WS1871 How to Utilize Social Media in Real Estate | Kimberly Zar Bloorian

Explore the dynamics of  commercial real estate marketing with our  guest, Kim  Zar Bloorian, the visionary CEO and founder of KLOUD. Join us in unraveling key insights into optimizing your marketing approach. Discover the power of leveraging social media platforms, constructing a robust email list, and cultivating a distinctive social presence that resonates in the industry.

In the latter part of this episode, we shift our spotlight onto the crucial aspects of personal and company branding. Our seasoned marketing expert delves into the delicate equilibrium between personal and corporate branding, unveiling diverse strategies tailored for each platform. Dive into the advantages of impactful video content, explore the potential for team members to embody your company brand, and gain valuable insights. We also dissect effective marketing techniques to allure the right investors for your enterprise. From defining and targeting investor avatars to crafting compelling posts with a persuasive call to action, we leave no stone unturned.

Tune in to absorb our collective experiences and underscore the pivotal role of engaging and unique content in enhancing your marketing strategies within the commercial real estate landscape. This episode is your gateway to essential tips, ensuring a heightened social media presence and unparalleled marketing strategies for success in the commercial real estate sector. Don't miss out on this invaluable resource – join us now!


Connect with Kimberly Zar Bloorian today! Drop her an email at kim@kloud.nyc to kickstart a conversation about transforming your digital presence. For more details on how KLOUD can revolutionize your marketing strategy, visit their website at https://kloud.nyc

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Transcript

00:00 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
There's so much that you as an individual can be providing as education to your followers. So what we really do is we'll speak to each person and we'll evaluate, like, okay, maybe someone's not such a good speaker, they shouldn't be putting out videos, but for you, like this would be fantastic, a fantastic opportunity. 

00:32 - Deana Berg  (Host)
This is Deena Berg on the Daily Real Estate Syndication Show. Today I'm going to be hosting Kim Zar Bloorian for a second show. She was here previously talking about her role as CEO and founder of Cloud. That's KLOUD, which is a full service marketing agency specializing in innovative solutions for commercial real estate. Today she's going to talk about social media and give some practical tips that you can apply. Are you a business owner? Are you somebody that's leveraging a service or a product on LinkedIn or on Instagram? Kim has some really great tips today. I hope you're going to benefit. All right, kim, thank you so much for being back with us. 

01:10
Part two of marketing for commercial real estate investors. I'm excited about this Very applicable Us as a company, lifebridge Capital. We're at a marketing inflection point, so I would love to hear any kind of advice that you can give to us and to our listeners about how they can get started. Let's say they are interested in learning more about your company, but let's say they're not quite ready. What can they do just today or tomorrow or this week getting involved in some of the social media platforms? What advice can you share? 

01:39 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
So I would start off by saying build yourself a very nice robust list of emails. Go through all of your contacts, put all of your, export them and make a nice robust email list. That is your database. That is the value of your business, because that are all of the relationships that you have. Then next, we need to build up some sort of social presence. I would say, if you don't already have a personal LinkedIn profile, make a LinkedIn profile. Make sure you have your photo, make sure you have your position there, make sure you have your experience there. Then we can have a Instagram page, whether that's a personal one where you're pushing out thought leadership, where you're talking about what's going on the market, or that can be something for your business, and that's really where I would start. And then the limit is endless. 

02:42 - Deana Berg  (Host)
So let's talk about LinkedIn, because I think that for me personally, I confess, and I need to grow in this area I have been hesitant and resistant in life in general and leaning into social media. Our family doesn't even own a television. I never have in my whole life. 

02:57 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Wow, I want to say good for you because, honestly, that's great, but also, come on, true. 

03:09 - Deana Berg  (Host)
True, we do have a projector so we can access Roku and college sports and videos. I just listen. I don't know how people spend an hour to two hours a night on TV. It is a race to the finish line for me to lay my head down at 11 pm and to get everything done, but three kids working full time wanting to be present as a wife and a mom and I'm just like I guess that's great, wow. 

03:38 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
I'm like you might be my inspiration, because I cannot pull myself away from my phone and TV, even with kids, so you're a legend. 

