Insights

Recently, Say Daily published an article on the Top 5 Trends in Digital Media for 2015. infinitee breaks these trends down to tell you exactly what those implications mean for your marketing and communications strategy this year. Let’s go.

(1) Mobile Takeover: 3 Implications

According to Ovum, 1 billion people will use mobile as their only form of Internet access in 2015 – no more tablets, desktop, etc. Makes sense given the larger phone screens from Apple, Android and the like lately, right? This means, all that money you recently spent on your fancy website that was so content and image heavy with keyword overflow and endless inbound links has lost significant value.

What You Can Do:

1. Simple is Better. Websites no longer need to be mobile responsive, but mobile designed. This means simple layouts, images that download quickly and minimal copy. Figure how a website can bring the greatest value to your company and design pages around that.
2. Drive Calls. If people are accessing information about your form their mobile device, your phone number should be the biggest CTA you have. All they have to do is literally click the phone number for it to dial you. Be prepared to answer the influx of calls with a designated sales team, person, etc. For more data, implement different variations of phone numbers to track where the leads are coming from.
3. Push Notifications. Whether in b2b or b2c, allow people to sign up for updates either about products, your blogs, website updates, social media networks, etc. to stay top of mind. If more people are using mobile only devices to access the Internet, take advantage of being connected with your audiences through the technology that sits in the palm of their hand and never leaves them.

(2) Read Consumers’ Minds: Pre-Targeting and Eliminating the Guessing Game

It started with retargeting, which everyone hates. We Google something, go to the link one time, and boom – we see it everywhere when we go on the Internet from then on out. Does it stick with us? Yes. Do we remember it? Yes. Are we utterly annoyed by our own behavioral decision? Yes. Instead of retargeting, the new trend is Pre-Targeting. As Say Daily explains, pre-targeting and pre-purchase ads use big data to predict buyers’ preferences with relevant and smart messages while they’re in the buying phase, not after it.

What You Can Do:

1. Take Advantage of Google’s Knowledge. Google knows your customers better than you do because your customers literally tell Google what they’re interested in searches. Partner with them to figure out what your consumers are searching for the most and start predicting how your products or services meet that.
2. Use Social Media Data. Facebook provides some of the greatest social media insights surrounding your customers. Take advantage of platform tools like Core and Custom Audiences to deliver ads. Learn their lifestyles, see their interests and tell them what they want before they know it.

(3) Video and Visual Content: Get Creative

This really isn’t a big shocker. Video and visual content are the most preferred and digested content through the web, especially on social media. However, it’s pretty difficult to create, takes a lot of resources and a creative marketing firm to help. Or does it?

(See our blog: Tips on Producing Successful Corporate Videos)

What You Can Do:

1. Figure Out Your Industry. Determine what visual content even means for your business. Is it construction – building an apartment? Is it digital design – designing a website? Remember, visual and video content will be watched, so make sure it relates back to you and pushes your products or services. Just because you don’t think it’s video worthy, doesn’t mean it’s not. You have a job for a reason and it’s because you are better at it than someone else. A high-speed time lapse of your creative director designing something great or your construction team building a great apartment is way more interesting to other people, especially your clients or future residents, than you think.
2. Use the Right Tools. Here are some great tools to create cool video content: Screenr (record your screen while you work), Powtoon (DIY animated videos for product demos), Wideo (custom logos and messages), Stupeflix (really cool slideshow creation), GoPro (attachable video camera to last in the most extreme conditions), TimeLapse (combines a series of pictures into video) and Raw Shorts (drag and drop video builder)

(4) Wearables: Improving Operations

Wearable technology is here. Before you know it, we’ll have chips in our arms and computers in our contacts. (Too soon?) Smart watches and fitness devices are already worn by half of consumers and smart appliances are next. Imagine walking down the grocery aisle and you receive an alert from your fridge letting you know you need milk as you pass it, pre-heating the oven from the office before you get home or turning off the stove after you forgot on your way out. All this and more is coming.

