Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: facebook advertising (Linda H) Cohousing-L Digest, Vol 146, Issue 26

[Tiffany Lee Brown (magdalen23]

linda ~

i have not been part of a cohousing organization, but i've been working in 
online content, community-building, social media, and Internet marketing since 
before the phrase "social media" existed... since before one could 
point-and-click on these funny things called "websites." based on that 
experience:

1) ongoing, dedicated experimentation with a view toward long-term online 
community-building might serve your group well. the way to make this work is 
often to have a single person who really loves online communication/social 
media take charge or lead up a small team. this isn't your marketing person: 
it's a facilitator, host, cheerleader, someone with a genuine love of the 
medium and who deeply cares about your cohousing organization. let's call them 
your "connector." give them adequate resources! if you want a solid long-term 
online presence, make sure your group is ready to appreciate the work that will 
need to be done. if another member works visibly in the community garden 15 
hours a month and rarely goes online, make sure she understands that your 
connector's 15 hours of combined social media posting is valuable and 
necessary. do not expect insta-results from this process. expect long years of 
slow inroads, scattered with dead ends, just like building a real-life 
community and making significant changes in the world. this can be a high 
burnout job; you don't have to hit the ground running. let your community's 
online presence emerge slowly and organically. let the ads, promotional posts, 
and Facebook page intersect coherently with your organization's private online 
forums as well (such as a members-only Listserv).

2) be selective about paying for ads. Google AdWords can be a remarkable driver 
of business. i have less direct experience with FB promotions and ads. in 
general, take the time to coordinate between your real, organic online and 
social media presence (see #1) and your ad budget. pay for ads when you have 
something specific to push. for example, a generic "Community Housing in Our 
City, USA" ad might bring in some general inquiries, but how many of those will 
bear fruit? keep track of it. you may find that saving your ad dollars for 
specific promotions and events is more effective. "Barn Dance & Family Day at 
Our City Community Co-Housing - April 17" might really bring those clicks, 
useful clicks that bring people to your door.

3) invest in a coherent marketing strategy, content strategy, and branding in 
general. is your community doing all its own architectural design, plumbing, 
and electrics? probably not. sometimes it's good to pay outsiders to bring 
professionalism and objectivity to a complex task. people with little or no 
marketing experience tend to think they can and should do it themselves, 
usually with mixed results and a fair amount of in-fighting. flailing around 
with homegrown marketing attempts can become a poor use of community members' 
time. an outside agency or freelance consultant can also be a lightning rod for 
internal dissatisfaction—not always a bad thing. having members glower at the 
guy from an ad agency because the ad didn't seem perfect to them? sometimes 
that's preferable to having them glower at their own fellow members on the 
Marketing Committee.

hope these ideas are useful as you contemplate how best to use your resources!

take care...


tiffany
co-housing wannabe
(& writer/editor at Plazm)
Oregon



On Mar 29, 2016, at 5:25 AM, Alan O'Hashi via Cohousing-L wrote:

> 
> linda - i suggest making a recruitment page, populate it initially with all 
> your and your fellow organizer people.
> 
> use fb advertising to target people in your market.
> 
> keep the content fresh with info about cohousing, memes, photos, videos, 
> articles, etc.
> 
> Alan O'Hashi
> Have Camera - Will Travel
> Boulder    303-910-5782 
> Wyoming 307-247-1910
> Typos By iPhone Auto-Correct
> 
>>  4. Re: facebook advertising (Linda H)
>> 
>> Message: 4
>> Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2016 19:44:12 -0400
>> From: Linda H <linda [at] hobbeton.com>
>> To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
>> Subject: Re: [C-L]_ facebook advertising
>> Message-ID: <56F9C1CC.3070107 [at] hobbeton.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
>> 
>>> On 3/27/2016 9:23 AM, Alan O'Hashi via Cohousing-L wrote:
>>> 
>>> i've used it. it's another tool that should be used with other media. i 
>>> assume you have a market development and advertising plan with a goal(s) in 
>>> mind - what is it, acquire more names? sell a house?
>>> 
>>> like any method, the more familiar you are to the market, the better, 
>>> otherwise it gets to be a volume business, which is expensive to convert 
>>> into money.
>> 
>> I'm a member of Village Hearth Cohousing in Durham, NC. We have land and 
>> are recruiting members.
>> 
>> Linda Hobbet
>> 
>> 
>> End of Cohousing-L Digest, Vol 146, Issue 26
>> ********************************************
> 
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Tiffany Lee Brown
editor, plazm magazine
tiffany [at] plazm.com / magdalen23 [at] gmail.com