Apr 15, 2011 - growth, as follows: marketing, communication facilitation, learning and generating innovative ideas and a
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Generation Twitter: the role of social media for occupiers
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Generation Twitter: the role of social media for occupiers ‘Social media’ describes those highly accessible media communication tools, such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and You Tube, created for web 2.0 and mobile applications, available to us ‘24/7’. Whilst most have been designed to meet our entertainment and communication needs, there has been a significant shift to using such tools in the corporate environment, which I explore later. There is no doubt that social media has become a global phenomenon; as a result of technological convergence and the increasing proliferation and portability of hardware which provides platforms for such sites. Ofcom, (2011) reported that 43% of UK adults had a social media profile in Q3 2010. This supports the notion that social media is both widely used and plays a significant role in our society. The corporate property industry has slowly but surely engaged in the World of social media. CBRE, recognized as the World’s largest corporate property services firm, runs twenty different Twitter accounts globally, projecting company achievements and news articles to thousands of followers. A number of leading Corporate Real Estate executives have developed a strong social media presence over the past year, for example, Matthew Stone, Partner at Cushman and Wakefiled LLP, and Jeremy Day, Head of Corporate Real Estate at King Sturge LLP. The role social media plays for a corporate occupier is a diverse one. I believe it can be understood in a number of ways and in the context of achieving a focused property strategy and smart growth, as follows: marketing, communication facilitation, learning and generating innovative ideas and augmenting a collegiate and productive work environment. My analysis of this role in my professional career thus far has been supported by my own experiences of social media at Legacy Portfolio. In order to consider this subject in context, it seems essential to recap on the current economic climate. At the close of 2010 to the start of 2011 the term ‘cautiously optimistic’ was used throughout the UK’s corporate property industry. On completion of Cushman and Wakefield’s Occupiers survey, James Young, Head of the London Group, commented, “As we hopefully move into more economically stable times, these findings show that occupiers in the capital are feeling cautiously optimistic about their own business prospects”, (Wilding, 2010). Last month at MIPIM, Property Week reported that there has been a strategic shift in corporate focus, from cost mitigation to smart growth tactics. Stuart Hicks, Chief Executive of Corporate Solutions at Jones Lang LaSalle, stated, “Driving improved productivity by implementing more strategic real estate initiatives can release tremendous value given that real estate typically accounts for 7 to 12% of a corporation’s total operating costs”, (Phillips, 2011). Investigated below are four methods by which occupiers might achieve smart growth via social media. Marketing Social media has the potential to play much the same role in a corporate occupiers business, as for any other corporation, a savvy marketing platform. Social media tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn and SlideShare can be employed to share useful content and advice or offer discount on services and products, projecting the impression of being a ‘master’ of the subject and developing brand awareness, respectively. Their interactivity offers opportunity to form discussions with similar companies or customers and receive useful feedback from both groups. A direct communication route to the client is created, which might otherwise be difficult to obtain, helping to build loyalty and trust and measure client satisfaction. Social media can be
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used as part of an integrated marketing strategy to achieve a positive company buzz and competitive edge, providing the strategy is both measurable and adhered to. During the recent launch of our USA business, ‘Legacy Portfolio USA’, I have been able to create a successful virtual presence, and market the business, particularly via Twitter and blogging. Communicating with social media enthusiasts, whom I have built a relationships with, has afforded me the opportunity to project information about the launch to a wide USA audience through these individuals. They have posted blogs and ‘tweeted’ about our launch, in addition to linking my blog to theirs, assisting in its marketing. Such relationships have enabled me to both connect with and market to my target audience, otherwise out of my reach. Communication facilitation A central feature of social media is building networks, developing new relationships and solidifying existing ones via communication streams. In order for an occupier to generate the maximum efficiency from their property portfolio, the relationships held between their partners, landlords, agents and service providers are essential and will be facilitated by good communication. A constant interaction is often required, for example, to negotiate terms of a lease, discuss insurance liabilities, and understand the cash flow position of the portfolio. LinkedIn operates the World’s largest professional network on the web and has one hundred million users in over two hundred countries (LinkedIn, 2011). Using this, occupiers can research an associate’s background, interests and experiences, and communicate via discussion groups, enabling common ground to be established, trust to be gained and a strong relationship base to be built. Employing Twitter and LinkedIn has enabled me to engage and build relationship with partners and service providers who I may otherwise have struggled to reach. Having strong intercompany relationships no doubt assists the smooth day-to-day management and ongoing intercompany projects at Legacy Tools such as SlideShare, could also be vital where intercompany input is required. SlideShare assists the sharing of documents and supports online discussions, enabling team members to measure project timelines and targets and facilitating the timely completion of a project in ‘real time’. An essential