(See our blog: 10 Shopping Technology Trends To Watch)

What You Can Do:

1. Monitor and Incorporate. These are just starting to come out, and they’re not relevant to every industry. But they are relevant to every consumer. Monitor these wearables as they come out and see how you can incorporate them to better market to your consumers, improve your business operations or utilize their popularity to further your brand identity and business.

(5) Applied Analytics: Jackpot

Anything digital is traceable. As consumers continuously adopt new technologies and digital media, insight into their lifestyle, behavior, interests and patterns becomes available at your fingertips. The trick is applying these insights to make better marketing and advertising decisions.What You Can Do:

1. Target the Right People. Stop guessing who your consumers are and narrow down your prospects. The more specific you can get, the better. Divide your audiences into several targets and sub-segment the larger generational pools. Instead of deciding your target audience is millennials, segment that further into their age, gender, lifestyle, search patterns, complementing interests, etc.
2. Deliver the Right Products. Stop mass marketing your products and services. Now that you know exactly who your audiences are and you have them further segmented into smaller gaps, figure out which product or service is best for them and tell them about it. Depending on your industry, this may change your target segments from consumer characteristics to business verticals, job titles, experience, etc.
3. Get the Right Timing. Digital media insights will tell you exactly when the best time to reach your audiences is. Timing should be innate and it does not have to be a guess. Facebook Insights alone will tell you at what time on what day the majority of your followers are logged in and actively using Facebook. Being able to know exactly who your customers are, their interests and at what time to deliver the message is truly hitting the jackpot.

To discuss your marketing and advertising needs further and how your specific business can benefit from the implications behind these digital media trends, contact infinitee today. (404) 231-3481

The World Health Organization, recently reported that cities will hold 70 percent of the world’s population by 2050 and people will demand quality urban spaces and services. As current cities expand, urban leaders and city planners continue to embrace the live, work, play communities that spur economic growth, social interactions and quality of life.

Connected communities also reduce the need for private vehicles, increasing the viability of public transport, walking, and bicycling as well as more shared community spaces like plazas, parks, and sidewalks all of which foster interaction. A landmark study of San Francisco compared three neighborhoods identical except for the levels of vehicle traffic on their streets revealing that residents of neighborhoods with the lowest level of car traffic had three times as many friends as their more heavily trafficked counterparts. Public transit-friendly neighborhoods benefit local economies. Less time commuting and more walking increases support of local businesses. In fact, Transport for London found that pedestrians spend up to 60 percent more money at businesses each month than those traveling by car.

Underlying this development trend is the universal desire for engaging, meaningful and authentic places, that offer more than a place to live and work, but an exceptional experience that defines a person’s lifestyle. Baby Boomers and their grandchildren alike desire experiences that create lasting memories that define a sense of place where they can dine, shop, be entertained, workout, walk, and bike - just a few vibrant uses desired by residents and visitors of mixed-use town centers.

This demand is spurring new development as well as the repositioning of existing properties. From complete overhauls to adding new uses and density, mixed-use town centers from California to New York are including institutional, cultural and sports facilities with traditional retail lifestyle center concepts. In Austin, TX, a 700-acre redevelopment of a town center includes a children’s hospital, museum and a university research center. And in San Jose, CA a traditional regional center is being converted into a fitness and entertainment community that promotes health and livability.

Integrating all phases of family life and work into coherent communities will continue to be the focus of developers who want to capture market share by emphasizing comfortable, inter-generational environments that encourage relaxation and long stays.

To stay abreast of the latest mixed-use real estate news and trends visit our Atlanta advertising agency today.

In 1996, infinitee won the business of Tanger Outlets, representing a sizeable account for infinitee. What began as a relationship between infinitee and Tanger Outlets to produce traditional shopping center advertising materials has expanded into a long-time, successful partnership to deliver complex, multi-media programs that successfully engage shoppers online, on air and on site. The relationship between infinitee and Tanger is made up of many milestones that make the partnership what it is today.

