I really like your idea of being so upfront that you're willing to refer the customer somewhere else if it's a better fit. I think the apartment company that can pull this off immediately creates top of mind awareness in their metro area, and their inbound traffic would likely increase significantly. Juleen and I have had this same conversation … I can't wait to find that first client that will be willing to try this. It has nothing to do with social media — it's just about doing the right thing for the prospect.

Ha! Mystery solved…it's the infamous apartmentnerd – question is, which shades does Mark where when he is RTing? I guess slightly red tent Bono shades.

I concur with your implication [hope I am not off here] that over time the customer will use real time platforms, not to complain or give feedback to a past experience but rather to define that experience ahead of time for the business owner.

Hope you are having a stellar analytical weekend – )

Thanks for keeping the ball rolling here –

I agree with the invasive nature of the idea and the time it will take to administer anything meaningful. My initial thoughts on the subject are to target community specific status reports. That is to suggest that someone communicates that they are going to visit a specific community – I am thinking that it would be impressive if we knew their name when they walked in the door relative to their avatar. [Okay - maybe that is creepy].

If they were descriptive beyond the community name, as it relates to the larger community, price or size of apartment, in their status [update] [tweet] – could we capture that and tailor a specific experience and enhance our ability to be remarkable?

I know the obvious question is – who is that descriptive today?

As I cast thought in the future relative to this subject – it seems to me that people will only get more and more specific about their experience and or their expected experience.

In other words – people will willingly tell business owners what they expect when they walk in the door. Call it an effort to save time, to save the pitch or to save the Earth. Customers defining your brand is morphing and telling business owners real time what experience they expect is in our future. At least, I think so.

M

Does every company have someone that can or wants to be the @garyvee of their organization? In my opinion, right now that's what it would take without reorganizing. I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but I'm also not sure if that's what the consumer wants.

I agree with Mr. 30Lines that there is a fine line for communication and still coming across as an interruption marketer. For example, I've been experimenting with a Twitter account I created that automatically RTs people “apartment hunting” or “searching for an apartment” that just asks “Tweeps please help”. I get a lot of thank yous, but I also get some people that don't want the RT and request I don't do it. Check it out here: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%40apthelpdesk

I guess from what I've seen I just think that while people choose to post their status, I'm not sure if that is an approval to send a message back to them. It will be interesting to see how we all move forward with our communications, but we should also all be cautious in how we may be interrupting people just like the ways of old.

I agree with you that this is not the easiest cat to skin – it will take some real effort to appear authentic in your efforts. To the extent that it means referring people to communities outside of your portfolio.

As you know we are just now starting to think through our approach to social media as it relates to marketing apartments. It's wild to think of the possibilities – can't wait…

Thanks for taking the time to keep the conversation going – it means a great deal.

Hope your week has been a great one…

That said, I think it *will* take significant effort to get many apartment marketers in the correct mindset for this. It's a very fine line, and it's too easy to cross that line and seem overbearing, creepy or even just a little *too* nice. I look forward to seeing where you and Mills go with the idea!