Inman

Century 21 launches advice forum

Century 21 Real Estate LLC has expanded its social media marketing efforts with an online interactive advice forum that the company is comparing to similar offerings from Trulia and Zillow.

The new "Talks" forum is hosted on a new C21 Communities landing page on the company’s main site, www.Century21.com.

The C21 Communities landing page also includes an online radio channel, C21 Talk Radio, and links to the company’s social networking sites on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube.

In an interview on C21 Talk Radio, Bev Thorne, senior vice president of marketing for Century 21 Real Estate, said C21 Communities is the latest example of how the company is using money it once spent on national television advertising (see story) to build its brand online.

A Century 21 Adobe Flash ad campaign was recently selected as "Best Real Estate Online Ad" by the Web Marketing Association’s Internet Advertising Competition Awards (see story).

Thorne said C21 Communities takes advantage of the size of the company’s global network. The "Talks" forum — which allows agents to field questions posed by consumers — is "very similar to Trulia Voices and Zillow Advice," Thorne said.

Century 21 is holding a "Tweetup" in San Francisco on April 28 to solicit consumer feedback on C21 Communities.

Tom Kunz, Century 21’s president and CEO, will host a Q&A session live on C21 Talk Radio from 6-7 p.m. EDT April 30.

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