9 Reasons To Use Brand Advocates

What would you say if you could add 5, 10, 100 or 1000 marketing reps to your team? For free?

What if these marketing reps would freely write about your brand and tell their friends and all they expect in return is recognition and access to insider information?

Who are these free marketers? Brand advocates. By definition a brand advocate is any customer who has been officially commissioned to speak on behalf of your brand without compensation.

Who are brand advocates and what motivates them?
A recent study identifies many attributes of brand advocates. Below are nine of the attributes that will help you think through how to effectively engage advocates for your business.

#1: Advocates are prolific creators of information
Internet users are becoming increasingly comfortable sharing their experiences with products and services through social media. What makes a brand advocate stand apart is his or her prolific communication about these experiences.

The survey found that brand advocates create and curate more than twice as many communications about brands as the average web user. They are savvy in writing meaningful content and sharing it on highly visible sites.

#2: Advocates influence the opinions and purchases of their friends
In Malcolm Gladwell’s classic book, Tipping Point, he identifies three unique kinds of people who make social movements possible: connectors, mavens and salesmen.

Brand advocates blend the strengths of a connector and a maven. They love connecting people with others of similar interests. But they are also information storehouses who love to share their knowledge.

The study found advocates are 70% more likely to be seen as a source of reliable information.

Additionally, brand advocates are 50% more likely to create content that influences a purchase.

#3: Advocates love to talk and are probably already talking about your brand
Brand advocates are 83% more likely to share information than the average internet user. What’s more, 54% of advocates view information-sharing as a form of relaxation.

Notice that brand advocates are also motivated to make decisions, solve problems and contribute to a pool of information.

Smart businesses make it easy for brand advocates to share information about their brand. Provide relevant information through your blog, Facebook page or through exclusive emails and watch advocates share it.

Find the people who are already talking about your company (here’s a great article for tips on seeing who is talking about you), find out what motivates them (survey them?) and give them valuable information worth sharing.

#4: Advocates like to use social media to help people
At their core, brand advocates like to help others. They don’t hoard information to inflate their egos; they want to be seen as useful.

Advocates love to meet new people through social media. In fact, they are 2.5 times more likely to use social media to expand their circle of friends.

In case you’re skeptical, be forewarned that advocates are not purely altruistic. They also want to get something out of this. Be willing to give them what they’re looking for.

Notice that receiving free products and other incentives rank at the top of their list. But deep satisfaction also comes from helping others make good decisions.

Not all advocates will be enticed by discounts and rewards. Some of them will even find it offensive and inauthentic. Word-of-mouth marketing expert Andy Sernovitz says that you shouldn’t mix love and incentives. Make sure your advocates don’t feel like you’re forcing them to praise you without having freedom to voice concerns and critiques.

#5: Advocates want to be known for their valuable insights
Advocates like helping people and getting free stuff, but they’re deeply motivated by recognition. In fact, they’re 150% more likely to value being seen as a reliable source of information.

Find creative ways to recognize your most valuable contributors.Social Media Examiner does this well through their Fan of the Week program.

#6: Advocates are most likely to use social media for sharing their opinions
Advocates are twice as likely to share product information on social networks than average web users. In fact, social media is their first choice for sharing their insights.

Solicit feedback from your advocates where they’ve already built an audience. Don’t expect them to go somewhere else.#7: Advocates have a broader reach
Here’s something that sets brand advocates apart from the crowd: advocates are 3 times more likely to share brand information with someone they don’t know.

Brand advocates love meeting people online. Given their desire to influence people and share information, it’s predictable that their messages will reach a much broader audience than the average web user.

#8: Advocates like talking about their product choices.
Advocates love to talk about their daily product and service decisions. Their top three topics to discuss are: food or dining, personal care products and household products.

How do these topics relate to your products or services? If your company’s deliverable is not on this list, you may need to work harder at giving advocates a reason to talk about you.

#9: Advocates are loyal to brands with which they have a relationship
Why do advocates do what they do? They appreciate the incentives and rewards, but at the end of the day, they want to be known as a trusted agent of the brand. The relationship is important to them.

Advocates are your friends, not your employees. They want to know you value their friendship as a mutual exchange. Show them love in as many ways as you can and let them be themselves.

Source: Adapted from an article by Phil Mershon on jeffbullas.com, published 6.13.11

Fidelity Phoenix Welcomes New Director of Marketing

Fidelity Phoenix is pleased to introduce Chelsea Peitz, our new Director of Marketing. As Director of Marketing Chelsea will be responsible for overseeing and managing the Fidelity Phoenix Marketing Department, including all the marketing tools and services we offer our clients. Fidelity Phoenix offers comprehensive Realtor marketing tools and market trend reports, which will fall under Chelsea’s supervision.

Additionally Chelsea will work to create advertising and marketing pieces with key partners, gather and interpret available data and anticipate market trends, and grow the Fidelity Phoenix brand through social media, public relations and strategic focus. It’s a big job but we have no doubt Chelsea is up for the challenge and will excel in these efforts.

Chelsea brings 10 years of business management and administration experience with her as well as 8 years of residential resale experience. Her real estate background and experience insures Chelsea keenly understands the needs of our clients and is able to provide the best solutions to meet those needs.

