More Reasons Why You Should Be on Social Media

12 Apr 2012 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in In The Media

Facebook

A properly planned Facebook strategy can help drive the success of your business.

Do you read Profit magazine? If you do, a recent article called “How to Land a Canuck” may have caught your eye. It certainly caught mine.

Dealing mostly with how you should go about creating an effective online strategy for your business, the article started by introducing some eye-opening statistics:

• Canadians average almost 42 hours a month online. This is more than the people of any other country.

• Last year alone, Canadians spent $16.5 billion online.

• 60% of Canada’s 15 million Facebook users log in every day.

• 35% of Canadian consumers use social networks to research products or services. What’s more, over a quarter are more loyal to firms with a social media presence.

This article was written by none other than Toronto entrepreneur Joanna Track, creator of Sweetspot.ca (which was recently acquired by Rogers) and Dealuxe.ca, which aims to bring deluxe online shopping. So it seems like Ms. Track knows a thing or two about online marketing.

Admittedly, the article doesn’t touch on the new homes market. Yet it doesn’t take a great deal of imagination to see how these stats support the case that we too should be online in general and in social media in particular.

After all, most homebuyers begin their search online. And it would be shortsighted to ignore the fact that they are most likely already on Facebook. This is why we do our best to create amazing, SEO-optimized websites as well as social media channels (typically Facebook, although we often use blogs and Twitter).

What’s your social media experience like? Does it confirm the article’s stats?

Review of BILD’s Low-Rise Forum

29 Mar 2012 1 Comment

by John Amardeil in Activities, Strategies

If you follow me on Twitter, you probably know already that I was a guest speaker yesterday at BILD’s Low Rise Forum, which saw us discuss diversity in the GTA.

I love these events. They give me a chance to chat with old acquaintances and industry people. I also get to learn from my fellow guest speakers.

Yesterday, for example, Andrew Brethour of the PMA Brethour Realty Group provided interesting insights into why so many people from all over the world move to Canada.

He also did a pretty good job of reminding us all of the many reasons why we’re so lucky to live in this country and specifically in Toronto. Andy is quite the inspiring speaker and it was a pleasure to listen to him.

John Amardeil speaks at the BILD Low-Rise Forum on March 28, 2012.

I had a blast with my presentation. I believe in keeping it short and sweet and fun. What’s your approach like?

Later, Susan Wong of Markham Centre Realty. Inc. provided us with a most detailed analysis of immigration from mainland China, and the reasons why so many Chinese buy real estate here.

Susan also said there’s still a lot of room for condo prices to rise in Toronto — she even produced a chart showing that despite our increased prices we’re not among the ten most expensive cities in the world. I found it interesting that Vancouver, London and Singapore join Toronto as the preferred overseas investment locations for Chinese millionaires.

Lastly, Jenny Park of The Epoch Times provided listeners with a great summary on how to market to Chinese buyers. Jenny said 74% of all Chinese Canadians consume media in Chinese.

As for my own presentation, I am attaching it as a PowerPoint file (click this link: BAM Ethnic Marketing). Or you can read the following summary of key points:

  • In 2004, Toronto was ranked second in the list of world cities with the largest percentage of foreign-born population
  • Most newcomers arrive from China, India, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka
  • An increasing amount of immigrants are settling in the 905 area rather than Toronto. Indeed, the city with the highest proportion of foreign born among all Canadian municipalities is… Markham
  • We at BAM strongly believe that you can only sell if you know your markets and your target thoroughly. Sounds obvious, but time and again I’ve come across campaigns that neglect this. Check out my presentation for examples of communities we marketed to a very specific demographic after carrying out a great deal of research. They include:
  1. Castlegate, in East Brampton (targeted to Indians),
  2. Woodside Village, in Scarborough (targeted to Sri Lankans),
  3. Vellore Park, in Woodbridge (targeted to Italians), and
  4. Greenbrook Village in Shelburne, targeted to “white flight” (I explain in my presentation how I was wrong about the target market here!).

What’s your experience targeting diverse communities in the GTA?

BILD Social Media Nominations Go BAM

23 Mar 2012 3 Comments

by John Amardeil in In The Media

I was extremely happy to learn that BAM was nominated for no fewer than eight BILD awards this week.

Above all, I was proud that BAM’s nominated for two social media campaigns. That’s two out of three finalists — the kind of odds I love.

In social media, even music and homes can go together

Triumph’s social media campaign was a perfect fit for its younger, fun-loving demographic.

The two social media campaigns for which we’re nominated are Brookfield Homes’ Pathways in Caledon East and Highmark Homes’ Triumph.

