How can the construction industry utilize social media? Adrienne Cregar Jandler shares social media strategies for both residential and commercial construction firms.

1. Virtual Building Blocks:
Social Media Strategies for the
Building Industry
Presented by Adrienne Cregar Jandler
President, Atlantic Webworks

2. What we’ll talk about…
How can using social media benefit my
business?
(Why should I use social media?)
What channels should I use?
(What are others doing? What are some examples?)
Getting Started: Tips for success

3. Why should I use social media?
Who are the people that impact your business?
• prospective clients
• strategic partners (who refer people to you)
• your competitors
• your employees and prospective employees
• your vendors and suppliers
• your professional associations (Builders Association, Chamber, etc.)
• the media (newspapers, TV, radio, etc.)
(with the exception of your competition)
How do you currently reach these people?
What does it cost you in time? Advertising? Sponsorships?

4. Why should I use social media?
A few statistics to frame our thoughts about our ‘stakeholders’ and
social media…
• Only 14% of consumers now trust advertisements.
78% trust peer recommendations.
• By 2010, Generation Y* will outnumber Baby Boomers in the marketplace…
96% of them have joined a social network
• The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
• Generation Y* and Z* consider email passe…This year Boston College
stopped distributing email addresses to incoming freshmen!
• 25% of Americans in the past month said they watched at least one
short video…on their phone
• 1 out of 8 couples married in the U. S. last year met via social networks
• The % of companies using LinkedIn as a primary tool to find employees?
80%
*Generation Y is the generation of people born in the 1980s and 1990s, in the age range of 19 – 29 (i.e. first time home buyers)
Generation Z is the generation of people born in the mid-1990’s to late 2000’s
Source: Expeditusmedia

5. Why should I use social media?
One last statistic about the growth of social media…
Comparing social media to other media according to how long it took
To reach 50 million users:
•
•
•
•
Radio – 38 years
Television – 13 Years
The Internet – 4 years
iPods – 3 years
Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months.

6. In today’s economy, wouldn’t you welcome the opportunity to
reach an ever-growing pool of your stakeholders from the comfort of
your office? Or your home? At a time that works with your schedule?
For the sole cost of your time?
Time is money, but like money, time can be budgeted if you know
what you have to work with and the right tools.
Who is more expert at managing time and schedules than a
Builder?
Spending your time accomplishes more than simply posting ‘what you’re doing right now’.
Let’s take a look at what you can gain from an investment of your time…

7. Examples of Social Media uses for business…
• Reach new clients and grow
client Relationships
• Word-of-mouth customer
referrals
• Competitive Research
• Recruiting
• Customer Feedback
• Consumer Research
• Crowdsourcing
• Virtual Advisory Board
• Increase your Reach and
Exposure online
• Positioning yourself as an
Expert/Industry Leader
• Prospecting for strategic partners
• Project Collaboration
• Cost Savings/Meetings, Travel
• Filesharing
• Build Brand Loyalty
• Feedback mechanism to adjust
strategies

8. What channels should I use?
There are thousands of social media applications, but
There are a small handful that are ‘mega networks’, and whose
names garner the most media attention.
Some of these are:
LinkedIn | YouTube | Flickr | Facebook | Twitter | Blogs
Since we can’t cover everything in an hour, we’ll focus on some of these.

9. How does social media fit in with your other marketing efforts?
Social Media
Website
Online &
Offline
Advertising &
Promotions
Impressions about
who you (and your business) are

10. Why should I use social media?
Let’s think of social media from the perspective of
what it has to offer…
Social Media offers you an exponential opportunity to impact
two key components of your ability to win new business:
Exposure & Credibility
What is the value of being represented where your prospective clients gather?
Social media offers you the opportunity to be represented in
multiple places at the same time
Let’s first take a look at exposure…

11. Why should I use social media?
When someone is searching for the
type of services you offer,
where do they look?
Magazines &
Newspapers
Friends
Web
Inevitably, they
look online.
Why?
• It’s convenient & can be done on their schedule
• They can research without sales pitches or obligation
• It saves them time
Recommendations
from other
professionals
Associations

12. Why should I use social media?
If your name, or your company
name were searched for,
what representation would
you have in the search engines?
Articles
Blog
posts
YouTube
videos
Twitter
Your
Website
Links from
Associations’
Websites
Would this
make more impact?

13. Why should I use social media?
How can social media help you build your credibility?
• Recommendations from others who have used your services
• Promote you as an expert in the field (many ways to do this, from
articles, blog posts, YouTube videos, etc.)
• Showcase your work (Flickr, YouTube, Slideshare, etc.)
• List your professional awards, associations and involvement in industry
groups and events
• Spotlight employees’ areas of expertise, etc.
• Simply being there – showing that you are ‘in touch’ with your customers and
other stakeholders who are online
Social media gives you a platform to speak directly with
your stakeholders.
Once you have their attention, what do you say?

14. Each channel provides you opportunities to post relevant content
which is cross-linked
LinkedIn
• Start discussions
• Link to articles
• Post presentations
• Give/Get Recommendations
• Post polls on relevant topics
• Answer questions
Flickr
website
• Video tours of your homes
• Homebuying tips
• Interviews with other professionals
• Contests/entries
YouTube
Post Photos/ Galleries for:
• Your homes
• Special features you offer
• Custom work/spotlighted
projects
• Your sales staff
• Link to articles/resources
• Post announcements & Promotions
• Contests/entries
• Solicit ideas from your fans
Facebook

15. What channels should I use?
Unlike traditional advertising,
Social Media centers around
Relationships
This is an important distinction!
Think of social media as conversation powered by technology.

16. What channels should I use?
You’ll want to select your channels based
on how much time you can
realistically dedicate to participation.
Better to be active in a few places, than inactive in many!

