Agent Facebook Success: Rules of Engagement

Social Media Strategies

Feb 13, 2019

Your Facebook business page is useless for lead generation if you insist on using your posts to sell listings and advertise open houses to the exclusion of being, well, social.

Rule number one: Be of value

Use “value” as your cornerstone. Here’s an example.

I love LinkedIn for real estate agent marketing. Its users fall under the ideal demographics for the average home buyer and seller. But it’s one place you do NOT want to be salesy. People use the platform to network, not be sold to.

Which is why I stopped following a certain virtual assistant service. Everything she posted was an ad for her company. And, I mean, everything.

Demonstrate your expert knowledge (Available in the Postcard section under Content Cards).

Ads aren’t of value to me. At least not at LinkedIn. Not at Facebook, either, come to think of it.

To be of value to a Facebook follower, your posts need to be, above all, social.

They don’t need to always be real estate-related, just interesting, surprising or helpful.

Chicago’s Dream Town Realty nails it in the “interesting” and “helpful” categories. All posts (at least the ones we saw) are locally-oriented and full of pride for their city. The recently had a post on “Where to Go Sledding in Chicago” with a great photo of kids sledding at a local hill. This is a post that’s highly shareable and ultra-local.

Yes, they share open houses and the occasional listing, but “occasional” is the operative word. And, they don’t use the typical “salesy” jargon when they do share these items.

Where do you find these hot social media topics? Start with your hometown newspaper, your city’s magazine (such as Dream Town Realty did), or another local source.

Scour the internet to see if your town or city made it onto the many “best places to retire,” “best places to raise kids,” or “best places to live” lists. Just enter into Google, with the quotation marks, “best places,” “best neighborhoods or “best cities.”

Trulia recently put out a list of the “best” neighborhoods in the country, broken down as best for kids, best for friendliness, etc. Maybe your market made it onto the list.

Compile your own, like the Dream Town Realty list. Here are some ideas:

The best yoga studios
Top spots to watch the sun set
The best dog parks
Best restaurant patio dining
Top hiking, biking, walking trails
Do a series on day trips from your town
Best restaurants for date night
Top staycation ideas

Provide valuable information (Available in the Postcard section under Content Cards)

The list of local topics is just about endless when you start brainstorming. And, people love local topics.

Rule number two: Engagement is key

Real estate pros, by and large, do an admirable job posting to Facebook. Sadly, most aren’t engaging their followers.

So, why do non-profits on Facebook have such a high rate of engagement with their posts? This is just my opinion, but non-profits, because they aren’t selling anything, are non-threatening. But, the top organizations are also posting the right content.

The number one non-profit on Facebook is Ted, an organization “devoted to spreading ideas”. It’s a place you can find answers to your most burning questions.

Which makes for excellent Facebook fodder. A recent Ted Talk video post showing ‘how to do math in your head’ received a decent amount of engagement (nearly 700 comments, so far), it was shared more than 3,000 times. It was viewed 387,000 times.

Who knew so many people wanted to learn how to add and subtract in their heads?

When you’re stuck for content, share a post from Ted, or NPR, number 3 on the list of most popular non-profit Facebook pages.

Don’t make every post all about you. Nobody cares that you’re willing to help them “buy or sell a home.” Few care that you’re holding an open house or that you took a new listing.

Keep them informed of what’s important (Available in the Postcard section, under Content Cards).

Think about what makes you interact with a Facebook post and head in that direction with your real estate page.

Engage your audience by sending at least 100 Demand High, Inventory Low postcards from the Content Card Series to an area where you want more listings.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

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Social Media – From Time Waster to Winner

Social Media Strategies

Jul 30, 2018

Create a Lead Generating Hour of Power

When you reach the end of your life, will you look back fondly on the five years (based on studies) you spent on social media?

Probably not. I mean, it’s when our time is up that we decide, darn it, we should’ve spent more time on the truly meaningful things in life. Unless, of course, you find social media truly meaningful.

…but meaningful enough to spend 2.25 hours every day on it?

Ok, so you do it for your business. But if you don’t have a social media strategy you may be wasting valuable business time as well.

If you find yourself trying out idea after idea, hoping that someday one of them will work, or if yours is the type of “strategy” that leads to reading and responding to every post, following links and, generally, wasting time, quit it!

The “why” behind your use of social media

Social media—at least some platforms—seem tailor-made for the real estate industry. Take Facebook, for example. The user-demographics align with the average real estate consumer, it’s easy to use and, if you don’t buy ads, it’s free.

To not be on Facebook is just plain silly. But, to avoid having it suck your time you need to understand how to best use it and then get clear on your goals.

Here are some agent goals we typically hear:

To keep in touch with your sphere. Staying top-of-mind isn’t easy but reaching out on Facebook makes it easier.

To reach potential clients. Unless you are doing this strategically, it may be a major time suck. Hoping your posts get shared isn’t a strategy.

To keep up-to-date on the industry. To do this typically requires joining groups. If you aren’t careful, activities in these Facebook groups can wipe out a good portion of the day (or night).
To drive traffic to your website.

Manage your time wisely

Consider scheduling social media time. Like blocks set aside for follow-up and lead generation, set aside a certain amount of time that you’ll spend on social media. Then, stick to the schedule. Use an alarm, if you must, to remind you when to stop.

At first, the amount of time you wasted will be painfully obvious. When the alarm sounds and all you’ve done is read posts, you may need some motivation to remain mindful of why you’re on the platform in the first place.

Create, don’t consume

“There are so many talented entrepreneurs out there who focus on just consuming all day long instead of creating,” laments Jason Sadler, founder of IWearYourShirt.

Your first creation should be a social media strategy. Decide which platforms serve you best and let the others go, at least for now. For instance, Facebook is a must for agents who want to keep in touch with their sphere of influence and entice folks to visit their websites.

Instagram and Pinterest, on the other hand, don’t have the demographics that fit the average real estate buyer and seller and they are far more time-consuming than a quick, daily stop at Facebook.

Then, decide how much time you’ll devote to social media each week, set an alarm while visiting and leave when the time is up.

Skip the groups and communities, at least during work hours. They’re fine for garnering business advice and socializing with colleagues but save those visits for non-work hours.

Other strategies to consider:

Ditch the notifications. Do you really need the distraction of being alerted every time someone posts a comment on a post you’re following?
Use social media scheduling tools to automate the publishing of your content. Yes, there are cons to this as well as pros, but if you’re easily distracted and find yourself wasting a lot of time on social media, it’s a tool you may want to consider.

Take some tips from Laura Monroe, real estate marketing whiz, who explains her brilliant social media strategy.

She schedules her company’s social media posts the night before they will be posted. “ … that way I’m not distracting myself from important tasks!”

During the day, she avoids additional distractions by turning off notifications “until I have all my important work-to-dos completed first.”

Around lunchtime, she takes “time to engage, respond to messages, and reach out to my network. More scheduling in the afternoon, and more engagement in the evenings when I’m planning the next day.”

It’s a strategically-planned social media schedule that allows her to remain engaged yet still attend to her important business tasks.

Social media can be a powerful way to generate leads and keep in touch with your Sphere. However, only if the time spent is managed wisely and not allowed to dominate your workday.

Another effective way to keep in touch with your Sphere is to send the popular Chill Out postcard from the Content Card Series.

It’s a fun and informative way to let your Sphere know you’re thinking about them this summer.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are 2 free ways we can help you CRUSH IT in 2018!

1. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan.

2. The Free Online ROI Calculator.

Also…check out these cool tools

Three Click Postcards – Just snap a home photo & create a postcard all from your mobile phone

MLSmailings.com – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand

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