2005: TangerStyle magazine is introduced to shoppers. It was developed as a seasonal sales direct-to-home savings platform, delivered via traditional media to promote Spring, Fall/Back-to-School and Holiday sales. Its key objective was to educate shoppers on the selection of fashion at unbeatable savings found at Tanger Outlet Centers and included 20% coupons to save even more.

2011: infinitee helped Tanger celebrate its 30-year anniversary. Tanger’s campaign goals were elevated even higher, beyond all previous expectations. With the use of an upscale fashion approach surpassing market competition, infinitee capitalized on the strength of Tanger’s brand recognition to create a high-energy marketing campaign that spoke directly to shoppers. 30-year celebration materials were also developed for signature events and were inclusive of a print and online tabletop milestone anniversary book, TV spots featuring Steve Tanger, online promotional materials and upscale events, such as a Golden celebration party in Las Vegas for the ICSC Leasing Convention. Later that year, Steve Tanger rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange where The Cake Boss delivered special cakes to the trading floor. Tanger Centers across the country took part in the celebration via video to set the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest cake party ever held.

2012: infinitee worked with Tanger to establish the TangerStyle Studio concept, similar to a design showroom, where videos were produced to highlight the emerging retail trends of the season. This provided a perfect setting for popular actress, TV host and Tanger’s fashion authority, Vanessa Lachey, to deliver trendsetting tips and information on how to find the greatest looks and the best savings by shopping Tanger Outlets. infinitee produced seasonal online trend videos and TV spots, each recorded in the TangerStyle Studio. In addition, infinitee branded TangerStyle Online, complete with digital lookbooks for each of the featured trends, where visitors could scroll through a style guide and learn how to create their own fashion-forward look from head to toe. This allowed Tanger to broaden its reach and educate shoppers by embracing today’s digital media technologies and engaging consumers through preferred channels of communication including social media services.

2013: infinitee provided an opportunity to expand the TangerStyle Studio concept even further with interactive media strategies and integrated content formats that allow shoppers to seek the advice of industry experts to discover seasonal trends. infinitee created a schedule to bring TangerStyle Studio into the homes and lives of Tanger shoppers on a monthly basis. These monthly touch points include online trend videos, lookbooks, behind-the-scenes videos and seasonal television spots, featuring Steve Tanger himself.

As part of its trendsetting efforts, Tanger Outlets teamed up with celebrity chef, Curtis Stone to host The Taste & Style Experience. The promotion was an extension of TangerStyle Studio, bringing food trucks, fashion shows, live music and cooking demonstrations to centers nationwide. The “Foodie” events were extremely popular and created an added value experience that generated a win for Tanger and gave shoppers a memorable bonus to the name brand shopping.

2014: Tanger contracted infinitee to introduce and promote the Tanger Style Maker marketing campaign with a goal to create a year-round presence in the social media community, connect with Tanger’s core shopping base and secure new loyal followers through consistent and reliable messaging. Briana Gurley was introduced as the Tanger Style Maker to engage with shoppers at the center level on a year-round basis. Briana serves as the video spokesperson, visits Tanger centers across the country to engage with shoppers and record Haul Videos that deliver quick style stories throughout the year. Briana also maintains Tanger’s social media strategy with a weekly online blog and manages online social outreach and engagement.

The relationship between Tanger Outlets and infinitee continues with a goal to directly engage with shopper lifestyles and enhance the shopper experience. Together infinitee and Tanger Outlets work to create award winning marketing programs.

Today social media is essential for business. It is the number one digital tool to engage customers and prospects and offers measurable analytics for strategic targeted campaign objectives. Businesses must embrace this communication evolution and control what is being said about your business, whether you like it or not. Ignoring it is no longer an option. If you are just getting started, here are a few simple steps to implement effective social media into your business marketing and communications strategy.

