TECHNOLOGY
KERIE KERSTETTER | CANNONBALL
Best Practices for Twitter
What Communities Need to Know
W
hile social networks like Facebook are predominantly B2C
(business to consumer), Twitter
presents a unique opportunity
for B2B (business to business) engagement. With
Twitter, your property’s interactions can be directed towards a broader community: residents,
local businesses, other properties, corporate management offices, the multifamily industry, etc.
The Basics
Twitter is a social media platform that allows
users to share messages limited to 140 characters.
Users range from individuals to major corporations, and they have the option to follow or subscribe to each other’s updates. Hashtags (indicated by #) allow users to carry on conversations
with larger groups, and Twitter’s retweet feature
enables messages to quickly bridge networks of
people.
Twitter lends well to news-like updates, quick
conversations, and viral messages. Several multifamily properties have found their way onto Twitter, and below is a few guidelines for leveraging
the platform:
Uses For Twitter
Important updates: While residents are just
one of the many audiences on Twitter, they’re still
an important one. Twitter is an excellent tool for
sharing information updates, whether that’s upcoming resident events, inclement weather, or
reminders about daylight savings time. Quick
thoughts and well wishes (e.g., Happy holidays!
Safe travels everyone) are also conducive to the
platform.
Community engagement: Begin following and
interacting with local businesses. Your property
is part of a larger community, so it’s important to
be a good community member. Support local
www.aamdhq.org
events by spreading the word, and share business
specials when they’re relevant to your residents or
your community. You’d be surprise how much support you’ll receive in return, both online and off.
Environmental scanning: Twitter is a wonderful tool for monitoring the conversation surrounding your property, your city, and your industry.
What are people saying about your property?
Banter with the good, and address the bad. It’s
important to always respond. Is someone searching for apartments in Uptown Dallas? Perhaps
you could be the one to reach out and answer any
questions they have about the neighborhood. A
simple keyword search allows you to keep an eye
on conversations that might be relevant to you.
Cross-platform promotion: Twitter is a great
way to spread the word about things you’re doing
on other platforms. If your property keeps a blog,
or if you’re holding a contest on Facebook or
Instagram, Twitter is a great platform for sharing
links or sending out reminders.
Displaying your personality: When interacting
on Twitter, people should feel like they’re corresponding with a person, not a business. Be friendly, be personable, be neighborly. Remember that
social media is a cocktail party, so take the time
to get to know the other people at the party. The
customer-centric approach pays off in the form
of relationships, which is the foundation for referrals, retention, and leasing.
Don’t forget that social media activity improves your SEO (“search engine optimization”)—
that is, the likelihood that your property will appear near the top of search engine rankings.
Twitter is simply another tool in your digital
marketing toolbox, and it’s one that has the power to foster relationships and positive word-ofmouth.
Kerie Kerstetter is the Director of Content Strategy for
Canonball, a digital marketing agency in Dallas that specializes in both multifamily and mixed-use development.
MAY 2016 • TRENDS | 29