notable list of clients with unique tactics developed to capitalize on the intelligence data NUVI provides. Additionally, infinitee leverages NUVI as a market research tool when applicable across other agency verticals including market research, consumer demographics, interests, lifestyles and is also proving beneficial in other areas of infinitee’s marketing and advertising services.

infinitee has established a unique strategy to using NUVI that is unconventional to most major agencies and brands, eliciting the following statement from the NUVI team:

“We cannot share infinitee’s secret sauce and how they’re using NUVI because then you’ll all copy them. But infinitee is proving NUVI is not a cookie cutter solution that fits just one type of industry as they are finding a lot of success with their agency and clients, and are having a great experience using NUVI as their social media platform. Congrats on being awesome.”

Other winners of the inaugural NUVI award include:

1. Jonathon Miami for pitching Donald Trump on his presidential candidacy announcement: “Mr. Trump, I’m a web developer. Let’s talk about that $3 website.” receiving more retweets than Trump’s announcement itself.
2. The Denver Broncos for participating in American Pharoah’s first Triple Crown win since 1978: “We know a thing or two about being the best horse. Way to run. #AmericanPharoah #TripleCrown”
3. Bellator MMA for its wonderful review of NUVI’s ability to monitor real-time conversations via keywords and hashtags during one of their biggest fights to date.
4. Taylor Swift and Apple for their quick conversation and the solutions social media provided to solve the Apple Streaming Music Services in protection of new artists.

Whether a retail or commercial real estate company, a global brand or a b2b entity using traditional or emerging marketing tools, infinitee has the capability to analyze your existing online presence, efforts and resources to effectively strategize the best plan of action to capitalize on the most effective tactics working for you.

Call infinitee today at (404) 231-3481 Ext.114 to speak with our Social Media Strategist, Chelsea Smith, directly for more information regarding the best solutions for online strategies.

About infinitee

infinitee is a full-service real estate marketing and advertising agency based in Atlanta, Georgia with 25+ years of marketing experience. Our services include branding, advertising, digital, social media and more for commercial, mixed-use, multifamily, shopping and outlet center developers and management companies. Infinitee is known for unlimited creativity, strategic marketing and unmatched service.

Some of our clients include: Cousins Properties, PM Realty Group, Gables Residential, Lennar Commercial Investments, Craig Realty Group, Banyan Street Capital, Tanger Outlets, OliverMcMillan, RaCo Real Estate Advisors, Hill Partners, Fuqua Development

Contact: Jocelyn Smith - Founder, CEO infinitee, Inc. 3400 Peachtree Rd., Suite 921 Atlanta, GA 30326 (404) 231-3481

Each year for nearly 25 years, attending the International Council of Shopping Center (ICSC) RECon event has been an opportunity for infinitee to reconnect with our clients while hosting new business meetings with dozens of companies in the retail industry. Held in Las Vegas, Nevada, this annual event brings together more than 30,000 developers, brokers, tenants and owners from all over the world. For retail shopping centers, it is the biggest deal-making event of the year.

For those who have never been, consider the following:

• There are three buildings comprising 3,200,000 square feet (North Hall, Central Hall and South Hall).
• The distance from North Hall to South Hall is nearly one mile (golf cart drivers are provided for convenience).
• Within the halls booth sizes range from 10 square feet to some as large as one city block.
• The average attendee will walk over ten miles a day and consume a gallon of water to compensate for temperatures hovering around 90 degrees.

Now that you have a good picture of the scope of the convention center, imagine planning appointments and meetings with a sufficient amount of time to get to each one (30 minutes between appointments is not unusual). Mapping out a schedule is imperative (Download the program) as well as a good pair of walking shoes. You do not want to be the woman wearing high-heeled shoes putting bandages on her ankles. You can always switch out your flip-flops or tennis shoes before your meeting once you arrive at your destination (you will see plenty of experienced people doing just that).

