We, in the United States, have been blessed for the last fifteen plus years of enjoying essentially free internet. As a business, a company could purchase a domain for a few bucks and upload some html and the business was "in business". Initially, we had some digital islands, or groups, like Compuserve and AOL that made you purchase access to their hubs. Then Yahoo, MSN and other free hubs came around and eliminated the need to "pay to play". We started to once again enjoying free access to explore and search the internet. And then we fell in love with Google. Google over the last ten years gave us the power to quickly explore the millions then billions of websites just by adding in a few key words to a search. This search became very powerful, so powerful that Google realized their ability to "sell" keyword searches and bought out groups like DoubleClick to better understand the people that clicked through. Adwords, Google's primary revenue source, auctions keyword phrases that made sense to business for a certain dollar amount and business, realizing the opportunity, gobbled it up and started hiring companies or people to handle their new online ad spend. Well, this happy marriage between Google and business continues, but then emerged social and mobile technologies.
During this time period, MySpace, Napster, Friendster and eventually Facebook sprung up and created social networks, or new versions of digital islands, to connect people to each other b/c of like mindedness. As you are aware, it swelled to gigantic proportions and people began to use these digital islands and not the Internet to explore and communicate their likes or wants. In addition, pretty Apple, with all its shininess, developed the iPhone, a universal interface that allows for companies, like mine, to develop applications and advertisements for businesses to better interact with either other businesses or consumers. These applications, also digital islands, gathers people and isolates them away from the internet and solely into their application.
While all this is happening, multifamily housing marketers and executives are trying to find ways to get in front of people. They start by getting their website live. Then they pay to promote their communities on ILS's and promote through Craigslist. Then, they play with PPC on Google and realize it is important to be seen through this massive search engine. Which makes them realize that, "hey better to be on the ORGANIC search related side than the PPC sponsored ad side". So, then they hire SEO specialists to keyword their websites, set up link backs and tag their sites to get the best possible outcome from organic search. What they don't realize right away is that OTHER ILSs and competing websites are doing the same thing. Which prompts them to take advantage of BLOGGING with a blog page and go SOCIAL with their facebook pages, Twitter accounts, YouTube channels, Flickr galleries all for the attempt of getting seen and potentially engaging with a very active resident fan base. And I can tell you all this worked...until Google introduced Instant.
What Instant does is open the flood gates to large companies like Verizon or Comcast partnering with Google and essentially buying the "Instant" algorithm and giving priority to their large advertisers and large ILSs who spend hundreds of thousands or millions a year in other forms of advertising "instant" access to keyword search terms. This will ELIMINATE your ability to get seen by people who search through Google. Fair? I don't think so and attention needs to be drawn to this massive issue. The internet furthered the American business spirit which bases itself on open and fair competition.
So, what to do? Well continue doing what you are doing first and foremost. The fact that Instant exists doesn't mean that the overtake of net neutrality is here and now...but you must start thinking of it as here and now and start preparing.
Second step...you must start thinking of mobile applications and mobile ads that will help you create your own digital islands. Cross marketing is essential to the design and development of mobile applications.
Third, think guerilla and think retention. Now, more than ever, your teams should be very trained on getting out on the field (both physically and digitally) to outreach and to retain residents.
Four stay connected on whether the FCC will have a say on net neutrality. As of September 10th, they don't have authority, meaning that no govt body will have the authority to stop large companies like Google or Verizon from brokering a deal to block your website, telling you which broadband to use or brand of mobile phone to use to get access to applications.
If you want to read Google's position, which discusses their side of the story, but is important to read, simply click here.
If you want further clarification on this topic and what it means to your company, please feel free to contact me direct at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.