17. What channels should I use?
You have two entities that can be represented in the social networks:
yourself, and your company
You (the Individual)
Your Company
LinkedIn Profile
LinkedIn Company Page (profile)
LinkedIn Group
Plaxo Profile
Flickr Photostream
YouTube Channel
Facebook Profile
Facebook Fan Page
Twitter profile
Twitter profile
ActiveRain Profile

18. What channels should I use?
Time
commitment &
expected level
of participation
(frequency of
posts)
Blogs
Facebook,
Twitter, LI Groups
Flickr, YouTube,
Slideshare, Articlesbase
Linked In, Plaxo, ActiveRain
online
foundation

19. What it is (and what it is not):
Social Media is:
Social Media is NOT:
An opportunity to expand
your network of relationships
An advertisement which exists
in isolation
An ongoing opportunity/effort A one-time deal
Interactive communication (2
or more ways) between you
and your stakeholders
One-way communication
(distribution) is free and is
only limited by the value of
your contributions
Limited by your marketing
budget
Think of social networking from the perspective of traditional networking…
many of the rules are the same!

20. What channels should I use?
Your participation determines the value you get from networking
Think about the professional forums where you network…
What are the characteristics of the most popular professionals you meet?
Successful, appreciated People
Less successful/appreciated
Active participation
Occasional, infrequent participation
Receives exposure through his
contributions and participation
Overtly promotes himself at every
opportunity
Makes thoughtful contributions that
are relevant to the current
conversation
Chimes in on everything – constantly
forcing himself and his opinions
upon the group
Is friendly and approachable,
welcoming of new people
Unapproachable, clique-ish or only
interested in new relationships if
there is something ‘in it’ for him

21. What channels should I use?
What are others in the industry doing?
5 Builders active in social media
who serve as great models to learn from
@SheaHomesAZ – Great job, and they’re also on LinkedIn, Facebook, Squidoo, About Us, and Wikipedia. Shea’s Dare to Compare
Program, offers information on why you should purchase a new home as opposed to a foreclosure. Their website offers home buyers a
list of things to consider before making a purchase decision: www.DaretoCompareShea.com.
@Lennar has almost 60,670 followers on Twitter. They also build online traffic with their ‘LennarTV’ videos. Lennar connects with the
home buyers and industry professionals through their Open Door blog, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Digg, LinkedIn and Active Rain.
@OlsonHomes has some 7,400 Twitter followers, interactive online community tours and a constant flow of stimulating videos and
updates about their communities, homes for sale and the housing industry. You can also check out their YouTube channel.
@AWHomes is another must follow, they are very active on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook using these platforms to update fans and
followers with promotions and company news.
@WilliamLyonHomes uses social tools to send messages to agents about their VIB program. If you are signed up as a Very Important
Broker you can get a broker co-op of up to 5%! They’re also on Facebook.

23. Lennar Homes
on Facebook

24. Lennar Homes’
Blog

25. Lennar Homes
On Flickr

26. Lennar
on Twitter

27. Your profile is your
‘home base’
We will examine the
Particulars of the user
profile shortly…

28. My personal
profile on
LinkedIn
Summary of Core
Information
Description of
my area of expertise

29. (more of) my personal profile on LinkedIn
A poll I posted
Some books
I’m currently
reading
(online)
Groups I am in
on the
LinkedIn
network
Recommendations
I have given to
others on LinkedIn
More about
my
Professional
experience

30. (more of) my personal profile on LinkedIn
Recommendations
of me (and my
company)

31. Part of our
Company ‘GROUP’
page on Linked In
I posted a discussion
question
Group members can
comment, post additional
questions, etc.
It becomes a dialogue…

32. Our Company ‘FAN’ page on Facebook
We post news
of interest
about the firm:
Upcoming
Events (like this
workshop!)

33. Photos from our
Workshops &
events
Testimonials/Ads
featuring our
clients
New site launch
announcements
Awards we’ve
received
Press coverage
New
product/service
introductions
Special offers
Announcements of New
Additions to our Team
Our Company ‘FAN’ page on Facebook

34. Our Company ‘FAN’ page on Facebook
Tagging presents even
greater opportunities for
exposure

35. Getting Started: The process
Commit to the program
Establish goals and a strategy
Who will be responsible for your company’s social networking activities?
What channels will they use? With what frequency?
Who will develop the content?
Execute the strategy
Make sure all the members of your team are aware of your plan and understand
How they fit in. Make sure your sales team is reinforcing your efforts and staying on message with what you are
Promoting.
Measure your success
Your social media efforts can be tracked. From increased traffic to your website, number of click-throughs,
views of your online media, etc.
How has your network grown?
How has your brand exposure grown?
What feedback are you getting from your stakeholders?
Interactions with clients?

36. Where do I Start?
3 Social Networks to start with:
Linked In
• set up your professional profile
• set up your company profile
• add connections
• request recommendations
• search for (and join) relevant groups
• join the Triad Green Building Council group!
ActiveRain – complete a full professional profile
Flickr – create a photostream and add photos of your work

37. A Few Tips…
Social networking begins with your core representation.
Establish COMPLETE profiles in the networks you choose to participate in.
Yes – include your photo! You want to build a relationship. It’s hard to connect
with someone you can’t visualize.
Make true connections, don’t just go for numbers
- Start with your existing contacts
- Network through groups
-Add your profiles to your email signature, website, articles, bio, etc.
Be Helpful
- Answer Questions
- Share interesting content
- Connect others in your network

38. See what is already out
there…

39. Seeing yourself as others (can) see you…
Social network
profiles
Blog posts
Articles you’ve written
or that have been
written about you

40. Social Media Changes
Everything.
Are you ready?
Building Business with Social Media - - - ©2008, Atlantic Webworks. All rights reserved.
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