Digital Plan for Paula Mitchell Group

1. Digital Strategy for
The Paula Mitchell Group
Presented by: Donna Bryson, Chantelle Chabot,
Maggie Ervick, Gustavo Forero, Louise Macneil
April 3, 2014

2. Situational Analysis
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
• Paula Mitchell Group is known in the Brampton area and is
looking to further expand their business in Georgetown
• Paula has 26 years of real estate experience
• In an effort to expand into a family business the firm is
considering rebranding as Team Mitchell
• Most Canadians have propensity to purchase a home vs.
rent
• Homebuyers are not just families but an increase in singles
or purchasing homes according to a recent survey done by
TD Bank.
Maurino , R. (27 March 2014) Buying a home on your own could a great investment –
just make sure you’ve got the right plan
Retrieved from http://business.financialpost.com/2014/03/27/canada-homebuyer-
investment/
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3. Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
PAULA MITCHELL , MEADOWTOWNE
REALTY - ROYAL LEPAGE
www.paulamitchell.com
JIM BROADLEY, REMAX
www.jimbroadley.com
Johnson Associates Real Estate
www.johnsonassociates.ca
OVERVIEW:
Covering Mississauga, Brampton,
Georgetown
OVERVIEW:
Covering Mississauga, Brampton &
Georgetown
OVERVIEW:
Serving Halton Hills/Erin/Caledon
including Georgetown and Acton
Additional value:
Newsletter/email
Additional value: Additional value:
Partnered with lender and promoting
contest on website
Website Details:
Could improve search engine
results
Website
o Newsletter
o Social Media elements
RECO: Put listing higher/better
focus to help drive sales
Website Details:
High on search engines
Website very basic
o No social media elements
o No newsletter
o Unresponsive
No blog
No community involvement
Website Details:
High on search engines
Website
o Social media elements
o Use of video content on
website/YouTube
Mobile Optimization:
- Not optimized, unresponsive
Mobile Optimization:
- Not optimized, unresponsive
Mobile Optimization:
- Not optimized, unresponsive
Competitive Analysis
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4. Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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SWOT ANALYSIS

5. Engines
www.paulamitchell.com/paula-
mitchell
0 5 10
Google
bing
Yahoo
MSN Rank Page
Online Presence
Social Brand Presence
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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6. Observations of Online Footprint
In an online search of Georgetown houses for
sale neither Paula Mitchell or Royal LePage
Meadowtowne showed up on the initial
search results.
The top five results were:
1 Remax
2 Home Finder
3 Century 21
4 Toronto Star - Yellow Page
5 Property Guys
This would raise a flag to verify tagging of
website and if there is a meta strategy.
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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7. Observations of Online Footprint
In an online search of
Georgetown realtors the top
three results were competitors
The top five results were:
1 Remax
2 Home Finder
3 Century 21
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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8. 1.About Section : Good Profile
2. Links to the Web site: Fail.
Links connects to others realtors.
3. Good Contact information web
page
4. Excellent Content in posts
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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9. 1.Good Opening
2. Links to the Web site
3. Good Contact information
4. Overall, excellent profile
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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10. Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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11. Strengths
Good foundation in digital marketing, actively using the most
effective strategy in real estate to create impact on buyers.
28 years of experience.
Clear vision
Professional skilled understanding customer needs and
, extensive knowledge in the market.
Online platform gives a good communication and feedback of
customers stories .
Good Web Page that promote business, easy to move into it.
Team work service definitely a high point in digital marketing.
Good blogging poste.
High Competitive Market , prospective, home buyers and
investors relying on the internet to find information.
Excessive amount of houses for sale available over the
internet.
Time and staff to manage content.
Problems with the use of meta- tags to escalate position in
the search engines.
Not link connections to the main web site from social
platforms
High level of people are unemployed or underemployed.
Banks continue to make refinancing difficult and borrowing
hard in an attempt to minimize losses and prevent future
defaults
Possibility to develop new opportunities with global markets.
Develop a cost effective way to market real state with an online
strategy.
Strong based lenders are making financing available for new buyers.
Rise up in the home sale market.
Low interest rates in Canada motivates real state purchases
means most currency exchange rates have moved in a direction
that is advantageous to overseas buyers
Canada and Ontario are becoming the core of the global economy
and is the destination of choice for anyone fleeing political
recession or looking for entrepreneurial opportunity.
More and more people with eligible long term visa are coming to
Ontario, this guarantees a strong demand for quality and affordable
properties.
Weaknesses
Opportunities Threats
Being visible in today's market place, specially online world .
Kept abreast on technological advances to stay above
competitors.
The challenge on how to decipher the most effective integrate
marketing strategy with so many options.
The greatest obstacle is to justify efforts and resources when
investing in social media.
Time and the ability to source content and cut-through.
Over valued market in properties is the main commercial
threat because are most expensive hardest for the market to
archive to own a house.
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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12. Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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OBJECTIVES & STRATEGY