03:50 - Deana Berg  (Host)
Not trying to be I just like it's survival. So let's talk about LinkedIn. I recently joined the social media. I know this is like I'm an exception here. Okay, so I've been on LinkedIn now for about two years but, like, even when I post on LinkedIn, a lot of colleagues so I try to post content that I find would be, or that I think would be interesting or appealing to people, not just kind of what everybody else who's in investor relations is posting. I look at that content and I'm I want to fall asleep Like I don't even read it Interested in passive investing, interested in working less, and you know those same things that are said over and over. But I also want to convey and communicate that this is what we're doing. But I've kind of gone down the route just recently as storytelling because I've gotten to do a lot of really interesting things this fall and so trying to wrap in what I do but also tell the story and and really highlight and add value to others. 

04:49 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
What can? 

04:50 - Deana Berg  (Host)
I do within that framework and context. I mean there is some industry thought leadership that I that I plan on posting in the coming months. But tell me, like, about cadence, about mixing that kind of content with actual, you know, cre content around what life bridge capital is doing? Coachman? 

05:09 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
I really this is like my favorite part of marketing, because I feel like a therapist, because it's so personal and and I know we don't. We don't, we might not know each other so well, but just speaking to you for today, I understand. 

05:25
Let's get on your couch I'm just gonna lay on your couch, yeah, yeah, hear your tissues? No, but I'm saying like for an understanding that you are. You know, you have this energy to you and you speak so highly of life, bridge, capital, and you know what's going on and you, you're, you're speaking to these investors, you have stories. There's so much that you, as an individual, can be providing as education to your followers. So what we really do is we'll speak to each person and we'll evaluate, like okay, maybe someone's not such a good speaker, they shouldn't be putting out videos, but for you, like this would be fantastic, a fantastic opportunity. I think you should go, you know, in front of your phone, snap a few videos and say like this is what's going on, or here's a funny story. People love faces, people love the personality, so I would definitely tune in, and it's all boring when you're really putting your personality into it. 

06:35 - Deana Berg  (Host)
Okay, noted, I'm taking. I'm definitely taking notes. I think that there's an art on LinkedIn with, like the personal and the professional you know you don't want to see people turn LinkedIn into a Facebook. Yes, but I think that there You're not but you're not talking about personal things. 

06:51 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
You're talking about it from a business standpoint. I wouldn't want you to be talking about how, like, you were sitting at the dinner table and your child did X, y and Z, like okay, that's cute. But I think if you're talking about what happened in a meeting with an investor and how you convince them to invest in this deal, or how crazy this deal is, or something awesome about what happened when you went to the bank like there's a lot more color that you can add to your business and there's so much that you can show yourself as this professional in the real estate space Okay, so yeah, what are you saying? 

07:33 - Deana Berg  (Host)
Am I posting videos versus written content? 

07:37 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
I'm all about video. I'm all about video Again. People want to see your face, people want to hear your voice, people want to connect. We touched in our last segment about relationships and you know, post COVID, people aren't getting together as much, but they still crave relationships and we're bringing you those relationships through social media. So as much as you can show your face and people can hear your voice and connect with you, even if it's digital, I think it can go a long way. So what's the balance and difference between? 

08:14 - Deana Berg  (Host)
developing a personal brand and maintaining your company brand. So Delta Video is a financial platform in South Carolina that Bud스� CMOoh has designed. 

08:25 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
It's very, very much something that the company needs to decide. So there's companies that want to have team members' faces to be pushed out across the board, but then there's some companies that only want the CEO's face to be representing their brand. So for LifeBridge, I know that Whitney really wants everyone on their team to be on the team and really show themselves off and really represents LifeBridge as an overall company. So I think for you guys it'd be awesome if every team member has a personal brand, that they just tag LifeBridge in the post or they mention LifeBridge in the post, whereas for other companies we might only be posting on the LifeBridge pages so that we only build that sort of company brand rather than the personal Gotcha. So it's dependent, yeah. 

09:28 - Deana Berg  (Host)
Yeah, and that's true. That really is true. Both Sam and Sam Russ and Whitney Sewell, ceo and COO, are very much supportive of all of us kind of being out there in our personal brands and representing LifeBridge, so that's a joy to work in that kind of environment. Is there anything different that you would do in posting on Instagram than you would posting on LinkedIn? 

09:51 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Yes, for sure, instagram, I'd say. I like to keep videos even shorter than LinkedIn, so very, very quick content. 

10:04 - Deana Berg  (Host)
Right time frame on LinkedIn versus time frame on Insta. 

