Category Archives: pr

In real estate, relationships matter most

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What was the lesson our real estate clients (and their peers) learned in 2016? Relationships matter—and those relationships are changing. As Baby Boomers continue to retire and Generation X settles into midlife, the next big boom in real estate rests with America’s largest generation: millennials. However, the means of communicating with millennials, and other real estate buyers and sellers, have also changed.

Whether its millennial buyers—who, according to the National Association of Realtors, are now moving into their prime home buying years—or their big brothers and sisters in Gen X who have been taking advantage of historically low mortgage rates, the lessons are the same. Engaging with consumers has evolved and Realtors are working to match that pace to maintain and grow these relationships.

To ensure these relationships flourish, Realtors are taking advantage of social media, asking for and responding to online reviews, highlighting their civic and charitable efforts and pursuing a variety of third-party validators to help influence the decisions of today’s buyers and sellers. A clear majority of millennials say they don’t trust advertising, but user-generated content (reviews) and third-party endorsements (news coverage, testimonials, etc.) weigh heavily in their decision- making about hiring a Realtor. Owned media – company websites, blogs, digital newsrooms, whitepapers, etc. – present tremendous opportunities for improved engagement with home buyers and sellers.

These are the lessons of 2016 and beyond. So while NAR predicts a continued lack of inventory and increasing demand for real estate, real estate professionals need to increasingly rely on building relationships. Our public relations efforts for real estate brokerages across the country and here in Pennsylvania, like those noted above, are bearing that out. So make your New Year’s Resolution to build relationships by communicating more effectively.

 

Bay Area real estate update, moment of HGTV Fame

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Alain Pinel Realtors’ Cait Hudson, far right, discusses Bay Area market trends with KTVU-TV’s morning news team. To see the entire interview, click the KTVU FOX 2 link below.

 

Realtor Cait Hudson was recently featured on San Francisco’s KTVU FOX 2 morning news talking about the lack of homes currently listed for sale in the Bay Area and other trends in the local real estate market. This Alain Pinel Realtors agent was also on the show to let viewers know she is working with HGTV’s popular “House Hunters” program to find and recruit buyers to feature on the network’s show about buying a home in the Bay Area.

Risk brings reward as Ecopax begins construction of its second Lehigh Valley facility

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Christina Wong, vice president of operations at Ecopax, understands the risk her father, Peter Wong, took when he brought his family from China to the U.S. At the groundbreaking event of Ecopax’s new Bethlehem facility, she spoke of his determination to build a successful business and the journey that has led to investing in this $20 million project. The building should be complete and ready to open its doors to the public in 2017. Discover how this family continues to grow their company and create jobs throughout the Lehigh Valley in this article from Lehigh Valley Business.

Chef Polignano of the Ryland Inn brings his own flavor to one of the state’s premier restaurants

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Fulfilling one of his culinary dreams, Chef Craig Polignano of Basking Ridge, New Jersey joins the Ryland Inn as its newest executive chef. Find out how he and one of the best eats in New Jersey are making Craig a top chef and the Ryland Inn a top restaurant, in this NJBIZ feature story.

Responding to Golden (State) opportunities

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I was recScreen Shot 2016-07-20 at 2.16.36 PMently reminded that publicity is perhaps one of the most important tools for a non-profit organization. Athletes C.A.R.E., a student athlete organization focused on ending homelessness and hunger, received an unexpected shout out from Nick Young of the L.A. Lakers on a recent episode of Cupcake Wars: Celebrities.

This was an unplanned windfall for Athletes C.A.R.E., but absent a plan to respond and capitalize on the event, it would have ended as a one-time happening missed by many.

Fortunately, Athletes C.A.R.E. took advantage of its active social media presence. For non-profits, leveraging social media can mean a huge boost in messaging attention, and even fundraising.

The first step is to post about the event. Take to every platform where you have an active presence and let followers know your organization has been publicly recognized. In those posts, be sure to tag the relevant names and organizations. For Athletes C.A.R.E., this meant tagging Nick Young, the L.A Lakers, The Food Network and Cupcake Wars. By tagging the appropriate parties (and their social media accounts) you widen the reach of your post and expose your organization to broader audiences. Now not only will your followers see the post, but the followers of anyone you tag will see the post as well.

Additionally, you can reach out to your local newspaper and other local media outlets to alert them of events such as having Nick Young reference your non-profit on national television. Something at that level might warrant a local news story.

Finally, you can follow-up two or three more times via social media over the course of the following week, pointing out different aspects of the initial event to extend the message and the reach. However posting more than that will likely be unwelcome. And any additional social posts about the event should be broken up by other content on social media.