13. Objectives
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
Increase Sales
Increase value of properties sold by 25% from $17,447,550 to
$21,809,438 by June 2015
Improve Traffic
Increase website traffic from 13,290 to 16,613 by June 2015
which represents a 25% increase from current traffic
Build Brand Awareness
To build brand awareness in the target market of
Georgetown/Halton Hills
(K. Mitchell, personal communication, March 17, 21, & 26, 2014)
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14. Strategy
• Utilizing a $10,000 digital marketing budget allocate funds to reach
goals in the stated areas.
• Increase traffic to the site through various means such as
blogs, forums and improved SEO
• Ensure social media, newsletters, advertising used to promote
various communications helping drive traffic to the site
• Using tools such as Environics to identify preferred target areas
engaging those communities through blogs and increase values of
the homes listed
• Optimize site for mobile use. Easy navigation of site will help
increase usage of site
• Participate in forums to help position the Paula Mitchell Group
brand as a leader in luxury real estate
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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Retrieved from www.environics.com

15. Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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RECOMMENDATIONS

16. Primary Recommended Tactics
1. Participate in content based activities such as forums to
reinforce as leader in the industry and specifically luxury real
estate sales
2. Blogging about home and real estate topics more frequently
and posting both on the Paula Mitchell website and Google+.
Share links via social media to drive traffic to the site
3. Optimize site for mobile. As the number of people using
smart phones increases and time spent on the also gains
momentum the ability to access a fully functional mobile site
is no longer a “nice to have” but a necessity to grow the
business.
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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17. Secondary Tactics
These are suggestions that the firm may wish to investigate once
the first phase of the strategy is implemented
• Use tools such as Environics to identify that the target market
is indeed located in the expansion area.
• Move and additional 10% of current marketing budget
towards online targeted advertising.
• Have team members attend local events to become better
known in the community such as attending
Georgetown/Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce functions to
network and meet leaders in the community.
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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18. Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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3 Tactics for Web Advertising:
a. Contributing to Forums reinforce individual agents’ authority
• Read by new buyers for Starter Homes as well as RE professionals (Urban
Toronto)
• Addresses Objectives 1 & 2: To help increase number of listings; to
increase traffic to website
b. Become a Guest Writer for Luxury Real Estate Sites
• Listing Values include Multi Million Dollar Homes
• Addresses Objective 1: To increase inventory of higher valued homes
c. www.PaulaMitchell.com
• Make sure most of the content is non-promotional
• Makes website valuable to consumers who are not yet ready to buy for
whatever reason (Doherty)
• Addresses Objective 2: Increase web-traffic
1. CONTENT BASED ACTIVITIES