10:08 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Yeah, we'll keep the time frame shorter on Instagram, but what time frame? Oh, for Instagram I wouldn't exceed a 30 minute video, but for LinkedIn, a one minute video would do. Well, got it Okay. And that's because people are really focusing on Instagram stories. They're just clicking through or, if it's like a real Instagram reels, it's like the TikTok version of Instagram. Again, these are all short snippets, so we're not really seeing that longer form content that you might be seeing on LinkedIn. Instagram also you can put, but at the same time for Instagram and LinkedIn you can push out like a beautiful post. That's just like a deal close post specifically for a real estate company, and then for LinkedIn you can post links, Whereas for Instagram you can post links in the feed. You can only post a link in stories. So that's really a differentiator. 

11:18 - Deana Berg  (Host)
So let's say you had to pick between Instagram and LinkedIn. What would you recommend? Not that you have to, but let's say you want to focus your time in one place and then maybe grow and add the next one. 

11:28 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
So for a real estate company, I would definitely start with LinkedIn. Linkedin, you're really able to tailor who you're connecting with. You're able to find people by their company, how long they worked at a company, where they're located. You could really get into the nitty gritty from a professional standpoint, Whereas for Instagram I'd say it's a little bit more personal. You can't really delve into who that person is without knowing who the person is, whereas LinkedIn breaks it all down for you. 

12:01 - Deana Berg  (Host)
Gotcha. Okay, this brings up another question. I'm loving this, by the way, because it's like very real time for us. We talk a lot about our investor avatar and how can we define who is investing with us by the way that we serve them? How do you guys advise your clients to market specifically to an avatar investor? So, let's say, I'm on LinkedIn or even Instagram. I don't know if you have like an age demographic that Instagram serves more readily than LinkedIn, or I mean even departing from the LinkedIn Instagram discussion. How do you coach your clients or even approach and discuss your investor avatar and then how to tailor the content that you're providing to add the most value to them? 

12:50 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Again for LinkedIn and this is actually where I would bring in the different platforms because with LinkedIn, again, you're really able to understand the demographics of your investor, of the people that you're connecting with, which allows you to really break down who it is that you want to invest Like. When you have a deal in front of you, you know the perfect type of investor in your mind when you see that deal right. So with LinkedIn, you're able to search exactly where this person works how long hasn't they worked, what's their age? Where did they go to college? Like, what are their interests? You can get so into the nitty gritty and build that target audience, build that target demographic that you're looking for. So I would say that that is why marketing and all the communication and everything that we're discussing is so important, because you have these tools at your fingertips. You have these tools to be able to find what you're looking for in your business, and it's just about using it, getting to the source. 

14:01 - Deana Berg  (Host)
Yes, so can you talk a little bit about metrics on the back end of LinkedIn? What kind of impression quantity are you looking for for posts Like what's the success or what is that did not get much traction at all. 

14:18 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
There's industry standards for commercial real estate and we'll just compare your campaign to those industry standards. Linkedin does provide some like standard metrics, but they are different for commercial real estate and we make sure that we take that into account. 

14:40 - Deana Berg  (Host)
So you don't look at like post impressions. 

14:43 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
We do look at post impressions, but I wouldn't say that's like the number one way to see if, like a post is doing well Again, like we want. We're trying to get you the leads. So are people commenting? Are people reaching out to you? I rather look more at the engagement rather than the actual views. 

15:08 - Deana Berg  (Host)
So then, how do you recommend? If it's something where you are, you are, it's a commentary or an editorial but you also want to create a way for people to be able to. I mean, you just wait for follow-up, I guess, and then you follow up with them offline. 

15:22 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Well, we should really have a call to action for every single post that we're putting out. Okay, that's forgetting. This is good, keep going. So, for every single post we should have a call to action. That means, like, make sure your contact information is there. Ask a question that people will need to answer. We're trying to build again, we're trying to build that relationship. We're trying to foster some sort of network on these platforms. So, ask a question, put your contact information, tell people how they can reach you, say what you're looking for, be very specific, and a call to action is what's going to get you that engagement that we want. Gotcha. 

16:02 - Deana Berg  (Host)
Wow, very helpful. I love all of this, and so, as a service provider in marketing, do you guys sometimes just undertake this? How do you do this on behalf of a firm? 

