Last week I railed against some of our competitors using unqualified claims in their marketing to consumers and other agents. One such claim was “the No. 1 real estate company on Twitter and Facebook” on a widely circulated video…no source or disclaimer provided.
So, someone online called them on it and they responded by referencing a score on a site called Klout.com. Appears they had a score of 43 vs our 42. Seems legit, right? Beat us by one.
Unfortunately, this score changes daily/weekly, and they didn’t really tell anyone that…which makes it hard for them to put that claim in a video and post it to YouTube and truly be legit… Because, you see, today, my great brand has a score of 49 vs their score of 43.
Who has the world’s best cup of coffee now??? Well, today, we do. But tomorrow it might change.
So, I say it again… (home) buyer (and seller) beware! Make sure you know how claims are made before making one of the biggest purchase decisions of your life!
Trust your Brand!
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Coldwell Banker, Michael Fischer. Michael Fischer said: RT @coldwellbnkr World’s Bestest Cup of Coffee http://bit.ly/cZnQ4l […]
I’ve actually thought a lot about Klout and social media influence in general (as an aside, Klout was really great about responding to one of my skeptical blog posts about their platform).
My take:
All numbers worth looking at are dynamic; they fluctuate.
I am slightly confused by your overall message, however. I agree 100% that consumers should “make sure [they] know how claims are made”, but why do you then include “Trust Your Brand” ? It seems that skepticism and trust are opposite sentiments.
Either way, great post–I’m probably just nitpicking or misunderstanding what you mean.
Cheers.
@Ian – I think Mike was relating back to a post he made previously when he dealt with the “trust” issue in a bit more detail (here’s a link; http://blog.coldwellbanker.com/real-estate-marketing-worlds-best-cup-of-coffee/).
To me the point is awards are great, awards that have substantial proof/credibility to back it up are even better, but ultimately a brand that you trust will supersede all of that. Do you trust a brand making claims without hard facts? Maybe you do because of prior positive experience but for the brand trying to increase market share and gain an audience, trust is just as important as any marketing claims.
Now I’m rambling. Sorry. Thanks for the comment & insight into Klout.
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by coldwellbnkr: Blog: World’s Bestest Cup of Coffee – http://bit.ly/d3Wjqu…
Anyone in social media who says that number of followers is what gives value has missed the entire point. The tools that support narcissistic tendencies such as Klout, confuse the real issue.
A large audience isn’t nearly as important as engagement. At some level the larger your following, the less you can engage. Frankly, I had more fun with 50 followers on Facebook that I could actually engage than with a few thousand.
As far as Franchises go, I follow who I follow because at one point of another they engaged me or gave information of value, not because they had a good Klout score.
In my particular market place the company that keeps telling me how much online engagement they have, also carries the record for the highest percentage of agents getting out of the business. Not the best testimony for the importance of online engagement…
It’s more important to see what you’ve done with your audience (and who they are) than to simply say you have one.
I’ve actually thought a lot about Klout and social media influence in general (as an aside, Klout was really great about responding to one of my skeptical blog posts about their platform).
My take:
All numbers worth looking at are dynamic; they fluctuate.
I am slightly confused by your overall message, however. I agree 100% that consumers should “make sure [they] know how claims are made”, but why do you then include “Trust Your Brand” ? It seems that skepticism and trust are opposite sentiments.
Either way, great post–I’m probably just nitpicking or misunderstanding what you mean.
Cheers.
Thanks. Got a few replies that were confused so I think I did a bad job!…What I was trying to say was that I don't trust or can't trust a company that claims something but doesn't back it up with facts. When they don't back things up, as in the case of that competitor, I really wonder how trustworthy they are as a company if they just throw out claims without concern if the info is correct! So, if the whole idea of "branding" or "brands" is working with a name you can trust, then hold the brands you buy from to a higher standard and demand they back-up their claims…otherwise, you can't really trust them. Make sense???