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Mitchell Group
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To gain traffic to the website and increase sales advertising is a must have.
After considering pay per click or banner advertising it was decided that have
a web presence through PR would not only help bring The Paula Mitchell
Group a greater presence online but also aid in building brand awareness.
John Doherty of www.contentinstitutemarketing.com states that web
presence needs to be broad and should not contain promotional material.
Using a variety of digital platforms can help achieve this.
The costs associated with the tactics selected are approximately $1000 per
month for SEO and about $400 quarterly for a ghost writer or editor. This
would use approximately $13,600 of marketing funds to finance a year long
campaign. Savings can Savings can be realized if individual realtors write their
own articles ($1,600 for this tactic for 4 contributions throughout the year).
REASONING FOR SELECTED TACTICS

20. Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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A. CONTRIBUTE TO FORUMS
HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/REALESTATEFORUMS/INFO
Sharing knowledge with competition: counterintuitive?
No! Positions you as a leader in your field!
AgentsOnline is run by volunteers to provide a
venue where realtors can network, share
information and also engage with the public. It is
not for company or product promotion. It is
strictly for networking.

21. http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php/14-Real-
Estate-General-Discussions
Mission: “UrbanToronto is Toronto's premier
website focused on
condos, architecture, urban development and
real estate.”
A. CONTRIBUTE TO FORUMS

22. • Web publishers always looking for fresh content
– Offer interesting articles - TREB’s luxury market
• welcomed by American publisher with global, high-end
RE investors
– Reinforce Mitchell as authority in luxury home market
– Positions “Team Mitchell” as experts in their field
Luxury websites that welcome guest writers include Just
Luxe, Forbes, HGTV and Investopedia.
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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B. BECOME A GUEST WRITER

23. HTTP://WWW.LUXURYREALESTATE.COM/DESTINATIONS/CANADA
About Us
Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate and Luxury Real
Estate Magazine is a compendium of the finest
residential real estate firms from around the
world. Inclusion in our directory is by my invitation
only.
B. BECOME A GUEST WRITER

24. Writing for sites such as Investopedia allows the Paula Mitchell
team to position their brand as experts in all levels of real estate,
– The personal finance section offers fresh content on real
estate investment.
– The site requires experts to deliver new, relevant content
to help draw new readers and invite those returning
– Read by serious investors.
This type of content would reach high-end (luxury)
market as well as investment property buyers.
Generating interest in higher value properties will help
increase sales without having to increase transactions.
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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B. BECOME A GUEST WRITER

25. Of course, all of these will link back to…
www.paulamitchell.com
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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26. Blogging provides a number of benefits. Creating a on-going
blog for Paula Mitchell Group will allow the company to:
• Create content that is helpful or informative to their target
audience.
• Increase web traffic with the utilization of SEO keywords
in the blog’s content.
• Improve social media presence as the blog provide a
platform to instantly promote your organization, tout
accomplishments of both realtors and clients and engage
followers in relevant conversations.
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Mitchell Group
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2. IMPROVE RESULTS BY BLOGGING

27. 2. IMPROVE RESULTS BY BLOGGING
Make Yourself Known
To help increase awareness:
• A link to the blog should be included in all forms of communication
- newsletter, email, website, and can also be included as part of the
signature on all agents emails, as well as all other forms of social
media.
• Use key words that will drive traffic to your site
• Keeping content is very important as search engine algorithms
search for new and fresh content.
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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28. As the company already has an active presence in social media with
Facebook and Twitter, these tools can help drive traffic to the blog. As
new content is added to the blog, a link can be posted on social pages
directly current social media followers to the website.
Social media creates a sense of community. As your community shares
information such as a blog it not only creates an awareness of the blog
but helps build the Paula Mitchell Group brand and improve search
engine results.
It is also provides a space for the Paula Mitchell Group to create brand
awareness as they can showcase their services, products, real estate
news and it can help engage your audience.
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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2. IMPROVE RESULTS BY BLOGGING
Build Your Community

