AIM 2010

How to Stop Worrying and Start Loving Online Reviews

Misty Browning

Why get involved?

• Feedback allows us to improve our brand by better understanding what residents and prospects care about

• Opportunity for dialogue – humanize the brand

• Another platform to create brand awareness.• Ongoing learning tool

Goals

• Customer engagement through collaborative content

• Widened brand exposure and reach• Growth of opt-in lists• Increased traffic to company website• Improved organic search engine rankings

Try Things on First

• Beta test with select properties• Get your hands dirty. Make sure YOU know

how to execute before you direct others• Create a playbook from the beta test– Includes handbook, guidelines, examples, policies

and procedures

Who Manages It After the Test?

• Site teams in conjunction with Marketing Department– Marketing Captain roll– Marketing Department roll

• Why keep it in-house?

Training

• Company wide training– Social Media White Paper– Social Media Handbook

• Site level training– In person classes– Monthly social media calls– Monthly checklists and reviews

Training cont’d

• Customer service standards • Learning tool– Sharing reviews with the group– Train the group on how to receive the reviews

Embrace the Uniqueness

• Is it necessary to have ONE voice?– Let the personalities shine!

Engagement

• It starts with the offline relationship• Next…Encourage engagement online– Where and how?

I really disagree with this review. I'm a resident here and I love it. Of course when you live in an apartment you're going to hear things from time to time. The maintenience here is execellent, and the office staff has been so helpful since day one. I've been here for 4 months now, and they still remember my name. My favorite thing has to be all the awesome resident activities that take place. The concert is AMAZING!!! Moving from out of town, I didnt know anyone here. Now I have made so many friends here, and I love it. Overall, It's great! I'm actually referring my friend to come live here, because this location is PERFECT!

Review on ApartmentRatings.com

Engagement cont’d

• Their voice holds the weight• Resident retention tool that creates loyalty

and relationshipsA couple stories

Legal Considerations

• Conservative approach – over prepare• Protect the integrity of your brand• Same advertising guidelines apply– Compliance with sites’ Terms of Use– Compliance with privacy laws– Fair Housing compliance

Etc.

Policies

• Investigate the complaints and concerns• When property has been damaged or there is

personal injury• Employee involvement at a personal level• Who has the authority to respond• How to differentiate between personal

opinion and company views

Pearls of Wisdom

• Feedback is a gift• Don’t take it personal• This is one piece of a well integrated

marketing mix• Keep educating yourself and your team• Learn from others’ mistakes• The playbook is a living document

Find me…

AMLI fan pagesmisty55mistybrowningmbrowning@amli.com