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casts," he says. "And the nature of our business is that we're in the car
a lot," so it's a time-ef cient way to access those resources, he adds.
A broker with NAI/T e Dunham Group in Portland, Maine,
Lamontagne is contributing to the mix. Last year he launched "Com-
mercial Real Estate Elite: Broker to Brokers," a 30-minute free podcast
available on iTunes. Lamontagne interviews a top broker from each
state, to give listeners best practices, tips, and resources.
"Getting it up and running was certainly the biggest hurdle," he says.
He hired a consultant to help him, and it took him about four months
to master the medium. He estimates that he now spends about one to
two hours a week preparing the shows, which are underwritten by a
sponsor. "Interviewing real estate brokers has been a breeze," he says.
"I'm just talking shop, which is what I do on a daily basis."
He reports good feedback on the podcasts and promotes them on
his LinkedIn and Twitter feeds. Twitter, in particular, "has been a
phenomenal resource for me."
Measuring ROI
T ere are a variety of ways to quantify social media use — a plat-
form's analytics tools, the number of followers or "likes" — but users
agree that most of the benef ts are of en intangible or long-term. "It
isn't something that directly results in money in your pocket," Hill
says. "It's a combination of things that you can do to make yourself
more valuable to someone else."
But users also agree social media is simply part of work they were
doing anyway. "I read dif erent websites and trade publications
and if I f nd them interesting, I'm going to push them out," Orr
says. "It's going to take me a few seconds push out a link in social
media, and when I do, I've created value for my comrades in the
social media circles."
Social media, adds Of enbecher, "helps you become a reputable
source of information, and with that, you earn trust. As people trust
you and understand that you're an expert in the market, then they
want to do business with you."
Sarah Hoban is a business writer based in the Chicago area.
A CLOSER LOOK
Social media examples mentioned in this
article include:
Twitter feeds
@JohnOrrCCIM
@retailcaprates
@GantHillAssoc
@crunkletonhsv
Blogs
www.compasscommercial.com/blog
https://crunkletonblog.wordpress.com
johnorr.com/CRE
Facebook
www.facebook.com/CompassCommercial
www.facebook.com/CrunkletonAssociates
Podcasts
brokertobrokers.com
Source: "The 2014 Fortune 500 and Social Media," Charlton College of Business Center for Marketing Research, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Fortune 500 Social Media Usage
Percentage of Fortune 500 companies that use various social media platforms
Twitter Facebook YouTube Google+ Blog Pinterest Foursquare Instagram LinkedIn
73%
77%
83%
66%
70%
80%
62%
69%
67%
35%
38%
28%
34%
31%
2%
9%
36%
9%
51%
97 %
8%
20 %
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0
2012 2013 2014