29. HOW TO IMPROVE THE CURRENT BLOG?
The current blog has a similar look to Pinterest with pictures and ideas that have been
copied from the site. Some suggestions for the future include:
• Create a more professional feel, with consistent branding.
• Use photos of homes from recent listing or sales that have been staged, feature
beautiful gardens, great curb appeal or unique features.
• Use your suggestions shared with clients as starting points for a blog post.
• The use of real life photos, not stock or magazine images, can make the reader feel
that making similar improvements in their home achievable.
• To engage your local audience, add a local flavour, engage your audience share
information or participate in events around the Georgetown area and target market
areas to highlight the town as a great place to live and work!
• Currently the blog is located on Google+ which is great way to improve the search
engine optimization, however they need to create a “Blog Spot” right on the main
website to make it more visible at a glance.
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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30. CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT
• Move social media icons to a more visible area of the site above the fold. There is
a greater chance of engagement from visitors if the links are more visible. Perhaps
line up icons in a single row across the page. It would take up less real estate on
the page.
• In the current newsletter, let readers now when to expect the next the blog and
when released it can be highlighted.
• The agents can network and reach out to local suppliers including mortgage
brokers, interior decorator's, landscapers, painters and other trades people for
blog ideas or ask them to be guest bloggers.
• Set a little time aside each week to research what other firms are doing in the
blogosphere.
• Reach out to bloggers in your niche to discuss blogging in real estate.
• You never know where it might lead!
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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31. TOPICS TO BLOG ABOUT….
• How much can I afford? Provide an overview and open
a new window referring to CMHC website:
http://www.cmhc.gc.ca/
• When is the best time to list my home?
• Will home staging help sell my home? With links to
helpful videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6qJ_MdXI2U
• Do I need a Home Inspector?
• Are the interest rates going up and how will this affect
the market?
• Best home improvement projects for a higher return
when selling a home.
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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32. TOPICS CONTINUED…
• How to de-clutter your house. Provide a video
link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_iDR39foA8
• How can I improve my curb appeal?
• Why live in Georgetown, Brampton, Mississauga?
(Link to Chamber of Commerce site for each city)
• Using Environics to determine target markets then
promote event in those areas.
• How to create a low maintenance garden
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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33. Canadian Internet Statistics
• 86% (29,760,764) of Canadians are Internet users, second
only to the UK at 87%.
• Canadian households spend an average of 19 hours/day
connecting through a mobile device.
• For comparison, Argentina residents spend the most time
online using mobile devices at 34 hours/day.
• The average time individual Canadian users are online using a
mobile device 1 hour 51 minutes.
McKinnon, M. (23 January 2014.) 2014 Canadian Digital, Social and Mobile Statistics on a Global Scale 2014.
Retrieved from http://canadiansinternet.com/canadian-digital-social-mobile-statistics-global-
scale-2014
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Mitchell Group
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3. MOBILE OPTIMIZATION
MOBILE: The way of the future

34. • Household mobile usage penetration amongst internet users
is 76% (26,263,000), which is below the world average of
93%.
• 58% of the country connects to the Internet via a mobile
device.
• 56% of Canadians have a Smartphone
• 89% of Canadian Smartphone users search for local
information, compared to 94% in the US.
• 77% use their Smartphone to research products, which is
equal to the US.
• 27% of Canadian Smartphone users have made a purchase
using their phone, compared to 46% in the US.
McKinnon, M. (23 January 2014.) 2014 Canadian Digital, Social and Mobile Statistics on a Global Scale 2014.
Retrieved from http://canadiansinternet.com/canadian-digital-social-mobile-statistics-global-
scale-2014
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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3. MOBILE OPTIMIZATION
Mobile Canadians