Originally from Southern California, Chelsea moved to Arizona in 1993 and is graduate of ASU. She lives in Phoenix with her husband and 2 Chihuahuas.

Please join us in welcoming Chelsea to our Fidelity Phoenix team, we are thrilled to have her join us. You can reach Chelsea via email at Chelsea.peitz@fnf.com or by phone at 480.214.4540.

Craig Proctor Live Training Event

Are you getting beat up by real estate market? Are you fed up with the real estate recession and tired of its bad news controlling your life and your income?

You should know there ARE Phoenix agents “refusing to participate” in the majority’s pain and suffering, who are enjoying good incomes and success right now by following some simple strategies (battle-tested in good and bad times). Join us for a very special event Tuesday, June 7, 2011, 12:00 to 6:00PM, where we’ll reveal how you can implement strategies in your own business on a poor-man’s budget. This special live training event is with North America’s leading Real Estate Coach, Craig Proctor. No other coach, trainer or consultant will tell you the unvarnished truth about what it takes NOW to work with buyers and sellers — without cutting commissions or otherwise being abused.

In today’s market, it’s not enough to learn theory, or ideas that may have worked in boom times but just aren’t cutting it in the current recession. During the six intense hours of this event, we’ll highlight the least expensive and most effective strategies, ads and systems you must be using right now that will guarantee you at least two new escrows in the next 30 days.

This 6 Hour Seminar Will Teach You How to:

• Generate 3 highly qualified, motivated prospects EVERY day consistently and predictably without spending a dime!

• Stop making the 3 HUGE mistakes that are responsible for 80% of failure in 2011

• STOP wasting money on advertising that brings ZERO $ in return

• Properly track your advertising so you know what’s working and what’s not (Stop doing what’s not working, do more of what is and watch your business triple without spending a penny!)

• Easily attract the best buyers and sellers by giving them what they really want vs. what most agents think they want (This allows you to CHOOSE who you want to work with and discard the time wasters!)

• Deliver listing and buyer presentations that don’t just get you the client, but position you as the EXPERT!

• Leverage strategic partners to multiply your bottom line

• Walk out the door at 6pm armed with ads and strategies you can use RIGHT AWAY to make you NOW MONEY!

Craig Proctor (the top agent for RE/MAX Worldwide for several years) is known within the industry as the King of Lead Generation, and not only sold over $1 Billion of real estate himself in his 20+ year career, but he’s also coached more agents to millionaire status than any other trainer. By openly sharing his step-by-step approach, he teaches agents not only how to dramatically increase their results, but also how to vastly improve their quality of life.

Seats are limited for this sponsored event. $25 OR RSVP to events-fntmarketing@fnf.com to reserve your seat and receive the specially discounted rate of $10 at the door. Full Proceeds to the Boys And Girls Club of Arizona. Event held at JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa 5350 East Marriott Drive, Phoenix.

State of the Market - June Update

Steve de Laveaga, SVP of Sales & Marketing, Fidelity National Title discusses the positive changes we're seeing in the market .

Dustin Gaskey Honored as The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals Member of the Month

Hearty congratulations to Dustin Gaskey from our Fidelity Phoenix team, for being honored as The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) Member of the Month, for June 2011.

NAHREP is the "voice of Hispanic real estate" and a champion for homeownership for the Hispanic community. As the largest minority trade group in the real estate agency, NAHREP is influential at both the national and local levels. Over 16,000 members across 48 states belong to NAHREP. This national organization is dedicated to empowering Hispanic families in their quest for a piece of the American dream: sustainable homeownership.

A founding member of Fidelity National Title’s Strike Force, Dustin Gaskey and his team of professional sales executives have produced record profits while growing REO, Investor and Short Sale Markets. His 12 years of sales experience and his commitment to providing exceptional customer service has led to his success in a declining market and the growth of Fidelity’s market share every year since his hire.

With a prosperous background in real estate development, Mr. Gaskey shifted to the other side of the real estate industry focusing on Sales and Marketing Management, where he gained instant success helping Valley developers sell their new home product. Faced with a distressed real estate market in 2007, Mr. Gaskey rose to the challenge and joined forces with Fidelity National Title, a Fortune 500 company. An integral member of Fidelity National Title’s Sales Team, Mr. Gaskey is responsible for building dynamic relationships for Fidelity National Title’s REO and Investor Division while generating significant earnings to shareholders. A strong desire to help individuals in the real industry accomplish their goals, while being part of the solution, has earned him both personal and professional success.

A resident of Scottsdale, Mr. Gaskey plays an active role with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, NAHREP Arizona and Scottsdale Association of Realtors. When he’s not working, he enjoys travelling with his fiancee, spending time with his dogs and enjoying the outdoors.

5 Secrets to Being Successful on Twitter

Can you sell on Twitter? Sometimes.

Can you get more web traffic? Absolutely.

Can you build a brand? Without a doubt.

Can it be all about you? No way. No how. Never.

