2012 is expected to be another rebound year within the multi-family housing market. With a record-setting 1,200 industry professionals at the 2012 National Multi Housing Council’s Apartment Strategies Conference in Boca Raton on January 17^th, I could feel the cautious optimism in the air as developers, owners/operators and brokerage houses met to get a feeling for what the year looks like.

One of the core conversations in the room revolved around what’s next for the multi housing recovery. The economy is expected to grow about 2.3% in 2012, a bit faster than the 1.7% in 2011, but still less than the average over the past four years. Consumer confidence is on the rise, thus loosening the grip on spending as job creation continues to pick up. And businesses are looking to invest again as long as the Fed does not tighten monetary lending. What does this mean for the multi housing industry? Let the development and rehab resume!

One third of Americans reside in rental properties such as traditional apartments and single-family rental homes. With job creation expected to gross 150,000 net new jobs per month this year, more young adults will be flooding the markets, securing employment and in need of living quarters. Based on significant underproduction in the industry over the past two years, developers will be pressured to keep up with the existing demand-supply gap. This also includes mounting pressure to fulfill existing capital improvement projects, many of which have been put off in the past few years given the economy. This development and rehab boom can mean only one thing for building product manufacturers…nothing but green…if you can take advantage of opportunities to gain market share.

The time is now. With expected surge comes need. Marketers need to demonstrate a high level of sophistication in terms of targeting architects/designers and developers to be top of mind with these audiences and get specified. These audiences are seeking high quality products that ensure long-term value and maximized returns. They are looking to standardize purchases, stabilize costs and improve net operating income any way they can. They are looking to upgrade their sustainability practices, apply for LEED certification and/or adhere to compliance requirements and expectations. And this is just the short list.

The multi housing industry is gearing up for another year of growth, and for building product manufacturers, this vertical represents a big opportunity. Look for more updates on trends in the multi housing industry and let us help you gain the momentum and grow your business reach.

Contact us for more information on how to target this industry.

Flickr photo courtesy of Edu Nunes.

We are proud to announce that the website for our client, The Children’s Medical Center of Dayton, has tied for fifth as one of the top hospital websites, according to the Journal of Healthcare Management. The website was measured based on the quality of accessibility, content, marketing and technology. Because of our work on Dayton Children’s SEO and content optimization, they excelled in both content and marketing.

To learn more about the study conducted by the Journal of the Healthcare Management and the top ranked hospitals, read iHealthBeat’s article, “Comparing U.S. Hospitals and Health Systems’ Website Quality.” To read more about Point to Point’s contribution to Dayton Children’s top ranking website, visit our press release: Cleveland Marketing Firm Helps Client Achieve Top Ranking Website.

We are proud to announce the addition of Moveable Truth to Point to Point.

Moveable Truth is a mobile app development company that broadens our range of services and was created to meet the growing demands for mobile. The addition allows us to build engaging tools for brands that we think will be valued by a marketplace which is increasingly resistant to media noise.

Moveable Truth will develop iOS and Android applications and programs built with a focus on the user’s current environment and social situation.

Moveable Truth has completed and launched its first mobile app. Diddit is a game designed for use in group settings to turn awkward social situations into a source of fun. It is available for the iPhone for free in the iTunes App Store.

To read more about our mobile app development company, Moveable Truth, visit our press release: Cleveland Marketing Firm Advances in Mobile Development, or visit MoveableTruth.com.

There is a growing trend among moms. Soccer moms as many of us have affectionately come to know them have gone mobile. It’s time to set aside what you previously knew to be the modus operandi for this segment. Moms today are highly connected, highly informed and extremely app-driven. I like to refer to them as Mobile Moms. Here is why you need to take a fresh look at today’s moms and rethink how you are communicating with them.

According to Nielsen, 1 in 3 Americans own a smartphone. Combined tablet and smartphone sales will exceed desktop and notebook computers in 2011 based on a Morgan Stanley February 2011 research study. According to Babycenter’s 21st Century Mom 2011 Mobile Mom Report, Moms are 18% more likely to own a smartphone than the general population. Moms are mobile power users according to the Babycenter Report. They find value in their smartphones for entertainment (games, social, music), information (weather and health) as well as shopping on her mobile.

The Babycenter report also indicates that when it comes to health, Moms are 50% more likely than the general population to use apps for tracking health and fitness. 80% love looking up wellness information on their phone. If you are a healthcare provider, you need to understand this and get your brand on their smartphone in the form of an app, an ad or a text message. Somehow you need to connect with moms on mobile.

Take a close look at your website on a smartphone. Do you have to zoom in to read it? Can you easily tap links to navigate using your thumb? Answering no to either of these questions means you need to think about a mobile-ready website.

