Tomorrow my youngest turns 13. To celebrate, we fulfilled her longtime dream of having a golden retriever puppy. I surprised her last Saturday by driving her 2.5 hours to the breeder so she could select her pup and bring her home. She named her Lexi Jo and I’ve spent every night since Saturday on puppy duty sleeping on my couch. Lexi Jo had some tummy troubles the first couple of days and nights, but as of today, she’s all good and tonight I return to my own bed.
Before that dreamy night of sleep can transpire though, I’m writing this, hosting the Homefiniti and Beyond season 3 premiere, and having 7 of the birthday girls besties over for a sleepover that will include a pinata, donuts on a string, silly string, ice cream, and Chick-Fil-a. Needless to say, writing this is just what the doctor ordered during a crazy week and Friday.
Oh and I forgot to mention that we had an epic, long overdue, in person meeting with one of our favorite clients earlier in the week which was my first since the vid. It was so amazing. I like working from home, but I miss peopling sometimes.
This week I’m covering Facebook and it’s Instagram offspring, data, and the latest housing news and numbers.
WHERE IS HOUSING HEADED?
It’s budget time and this question is one we all would like the answer to. We’re covering some forecasting in Homefiniti and Beyond today, but I thought I’d also cover it here. Mortgage rates are rising. Demand remains strong and builder confidence is up, but labor shortages and supply chain issues persist. It’s kind of a mixed bag of data but essentially, what has been transpiring over the last several months, is what will continue into 2022; market normalization. Things have slowed down considerably from early 2021, but we are still experiencing growth with all indicators showing improvement over 2019. Even Zillow can’t handle the current market. They’ve decided to stop buying homes for the duration of 2021 because they can’t flip them fast enough to meet the demand.
DATA
This is a drumbeat that you will hear getting louder and louder each week. That’s because as the third party cookie disappears, it’s up to businesses to find ways to gather as much data as possible in ways that are clear, clean, and transparent to its users, so that they may continue to effectively market their products and services. With third party data declining, zero and first party data is on the rise.
First party data is that which you collect with the consent of a customer through information gleaned off of your digital resources like your website and app. It may not be explicitly clear exactly what information you are collecting, when you are collecting it and how you will use it.
Zero party data is that which a customer willingingly provides in the form of surveys and other explicit interactions. In other words, the customer is fully aware of exactly what they are giving you, when they give it to you and what you will do with it.
Betwixt the two, it will be paramount that businesses work to build strong customer relationships and establish trust. Without it, customers are likely to opt out of data collection which can significantly hamstring your marketing efforts and drive up costs over time.
FACEBOOK AND THE METAVERSE
Nope, not a Marvel comic, it’s for real, for real. Facebook is going to change its name apparently. Zuck is super interested in this idea that he calls the Metaverse and wants to untie all of their various efforts to create it. We shall see how that goes.
More interesting IMO is what’s going on with Facebook Ads and Instagram business insights. On the Facebook side, it’s all about that data loss from Apple’s iOs 14.5 ATT update. The most interesting point in the announcement to me is that they’ve simplified the Conversion API. While Homefiniti users enjoy implementation of the traditional Conversion API, non-Homefiniti website users don’t have that luxury and implementation is no easy feat without having developers do it for you. Sounds like now, it might be a little easier.
On Instagram, their business insights have expanded beyond those that follow your account and into those that engage with your account, follower or not. This is a great place to get demographic data that helps to build customer profiles. Typically we think of Instagram and Facebook as having two different users. These insights are a great way to confirm that theory. This data can also work alongside the aforementioned first and third party data to paint a complete picture of your customers.
Lots to digest in the news this week. I love it when that happens. Thanks for reading and don’t forget to tune into Homefiniti and Beyond at 1pm Eastern today!
