Global Property Marketing and Social Media

Last week, Criterion Global attended an event on digital media hosted by GEMA, the Georgetown Entertainment and Media Alliance at the Princeton Club in NYC. The discussion took the pulse of a bifurcated digital community: on the one side, analysts trying to monetize new social media, and ambivalent old school advertisers on the other. Succinctly, Michael McCracken of UGO Networks said, "Advertisers do not know where to spend their dollars," they are overwhelmed by new offerings, and lack criteria to make effective choices.

In the property sector, real estate, hotel, and casino

marketers have little time, budget, or patience to experiment in new media when the bottom line is, well, the bottom line. Ever-cautious property developers are right to wonder: can new media replicate its successes predictably, reliably, and cost-effectively? When will new media be reliable as an investment in our brands, rather than an experiment?

The more marketers contemplate these issues, the more it is clear: in the paradigm shift from traditional media to the new, old school marketers are asking all the wrong questions. Social media can only be a reliable investment if the strategy behind its use is sound.You wouldn’t have a billboard in Brazil for a resort in Bahrain: only by asking the right questions can developers and marketers make the most of social media.

Unprecedented Access. Social media, as we define it, is interactive, and nearly always digital. The Criterion Global definition of social media is any form of interactive media where users also create content. Social in their utility, these media allow property brands to engage buyers and investors where they seek information and interact, but all media must cohere to your marketing strategy to justify investment.

The Right Questions. To sharpen your online and social media strategy, visit Criterion Global's new blog at CriterionGlobal.Wordpress.com, to view this full article, and ask your campaign manager the right questions to refine choices and discover synergies within a campaign. Remember, social media is a platform for advertising as well as content, and by integrating both you can cover more ground. By asking the right questions, property marketers can leverage social media in a holistic, cohesive way to engage key buyers where they socialize and seek information. Criterion Global, Inc., 520 8th Ave, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10018