Mike Brewer

Social Media Flash Mob

January 5, 2012 By Melissa DeCicco 12 Comments

I have decided. If I am not passionate about doing something, I am simply not going to do it. For a recent experience, Lovin’ the Lou, I was able to let my passion flag fly and find others flying theirs proudly as well…it was magical!

First things first, we have a fabulous new development/rehab called The Laurel Apartments located in Downtown St. Louis in the Mercantile Exchange District. This is an up and coming neighborhood with incredible potential to really help rejuvenate Downtown – and we are right in the middle of it. So we needed to get the word out. In comes Lovin’ the Lou! In order to enter, we asked Lovin’ the Louers to create a 2 minute video capturing their love for St. Louis.

This is not just a contest with a fabulous prize (Free Rent for a Year at The Laurel), it is much bigger. It is about reminding an entire region how alive and exciting downtown St. Louis really is. We originally wanted to use all the traditional media outlets like television and newspapers but as it turned out, that is not where you find people for passion projects. So you ask yourself…how can we find this targeted audience of people passionate about St. Louis? The internet of course! This project was run completely through social media – twitter, facebook, website, and blog posts. And maybe we sacrificed some volume (maybe) by avoiding traditional media, but I think we gained a ton more in passion.

We received 18 passionate, creative, and fun videos showcasing St. Louis for this project! Every entry had a great story to tell and it was clear that this was not really about winning free rent. BAM! Exactly what we were looking for…our prize was secondary to real passion for the city! Not only were people loving the videos, they were also commenting and sharing the information with their friends. Our broader goal of helping revitalize downtown was really coming to fruition. We have 18 mini-commercials from real St. Louisans that are much more intriguing than any ad I have ever seen. This is only the beginning. It’s funny (and maybe this is a precaution), when you start a passion project you find it will never be complete – you will feel internally compelled to do more. So I guess we will see what the next chapters bring!

But for this chapter, we are in the final stages of judging to announce the winner later this month – check out all the entries at Lovinthelou.com.

Broader reminder to marketers: Don’t push your content (especially with passion projects). Passionate people who really buy-in are much more inspiring than fancy ad campaigns with fake passion. Passionate people truly believe in what you are trying to accomplish and they will find you. It’s like a social media flash mob for your project! Ok-ok. Here are some stats… (over 5 month period).

5,058 Visits

3,231 Unique visitors

16,951 Pageviews

280 Comments

166 Lovin the Lou fan page likers

554 Facebook individual webpage likes

63 Tweets

11 +1’s

We are nearing the first chapter finale for this passion project and I can’t wait to continue! What will your next passion project be?

Filed Under: #apartmentmarketing, Apartment Websites, Using Social Media to Market Apartments Tagged With: Passion Projects, social media marketing

Sales, or something like it

September 16, 2011 By Melissa DeCicco 10 Comments

I have never been in a position where I get more cold calls than now. I guess that is what happens in marketing. I have to admit, I have been super busy and my patience level is incredibly short. Probably the reason I have been furious lately when my phone rings.

However, some sales calls I get super excited about. Here is my advice to sales people – not only in multifamily. Some of them happen to apply to our leasing associates as well!

11 Sales No No’s.

(FYI, all of these things have happened to me in the last week or so)

It’s about a relationship, stupid. Please don’t be fake.
Do not cold call me with no knowledge of my company or what we do. At minimum, please use Google.
I do not respond well to threats or super pushy marketing tactics like name dropping or insulting our current efforts.
If we, or I, determine your product isn’t right for us (now or even in the future), don’t bully me to change my mind – that really ends the possibility of a future relationship.
Don’t send pushy emails copying my superior, especially when I still don’t know why I should care about your product.
Don’t request me on LinkedIn before we have had a positive conversation/interaction or any at all.
Please be prepared. I don’t want to wait on the phone for 2 minutes while you look for your earring back or listen to your uncomfortable pauses and sighs when you aren’t sure what to do next.
NEVER ask me what we pay your competition for their services. If you don’t know what your product is worth, I do – $0.
Call a million times a day without saying why I should want to call you back, you will likely not get a call back if I have no clue why I am calling you. Its super weird for me to call you and say “Hi this is Melissa, I have no idea why I am calling you but please, pretty please, sell me something.”
By the way, NOT COOL, when I finally begin to try to have a conversation with you (warranted or not), that you berate me for taking so long to call you. Give me a reason first and I will respond more quickly!
This one is too hard to explain, so here is the actual email. Don’t do this, ever, and at least spell my name correctly!!!!!!! I have never interacted with her (I think she left me some empty voicemails)…

“Haven’t given up Melisssa…

Certainly don’t want to be a ”thorn in your side,” so I’ll try & make this as painless as possible.

Eager to know your level of interest in our training offerings. Please check an option, promise no hard feelings : )

___ YES, send me a FREE DVD preview of your latest & greatest training programs, __customer service __leadership

___ I prefer to preview online, set me up with a FREE demo with your web-based platform.

___ Training doesn’t fall under my umbrella, try contacting ___________________________.

___ My plate is more than full, better timing would be ___later this year, ___ early 2012, ____ never darken my
doors again.”

The Best do these things. Short and SIMPLE and it doesn’t waste my time or yours.

Interact with our company on our social media platforms in a meaningful way (not name dropping your company), we like that and builds trust.
Start conversations, not sales pitches.
Be an expert in your field and help us when possible – without our business at first.
Go the extra mile.
Help our company and teams increase efficiency.
Use email at first then move to the more personal phone call. Refer to number 10 above.

Final Thought:

Above all else, do us all a favor, and LOVE what you do and what you are selling. If you don’t, why should I?

Thank you for listening to my rant. I really want to like sales people (I will always love ours though ), but for some reason only a limited few really get it. Does your team?