Today I have been on a whistle-stop trip to Paris to attend the ULI Europe Annual Conference, sitting on the social media panel discussing how the property industry could be leveraging the platforms available. There was also the small case of a new Escape-built website launched for ULI (ULI Exchange).
Considering it was a break-out group, I was surprised at the numbers (and interest) of the [industry] audience and despite some people looking a bit miffed, there was a great session of idea sharing.
Iain O’Neill, Web Editor of Property Week had a very pragmatic viewpoint as a publisher. Two key points I picked up on were the need for PR people to supply more imaginative pieces such as podcasts and video. Iain also discussed the successful soft-launch of their social site for property people driven by ‘letting conversations take place’ in their social space.
Another very innovative use of social media came from Marthijn Pool, an architect with Space & Matter. Marthijn discussed a recent project where his organisation worked to get people in a community where an upcoming project was taking place to start talking online first so they could understand the local feelings of people.
90% of the time I hear about businesses using social media, it’s usually discussing a way of ‘reaching customers’. Yes, Social Media allows you to reach people, but not in the in-your-face sales way most companies go about it. This just breeds resentment and kick-back. Web 2.0 allows people to talk back – if you piss them off, the chances are they will!
It was VERY refreshing to hear players in the property industry using social media more focused on the audience than the business outcomes of the company behind the project. For me, this is how to make the most out of the platform – ask and listen and discuss.
Will the 90% of businesses who are just interested in short-term results listen and learn? Of course not. Do they need social media at all (at this stage)? Maybe not. This is the dichotomy. Perhaps they are better off steering clear for now?
But, It’s great to know that there are innovators out there, working out ‘how’ to use social media. This excites me. Social media is a changing platform and we are all still working it out – especially us marketeers.
But, it’s such a massive shift in the way businesses can now talk with their clients, I wonder how much patience marketers and CEOs and Sales Directors have when it comes to how to work out how best to use it.
Hi Craig,
I attended the ULI breakout session on social media and am finally catching up on my work and had a chance to read your post. I didn’t get a chance to come and say hello. I’m glad you’re a listener in the social media space as well. The pattern I’m seeing in the new media and on networks is that listening and collaboration using social media has been embraced by the IT, design, freelance, or social enterprsie crowd. Inevitably, SM has been used by some as a marketing tool or a networking tool, but it was Marthijn’s online collaboration, developer + end user + stakeholder projects that start to demonstrate the potential uses. I am also interested in ULI’s Energy Efficiency Exchange, to see the application there. I’m exploring collaboration opportunities for property, possibly regeneration projects. It’s getting harder and harder to value proprietary information because its becoming more readily available and offered for free – maybe the future is about what we can do with that information, who we find to do it with, and how we find them. If you have any further insights, I would love to hear them and share more ideas.
Best regards, Bonnie
Hi Bonnie, thanks for the message. I agree. Marthign’s project did sound as collaborative (practical) project as I’ve heard about using social media.
The ULI Exchange website is also worth keeping an eye on. This is the one we did at The Escape (www.the-escape.co.uk). Early days and lots more being added.
The question as made about quality information vs. free and I think (watching some of the people I follow) that it may move to a quality subscription model. Information is readily available, but is it reliable. The news editor of BBC mentioned recently that the BBC news channel is where people will come to clarify what they’ve already heard in the social space.
It will be interesting to see if businesses are patient enough to find their own value.
Hi Craig. I run the social space for the real estate industry in the UK, property owl. Not quite as many members as Property Week, but catching up quickly and I was interested to hear of your discussion with Iain. We started on the same platform as property week under the name juicy red apple and soon realised that our members required more accessibility and flexibility so have recently moved to the new buudypress system offered by wordpress. A more powerful tool for our members and new members to grow into.
This perhaps highlights the growing use of professional networks in niche industries. With reference to teh real estate world, the UK is behind the US and there is much work to do to encourage professionals to embrace the social space both amongst themselves and with their customers. We hope to be there along the way
Hey Craig, I am a student from Australia, while researching for my project I came across your site and found some useful information, just wanna drop a line to say thank you