Keep in mind that the Internet connectivity is iffy in the convention halls. Print out the information you need to reference just to be safe and be prepared with a back up plan if your presentation requires connectivity. It is best to have everything you need loaded on your laptop or Ipad and ready to go. And bring chargers - you don’t want to run out of battery power in the middle of your presentation.

Finally, if entertaining is part of your job, making reservations needs to be done well in advance to get the best selection of restaurants and shows. And one word of caution, especially for the younger exuberant first timers, meeting days last a long time when you are hung over. Drink in moderation. Everything that happens in Vegas does not always stay in Vegas.

#TBT to when MySpace was the only major player on the social media front. With ever changing popular culture come new social platforms for the public to voice its opinions. In order for a business to truly stay relevant, it is vital to maintain a compelling and inviting presence on these innovative mediums, such as Instagram. infinitee provides the best strategies in order to optimize your company’s efforts on this popular platform.

Here are 3 ways to utilize Instagram to its full potential:

1. Lightly Branded Engagement:

Instagram users respond best to posts that seem personal with subtle undertones of branding.

Why it works: Followers feel that they can connect more with the brand on a more personal level through lightly branded pictures and engagement instead of a strictly promotional advertisement. Ben & Jerry’s depicts this perfectly with a photo of their packaging garnering 3,658 less likes than a creative photo of their ice cream. This builds brand loyalty and positive attitudes towards the company.

2. Create an Environment Conducive to Conversation:

Engage with customers and other followers on your account through comments, likes, regrams, etc.

Why it works: Having an open line of communication between customers and a company makes the company appear transparent and likeable. This allows a positive, trusting relationship to develop between the company and follower.

3. Manage Outgoing Messages through Images:

Instagram is an effective platform to disseminate short, light-hearted messages from the company.

Why it works: Studies have shown that people are more drawn to image assets. This means that a company’s messages are more likely to be engaging to consumers if associated with an image - making Instagram an ideal platform.

As shown in the infographic, Instagram has many benefits for companies seeking to employ a B2C social media strategy. By creating transcendent topics and light-hearted, subtly branded content, your company can engage an ever-growing audience directly from their fingertips.

Contact infinitee today to fully customize these tactics to suit the marketing challenges you face in your industry, as well as implement these strategies into your company’s social media management for maximum optimization.

As we move into second quarter 2015, times are good for the real estate industry. After years of cut backs, companies are hiring once again. Nearly 2.5 million new jobs are predicted, according to ADP Research Institute. Mortgage lenders are underwriting loans and pouring money into value-added opportunities.

Commercial real estate investing continues to look stable compared to other parts of the U.S. economy. This fact has not gone unnoticed by foreign investors who view the U.S. as outperforming other Western countries for the best opportunities for capital appreciation. Cross-border-investment totaled about $28.2 billion, according to Real Capital Analytics, a New York City-based research firm. Multifamily ranked as the most attractive asset type followed by industrial, primarily due to online retail growth and increased need for more distribution centers. Other industries desiring more industrial space include: food, medical, construction, and even the growing film industry sector.

A steady demand for commercial space and low levels of development will equal a trend in less vacancy rates according to experts at CBRE’s 2015 national forecast series, “Moving Up the Risk Curve,” which includes forecasts for ten U.S. cities. CBRE reports that the tech and energy sectors will be primary economic drivers for future growth. In our hometown of Atlanta, predictions stated:

• Atlanta is in the middle of an industrial recovery
• Retail has recovered with rising rents and property values
• Multi-housing properties are a preferred choice for investors
• Office space demand and workplace densities will require a greater emphasis on parking capacity

In addition, a dramatic shift over the last year in the development of the “retail experience” is expected to continue. In Atlanta alone, the opening of Avalon in Alpharetta,Buckhead Atlanta and Ponce City Market, all open-airmixed-use developments, are examples of the desire for authentic, street-front shopping that creates an exciting experience for entertainment and dining options for residents and professionals.

Many more great retail developments are on the horizon in Atlanta and across the country and with a steady influx of investor dollars, this trend is expected to continue for years to come.

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