35. CONSIDERATIONS FOR MOBILE
How your audience views your site via mobile
is the biggest consideration.
• There are a few differences than
traditional desktop viewing:
• The size of the screen
• The way the users hold the device
• It is usually a touch screen
• Now they layout needs to be considered
for a portrait view
• The buttons much be larger a the user is
utilizing their finger to move around the
site not a mouse
Zamorano, C. (2014, March 18). Interview by Donna Bryson
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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36. MOBILE OPTIMIZATION OPTIONS
Web developers have provided a few
options:
• Consult with the website designer and
establish mobile goals if they're
separate from the desktop ones.
• The best option is to make mobile
style rules for the existing site that
respond to the browser window size.
• The current site has a number of
rules for sections regardless of screen
size. The easiest options would be to
create to create separate style sheets
for the desired sizes - typically phone
and tablet - and have the website
transform at those. Approximate cost
$400 for phone or tablet $650 for
both.
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
Brewer, E. (2014, March 24). Interview by D Bryson
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37. MOBILE OPTIMIZATION OPTIONS
• A more expensive options at an estimated $1000 is to
overhaul the website to include responsive code in the actual
markup. While the consensus was that it is not necessary at
this time, it would provide greater flexibility in deciding
mobile UX and generally better shaping the site for mobile
users. It would permit the inclusion of mobile-optimized
image sizes, etc.
• The least expensive option is using an automated mobile
service. It is easy and cheaper but our designers had not seen
any reviews from industry pros and were not very impressed
with demo provided by http://bmobilized.com/
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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38. Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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CONCLUSION

39. To continue the current success and move to improve results the
implementation of an effective online digital marketing strategy will help The Paula
Mitchell Group maximize exposure, attract new clients and increase returning
clientele.
DifferentiateThe
Paula Mitchell Group by the creating a strong
brand, promotion among their target market
and optimizing their site for mobile app.
Using the right digital channel mix will
maximize their return on investment.
The website is an assetand needs to be
used to its full potential ensuring it is easy to
use, contains up-to-date information and found via
search engines results.
Digital Marketing Strategy for Paula
Mitchell Group
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40. References
SWOT
Debrincat, Evan (2014, February 14). Coldwell Banker expands in Georgetown. Downtown Georgetown. Retrieved
March 28,2014 from: http://www.downtowngeorgetown.com/directory/remax/Real/Estate-Centre
Gallagher, Mary (March 5, 2014). TorontoMLS Sales Up in February. Toronto Real Estate Board. Retrieved March
28, 2014 from: http://www.torontorealestateboard.com/market_news/market-watch
Parkinson, David (Jan. 301 2014). Low interest rates may shield housing market from bubble. THE GLOBE AND MAIL.
Retrieved March 28, 2014 from: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/housing/low-interest-
rates-shield
Topics to Blog about….
How much can I afford? Provide an overview and open a new window referring to CMHC website: http://www.cmhc.gc.ca/
When is the best time to list my home?
Will home staging help sell my home? With links to helpful videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6qJ_MdXI2U
Do I need a Home Inspector?
Are the interest rates going up and how will this affect the market?
Best home improvement projects for a higher return when selling a home.
Are you financially ready?. (n.d.).
Retrieved from www.cmhc.gc.ca
Cook, M. (2013, April 20). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6qJ_MdXI2U
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Mitchell Group
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41. References
Forums
Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/realestateforums/info
LADURANTAYE, S. (2011, March 14). Toronto grows on global property investors. Globe
and mail. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-
business/toronto-grows-on-global-property-investors/article4263800
Doherty , J. . Retrieved from www.contentinstitutemarketing.com
Retrieved from http://www.justluxe.com/lifestyle/real-estate/articles-7.php
Retrieved from http://www.luxuryrealestate.com/destinations/canada
Retrieved from http://urbantoronto.ca/general-information
Mobile
McKinnon, M. (23 January 2014.) 2014 Canadian Digital, Social and Mobile Statistics on a Global
Scale 2014
Retrieved from http://canadiansinternet.com/canadian-digital-social-mobile-statistics-global-
scale-2014
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Mitchell Group
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