element of portfolio management is utilizing or getting rid of vacant property and the acquisition of new property, as a means to reduce costs and achieve smart growth Facebook could be adopted to meet this strategy. Requirements for tenants, a lease, or new agents can be posted on the company Facebook ‘wall’, in which other professionals can get in touch, if for example they are interested in your surplus property. A forum called TweetSpace, a subset of Twitter, specifically connects corporate property professionals, such as occupiers, to advertise required and available property. TweetSpace is free and quick to use, by simply uploading a short sentence about the property and including contact details, each ‘Tweet’ is posted to professionals in the TweetSpace network. The Tweet is searchable, using keywords (i.e. Manchester or retail unit), and is posted onto Twitters main site, projecting the information to a huge network of potential clients. A key objective of social media at Legacy is to communicate news about the company, via the network of corporate property professionals I have built up. Demonstrating appreciation for others successes and goals in your network can help achieve this, for example by ‘retweeting’
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a contact’s ‘tweet’ on Twitter (i.e. sending their tweet out to your twitter followers). This will help them to market their message to a wider audience. With any luck, they will return the favor and retweet your post to their followers. As a result, the network in which your property requirements, business services or news posts are exposed to, is beyond ten times what it might be via traditional marketing methods. Learning and generating innovative ideas Social media tools provide a plethora of learning opportunities. Corporate property blogs, (I have my favorite, as stated in my recent blog post), Twitter and discussion forums on LinkedIn in particular, release a constant stream of information. Occupiers could utilize discussion forums to share knowledge and opinion about portfolio management strategies, for example, cotemporary methods to minimize their surplus property or mitigate costs. The information obtained through such methods could be manipulated to create new innovative strategies for their own business, which in part have been tried and tested. Sharing content and opinion in this format also creates an opportunity for useful feedback from partners, in house team members and of course customers. Feedback might also be designed into new strategies and methodologies. Company blogs are a strong platform for generating discussion and ideas in the occupier’s interest, since there is executive control over the content matter. Starbucks, is a prime example of an exceptional corporate blog, called ‘My Starbuck’s Idea’. The blog invites customers, partners, service providers etc, to comment on all aspects of their business, and ‘share their ideas’. I use my company blog to engage partners and colleagues, by inviting them to contribute to or comment on my posts. Company blogs and forums can also be used to create a collegiate intra-company environment, as explained below. Augmenting a collegiate and productive work environment Successfully managing a portfolio relies upon intra-company collaboration as well as intercompany collaboration. The successful management of a property portfolio, whether selling a freehold or employing new agents, requires input and cooperation from many sources within an occupier’s business; from a surveyor to accounts, project managers and admin staff. Tools such as Facebook or intranet systems, can be adopted to provide easy access communication streams to discuss the progress and status of a project, share and discuss ideas and edit documents being worked on. Working in ‘real time’ on projects in this way should facilitate the smooth running and pace of completing a task. Using social media in the workplace environment may assist employees in having a good sense of organizational identity, i.e. an individual’s sense of belongingness to an organization and trust within the organizational group. Hosting a company group on Facebook and LinkedIn or hosting a company blog, affords employees the opportunity to share ideas, goals and problems with colleagues. This may in turn aid employees’ feelings of identification through understanding and sharing values with colleagues and developing trust. Organizational identification has been linked to workplace commitment and a cohesive and productive work environment, Puusa and Tolvanen, (2006).
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Conclusion As I have touched on, the variety of social media tools available and the opportunities they foster can be overwhelming, especially if there is no clear strategy in place for exercising these. For occupiers to meet their property strategy it is important for the whole team to be engaged in social media, to discuss, mediate and collaborate. Thus far, the ‘Twitter Generation’, has most likely led the social media movement in the corporate property industry. For any corporate to remain competitive they need to explore the opportunities available to them. It is predictable that as the Twitter Generation move up to decision-making level roles, social media will likely be employed across all business domains. My top tips for occupiers to get the most out of social media 1) Define a clear social media strategy for all strands of business and don’t forget to measure success. 2) Try and engage all of employees in social media of some type. 3) Use social media to build relationships based on mutual respect and open appreciation for other’s successes’.
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References LinkedIn, (2011). About Us. Retrieved on 13th April 2011 from www.linkedin.com. http://bit.ly/gerSlp Ofcom, (2011). Facts and Figures. Retrieved on 11th April 2011 from media.ofcom.org. http://bit.ly/goq2Zj Phillips, M. (2011). MIPIM 2011 - Corporate occupiers move their sights. Retrieved on April 2011 from PropertyWeek.com http://bit.ly/eWT8Gj Puusa, A. and Tolvanen, U. (2006). Organizational Identity and Trust. Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies. Vol 11, No. 2. Wilding, M. (2010). London occupiers bullish says Cushman and Wakefield. Retrieved on 11 th April 2011 from PropertyWeek.com. http://bit.ly/hDpXji
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