BY INMAN NEWS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2011.

Inman News™

VerticalResponse, a provider of Web-based self-service marketing tools for small businesses, hasacquired social network marketing technology company Roost, the companies announced today.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Both companies are based in San Francisco, which helped the two “get to know each other” and realize they had similar audiences, Roost said in an announcement to users.

Roost was founded in 2007 as a property search portal. In September 2010, the company changed its business model to focus on helping real estate agents and brokers gain referral business through social networking on Facebook.

In late March 2011, Roost unveiled its social marketing platform and simultaneously expanded its business model beyond real estate professionals to other small-business owners, such as lawyers, accountants and restaurateurs.

VerticalResponse’s offerings include email marketing, online surveys, event marketing, and direct-mail marketing. This is the company’s first acquisition in the nearly 11 years it’s been in business, said Janine Popick, the company’s CEO, in a statement.

“The number of our customers who share their email marketing campaigns with their social networks has increased over 1,400 percent since the beginning of 2011, so it’s clear that small businesses understand the power of social media. Now with Roost’s social media marketing tools, they can take their customer engagement efforts to the next level,” Popick said.

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The overall theme of the event focus was based on innovation, hyper-localism, and market recovery. With the newest buzz being placed on the infamous Developers Challenge boasting “geo-mapping” tools for mobile devices, one click data to video, and dynamic call routing provided by new comers like RealtyVoyager.com, and Stupeflix.com. They are never short of originality in naming their companies that’s for certain.

The common theme in every session I attended was certainly focused around the ability of an agent to leverage their knowledge within the community using all of these “viral” tools, and social media platforms to position the agent as the utmost local real estate expert. Encouraging today’s agents to focus their marketing efforts on the communities in which they live and work every day, as opposed to trying to capture a much larger audience.  With the advancement of the internet and the mass popularity of social media, there is still one thing that will always prevail…personal touch, professionalism, and knowing your community. There is no substitute for the personal interface you can have with clients to win their future business, and the referrals that will follow. Mastering the advantages of online marketing and social media is definitely a must in today’s market place. However, is entirely meant to compliment your best practices as a real estate professional.

There is a digital cornucopia of cool web tools, and widgets to convey an instant sense of credibility to your audience through your web presence. Although you must be able to put your media where your mouth is and provide the excellent customer service that you advertise through all of this great technology. The internet continues to provide a phenomenal vehicle to drive your message home,  and be the expert consumers all hope you are when you meet face to face.

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