16:13 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
So it's really fun because we're able to be part of all these different types of businesses within the commercial real estate space and we really feel, as part of the team, we really need to integrate ourselves as much as we can into the company so that we're able to understand, with the brand's messages, what's their tone of voice like, who they're looking for, who they're trying to connect with, who their target is. So we integrate ourselves really really well into the company. Our team is amazing at doing that and asking the questions and speaking to them on a daily basis. Our door is always open, we're texting, we're on a text basis with all of our clients. So we're making sure that we're integrated. 

16:59
And then, once we're integrated, our team is really it's really dependent on our clients how much they want to be involved. Like, do they want to see every single post that goes up? Do they want to, you know, double check every article that's going out? If they do, that's amazing and that's great. But there's some clients who kind of draw are like take the reins, cam, like peace out. So it really depends on that and how collaborative they want to be. But for us, we, the number one thing we always say is we need to integrate into your business, to be able to understand it, to then be able to do marketing for you. 

17:41 - Deana Berg  (Host)
That makes so much sense, especially if you're going to be almost like an extension of their voice on public, you know, on media. 

17:49 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
And that's kind of where people get frightened when they're using an agency versus someone in-house, because there's pros and cons. You know, when you're working with an agency, you're getting developers, you're getting graphic designers, you're getting marketing managers, you're getting people who really understand social media, but they're not necessarily sitting next to you, whereas you can go the marketing manager front, hire someone who is really good at marketing but like they don't have as much of a skill set as a team would. So it's like you have, but again they're right next to you and you can speak to them and they understand your brand very, very well because they're in your office. So there's pros and cons and that's something you should also evaluate when you're putting together a plan for your marketing, for your business. 

18:47 - Deana Berg  (Host)
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. This has been so. So you're, you're gonna come to a conference, and I'm actually in a posted video myself which is not my best. 

18:58
I'm on LinkedIn and I guess we'll just see what response looks like. I'll make sure that we like it. Yes, come connect with me, be my, be a fan. I'll come in too, okay, good, so let's shift a little bit to just talk a little bit about, about Kim. Like, tell us about a little bit about your family life, what you like to do for fun. Is there a hobby that you enjoy or a book that you can recommend, even if it's about marketing or not? Would love to hear a little bit more of the personal side about you. 

19:30 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Sure, so I love spending time with my family. We have an adorable two-year-old girl she's amazing and I have an amazing husband who actually also works in real estate and we our weekend really just looked like going around the city seeing what's fun for our two-year-old. That's like that's what our fun is. I love to cook. I do some cooking demos here and there. In terms of the post, so I used to really post a lot on cooking and I stopped. I'll be honest, I need to get back into it. A lot of people have been reaching out like, can I miss your recipes? Like it was a really awesome outlet, but I've been putting a little more energy into my two-year-old and my business, but so I haven't been pushing out some cooking content. But I need to get back into it. But that's really us and thankfully it's been an amazing journey and for me, the team at Cloud is so dedicated and so fun. We are remote but we have a group chat that's constantly going back and forth. Thank. 

20:50 - Deana Berg  (Host)
God been growing quick. Are you a national team or are you all local New York? 

20:56 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
So we're actually international. Oh, I have a developer out in London, I have a graphic designer out in Texas, I have two girls in Brooklyn. We're all over the place. So it's fun A lot of different time zones. 

21:19 - Deana Berg  (Host)
Yeah, we're a remote team as well and I think it's got its benefits and drawbacks. Like I'm a relationship person, I have one team member who lives actually down the street from me and whenever we have a meeting I'm like no, let's meet for lunch. I want to see you in person. So I love freedom that it affords and how fluid life it can be. I also miss that in person. So, as we wrap up, how can people find you, get a hold of you? Leverage your marketing services? 

21:48 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Sure, so email me anytime. Kim kim at klouznyc. You can check out our website wwwklouznyc and follow us. We're all over the place at klouznyc. 

22:06 - Deana Berg  (Host)
This has been a blast. I actually have some marching orders, as do you. If you've heard the TV show, kim has committed to attending some conferences. We're going to be together at these conferences. Yes, I'm excited, but I can't thank you enough for coming and sharing your expertise and being a guest on the show today. 

22:25 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Thank you, dina. So so great speaking to you. Thank you so much for having me. 

22:33 - Kimberly Zar Bloorian (Guest)
Thank you for being with us again today. I hope that you have learned a lot from the show. Don't forget to like and subscribe. I hope you're telling your friends about the Real Estate syndication show and how they can also build wealth in real estate. You can also go to livebridgecapitalcom and start investing today.