THE SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE OF

N E S T  R E A L T Y

presented by

SL Group 2: Ne’Dra Bell, Dylan Elliott, Jacob Mohr

October 31, 2015

TO: Ryan Crecelius of Nest Realty

FROM: SL Group 2

RE: Social media analysis

DATE: 31 October 2015

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In an increasingly digital age, social media has become a powerful tool for companies to communicate with customers. Nest Realty communicates with clients primarily through Facebook, but does so in an effective and appealing manner focused on building credibility and generating goodwill. However, in the world of business there is always room for improvement: our analysis shows that certain rhetorical techniques have been implemented effectively on the company’s website, but have been woefully underused elsewhere in Nest’s online persona. Specifically, we recommend using social media to learn more about consumers interested in Nest. Additionally, we advise that Nest expand their social media repertoire to include the platforms of LinkedIn and Twitter, both of which have proven to be effective tools for both communication and advertising, based on our findings.

INTRODUCTION

Nest Realty is a Wilmington-area brokerage specializing in residential, estate, and farm properties. Promoting itself as a “New Breed of Broker,” Nest boasts well-trained and independent brokers with strong ties to the local community, a powerful command of local, regional, and national trends in the field, and an appealing audience-focused business philosophy.

In this report, we analyzed Nest’s current social media usage and concluded that Nest does an outstanding job of projecting an old-fashioned and client-first image to consumers. Nest’s best path to success in the online sphere is to maintain this image, while simultaneously finding new ways to reach a broader audience. This report will demonstrate the benefits of expanding Nest’s social media suite and highlight specific sites Nest can use to improve their overall online appeal.

FINDINGS

Ryan Crecelius, a principal broker for Nest Realty, introduced the brokerage’s social media strategy to our team via a video interview. Crecelius described Nest’s approach as “warm” and “old-school,” placing great importance on their reputation as a trustworthy business dedicated to helping their clients. He maintains that buying a home is one of the biggest decisions most people make in their whole lives, and that Nest’s marketing strategy is designed around the weight of this decision, and making customers feel secure and cared-for. Nest works to achieve this connection early through its online presence, utilizing goodwill-building Facebook posts and other endearing and attractive mannerisms, which will be detailed below.

NEST’S ONLINE PERSONA

How Nest presents itself online is structured primarily around the concept of ethos, better known as credibility or trustworthiness. There are are three tried-and-true methods of building credibility online, and Nest’s corporate website utilizes each. We recommend that Nest follow their own example, and use these same techniques in their social media offerings.

Spend the necessary time learning about your audience.

A website isn’t a two-way street, where user and company can communicate and get to know each other. Neither is it somewhere where Nest Realty can show off how much it knows about its clients without coming off as invasive. Rather, Nest Realty wisely boasts how well it knows its other, less obvious client: the Wilmington area. The website has a section headed “GET TO KNOW WILMINGTON,” broken into three categories. Here, the brokerage introduces its team of realtors, shares Wilmington market information, and hosts virtual tours of Wilmington neighborhoods, allowing users to see their potential homes through Nest’s eyes.

Introduce yourself effectively.

Under the heading of “3 WAYS NEST ISN’T LIKE THE REST” the brokerage emphasizes the credentials of its brokers and establishes its client-focused mission statement. The overall quality of design of Nest's website also counts as an effective introduction: the simple, elegant layout, the muted color palate, the somber-yet-optimistic bird emblem... are all designed to inspire trust in the viewer, and to ensure potential clients that Nest takes their business seriously.

We recommend Nest expand their social media offerings to LinkedIn. Recent studies indicate LinkedIn is one of the top social media sites people visit before deciding to work with a realtor. Potential clients use this site to get a better background summary of any particular realtor of their interest. It would be beneficial if Nest made it mandatory for every employee to have a LinkedIn profile. This not only would build each individual's realtors clientele, but it will also allow Nest Realty to be perceived to have well-educated employees, thus enabling them to be the top choice in brokerage.

Present your ideas effectively.

Quality communication is often key in building credibility. Nest wisely makes use of the "Rule of Three" when presenting its offerings. This "Magic Number" appeals to the reader's eye and brain, and the short blurbs under each subheading are clustered and easily digestible when viewed on the screen. Online users can click links beneath each subheading to learn more, and will find well-organized menus within each new page.

NEST’S ONLINE OUTREACH

Nest Realty limits its Facebook postings to a few key topics -- wedding announcements, property spotlights, news promotions, etc. -- but the manner in which they present these particular articles generates goodwill in surprising ways. For instance: whenever the brokerage appears in either print or online news, Nest posts the link on Facebook and includes a short blurb introducing the article. For the purpose of analysis, our team has included screenshots of two such posts, as well as analysis of each.

First, the article which appears below, in which Nest introduces an interview between “Nester” Jim Duncan and the hosts of the radio station WVIR NBC29. The use of the monicker “Nester” is immediately of interest: Nest Realty uses this term to describe both their employees and their clients. This tactic appeals to users’ desire for “love and belonging”: by grouping their own employees with the people they serve under the collective umbrella of “Nesters,” the brokerage suggests that there is no barrier between the two groups, that they peers… equals. “Nester” evokes affectionate terms like Deadhead and Little Monster (pet names for fans of The Grateful Dead and Lady Gaga, respectively). They unify a group and rally them behind what they like, thus bringing them together.

Each pre-article blurb begins the same way: “Nest in the news!” or some variation of these words. This is an excellent example of consistent branding. The alliteration and repetition at work in this phrase lodges in customers’ brains: no doubt they will remember Nest when they think of realty.

Other patterns emerge as well. Nest makes a point of mentioning the name of the employee featured in the article (Jim Duncan, in the articles featured here) as well as the station or news venue where the story appears. This format is repeated across all posts about Nest’s press coverage, which is good consistency of design. Not to mention, Nest always treats getting mentioned in the news as good fortune without explicitly stating as thus. Rather, each post’s diction belies the brokerage’s attitudes: positive words like “sharing” and “chats” permeate the blurbs and make the relationship between Nest and the media appear friendly and mutually beneficial. This paints both parties in a positive light and encourages further positive coverage.

The next post, featured below, is a goodwill congratulations message meant to celebrate the wedding of one of their realtors, “ Nester Quentin Jones and his beautiful bride Monica.” Besides being a genuine good show of humanity, this post does much for Nest’s appeal. For one thing, it is an humanizes them as a business, demonstrating that they really do care about and celebrate their coworkers and have a very positive work community. On a rhetorical level, it accomplishes a principle called liking, which states that people respond more positively to things they like and things that like them back.

NEST’s (POTENTIAL) LINKEDIN PRESENCE  

For our purposes we also looked at Nest’s professional presence on the social business networking site LinkedIn. NorthMarq, a Bloomington- based company, did a online perception research study in order to determine if LinkedIn or Facebook were the prefered site to search for information on the professionals within that company. The results showed that LinkedIn was the prefered site to learn about individuals from a particular business (Real Estate meets social media). This is likely due to the professional nature of LinkedIn as opposed to the more relaxed social feel of facebook. Some people may want to check the credentials and trustworthiness of an individual realtor.

This demonstrates potential within LinkedIn. If Nest can manage to tailor the profiles of their individual agents, this in turn will make them appear more professional to their more cautious clients. With this in mind, our team took a look at the presence of  Nest’s individual Realtors.

Judging from their website, Nest has 11 agents in employment; however, when we searched for Nest on LinkedIn only 7 of them appeared to have profiles on LinkedIn. Of those 7, one didn’t have a name, making it useless for all intents and purposes. This left 6 strong profiles, meaning nearly half of Nest’s agents either, don’t have a profile or have an inactive and unsearchable profile.

FURTHER SUGGESTIONS

For any realty brokerage that’s choosing to communicate on social media and build their brand, it's crucial to understand the importance of the time and commitment it takes to uphold this social media presences. There are various sites of which all require a different type of utilization. Some may work better than others for particular companies, but it is the most beneficial when all types of social media undergo trial and error.

From recent studies regarding the impact of LinkedIn on social media presence of realtors, as well as the Nest’s currently hit-and-miss presence on the site, it is recommended that Nest Realty require or encourage their realty agents, and possibly all employees, to have a well kept LinkedIn page. This type of social media creates a professional background appearance for each employee, thus making the buying/selling more comfortable for the client. Although Nest Realty has a LinkedIn profile for the company at large, it would be beneficial to have each employee’s page hyperlinked so that prospective clients could have a better idea of who they are going to work with.

Twitter is another suggested type of social media that Nest could utilize. Considering the fact that Twitter has become one of the major tools used in social media marketing, Nest would only benefit from the perks this outlet has to offer. For example, Nest can and should use Twitter as a way to share their links to houses, properties, etc, and also for brand monitoring. Through this, Nest would be able to stay up to date with any mentions of their company,  be able to counteract negative responses quickly if they should arise, and also create a more personable relationship with their previous clients are potential ones.

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Above is an example of how a realtor utilizes a particular part of the year in order to provide information to those interested in purchasing a home. This tweet exemplifies how twitter could be used as an informative site to those following the brokerage, thus in turn increasing the buying or selling rates within Nest.

CONCLUSIONS

Rest assured, Nest Realty is already doing an excellent job using social media to increase their reach in the online sphere. Therefore, it is our sincere belief that if Nest takes our advice and expands to LinkedIn and Twitter, they will do just as well in these modes of communication as well. As long as Nest continues to project their friends, old-school persona along whatever path they ultimately decide on, they will continue to grow and thrive and find success.

References

Fung, Amanda. "Social Media Hits Home." Crain's New York Business. 16 May 2011. Web. 24 October 2015

Knight Ron.” Twelve ways to use twitter for social media marketing.” Social media marketing. 1998-2015. Web 2 November 2015

Parmar, Arundhati. "Real Estate Meets Social Media." LexisNexis Academic. 31 December 2009. Web. 24 October 2015.

Prudential California Realty Launches Six-Month Agent Social Media Training and Support Program." Business WireFeb 08 2010. ProQuest. Web. 24 Oct. 201