Now, with YouTube Ads you can reach your targeted audience and spread your videos in front of them and gaining the attention of and educating prospects and those unfamiliar with your brand by using a winning strategy, the ability to create great videos, and the SEO know-how to optimize those videos around keywords and topics that people on YouTube care about.

There are three key types of video ads in which you can invest on YouTube:
✅ TrueView.
✅ Prerol.
✅ Bumpers.

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Welcome, one and all, to what should be a fun little tech-based post. Like many people, I find technology interesting. The way we’ve developed different systems over the years, and how we’ve gone on to apply these to modern life is at times fascinating, especially when it comes to things that you either didn’t know were even there to begin with or weren’t aware could be used in the way they are. It’s for this reason that I like today’s subject, because it covers something that, although I knew it existed, I hadn’t really considered in terms of how it’s used: Geofencing.

So, let’s start with a definition of the term. A geofence is a predefined area, within which electronic devices are monitored. This area is completely virtual; it requires no additional hardware to be installed by the user, and instead relies on data gathered from cellular/mobile phone towers, Wi-Fi data, and to a degree, GPS data. The general idea is to allow those who have set up the geofence to gain some insight into who breaches the perimeters of the fence, who sticks around, and who leaves.

The chances are, you’ve already been involved with this, at least insofar as registering perimeters goes. When you have your Wi-Fi switched on, your mobile device will send out frequent searches for new hotspots, and when one of these is found, it will most likely power on your GPS in the background and report the location to your device provider (such as Apple, Google, and so on). This allows different businesses to build up a picture of what sort of services can be offered, and where.

Now, if you weren’t aware of this at all, that probably sounds a little creepy. The thing is though, there a lot of benefits to geofencing, one of which you may have already experienced: push-notifications. Have you ever signed up to an app-based loyalty scheme for example? If so, there’s a good chance that your terms and conditions feature at least one point about the use of geofencing. This is because, when you agree to allow push-notifications, the idea is to allow the app to get them to you in a timely fashion.

So, say you’re in your local shopping mall, and you get a push notification offering a discount at a coffee shop. You then realise that there’s a branch of said chain in that very mall, and decide, ‘why not go for a drink?’ This isn’t down to lucky timing. The chances are that the company will have a geofence set up around the mall, meaning that they knew when you arrived, and knew that you weren’t simply passing through. But it won’t necessarily stop there. Let’s assume that you’re a registered app user and scanning a QR code within the app whenever you make a purchase earns you loyalty points. This will mean that the coffee shop will also have access to your purchase history. Did the discount they offered in the push notification relate to one of your frequent purchases? That’s because most businesses will use geofencing in conjunction with multiple promotions. Sure, broad brush approaches have their place too, but if you’re in a position to drill down to more detailed targeting, you’re likely to do it. There is no reason to offer cheap cappuccino to someone who doesn’t drink it when you can entice them better with 10% off their favourite hot chocolate, after all.

If we continue down the route of retail, in this case with our fictional coffee shop, they may also set up geofences around their competitors. This would allow them to see when a customer goes to another coffee shop, and maybe give them a nudge to come back. This will also allow them to see when you simply aren’t visiting coffee shops in the mall and give them an opportunity to throw a bone your way to regain your custom. That’s right, Big Brother may not always be watching, but your favourite stores are!

Of course, we don’t all run businesses that would benefit from such marketing tactics, so how does apply outside this setting? Well, there are certainly a few uses within the realms of security. With data security being such a big part of life these days, geofencing can be applied as a safe guard. The way this works is to set up a perimeter with one of two rules: either certain data cannot be accessed within/outside the perimeter, or devices automatically shut down outside the perimeter. If you want to look to wider personal security, this is already being applied by parents to ensure that their kids can’t access inappropriate material near their school, via apps installed on both their own and their child’s phones.

Of course, this also applies outside offices. Even putting the data security aside, many construction sites have geofencing strategies to show not only when workers are on site, but also to monitor the movement of equipment. Once set up, the contractors can tell when certain items leave the site, or even have it set up to prevent them being used outside the work area.

So, with that lengthy introduction out of the way, let’s have some fun! It’s time to speculate how geofencing could be utilized in the future.

I want to start here with something applies to the everyday world in a mundane setting: the rise of ‘smart devices’ in the home. You may notice that science fiction shows often show things such as houses that can tell when their occupant returns home and adjust the house temperature to ‘just right’, turn the lights on, and so on. These are all things that can be achieved now with geofencing. You simply set up the perimeter around your house, and have the devices set to power on when you arrive. Yes, there are similar systems to do the same things too, such as electricity and power company phone apps that allow you to manually adjust temperatures, or timer plugs to get your desktop PC switched on and warmed up when you’re due home, but these do have some areas where time has an effect: you need to manually operate the temperature apps, and the timer only works to plan if you arrive when expected to. If new build homes were to come with an in built geofence, these steps could be bypassed and refined. Pretty useful, right?

