Your First 12 Months: A Guide To Real Estate Social Media
In person, relationship based real estate is phasing out. What is it being replaced with? Digital relationships. This is the age of convenience, and as a real estate agent, you must be ready to adapt to new marketing strategies to reach your leads! This translates to two words: Social Media.
I will assume you are familiar with social media at least on a functional level. However, you might wonder how this is any good for your business, or how much strategy it really takes to master the platform.
Welcome to your guide on using social media to further your real estate business.
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT
In real estate, you are selling much more than homes. A huge part of your job is also to sell yourself to get and retain clients. With the world becoming ever more digitized by the day, it is necessary to take our talents to social media.
Social media gives potential clients a snapshot of who you are, what kind of inventory you have and what it is like to be a client of yours. If the content you publish catches the eye of someone, or intrigues a person to keep following you, you are on the right track.
Subtly infiltrate their minds and interest in the business you do. There are many “silent,” users out there, that you have grabbed attention of. When the time finally comes to buy/sell, you will be the first person on their mind.
YOUR PLATFORM OPTIONS
I would like to make the bold statement that 98% of people already know about these platforms and probably use at least one of them regularly, but for the purposes of this comprehensive guide, I will briefly detail what each site is, and how it can be used. It is by no means required or even recommended to use each platform, but mastering 1-3 of them could easily give you a lead funnel you never knew existed.
-Facebook: The most commonly used and most useful platform is Facebook. Your reach here extends to many demographic types from young to old, and low to high income. The functions on Facebook are vast and allow you to funnel all specific kinds of media into one place. Share videos, photos, helpful posts, live streams, and easily link other content. Facebook is great to make a business page or simply open your personal page to your professional circles.
-Twitter: This site is all about efficiency. Posts are limited to 240 characters and videos posted here are usually 2-120 seconds long. Your reach here might not be as big, but it is great for interacting with clients (https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/twitter-best-brands) and expressing your personality a bit.
-Instagram: If photography is one of your strong suits, this platform is for you. Any aesthetically pleasing feed will gain followers, and with followers comes genuine interest and leads. You do not have to sacrifice personality, however. Just like twitter, you are encouraged to give snapshots of who you are and what it is like to work with you. Smart City Apartments based out of Dallas, Texas and AirBNB are great examples to take inspiration from. It is also worthy to note that you can post stories and do live streaming as on facebook.
-Snapchat: If your market is young, first time buyers, Snapchat might benefit you. On snapchat, users post pictures or short video clips that will stay on a “story,” for up to 24 hours. It can be hard to gain the initial following (my advice is to invite your followers on other platforms to add you), but can be useful for touring listings (especially beautiful ones!) and fun behind the scenes work.
-Youtube: New to real estate is video. I do not mean simple video tours of your properties, I am talking about vlogs, interviews, and video series about everything real estate. If this is something you think you can excell at, you need to jump on it before the industry is too saturated. This is the number one way to show your leads how great it is to be your client and convince them to come to you. Youtube is a great place to upload these videos and share on your other accounts.
-LinkedIn: This platform is all about professionalism and connections. For agents who are more interested in networking with other professionals and selling yourself with your experience, awards, and professionalism, give LinkedIn a try. Regardless, it is a great platform to connect with other industry experts, get advice, find a mentor or the occasional lead.
-Others: There are many other social networks not listed here that might be worth a try depending on your market and niche such as Whatsapp, Pinterest, Path and more. Study your area and market and find out what is popular.
STRATEGIES TO DOMINATE THE TIMELINE
-Learn the Algorithms: Every social media platform uses different algorithms to determine what people see on their timelines. Research the algorithms and try to work them in your favor. For example, post a photo of your kids to boost your likes before you post a video regarding your business. People whose posts usually generate more activity will more likely be at the top of the timeline. Subtle strategies like this can make a big difference in the views your posts get.
-Time of Posts: Do not post at just any time of day. Be intentional about it. Experiment a bit with posting at different points in the day and see what generates the most activity. Because of algorithm changes, this is becoming less important on platforms like Instagram and Facebook, but your initial likes will play a big role in where your post will land on the timelines of those who are not active at the time of posting. This time is especially important when doing live streams.
-Mixed Media: Do not leave people bored. Mix things up. Photos, listings, blog links, vlogs, discussion content, humble brags, gifs, memes, live streams, and other creative content should be cycled through so viewers have a variety of material. Keeping things fresh and interesting keeps the potential leads coming back to your page
-Personality/Authenticity: You want to make yourself bigger than you are but in a positive, authentic way. Be confident about who you are and what you have to offer. Being personable and “real,” will be respectable to clients. Tell the story of your life through your content like it is your own little reality show. Do not be afraid to be silly every now and then, or get serious when the need arises. You are not a “professional robot,” so show people the real you! Or the strategic, “good parts,” of the real you.
-Entertaining: Content that elicits an emotional reaction will almost always guarantee you a follower, whether they are a silent supporter or loud and proud in the comment section. Obviously, content like listings are exempt to this rule, but having at least 60% content that is entertaining in any way is a step in the right direction. Consider memes, gifs, vlogs, interviews, and “Top #,” blogs to keep things interesting.
-Beneficial: You are not doing this for nothing. Do not get too carried away with the entertainment aspect and forget about why you are spending your work time on social media. Make sure content is equally fun as it is useful for your viewers/readers.
-Consistency: One of the hardest parts about keeping up with a social media for a business is to keep it consistent. If you commit to doing vlogs or blogs, you need to be consistent with the posts. Your consistency and perseverance will prove your willingness to stick with something and passion for your new journey in real estate.
-Engage: Encourage people to interact with your content! Reply to any and all comments, and engage on other’s posts as well. Your engagement will be good in terms of algorithms but will also help people begin to trust your work and commitment. Successful agents are personable agents.
Having your content and brand at the hands of leads day and night is very beneficial and something not to be missed! First,choose which platforms are best for your brand, then get to posting original, entertaining and beneficial content. Lastly, engage. Very soon, you should notice an increase of interest in your journey.
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