1. First things first, social media platforms:

When you set up a social media strategy, you must have a game plan. There are many social media platforms available and selecting the most appropriate social media platform to engage in for your organization is critical. Hire a social media expert to help you decide whether Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Google+ (just to name a few) are the most appropriate platforms for your brand messaging and to reach your target audience. There are an overwhelming amount of channels to select from and not all of them are the right choice for your business.

2. Different channels serve different purposes:

A restaurant offers a menu with options. Social media is very similar: each channel offers its own flavor, style and purpose. By developing a content strategy relevant to each channel, your messaging will be streamlined, engaging and effective.

3. Social media is for socializing:

Social media is inherently communicative. Connecting and interacting with customers is not only good for your business, it lets customers speak on your behalf. Nothing speaks louder than a customer advocate singing your praises. Engage your raving fan base by encouraging an open discussion and dialogue through relevant, thought provoking content.

4. Optimize yourself:

Engagement is important, but so is optimization of your social media content. Posts on social media channels need to include keywords your business wants to rank for. Keywords embedded in posts help search engines find the content that matches queries online. Making the extra effort to invest the time in optimizing every post will help your customers to find your business organically.

5. Consider all social media channels:

When developing your social media strategy it is important to consider all of the available channels and then decide which ones will be primary or secondary ones. One channel in particular is Google+. A moz.com survey found that leading markets believe that Google+ plays the second largest part in determining search engine rankings. Seek help from experts who understand the ever-evolving social media platforms and options available online in order to make the most effective and strategic social media plan for your business.

For more information on ways to execute your social media strategy, contact our Atlanta advertising agency today.

infinitee, a strategic retail real estate marketing agency in Atlanta, GA developed the branding campaign for Tanger Outlets’ KidSTYLE Fashion Camp & Tour. The fashionably fun kids event was hosted at Tanger Outlet Centers across the country and consisted of interactive activities appealing to kids between the ages of 7-12. Select centers welcomed a celebrity appearance and performance by actress, singer and Disney star, Bridgit Mendler.

infinitee concepted and produced a national broadcast TV spot featuring Mendler, inclusive of photography, videography and editing, as well as created promotional web videos which lived on the Tanger Outlets national and center websites and were shared across Tanger’s portfolio of social media platforms. In addition, infinitee designed all digital campaign graphics for the Tanger Outlets website and all nationally distributed direct mailers promoting the event.

Tanger’s KidSTYLE Fashion Camp & Tour coincided with its Fall TangerSTYLE campaign to promote an ultimate shopping experience for back-to-school fashions and drive on-site traffic. infinitee seamlessly and successfully integrated the KidSTYLE Fashion Camp & Tour promotion into Tanger’s seasonal style guides and coupon inserts, leading to superseding coupon redemptions and record setting traffic counts for each Mendler tour event.

infinitee began as a full-service marketing agency dedicated to the shopping center industry in 1989 and has diversified over the last 25 years to include other real estate business verticals, including mixed-use, commercial, multi-family and residential. infinitee has produced many award-winning campaigns for Tanger Outlets for the past 19 years. Their unique retail flair continues to help grow market share for Tanger year after year.

For more information on infinitee, call Managing Partner, Jocelyn Smith, (404) 231-3481, visit www.www.infinitee.com, or find us on Facebook.

About infinitee

infinitee is a strategic real estate marketing and advertising agency that understands how to improve brands, communications and customer experiences. With a focus in real estate, It’s strategic and creative solutions build brand equity and drive sales for companies across the country. infinitee’s expertise has proven invaluable to national and southeast regional brands wishing to strengthen and grow their bottom line, including: OliverMcMillan, Cousins Properties, Parkway Properties, PM Realty Group, Tanger Outlets, Craig Realty Group, Lennar Commercial Investments and Banyan Street Capital. Through all facets of advertising, collateral, digital media, and brand strategy, infinitee creates award-­‐winning marketing and innovative communications.

