Use Local Content to Your Advantage

If you're like a lot of us, you're working hard to extend your company's web presence beyond your website. You're probably using blogs, social networking sites, and more.

By the time you're done (if that's even possible), you might have dozens of websites that house content and/or spark conversations about your company – Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Yelp, etc.

This is a good thing. Casting a wider net gives you more opportunities to get/stay in front of current and prospective customers, and content from peers is always more powerful than romance copy from marketers.

However, while this might make your business easier to find, it creates another problem as your brand's online presence becomes increasingly decentralized. How can you show off your brand's personality and your social media prowess to someone who stumbles upon your website from one of your ILS ads? Many websites and blogs now feature that standard row of social media icons that seems to scream "We're one of the cool kids, too!" These aren't bad, but they don't really tell the visitor much, other than the fastest way to leave your site and play on Facebook. There is also a number of companies that want to aggregate the content of other brands (like yours) to give their users a full view of what people are saying about your brand.

So what am I getting at? [Warning: Blatant sales pitch ahead.]

We want to provide marketers with an easy way to share social media content with visitors to your website, without making them leave your site. It doesn't require a major redesign or intense coding ... we’ve developed a simple solution to help collect and present your content from some of these various networks. It's called TurnSocial, and it will help you use all of that content to show off your brand's personality.

While the typical apartment community website may feature interactive floor plans and regularly-updated availability, the TurnSocial toolbar allows users to interact with an apartment community’s content that is otherwise fragmented around the web. They can become a fan on Facebook, read neighborhood reviews on RentWiki, view the property's WalkScore, see what people are saying on Twitter, and more. Users get a more complete picture of the neighborhood and your brand's identity without ever leaving your site.

Basically, TurnSocial powers social content on websites for local businesses. It provides a more personalized experience for users, because they can see who you are communicating with, directly on your site. It also allows you to supplement your own efforts by featuring relevant content that is being created by other bloggers and news sources in your immediate area.

Here's what it looks like on a property website:

And if you want to see the toolbar in action, you can play with it at the bottom of the page here.

You can install the toolbar on your site for free starting today. We'd love to get your feedback. Email us any suggestions for apps, bugs, improvements, new uses or potential partnerships ... you can contact me directly or send an email to feedback@turnsocial.com.

Now it's your turn. If you're successfully using social media to build your business, how are you getting that presence in front of your customers and prospects? Whether it's a business card, a landing page or something else, I'd love to hear how you're getting your audience involved in the conversation.

Good luck ... you have a lot of competition!