The Nuggets Of Social Media
In the social media world there are a ton of Do's and Don't and everyone is trying to sell you what they say is going to skyrocket your social media presence...but what is it that really works? I have done extensive research and weeded out all of the information that is outdated or does not apply and I have come up with a few golden nuggets of information that will boost your social media presence and it will save you all of that time and money from all the classes and webinars and programs that you would have to participate in to pick up these few tricks!
Know What Your Up Against
Due to the onset of the world wide web, the real estate industry has changed dramatically over the last decade or so. Today's buyer no longer has to go to their agent in order to find out what is listed for sale, they can simply sit down with their laptop or mobile device and search homes for sale online. Also, real estate agents no longer need to be sending out postcards or flyers when they have a listing. Social Media is where the buyers and the agents are communing in today's real estate marketplace. Andrew Fortune wrote an article called 18 Real Estate Professionals Discuss The Internet's Influence on the Real Estate Industry and he quotes Lynn Pineda who says "In the years ahead, the internet will continue to impact the Real Estate industry where if you're not an active participant you'll be left by the wayside. It's not about whether or not you participate but rather how are you going to participate. It will be imperative that you have a Social Media plan that you can stick to and make work for your business model. Real Estate content is the new door knocker where the content you put out will open doors for you. You'll have to continually write (drip) Real Estate content that our customers demand in order to be seen as a knowledgeable, trusted Real Estate professional; think of it as the new drip campaign." It is vital that you are not discounting social media as unimportant because this is the present and future of real estate marketing.
The Human Factor
In the social media world there are billions of ads bombarding consumers daily...possibly even hourly! People, in general, don't care if you have a new listing...not even people looking for a home to buy. This is almost unheard of in the real estate industry because for years the agents were the keepers of the listings...now I hate to inform you that the internet is the keeper of the listings and the more you bombard a buyer with listings the more they are going to back away. In the social media world, the main key is that you need to invoke an emotion. A person will rarely remember what you said, but they will almost always remember how you made them feel. If you are posting gorgeous pictures of the beautiful area that you live in, you will invoke a feeling of inspired beauty and want...oh the want...that is where you will catch your buyers. Invoke the human factor...appeal to their human side. Those pictures make them want to live in your area! Those videos make them feel like they know you already and they will be more comfortable working with you. The human factor can make or break your social media marketing in a heartbeat! David Amerland of Social Media Today posted an article recently called A Year of Valuable Social Media Insights for Marketers that has a video about the human factor.
Video Marketing and Images
There is a ton of information out there and many potential buyers are not going to read 97% of it! The rule of thumb is that a person will scan a title and if the title is interesting enough then they will look at the images or watch the video. YOU MUST HAVE FANTASTIC IMAGES AND INTERESTING VIDEO! This is the key...if you can't catch them with the title and the images or video, then your awe-inspiring information written in your articles is worthless because nobody is going to read it. This would be a total shame, a waste of money and time, and unnecessary. Take the time to film fun, interesting videos and use Canva.com to design gorgeous images to decorate your articles and blogs so that your wonderful content is getting the attention that it deserves.
Group Interaction
One of the best tips in social media marketing is the groups...believe it or not the groups are where your content is going to soar! On Facebook use your personal account to share your content from your business page to a local group. This will cause your visibility to skyrocket and your interaction to increase as well. On Google Plus make sure that you are part of a few real estate communities that are associated with your field and share your content there as well. Groups are also available on Pinterest and Linkedin. A very important note is to be careful with your content and the way you are presenting it. You are going to want to tailor your content to your audience which means if you are posting in a Facebook group post about local events and the beauty of your community...don't post your listings or information on real estate! If you are posting to G+ or LinkedIn then try to leave out your local information and go straight for the down and dirty real estate facts. Different groups will have different rules depending on which social media platform you are using so be careful to follow the rules so you don't upset the group. Bill Gassett wrote a great article called Best Real Estate Social Media Groups that is a great way to get the help you need to begin joining groups and boosting your visibility.
Be An Early Adapter
There are thousands of social media platforms to choose from but the top professionals in the field will ALL tell you that if you want to be successful in the social media world then you need to be an early adapter. Basically, an early adapter is someone who is on a social media platform first and therefore has the monopoly on catching new people as they begin to use it. Take Gary Vaynerchuck for example, he is an early adapter who has been on a number of social media platforms long before anyone else has arrived. He was on Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, and Youtube before very many people were using it. His theory is that if you are a cat and you go to a cave where there are lots of cats you are not going to get very many mice, but if you go to a cave where all the mice have begun to arrive and there are no cats there yet you get all the mice. This is how he lays out his social media marketing...go to a platform when it is new and start marketing...if it takes off great then you have all the attention until more marketers come. He was one of the first on YouTube accurately predicting that video marketing would be the next big thing and today when video marketing is coming to fruition Gary has a hefty 154,061 subscribers to his channel and an arsenal of videos that have spanned over years that rank on Google. Besides that, he is now the leading expert in the field of video marketing all because he was there at the beginning! Paul Sian wrote a wonderful article recently called Great Social Media Platforms To Use For Real Estate that outlines some of the newer social media platforms to be explored. They may or may not take off but being present first will be hugely beneficial to you if they do.
Add Value
There are people on social media who will read long blogs, look at pretty pictures, click on interesting links, and watch cool videos...but there are no people on social media today that are going to read a full page ad! If your blog is reading like an ad for your company then they are going to skip right past it and onto something else! "In order to capture the attention of the people who are watching you on social media you need to have an 80%/20% combination. The 80% needs to be interesting content that provides information, humor, or value of some sort. The 20% can be the part that markets you, your listings, and your company. If you break the 80/20 rule you can severely damage your relationships with your fans," says Kerry Rego a leading expert in social media marketing. You need to add value to all of your content so that your fans have some reason to keep coming back to your page. Xavier De Buck wrote an article called How To Ensure Success As a Real Estate Agent in 2016 in which many of the tips are on how to best approach content on social media and on your blog. This is a great read if you are looking for ways to add value to your content.
Find A Champion
Children have heroes and role models that they look up to and idolize that either demonstrate how they want to be or a knowledge of something that interests them. For instance, a child who loves to read will have a favorite author and look up to them and a child that loves a specific sport will idolize a player of that sport. As a real estate agent who is trying to make a name for themselves on social media or in real estate, you will need to pick a champion, an idol, or a role model...or actually a few of them. There are professionals out there with more knowledge then you have and you are going to want to link to their articles to give your content credibility, learn from them, and follow their lead! Find those real estate agents that are dominating social media and do what they are doing! Kyle Hiscock wrote a wonderful article called 3 Tips for Social Media Success for Real Estate Agents that is helpful in explaining this a little better.