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Developers of multi-family properties understand the importance of social media strategy to effectively communicate with their tenants while addressing comments and posts regarding customer complaints. Today, it is essential to create a strategic, well thought out social media plan to address both tenant likes and dislikes that are posted daily, if not hourly, on various online platforms. Monitoring and responding to these tweets and posts is a 24/7 job that can grow brand awareness and fan advocates, or have the exact opposite effect.

Real estate review pages have become a primary source for prospective tenants to research and find the perfect community for their needs. With the proliferation of sharing and commenting, both good and bad experiences, rating sites are a source of valuable, honest feedback for potential renters to use when making a decision about which apartment to select. Reviews are the word of mouth marketing tool social media provides. There are numerous rating sites that provide instant, real-time feedback that can and do impact a renter’s selection process.

One commonly used social media site is Yelp. Sites like Yelp not only allow for simple access to other tenants’ experiences but also provide more details about a company’s customer service, maintenance response time and even information about safety issues. It is critical that property managers address bad experiences immediately to position themselves as a hands-on, proactive company that genuinely cares about tenants and is willing to correct any issues that arise as quickly as possible. Review sites require a competent management staff to monitor negative online comments and prevention strategies to avoid low ratings on Yelp and other rating sites.

Additionally, social media’s most used platform, Facebook, has implemented a mandatory star and comment review tool on all business pages essentially centralizing word of mouth marketing effects in one location. This poses a large risk to businesses, especially multi-family communities, as Facebook is already a top search engine harnessing a third of search engine traffic.

“Online reviews, especially across social media, will either make or break your rental and referral rates. Because incidents like unhappy residents are bound to occur, it is imperative multi-family communities have a strategic crisis management plan in place that all social media contributors are properly trained to implement." – Chelsea Smith, Social Media Strategist, infinitee Communications, Inc.

In order to increase customer satisfaction ratings, many property managers have adopted incentive programs to encourage tenants to leave positive reviews on their most referenced social media platforms. Some of these incentives include entering a lottery for a gift card, participating in a raffle to win a trip or a chance to win other desirable items. This interactive marketing tactic of gamification and rewards is a great strategy that many companies are implementing to enhance positive engagement.

For more information on how to promote positive online comments about your multi-family community, contact our Atlanta real estate advertising agency today.

Scientists and engineers are inventing technologies that will affect the way companies not only market their brands but what new products they create. Here are the top 10 shopping technology trends to watch.

Facial Recognition

You have heard of motion sensing but what about “emotion” sensing? Cameras are being embedded into mannequins to pick up on customer reactions to products while audio sensing ears pick up keywords from customer discussions. Toyota is equipping cars with dashboard cameras that sense drowsiness and road rage sending you a signal to wake up or calm down. Microsoft is creating technology for bra manufacturers that will detect temperature, heart rate and perspiration and may even control binge eating.

Wearable Technology

Innovative design solutions for wearable products include narrative clips that take pictures every 30 seconds to document your life, eyeglasses with HD video that syncs to the cloud, contact lenses that sense blood sugar levels, and sports helmets that measure impacts on athletes to determine possible concussions.

Haptic touch

Haptic technology is a physical feedback technology that reacts through applying forces, vibrations or motions to users. This technology is being used in remote controllers to allow for a more physical interactive experience while playing video games. Video screens can now mimic fabrics with a simple touch of the screen through vibrations that simulate the texture.

Gamification

Gamification encourages loyalty with brands and interactive marketing. Some experts predict that over 70% of companies will have some kind of gamification in the near future. Fuel Good is a new free mobile phone app designed to help you track fuel efficiency for each car journey you make. It can track your car journeys, flagging when you’re driving inefficiently and at the end of your journey, provides a summary of distance travelled, time taken, average miles per gallon and the savings you could make by driving more efficiently. Snooze is an alarm app that donates a quarter to a non-profit organization (under the LetGive umbrella) every time you hit the snooze button when you're feeling lazy and can't get out of bed. The app doesn't force you to donate but it makes it easier. It will asks you two times a month if you would like to donate your snooze hits to the non-profit of your choice.