With limited budgets and personnel, publicity and social media are two of the strongest tools in a non-profit’s arsenal. The ability to capitalize on and expand your organization through opportunities such as the situation with Athletes C.A.R.E. will strengthen your organization and help spread your message.

This post is courtesy of Cassidy Taylor, Lafayette College class of 2017, Kimball’s summer 2016 intern.

Landmark Hospitality describes their secret to success

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NJ Biz recently sat down with co-founder and president of Landmark Hospitality, Jeanne Cretella to discuss how the company has expanded and grown in the rapidly changing hospitality industry.

Read more about the rich history of Landmark Hospitality here.

 

Behind the Headlines with Eileen Coyne

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behind-the-headlines-hiCision, one of the world’s most prominent global media intelligence companies, recently reached out to the newest addition to the Kimball Communications team, Eileen Coyne, to talk about public relations.

In her interview, Eileen discusses the importance of creating meaningful content, insights for relationship building and the all-important need for strong writing skills in the world of PR.

Click here for the complete interview between Cision and our own Eileen Coyne.

Eileen Coyne joins Kimball Communications

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Kimball Communications is proud to announce Eileen Coyne has joined the Philadelphia agency as its newest public relations manager, as noted in O’Dwyers and the Philadelphia Business Journal today.

Coyne will be tasked with developing and executing client strategies and tactics, and leading certain PR accounts for the agency.

She joins Kimball Communications after having served most recently as an account manager with marketing and PR firm IMRE,  which is headquartered in Baltimore. Before that she was a senior communications coordinator for Nationwide Insurance.

After graduating from Loyola University Maryland with a degree in Communications, Coyne began her career as a journalist working with several prestigious business trade publications in Washington, D.C. and Ohio before making the transition to a career in public relations.

She can be reached by email at ecoyne@kimballpr.com or at the office at (610) 559-7585

Coast-to-Coast new clients expand our reach in real estate, hospitality

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Today’s edition of BullDog Reporter features news regarding two new Kimball Communications clients: Alain Pinel Realtors and Landmark Hospitality. Read more about the work we’ll be doing for clients from coast to coast from Bulldog Reporter.

As days go by: blogging matters

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Blogging can be fun; it can be tedious. It’s a task for an intern, or for everyone to share. No matter how you look at it, what you say online is crucial to growing your business while also demonstrating your expertise. Let me explain…

We’ll start by exploring a little thing called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). People who know and use your business can get to your website whenever they want by entering your URL into their web browser.

What about growth, though? When new customers or clients are searching for the product or service you offer, you want them to find your website first. That is what SEO does. You can make sure that your website is clear and informative, stating exactly what it is you do; relevant information helps your website appear higher on the list of results when certain terms are searched. You can even pay for advertising around the keywords that people are typing in to increase the position in which your website appears.

But all of that applies only to your relatively static website. Each time you create a blog post, you create a new web address with relevant content for the audience you want to reach. You’re gaining credibility by talking about what you know best, and you’re stretching your online presence by providing new information for clients and customers to find when they search for a service like yours online. So now, instead of appearing in search results only once, each blog post has the potential to appear as a separate site, increasing your online presence dramatically.

What happens after you blog? Does that post disappear deep into the archives of your website? Nope! Hubspot, an inbound marketing company, explains the idea of “compounding posts,” which basically means that you may get 100 views on the first day you publish your post, but over the next few months, a good post will continue to generate traffic to your website, sometimes exponentially.

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From a PR perspective, contacts generated and credibility gained are really going to make the difference. By blogging regularly, you gain a captive audience that will now see your press releases as soon as they’re posted, while we’re still in close contact with other news sources that will reach the rest of the population you’re hoping to target. You put yourself a step ahead of the game, so as days go by, it’s bigger growth for your company.

Getting started, or ramping it up (if you’re already blogging)

As far as content for blog posts, write about what you know best—piece of cake! Images make a post more attractive, so don’t forget to include one or two. Social Marketing Writing has some stats that will improve your blogging performance. My top three favorites include:

  • Once you accumulate 51 posts, blog traffic increases by 53%, goes up by 3 times when you hit 100 posts, and by 4.5 times after 200 posts. Posting more often will help you get there!
  • Blogs get the highest traffic on Monday mornings, so at the least, plan to have a post published every Monday morning.
  • Posts published on Thursdays get the most social shares.

Blogging is a low-cost way to keep in touch with your clients and grow your business. We think it’s an essential part of any company’s marketing and PR strategy.

To find out more about how we can help you achieve results through blogging, contact us today!