Then there are the potential uses in competitions. If a person were to set up a number of geofences within an area, and had an app set up to send specific clues or pointers when a registered user enters one, you could essentially set up a modern treasure hunt. It’d be like an app-focused geocaching!

Finally, there are further security potentials. The obvious would be to install the apps as defaults in smart cars and use this to track stolen vehicles. Rather than explore this though, I wanted to offer an idea whereby geofencing could help reduce a different type of crime: gun violence.

We already have what are known as locationised guns. These work by using GPS to ensure that they are only fired in certain areas, such as a hunting ground. The problem is that, due to legislative restrictions, they have never been developed commercially. Since these work in a similar way to geofencing principals though, it’s not a big leap of the imagination to say that you could set up a perimeter around high density areas such as schools or shopping malls and use these to prevent locationised gun from being deployed therein.

Of course, if this were rolled out as a standard for all guns sold in a country, city, town, etc., it would potentially prevent law enforcement from firing too, thusly reducing their effectiveness if faced with an armed attacker wielding a blade or explosives, wouldn’t it? Well, not necessarily. As stated above, you can disable and enable certain devices using a geofence as a basis. If you were to limit use to law enforcement issued weapons, that would allow bodies such as the police to continue to operate. Now there would of course be the worry that someone wanting to commit a crime could acquire a police weapon to bypass this, but even if we ignore the potential to restrict the use of individual weapons using the same technology, there’s already another workaround for that: smart guns also already exist. These weapons are equipped with tools that prevent unauthorized users from firing them, with solutions ranging from finger print recognition to physical tokens. Were law enforcement weapons to move exclusively to this system with the operation being based on finger print (or indeed similar) technology, this would also act as a way to prevent this.

So, there you have it. I hope that was as interesting for you to read as it was for me to write. But what do you think? Were you already aware of geofencing? How could you see it being used in the future? Let me know in the comments below.

The post Geofencing Advertising: How and Where it works ? appeared first on EDS FZCO.

At some point, every entrepreneur comes to the crossroads of whether they should engage in social media marketing or not.  The quick answer is – yes!

I know, I know! You don’t have time! You have a dozen appointments on the go, a million tasks on your to-do list and you simply can’t afford the time to learn how to do it!  The truth is – You can’t afford not to!

If you are in business to make money, then you will no doubt want to have conversations with prospective clients, right? For realtors, those conversations are embedded within their lead generation systems.  Your goal, always, is to have as many conversations as you can, because those conversations translate to leads and those leads translate to appointments and those appointments translate to deals….. get the idea? Now, imagine if you will, that every time you had a “conversation” with someone, you were able to gauge exactly how they feel about you and your services, how often they heard your message, and if they have told anyone else about you and what they have learned.  This is the power of Social Media Marketing!

Are you ready to start having “conversations” on the social web, with prospective clients, and have the ability to monitor and track your engagement? Lets go!

10 Tips to Getting Started on Social Media Marketing

1. What is your goal.

What is it that you hope to achieve through these “conversations”.  Why do you want to engage? Are you trying to sell a product or service? Stay relevant? Build a brand name? Boost loyalty? Be known as the trusted source for information? Figuring out what you hope to achieve will affect the types of content you publish and what your “voice” will be.

2. Know your audience, Know your audience, Know your audience

This couldn’t be more important.  You will be engaging in conversations on the social Web.  Make sure that your message and voice match what your target audience wants and needs to hear.  Just like in face to face conversations, the goal is to speak WITH people, not speak AT people.  Are you a brokerage or realtor trying to communicate with consumers? Or are you trying to communicate with other Realtors? I often see social media accounts where the lines are really blurred.  One moment they are posting about how much they love what they do and how happy their clients are, and then the next moment they are complaining about a bad deal or client and posting photos of themselves drinking at bar with the hashtag #FML.  Point being, knowing your audience will help you determine what your voice will be and will also help you to identify what your content should look like.

3. Content Management

There is no shortage of content on the web, so the issue is not really about where to find things to post.  The question is whether you are able and willing to manage your sites yourself, whether you should hire someone, or whether you should create original content or source it from other places.  A few factors come into play when making the decision.  First, do you have the budget to hire someone else? If the answer is no (which is usually the case for most realtors, at least at the beginning), then your option is to manage the site yourself.  This does not have to be an overwhelming and daunting task. In fact, one could argue that the only person who can speak like you and be you – is well, you!   Your number one goal, should always be to connect with people, and you do that by engaging, sharing, and ensuring your message is both relevant and consistent. I don’t think the debate on original content vs shared content will ever end, and depending on who you are talking to, they each have valid points.  But remember one thing – your job is to sell, and in order to sell, you can’t be behind a computer for 4 hours a day creating content.  Opt for a modest approach to start and then re-evaluate as you go.