Smart Appliances

Smart refrigerators can now take inventory of its contents and text you when you are in a grocery aisle containing a specific food you need. Home security, ovens, lights and heating and air can all be controlled via your smartphone with a click of a button as you leave or arrive home resulting in not only extra convenience but saving money.

3D Printing

Customized 3D printing of anything you desire is now a reality. Fashion retailers are using 3D printing to create custom fabrics and accessories. Medical companies use it to replicate body parts for knee replacements. And how about your very own signature edible Oreo available via specially equipped vending machines when you tweet #TrendingVending, #EatTheTweet?

Food Innovation

IBM recently had a cognitive cooking kitchen for food trucks product launch. The trucks have robots that create your dish through requests on Twitter, creating some incredible and very unique recipes. Pare Lab is an app grocers can use to let consumers know about special sales on extra inventory or food that is nearing an expiration date.

Smart Highway

Think futuristic cities and you have electronic automated taxis in priority lanes and solar powered smart roads and cars that adjust to weather conditions, cooling and heating road surfaces as needed.

Crowd Funding

Fundraise allows real estate investors to cut out unnecessary middleman by giving access to great investment opportunities at a lower cost with more transparency than ever before. Fundraise has over 31,000 members, from 460 companies with over $59 billion of assets under management.

The Internet

A new medical condition “Nomophobia”, otherwise known as an addiction to you cell phone is a reality for many who have become dependent upon having access to information 24/7. People are so addicted to their phone and smart devices that they now consider them remote controllers of their lives and would rather go without food than their phone.

Technology and science will continue to influence how consumers engage with brands in more ways then we can ever imagine. So hold onto your devices and get ready for warp speed advancements in every part of your daily life. To stay abreast of the latest shopping technology trends contact our Atlanta advertising agency today.

What constitutes a quality brand? The attention paid to detail and if managed properly, a brand will never depreciate. In fact, it can increase in value year after year. Although it can’t be measured like sales, market share or stock price, it can be a victim of semantics and be referred to as reputation. Most companies would avoid doing anything that harms their reputations, but often companies forget about managing their brand.

Branding does not just live in the “marketing department.” Branding includes everything a company does, from the design of the corporate identity logo on its letterhead, to the way it handles customer service complaints and how employees interact with customers. Essentially, there isn’t anything that anybody within your organization does (or fails to do) that doesn’t affect how your brand is perceived.

Not long ago, I purchased a pair of jeans from a well-known upscale specialty store that I am a “club” member of. The store was out of my size but kindly called another nearby store and placed my order with them. The jeans were to be delivered directly to my home. I left the store feeling appreciative for their help, but after a week went by (the store was less than 10 miles from my home) and I did not receive my jeans, I called the store to check on the delivery. I was told by the sales associate after being on hold for over five minutes that delivery’s can take up to 10-days. I quickly told the sales associate that had I known that, I would have just driven to the other store and picked them up. With no apology, she responded by saying if I did not have them within the next week to call her again and she would see what was up. I suggested she call me to check.

A week later and still no jeans, I placed the call. Again, after trying to find my paperwork and information about the delay, I was told that the store had lost the order and was reassured they would send the jeans out within the week. Two weeks later my jeans finally arrived. The moral of this story, no matter how great your product is and brand, if personnel representing it are not properly trained in customer service and procedures (including autonomy to think outside the box), then you are missing a big component to customer retention.

Perhaps the manager of the store could have apologized for not informing me of the 10-day delivery policy as well as not following up with me, and ultimately could have taken the bull by the horns and considered driving to the store herself and hand delivering the jeans to my home with an additional 10% off coupon for my next store visit. Asking too much? Maybe, but I have not been back in that store since this incident.