The truth is – success on Twitter is so much more than how many followers you have. That only tells part of the story. For a long time, I was focused on those numbers. How many followers. How many re-tweets. How many likes. How many unlikes. If you look at those numbers long enough you start to go crazy. Then something pretty cool happened. The more I tweeted, the more I focused less on the numbers, the more people I met, the more I enjoyed it, and the more I saw the tremendous value of it.

Let me tell you – being an independent contractor in any business, especially real estate, is lonely.

One of the biggest benefits I have seen with Twitter is the camaraderie and support with people who love this industry all over the world. In my eyes, that is a huge benefit. But let’s face it, we don’t just want to sit around and just tweet with other Realtors. There are people right now in your community, in your town talking about things that are relevant to you – local news, local events, hot spots around town, and yes people who are moving to your city or town. Go into Twitter and type “moving to _____” in the search field and you’ll be surprised at how many search results come up. Does that mean you should instantly Tweet them and say “HI! I’m a Realtor!!!!” No of course not – you wouldn’t do that in real life, so don’t do it on Twitter.

Seriously, don’t even think about it!

The point is that Twitter is like the Chamber of Commerce mixer. Remember those? You went, had a drink and came home with 10 business cards. But now, you get to stay at home, be in your PJ’s, and “collect” followers that you can connect with. It’s the same networking we’ve always done – it’s just done a little differently now.

So how do you jump into the conversation? How do you get people to start noticing you and engaging with you? There are definitely a few “secrets” that no one ever told me when I first started on Twitter that can really help jump start your Twitter fame!

1. Don’t use all 140 characters. I was in Seattle earlier this year when my friend Dale Chumbley reminded me, “Katie, I’d re-tweet you more if you didn’t write such long tweets!!” DOH! I had forgotten that so simple but golden rule. Don’t use every single space. I know 140 characters isn’t very much to begin with. So if you fill up that whole space and then someone tries to re-tweet you – there will be too many letters. If it’s a good tweet, some people will take the time to edit it – but most won’t. See if you can keep your tweets to 50 characters max!

2. Re-tweet a lot. We have a joke in the Inman News office – it’s all about the re-tweet! That’s right! You want people to stand up, notice you, follow you, and engage you? Then re-tweet a lot! Re-tweet 15-20 things a day. Re-tweet interesting articles, follow hashtags (like #agentrb or #icsf) and re-tweet things people are talking about. The more you re-tweet, the more people are likely to re-tweet you and take notice of you! Here’s a bonus secret – don’t re-tweet 15 things in a row (unless you want to annoy the heck out of your followers). Re-tweet 15 things but use my favorite app HootSuite and schedule out those re-tweets – once a hour so they “drip” out over the course of the day. Now instead of impacting a few people who happen to be on Twitter at the exact time you are on, you are impacting people at different times of the day.

3. #FF. I love Friday Follow. Every Friday pick 10 people to mention for #FF. Recognize people you enjoy following. Twitter is a very giving medium. You need to give, give, give if you want to receive anything back. Some of the people I have engaged with and talk to the most started with a #FF.

4. Post content you like to read. We all subscribe to email newsletters right? Well before you delete them all every morning, look at one or two in your inbox and make it a point to tweet out a couple things from those emails – interesting articles or tidbits of knowledge.

5. Don’t get so caught up on what to say. Don’t over think things. Post something if it’s interesting to you, but don’t spend too much time worry about everything you post. Be smart, if you wouldn’t say something on stage or in a crowd, don’t say it on Twitter.

Source: Adapted from article by Katie Lance, Social Media Director, Inman News. Posted: 24 May 2011 11:37 AM PDT

Effective Facebook Wall Posts

As brands increasingly make Facebook a key hub for their marketing and communication strategies, it is crucial to understand what drives engagement.

Recent research data published by Buddy Media indicates the following:

· Less is more! Posts 80 characters or less in length have a 27% higher engagement rate. Yet only 19% of all Facebook posts fall into the category; do yours?

· Engagement rates are three times higher for posts that use a full-length URL. Why? It’s likely the “indicators” one would get from reading a full-length URL are missing in a shortened URL. To still keep the “less is more” philosophy, use a brand-specific URL which still provides some brand indicators.

· Brands that post outside of normal business hours (very early morning, at the end of the work day, or very late at night) have a 20% higher engagement rate.

· Engagement rates on Thursday and Friday are 18% higher than other days of the week. Engagement rates on Saturday fall 18% below average. Data recently revealed by Facebook shows the “happiness index” raises 10% on Fridays.

· Business and Finance Industries specifically experience engagement rates that spike Wednesday and Thursday and decline Friday through Tuesday.

· Fans follow instructions well; the simpler the better. Outright requests to “Like” or “Comment” work most effectively. The top two keywords, “like” and “post” both have positive “comment” and “like” rates.

· Posts that end with a question have a 15% higher engagement rate.

· Keywords “where”, “when”, “would”, and “should” drive the highest engagement rates. “How”, “who”, “what”, “did”, and “why” have the lowest engagement rates, with “why” being the very lowest.

Keep these points in mind when creating content to drive higher engagement and to maximize your brand or organization’s presence on Facebook. And when it comes to Facebook publishing strategies, it is imperative that you keep things simple and in line with your fans' needs.