Moms love to shop and their smartphones prove to be a shopping utility. When on the go and at retail stores, moms rely on their phones to aid in the shopping. 46% of moms find the most convenient time to get information about a product is when they are right there shopping for it. Of those that shop with their smartphones, 62% are using shopping apps (data from Babycenter Report). Are you a retailer or e-tailer? What is the experience you are providing moms when they visit your site on their phone? How are you connecting with them in store using technology and mobile devices?

Moms rely heavily on their mobile phone to access their social networks. They are 38% more likely than the general population to use their smartphone for social networking. They use their social networks to socialize and for entertainment as well as to listen to what other moms are discussing and to aid in making decisions. Have you begun reaching moms via social networks? Have you thought about how to integrate social and mobile to get your brand in front of moms and their social networks? If not, you are missing incredible opportunities.

So what are the implications? If you are a marketer and you need to connect with and win over the mom community, you need to factor mobile into your mix. This can take many shapes. It can range from mobile ads to apps to mobile optimized websites. It could also include SMS messaging and many other ideas. The bottom line is this audience segment is prime for a mobile connection. How can a marketer act on this? Begin understanding the types of tools that a mom could use to help improve her life when on the go. She does not have a lot of time to do in-depth research. Give her an app to help aid in her decision process – whether looking for a pediatrician or a new pair of shoes. Of course, these are two different apps we’re talking about. The point is to begin thinking about apps. Start small and grow it.

Other actions you can take are to begin collecting opt-ins to receive text alerts. What type of an alert would your audience desire? In retail, perhaps it is an alert about an upcoming sale. In healthcare it might be reminders for appointments or flu shots. Take a close look at your website. How is it to read on a smartphone? If you can’t read it without zooming in and can’t tap the links with your thumb, you need to think about making it mobile-ready.

Give moms the mobile experience they deserve including mobile-ready sites, text alerts, apps that improve their lives and cater to their ‘on-the-go’ lifestyle. In return, moms will give you their praise, their business as your customer and their loyalty. Want to learn more? Read about our mobile application capabilities. Sign up for our enewsletter – PinPoints. Or, contact us today.

Flickr image courtesy of Fifth World Art.

We wanted to do something different and unique this holiday season to show our clients, family, friends how thankful we are to have them in our lives.

With the creation of ShareMyGratitude.com, we hope to remind everyone that the holidays are a time for reflecting on the things that makes us feel grateful.

On the site, we are asking visitors to post what they’re grateful for this year along with their current city, state and country. Each submission is completely anonymous to allow for a pure expression of gratitude.

“We’re firm believers that cultivating an attitude of gratitude has profound physical and emotional benefits. Causing us to be more peaceful, more positive and hopeful,” said Mark Goren, CEO at Point to Point. “We want everyone to have the opportunity to feel that optimism, and we think ShareMyGratitude.com is a perfect way to do just that.”

So far we have entries from grateful folks from as far away as Egypt, Italy and France. If you feel like you have something to be grateful for, check out ShareMyGraditude.com and share.

We are excited to announce the launch of the COSE Sales Tool, an iPad app that enables the sales force of COSE to engage and inform small business owners about the breadth of products and services offered by the organization. The app was developed by Point to Point to improve COSE’s sales experience and increase conversion rates.

Point to Point developed the functional requirements of the app, designed the user interface, and assisted with content and programming.

Located in Cleveland, Ohio, COSE is a small business support organization that provides cost-effective group purchasing programs, advocacy on legislative and regulatory issues, and networking and educational resources to help Northeast Ohio’s small businesses grow.

To read more about Point to Point’s latest app development, visit our press release: New App Improves Interface with Small Businesses.

Anybody who has read anything about media in the last 50 years or so is familiar with Marshall McCluhan’s warning that “the medium is the message.”

As prescient as that idea was, McCluhan was really hinting at the early signs of a more seismic shift. A shift that increasingly concentrates control — and the power of the marketplace — in the hands of the consumer. It’s that shift that has created what we call The Pinhole Economy, where consumers use both behavioral and technological apertures to influence the marketplace.

McCluhan anticipated the causes of The Pinhole Economy. He recognized that as technology evolved, the line between content and delivery vehicle was blurring. Today, that same technological shift is also blurring the line between corporation and consumer.

Corporations fundamentally use capital to develop production capacity that creates and concentrates wealth. And consumers fundamentally use their wealth to stimulate (and sometimes depress) production. It’s been a system in balance, for the most part, since the beginning of the industrial revolution.

But that balance is in flux. The technology explosion of the last 20 years has already put intense pressure on the distributors that facilitated the system. Witness the dwindling fortunes of bookstores and travel agents, for example, and the corresponding rise in fortunes of sites such as Amazon and Expedia. Anything that can be distributed via technology will be. It’s not a pretty picture for distributors.