4. Create a schedule

It is important, as you move forward in planning your social media marketing campaign, that you identify how often you will be posting.  This will help you plan your day and be better prepared to manage your sites.  I will always argue that it is quality over quantity. Start with a schedule of 1-2 posts per week, and about 15-20 minutes per day for engaging.  By engaging, we mean liking, comment and sharing with your friends/followers/connections.  “Conversations” are never a one-way street.

5. Select your platforms

Are you already familiar with specific platforms? Where does your target audience gravitate most? This will help point you in the right direction. Will it be Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat….the list can go on. Pick your preferred platforms and get started on creating your profiles.  Remember, this is business, so make sure people will be able to identify what you do and who you are.  Oh, and you know the old adage “your first impression is a lasting  impression”? Make sure your profile photo is clear and professional.  That means, no photo of the dog, or kids or a selfie…. sorry! Your photo is the first thing they will see.  Next to that is your profile description.  Take a bit of time crafting that description of who you are, and invest in professional photography.  Trust me, they will not go to waste!

6. Quality vs Quantity

I referenced this earlier when we were talking about how many posts you should be working towards, but the same rule applies to your audience.  As you get started, you may come across apps and tools that promise to bring you thousands of free followers.  Remember this – it is better to have 100 engaged followers than 1000 ghost profiles who will never ever turn into potential leads or sources of referrals. The social platforms are moving away from algorithms that force you to see sponsored ads, and more towards relationship and personal engagement. That means, they can detect if you have fake followers, paid subscribers or are using automated third party content. They want “real” people.  Which leads to me the next point…

7. Be authentic

When crafting your messages and content and engaging with your audience, be genuine and authentic.  No one likes to be “sold”.  In a world where we are bombarded with sales pitches and marketing messages, people want “real”. Remember, one day you will hopefully get to meet the people you engage with online,  Be sure that you are who they think you are.

8. The 80/20 Rule

Your profiles and accounts should not be 100% business, they are called “social” platforms for a reason.  People do business with people they like, know and trust.  If you and I have something in common, your like-ability already goes up in my books.  If my friends are connected with you, then your perceived trust goes up as well.  The 80/20 rule means, that 20% of the time, your message should be focused around what you do, what you are selling and self-promotion.  But, 80% of time, you will be engaging, posting relevant messages and information, and creating a perception that you want people to have of you.  You see, the true hidden power of social media is that you get to control the perception you are creating.  Don’t be afraid to post special family moments, recognition achievements, testimonials, your nature walks with your dog, in addition to your showings, listings, virtual tours etc… all of these things make you who you are, and they also allow people to get to know you.  (Well, the parts of you that you choose to share anyways).  Do we all have bad days? Yep! Do we all have opinions on politics and world issues? You bet! With the 80/20 rule also comes the rule “be positive”!.  No one wants to hear you complaining and venting and treating social media like your “dear diary”.  Look where that’s gotten Trump! (again, I digress…)

9. Post and Watch

Most of the online social platforms offer you a variety of analytics and metrics to evaluate your engagement.  How many people visited your site, watched your video, comments left, likes received, number of shares etc.. As you begin to post, start evaluating your effectiveness.  Don’t be too quick to judge.  If you only have 10 people on your account, it might not be a large enough sample to evaluate whether your message is effective or not.  But the key is to watch and take notes.  Start to listen to your audience.  Notice their likes, clicks, comments and shares as they will tell you a lot about what they want to hear.  Allow them to control the conversation in that sense.  Once you identify topics or posts that they enjoyed, repeat!

10. Balance

Like everything in life, too much of one thing is not always good.  Sales is not an easy job, and facing objections, deals that fall apart and people that say no, can take its toll.  It is no wonder why more and more realtors choose to hide behind their screens.  But, social media is NOT a replacement for real conversations.  It is an enhancement. Design your strategy, stick to a schedule and stay focused on what is really important to building a business.  Don’t get caught up in the world of social marketing.  You don’t need a Blog, and a VLOG, and a YouTube Channel, and Live FB show, and Instagram, and Twitter, and LinkedIn, and Snapchat, and Pinterest and… you get the idea.  Yes, they are all valuable, but if you are finding that most of your time is spent behind a computer or staring at your phone then I can almost guarantee you are not “in business”.

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