An introductory tutorial on the application of Facebook for the commercial brokerage community.

1. Social Media for Brokers:
Making Friends with Facebook
March 27, 2013

2. Safe Harbor
These materials contain information from a variety of public and proprietary sources. CoStar Group, Inc.
assumed and relied upon, without independent verification, the accuracy and completeness of such third party
information in preparing these materials.
The information prepared by CoStar and presented herein is based on information currently available, which is
subject to change without notice. All information presented is only as of the date referenced and may have
materially changed since such date. CoStar Group has no obligation to update any of the information included
in this document. You should not construe any of the information presented herein as
investment, tax, accounting or legal advice.
CoStar Group does not represent, warrant or guaranty the accuracy or completeness of this presentation and
shall not be held responsible for any errors in the presentation. To the maximum extent permitted by
law, CoStar disclaims any and all liability in the event any information presented herein proves to be
inaccurate, incomplete or unreliable.
© CoStar Group, Inc. No reproduction or distribution without permission.

3. Today’s Presenters
Coy Davidson Angela Brown
Senior Vice President Communications
Colliers International – Manager
Houston CoStar Group

4. Today’s Presenters
Coy Davidson
Senior Vice President
Colliers International – Houston
www.coydavidson.com
facebook.com/TenantAdvisor
@CoyDavidsonCRE
linkedin.com/in/houstonofficespace
coydavidson.wordpress.com
plus.google.com/105557945022210548581

5. Today’s Presenters
Angela Brown
External Communications Manager
CoStar Group, Inc.
costar.com
facebook.com/CoStarGroup
@TheCoStarGroup @angelambrown
linkedin.com/in/angelambrown
Youtube.com/costargroup
gplus.to/CoStarGroup

6. Housekeeping
Recording and slides
A link to a recording of today’s presentation will be available
tomorrow – keep an eye on your inboxes for the link and a PDF
of today’s presentation
Questions
Questions will be addressed at the end, but you may submit
them at any time both through gotomeeting and Twitter
Twitter
Please use the hash tag #CoStarSocial when live-tweeting
during this program or submitting questions via Twitter. Send
questions to @TheCoStarGroup.

7. What We’ll Cover
Facebook… …for brokers
 What you can do with  Why Facebook?
Facebook  Who are you connected to?
 Profiles vs. Brand Pages  Creating a Killer Business
 Getting Started Page
 Getting the Most out of  What should I post?
Timeline  Can it really work for me?

8. Facebook…

9. What you can do with
Facebook

10. Quick Facts About Facebook
42% OF MARKETERS
1 BILLION + SAY FACEBOOK IS
MONTHLY ACTIVE CRITICAL OR
USERS IMPORTANT TO THEIR
BUSINESS
680 MILLION MONTHLY
CUSTOMER ACQUISITION ACTIVE USERS ON
FACEBOOK MOBILE
PRODUCTS
B2B
43% OF 43%
Sources: CMS Wire, February 2013;
Facebook Newsroom, March 2013; Hubspot, September 2012

11. What Can You do with Facebook?
 Personal or company branding
 Tell your company’s story
 Humanize your brand
 Facilitate content engagement
 Promote other channels

13. Myths vs. Facts
Myths Facts
 My business doesn’t  If you have a company
have anything to post. blog, videos, photos or
regular news, you have
 I don’t have content.
time/resources for  A broad range of tools
Facebook. make staying social easier
than ever.
 We’ll never get  Is that the real value?
enough Engagement is
members, comments important, but lead
or likes on our page. generation and customer
service are most

14. Profiles vs. Brand Pages

15. Profiles vs. Brand Pages
Profiles Brand Pages
Post scheduling
X √
Seamless integration with
third-party tools
X √
Facebook Insights
X √
Administrative area
X √
Friend requests – require
approval √ √
Likes – no approval needed
X √
Management through Page
Manager app
X √
Managed through native
Facebook app √ X
Administration from multiple
users
X √

16. If you Have a Profile for your
Business…
There is hope.
Account conversion instructions can be found
here http://on.fb.me/UnK6is.

17. Getting Started

18. Getting Started
Think about…
 What are you seeking to get from Facebook
that’s different from other sites?
 Who will administer the page?
 How often will you post?
 What types of content will you post? What do
you need before you publish?
 What will you call the page?

19. Getting Started

20. Getting the Most out of
Timeline

21. Getting the Most out of Timeline
Use opportunities
to brand your page
Use applications to
incorporate other
sites

22. Getting the Most out of Timeline

23. Getting the Most out of Timeline

24. Getting the Most out of Timeline
Embrace images
Highlight or “pin” important posts

25. What’s Coming?

26. Is Facebook Right for You?
Facebook is ideal for:
 Real-time testimonials
 Deep content engagement
 Diverse types of content
 Promoting company news/thought leadership
 Generating leads
 Solving customer service problems

27. …for brokers

28. Sometimes Business is Personal

29. Sometimes Business is Personal
LinkedIn is the standard as far as the social network
for business but many people are not active on
Linkedin.
Twitter is a fantastic tool for creating visibility and
discovery but it is still far from mainstream.
Facebook is the most ubiquitous of all the social
networks and while many business executives don’t
use facebook for business purposes, many spend
time on the platform.

30. Who are you connected with online?
People do business and refer business
to people they know, and trust
Existing Clients: How often do you speak with them?
- Strengthen relationships
Friends: Do they know exactly what you do?
- Educate them to refer you business
Colleagues -Brokers in other cities/markets
- Develop new relationships

31. Personal Account vs. Brand Page
 Private – only people  Public – just like
I friend can see my your website or blog
personal page
They both can play a role in your facebook
strategy

32. Facebook Pages

33. Creating a Killer Business Page
Cover Photo Profile Photo
Page Name
About Section Custom
Tabs

34. What do I Post on my Page?
The Status Update
Build an Active and Informative Wall
I like to think of my Facebook business page as
my online newsletter with a little personality.
• Relevant articles to CRE, Technology and the Economy (news
source)
• What’s happening in my market and niche
• Photos & Video (every one loves photos & video)
• Announcements (what’s going on in my business, market)
• Blog Posts
• Status updates with a little personality
(successes, challenges, frustrations, humor)
• Monitor, participate and respond to comments on your wall
This is personal branding. People want to
connect with a person not a logo.

35. Discuss hot topics and
share your commercial
real estate expertise

36. Highlight your success, but only occasionally

37. Promote others and
share posts from other
pages

38. You don’t always have to talk
about commercial real estate

39. Use Video and Lots of Photos

40. Comment on other Facebook Pages

41. Can this really work?
Its not about the number of likes or friends. It’s about who
you are connected with and what you do with those
connections.

42. Questions?