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Silk is a marketing tool that transforms spreadsheet data into shareable content.
Platform(s): Browser; device-responsive.
Ideal for: Agents who are heavy spreadsheet users or who carefully track market and transaction data.
Top selling points
- Silk content is highly portable.
- It gives spreadsheet-lovers a chance to showcase data.
- You can easily create map views with dynamic data points.
Things to consider
While Silk’s content creation system makes data-driven Web content easy to publish, don’t rely on it as a company, brand-driven website tool. It’s ideal for data presentation.
Full review
I hate Excel.
I know that’s a strong word, but Excel is the only way I know to describe it.
But upon experiencing how Silk can transform clinical-looking rows and columns and straight lines into vibrant, shareable Web content, I became slightly more open to realizing the hidden beauty beneath Microsoft’s flagship nerdware.
Agents who are heavy Excel users, maintaining sale prices or listings or market activity via spreadsheets will be thrilled to see how uploading a sheet to Silk creates an instant Web page of your data.
Spreadsheet headers become page titles, and row data becomes page content.
Silk can transform clinical-looking rows and columns and straight lines into vibrant, shareable Web content.
Once in Silk, you can choose to add header images or display your data via any number of “visualizations,” such as bar graphs, donut charts, pie charts or a scatter plot.
A spreadsheet of listings with ZIP codes can quickly become a map, with each listing point able to reveal the home’s details.
Even if you don’t use Excel, your CRM can export your properties to an Excel, .CSV and probably a Google Sheet. Thus, you’re ready to publish a “Silk.”
Spreadsheets with embedded images will also translate smoothly into Silk.
Each row of a sheet becomes a Silk Datacard, which can also be edited, published and shared.
Videos can also be added to a Silk page. Just enter its URL in the spreadsheet.
You can also add content that didn’t originate in the original spreadsheet.
The concept of data visualization is helping businesses rapidly communicate information to consumers that would normally be too tedious to absorb in our ever-connected world.
[Tweet “Real estate is full of valuable data that many agents only choose to leverage when a consumer asks.”]
Most often, data-heavy messaging is published in infographics or image maps.
Real estate is full of valuable data that many agents only choose to leverage when a consumer asks.
However, an ever-present, easy-to-update market news site could be a valuable sales tool.
Silks are easy to share and have team members edit.
Each also comes with simple embed code for dropping maps or charts in websites and social media profiles.
A colorful pie chart of sales in a select ZIP code would make a very compelling Facebook post, more so if you spend $20.00 to promote it to that ZIP code for a week.
Some initial operating snags may come if your spreadsheets are clunky or in some way not clean. Silk has functionality to detect errors in formatting or data consistency, so it’s not hard to adjust.
Text boxes and other forms of content can be positioned next to charts and data visuals to provide backstory and add sales pitch.
I’m interested in watching Silk evolve. It’s already plenty applicable to real estate, and has a presence on national media websites and in the marketing departments of a national commercial real estate brand.
Maybe Excel has a purpose after all.
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe.