HAA Blog

Having trouble setting goals for your social media plan? Houston Apartment Association Technology Committee member Brent Williams gives us insight on steps we can use to implement a successful social media plan. Brent is chief insider at Multifamily Insiders and their new Apartment Association Resource.

Pop Quiz:  What is the quickest way to fail at social media for your apartment community?

Answer: Not having a plan!

Let’s say you were building an apartment community. Would you just randomly buy a whole bunch of wood, some toilets, light sockets, and other materials and just start hammering things together?  Of course not!  But that’s what so many communities do in social media. I understand, when we jump into social media, we are suddenly all 5 year olds who can’t wait to read the instructions to play with our new, shiny toys.  But after a few weeks with no fans except our sister properties, we realize we don’t know the heck what we are doing and have decided “social media must not work.” So, let’s catch our breath, take a step back, and try to get this right!

First, you must understand who your target audience is.  Are you trying to reach prospects?  Are you trying to reach your residents?  What about local businesses – would they possibly be able to be a part of your social media program?

Next, you need to figure out what the heck you want to accomplish! Being on social media just for the sake of being there may just be the biggest waste of time in property management.  So you need to identify what effects you want from your program.  Here are a couple of examples:

• Increased sense of community
• Resident referrals
• Customer service
• Information for prospects

When setting overall goals of the program, you need to make sure that the different goals do not conflict.  Let’s say you want to inspire prospects to visit your property. Many communities make the mistake of posting their rental rates on their Facebook Fan Page, for example, but imagine that from your residents point of view, who are just now getting rent increases? In other words, you have to remember who will be looking at your social media profiles, and how one message that you think is good for one group of people will end up alienating another group! So let’s all take a step back, figure out what we want to actually achieve in social media and effectively tackle it!

You can catch more tips from Brent at the HAA's 2012 Education Conference/Expo on May 16 at Reliant Center.  He'll be leading a session called "The Top Ten Mistakes You Made with your Social Media Plan and How to Fix Them!" with Stephanie Graves of Asset Plus.  

Have a story you would like to share on the Houston Apartment Association blog? We'd love to hear it! Send your blog to Aimee Arrington at aarrington@haaonline.com.