Effective branding enhances margins and keeps long-term customers who are willing to pay more for products and services with companies they know and trust. Branding can also improve the internal dynamics of an organization and influence both recruiting and employee turnover. Ever heard of the Glass Door website? Look it up if you want to find out what employees are saying about companies.

It’s easy to think about branding just in terms of the latest-and-greatest social media marketing, viral video, or smartphone app. Doing so means missing the fundamental, timeless principles that go well beyond the trendy and transient. The totality of the details means you have to think about how the sales force and support team treats customers. These details may even be transmitted subconsciously. Expertly executed details may be imperceptible to most but they should create a sense of magic and wonder. Advertising and branding should be thought of in the same way. Yes, the big idea is important, but success hinges on execution, consistency, and attention to each and every word. Define the brand with succinct messaging, but also trust that consumers will recognize the collective positive attributes of the brand rather than just its tagline. Make sure your communications are well crafted and recognizable for all touch points.

And don’t ever forget that understanding how real humans interact in the real world can make the most significant impact on your business.

The millennial generation is influencing design and functionality of office environments. This age group born between 1981 and 2000 represents 38% of the work force. The older age bracket of this group, those in their mid-30’s, are demanding innovative space planning and amenities. Employers need to realize the need to appeal to this demographic group.

“Real estate decisions regarding office space are also being driven by fierce competition for employee recruitment and retention” according to Ada Healey, Vice President of Real Estate at Seattle-based owner/developer Vulcan Inc.

An office floor plan and design has always been an essential factor in attracting notable and highly recruited job candidates. Savvy companies acknowledge this fact by incorporating new innovations into their workspace centered on the idea of a work-life atmosphere. Meaning that Millennials not only want a place to work but a place to live, work and play as evident in recent year’s top real estate marketing ideas for mixed-used including the trendy open-office space design.

Not only do these creative real estate marketing strategies include revolutionary use of technology but they also capitalize on the new “lifestyle” that attracts millennials. A GlenStar property in Chicago, 55 East, plans on adding a number of new amenities for the younger worker including a 4,000-square-foot bike room on the property. This collaboration of amenities and technology promote flexibility and a balance in work and lifestyle.

“We are seeing office tenants across all industries focusing on space optimization, increased collaboration, enhanced culture, employee wellness and the ability to attract, engage and retain top talent,” Gary Baragona, Director of Research and Analysis for CBRE, stated.

Real estate marketers are finding creative and inventive ways to portray these changes they are making to attract millennials in terms of office space and design. By collaborating with advertising agencies and social media strategists, they are beginning to effectively promote this real work-life atmosphere to millennials via touchpoints this group engages in everyday.

For more information on marketing and social media strategies in real estate contact our local Atlanta Advertising Agency today.

With todays ever growing technology and tech savvy students, it only makes sense that student-housing companies take note and accommodate these students in their love for technology. Some new trends are starting to develop in student housing that will have any techy going nuts. Here’s the list.

1. Pay Online

Many student-housing companies are shifting from the old fashion way of paying rent tomodernized payments online. Philadelphia-based Campus Apartments, the nation’s oldest student housing company, recently added Facebook Connect to its SmartClick payment system. This newly developed system allows for students to pay rent electronically, view their tenant leger and make service requests.

Companies using Facebook has made it extremely easy for students and parents to access their accounts and stay on top of their payments. Social media has been increasingly popular way to get students engaged with their landlords and other tenants.

2. Service at the touch of a button

Many student housing companies are finding that implementing technology into the design not only helps the students but also themselves. By adding in features that allow for students to pay washing machines and other appliances by credit cards make for an easy process for everyone.

Princeton Heartland Payment Systems Campus Solutions recently introduced mobile technology, remote monitoring, and cashless transactions-capabilities to the student laundry services. The system allows for students to pay for laundry services with a debit card instead of cash or coins.