The former comprises a blog and Facebook page, both of which see a lot of activity coming from current and prospective homeowners.

As for the latter, its backbone was a music contest (yep, you read that right), which we hosted on Triumph’s Facebook page. The campaign includes a Twitter account and a series of posts in the corporate blog.

As these two campaigns show, the key to social media is to have a friendly voice, to provide followers with useful information, to avoid coming across as corporate or commercial, and to genuinely care for their needs, making sure their concerns are addressed as soon as possible.

It’s all about the client

In many ways, Pathways is the opposite of Triumph in that it attracts couples that are married, have kids, and seek a peaceful, family-friendly community.

Of course, the greatest satisfaction comes not from nominations or awards.

It comes from knowing that we are providing the highest level of service and quality in strategy, creative, management and production.

It comes from knowing we are doing our very best to truly delight and amaze each and every client we are privileged to serve.

Still, it’s great to see BAM’s hard work recognized, especially in the area of social media, which I have long told clients will only become more important.

Our nominations are:

PROJECT OF THE YEAR – LOW-RISE

Brookfield Homes, Pathways – BAM Builder Advertising and Marketing (see this link)

BEST DIRECT MAIL

Brookfield Homes, Pathways – BAM Builder Advertising and Marketing (see this link) 

BEST NEWSPAPER AD

Brookfield Homes, Pathways – BAM Builder Advertising and Marketing 

BEST LOW-RISE SALES OFFICE

Brookfield Homes, Pathways – BAM Builder Advertising and Marketing  (see this link)

BEST SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN

Brookfield Homes, Pathways – BAM Builder Advertising and Marketing (see this link)

Highmark Homes, Triumph – BAM Builder Advertising and Marketing (see this link)

BEST WEBSITE

Highmark Homes – BAM Builder Advertising & Marketing (see this link)

BEST MODEL HOME

Eden Oak Homes, Estates of Credit Ridge, “The Newcastle” – BAM Builder Advertising and Marketing (with Neodeco Designs)

Has Toronto Sold Too Many Condos Already?

16 Mar 2012 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in In The Media, Trends

Have we reached the maximum height?

Much has been made, in this blog and elsewhere, about the fact that the Toronto condo market is now one of the world’s hottest.

Or at least it was, all throughout 2011.

But it looks like things might just be different in 2012. According to Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), new condo sales dropped in January by a significant 40%.

Low-rise sales, on the other hand, held steady, amounting to 63% of the market share.

Of course, January tends to be a bad month for condo sales anyway, and indeed in January of last year condo sales dropped as well, only to rise after.

Yet the fact remains that this was the lowest single-month total for high rise since the recession, according to Shaun Hildebrand, senior market analyst with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp, as quoted by the National Post.

The 905 area, on the other hand, is still going strong. For example, both high-rise and low-rise sales in York increased by a combined total of 12.5%.

Luckily for us at BAM, 905 is our area of expertise, meaning we can sell anything here, whether it’s low-rise or high-rise.

That said, no one would like to see a disruption in the GTA condo industry.

What’s your take? Will we see only a moderate decrease in sales, as Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. predicts? Will it be worse? Or will sales continue to increase, like they did last year?

Marketing for Female Homebuyers: Is It Time to be Open About It?

09 Mar 2012 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in Strategies, You Need to Know

The home of your wife’s dreams?

Experience has taught me women tend to call the shots in the home buying process. If you’re in the industry, I’m sure that’s your experience as well.

This is why many of us implicitly market homes for women, highlighting the features that we think appeal to them.

But what exactly is it that female homebuyers want? Experience can certainly give you an idea. But valuable as it may be, experience is a subjective thing, especially when it’s not backed up by studies.

Thankfully, according to Builder Magazine, two U.S. builders made it a point to narrow down the factors that make female homebuyers tick, going so far as to take women-centric design studies.

They seem to have succeeded — one of them, Patcon Construction, continued to sell homes in new Hampshire and Maine even as its competitors couldn’t, while the other, Hugh A. Fisher of Deer Brook Development Corp., quadrupled his business in the middle of the U.S. housing recession.

Ironically perhaps, their findings not just confirm many a builder’s experience, but also a few gender stereotypes. For example, when men look at a floorplan they think about how they will relax in the house, while women focus on how the family will live in the house and how they will work in it.

Women also tend to focus on organizing, having convenient access to laundry rooms, and making sure their husbands have a place where they can drop their wallet and keys (which apparently they don’t want us dropping on the kitchen counter).

Read the article here, or check out this survey, which helps women find the type of floorplan that best suits their personality.

Have you ever marketed homes explicitly for women? What’s your take on all this?

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