Twittering for the Fifty Plus Market

If you're still among the skeptics who think Twitter is just a time-waster and is geared exclusively to a youthful crowd, consider this. Twitter usage is exploding. It experienced an eye-popping 1,382 percent year-over-year growth in February 2009. The number of total unique visitors increased from 475,000 in February 2008 to seven million last month. That's according to Nielsen Online. And Nielsen points out that the bulk of those users aren't college kids or teenagers. It found that the biggest age group using Twitter was 35 to 49. Those aged 55-plus make up 16.6 percent of users and those over 65 make up 6.8 percent. Todd Harff, president of Creating Results (www.CreatingResults.com), a Woodbridge, Va.-based full-service marketing, public relations and advertising agency specializing in consumers over the age of forty, likens being on Twitter to participating in an online conversation. "Companies used to pay big money for focus groups. Here, you get a real-time pulse of what's going on in the marketplace for free," he comments. Moreover, he points out, "It's a tremendous opportunity to target prospects based on their interests." Harff and other social media experts, like Allison Kulage SEO director of Cincinnati-based Upright Media (http://www.walkupright.com/), a search marketing and search engine optimization and visitor conversion, call Twitter a great listening tool. They recommend spending some time listening to what people are talking about and assessing their complaints and likes and dislikes. Then determine ways to weigh in and contribute to the conversation. Here are some starting points and strategies for building Twitter relationships. -Existing friends--Register at Twitter, search for existing friends and colleagues and follow them. Then search for and follow others who share your interests. You can both learn from those you follow and share referrals. To extend your reach, follow their followers. Making connections with fellow real estate practitioners with the SRES designation is, of course, a natural. -Shared interests--Follow those with shared interests that are unrelated to real estate. If you're passionate about certain hobbies knitting, sailing or Harley Davidson motorcycles search for and follow fellow knitters, sailors and Harley riders. Harff warns to make sure your communications with such people are genuine. That is, don't connect with people just to hawk your business. It can instantly alienate people. -No hard sell. Don't waste people's time by telling them what you ate for lunch or do a hard sell. "Twitter is about offering information that is relevant and helpful," says Harff. That can include sending out information about the state of market, interesting data and ideas and tips about buying and selling. "You want to position yourself as someone who is connected, an expert, someone followers will have confidence in. Just hawking your services can do more damage than good," he adds. -Prospective clients--Search for people who are looking for the services you offer. For instance, if you specialize in short sales, search for and follow investors interested in such transactions. Also conduct searches with keywords like senior housing and baby boomer housing. Kulage suggests using http://search.twitter.com/ to locate people seeking real estate information. "If I'm interested in houses in Denver or I'm thinking about moving there, that information probably won't show up in my profile. I'm not in the real estate business," comments Kulage. But search with keywords like "Denver relocation" or "looking for Denver condo" and you may find new relo prospects. -Offer value--Reply to others Tweets when you can offer some information or insight that is valuable. As an example, empty nesters looking for a Chicago condo as a weekend getaway may ask about prices and neighborhoods. You could respond with some figures. Then provide your contact information and offer to help. -Focused messages. Get to the point. The fact that Twitter limits you to only 140 characters for messages means you must be terse. Harff considers that brevity is advantageous and says, "It forces people to figure out the critical piece of the communication and prioritize what's of value." -Manage your account--To keep up with Tweets without being bombarded every minute with updates, subscribe to feeds on particular searches and have the information funneled directly to a single location that you can check once or twice per day. -Frequency Only you can determine how often to Tweet. How frequently you communicate with followers depends on your audience and its interests. Investors may want to hear from you three times per day about new listings and deals that have just become available. But someone looking for a retirement home and plans to move in twelve months likely will find daily updates intrusive. -Bigger isn't always better. "If I follow 20,000 people, I have to read really fast to keep up with all their updates," comments Kulage. Limit those you follow to a number that's manageable for you and what provides the most value to you. -Show some personality. Think of how you want to appear in face-to-face meetings and try to mirror that demeanor in your Tweets. "You want to be someone with some personality that people will want to talk to," says Kulage. "Be yourself and show some humor and personality. -Etiquette Be polite. Kulage suggests asking "What would I do if my mother saw this?" "Asking that question works and helps you stop yourself before you hit send," she comments. The strategy can prevent you from posting things that will be embarrassing. Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained Though no one can predict how Twitter will evolve, it is one of the shiniest new tools around and it's worth giving it a try. "It's great for reputation management and a way to mold your marketing effort to meet the needs of your prospects," says Kulage. "And why not get on and test it out? It's free and all you have to invest is some time."