3. Lock by phone

Accessing home security through mobile devices is a new trend in residential real estate that is booming. This has been an exceptionally popular trend among student housing because, let’s face it, some students can be forgetful. The technology allows for instant access to your home security through any mobile. Some systems allow for locking ability on the apps.

For more information on how to modernize and tech-up your residential real estate properties Contact our local Real Estate Advertising Agency Atlanta.

Never before have businesses been on the same playing field. With advancements to the Internet and online marketing, more businesses are leveraging the rewards of a global marketplace and the game is becoming harder to play. Social media, more importantly, has played a large role in this globalization phenomenon and with revolutionizing company’s marketing strategies.

With the competition becoming ever so hot, companies are finding ways to cut down on unnecessary verbiage and include more vital information in their marketing materials. This vital information is known as “key words” or “buzz words”. Including this crucial wording in your marketing content will allow for search engines to better find your postings and thus generate more consumer traffic.

When developing content marketing it is important to cover all of your bases in terms of diversifying your media and content—blog posts, images, videos, etc. Ensuring that your strategy covers a wide range of media outlets is a key component to increasing your presence and brand recognition.

Optimizing your posts will not only allow for more traffic but it will also create more applicable content strategy for your marketing campaigns. With that goal in mind, your marketing campaigns will be able to best target the right audience and garner attention.

A good thing to remember when posting any content is to make sure that it is shareable. One way to guarantee that your post passes this test is to view your content as a two-way directed link. Two-way directed links allow open dialogue on your posting’s particular topic and ideas. There is no better marketing tool than a post that encourages discussion and conversations, so be sure that the content in your initial post is thought provoking and interesting.

Creating buzzing online discussions or hot topics is a great way to get your companies’ service offerings and brand into the pubic eye. Developing posts that solve problems in your particular industry will drive more traffic to your postings and your companies’ services.

When optimizing and creating more effective posts, it is crucial to have a basic social media strategy that will allow for a clear vision of your business’ objective. To best convey this vision, develop content that is appealing to the audience your business targets. In return, this simple practice will generate an enhanced ROI for your business while also improving your search engine rankings.

For more information on establishing a dominant content marketing strategy, contact our Atlanta Advertising Agency.

A recent study done by Google found that 18% of local searches on a smartphone lead to a purchase within a day, compared to just seven percent of non-local searches. These high percentages also compared with other mobile devices, i.e. tablets and desktops. Google also found that more consumers wanted their local advertising and marketing to be customized to their city. Not only did this study show that more consumers were using local searches but they were also looking online before purchasing.

More companies are paying closer attention to the importance of local SEO and how it drives organic traffic that results in sales. These statistics demonstrate the growth of more localized searches and why indoctrinating this strategy into your SEO plan is an essential part of attracting online customers who want to find a local service or product.

Some ways to implement these local searches into your strategy include going back to the basics. First, creating a landing page for each location of your business allows for better local searches. Designing and optimizing these pages towards a local area directs traffic specifically to the desired area. These pages should include unique URL’s, so that search engines can better match every local inquiry.

Second, develop locally centric content. This one seems like a no-brainer but if not applied then all your efforts are for not. Make sure that each individual landing-page is information specific to its local area. Small things like updated hours and store products can go a long way.

Third, utilize digital directories in your SEO strategy. Digital directories work as citations for each location. Search engines allow for these citations to be counted individually and use them to check the accuracy and legitimacy of your business’ information. This will establish online creditability for your business.

Lastly, customer reviews are one, if not, the most important aspects of marketing your business online. Google found that 85% of consumers look at product reviews before purchasing. By giving customers the option to leave ratings and/or comments you create a way for customers to leave their feedback for other viewers.

For more information on how to best implement a local SEO Strategy contact our local Atlanta Advertising Agency.