And as more and more goods are able to be distributed via technology, that trend will continue. But will it stop there?

In the next post, we’ll look at what the future might hold if — or when — the trend expands.

For more on the Pinhole, you know what to do.

Flickr photo courtesy of ARM Climate Research Facility

In the span of six hours, two separate — but interestingly similar — stories came across my stream.

The first was The Big Lead reporting that Advance Digital, parent company of the New Orleans daily newspaper The Times-Picayune, is paying players from the NFL’s New Orleans Saints to tweet about the newly redesigned online community… about the Saints.

The parent company of The Times-Picayune is paying five New Orleans Saints players to send out messages on Twitter encouraging their followers to visit the newspaper’s Saints website. Under a contract with Advance Digital, players Drew Brees, Lance Moore, Tracy Porter, Pierre Thomas and Jonathan Vilma each tweeted praise for the newly redesigned Saints community on NOLA.com this month and included a link to the site, urging their Twitter subscribers to check it out.

Nothing unprecedented, as athletes are regularly paid to endorse products. Tweets are just the latest venue. But the handwringing comes from journalists and readers wondering why newspapers and parent organizations are “paying” subjects they are supposed to be covering on behalf of the general public.

Interesting journalistic precedent.

The second story came from Gawker, where an unsuspecting author received an email about inserting links (unbeknownst to the editorial staff) for pay.

We’re looking for writers that can help increase the profile of our clients by linking to them within the context of their articles. The clients are huge, and we generally have one that can fit naturally in the context of most article niches.
In return, we pay generously for a single link for our clients.
If you are interested, I’d love to talk about it more.

Again, this is classic (if not brazen) black-hat SEO behavior. Link buying in this manner has been going on since I can remember. Not approved by Google, of course, but what is these days. It’s rare, however, when the outing of the organization is so public, the blog so A-list and when the entire scope (and potential reach) is so fully explained. Email-by-email (even if it’s not entirely true).

So, two stories. Two marketing/advertising issues that weren’t part of the playbook too long ago. So what do they have in common?

Are they both ethical quandaries? Perhaps. But again, the behavior in both stories is no breaking news.

While they are are not crippling to any organization, what these stories have in common is that they are examples in the Pinhole Economy of the public’s trust being compromised.

Normally, this stuff goes on behind the scenes. We don’t know any better. So when we learn they are going on or that they are common practice, it further erodes the public’s trust in newspapers, in SEO (and SEO practitioners), in links, in the organic nature of tweets, in reputable blogs, in social media marketing, in blogger relations. Not wholesale damaging, but a slow, steady erosion.

In the Pinhole Economy we now live in, transparency trumps control. But these two stories exemplify the opposite.

As we become more skeptical of everything, that tiny aperture we allow messages to flow through becomes smaller. And for marketers, these activities make it even more difficult for even our most relevant messaging to get through to our target audiences.

EDIT: Within moments of posting this story, another paid tweet story appeared on Mashable regarding Office star Rainn Wilson and Del Taco (that was done in jest).

It’s going to get worse before it gets better. Transparency will increase trust. But we’re not there yet.

Blurry Flickr photo courtesy of JackVinson

We are thrilled to announce our newest client, The Children’s Medical Center of Dayton.

Dayton Children’s is one of only a handful of hospitals in Ohio devoted to the health, safety and information needs of children and their family.

Point to Point will be working with Dayton Children’s on search engine optimization.

To read more about Point to Point’s newest client, visit our press release: Cleveland Marketing Firm Welcomes Children’s Hospital

The “long tail” is an expression coined by Chris Anderson, editor of WIRED and author of The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More, in 2004, is more relevant now than ever.

The idea of the long tail can be directly connected to the Pinhole Economy and the current mindset of today’s consumer.

The long tail is a way to visualize the idea that people are looking for more custom, personalized goods in smaller quantities. The number of people who are interested in a given product gradually decreases but never fully diminishes, creating the “long tail.”

The long tail is the concept that fuels now-famous business models like Amazon, Netflix, iTunes and Pandora. All of these companies recognized that consumers are no longer satisfied with mass goods and bestsellers; they have unique interests and want information and products that are relevant to them personally. Where else but Amazon could you find a how-to on making your own coffin or a non-fiction book arguing that a reptilian extraterrestrial race has controlled the world for thousands of years?

These companies, and many others, have become successful simply because they understand the concept of the Pinhole.

By the way, the long tail is not Chris Anderson’s only connection to the Pinhole. His infamous list of publicists who sent press releases to their entire mailboxes is an example of the dangers of trying to push through the Pinhole. In calling out marketers who didn’t take the time to target the information they were sending or to personalize it, Anderson showed how important it is to interact with your audience in ways that are meaningful to them so you can get pulled through the Pinhole effectively.

Flickr photo courtesy of daecon