Spend Time Here, Not Here

There’s only one you. There are just 24 hours in a day. Put those two together and you have an insanely busy schedule.

And, it’s all too easy to get distracted by the next shiny object.

Social media is shiny. It’s distracting. And, some platforms are completely unnecessary – at least for real estate professionals.

As we head into 2018, and you’re contemplating your business plan, you’ll be prioritizing where to spend your time and money.

Take a hard look at which social media platforms you use and whether or not your time is better spent elsewhere.

Facebook – it’s not free

You may think that marketing your business via social media is a fabulous free way to get your brand in front of people.

If done strategically, it can be.

But, consider this: The majority of agent’s average about three hours a week spent on Facebook, according to a 2016 Inman.com survey.

Sadly, that doesn’t tell the whole story because more than 21 percent spend twice that amount of time – a whopping six hours a week – on the social media giant.

Ask yourself this question:

Is six hours each week better spent chasing after new business on Facebook or reaching out to former clients and those in your sphere?

Both are “free” in terms of money, but the latter isn’t as much of a time stealer and the return on time invested has a better chance of being higher.

Multiply your time spent by the number of social media platforms you’re currently using. While they all have something to offer, they aren’t all worth an agent’s time.

Instagram – A waste of time?

Unless you have an in-house marketing person, don’t feel guilty about not being on Instagram, and don’t listen to the hype saying you should be.

Here’s why.

Most online articles pushing the use of Instagram for businesses point out “In 2016, Instagram grew its daily user count by 100 million users and now has more than 600 million active users.”

What they fail to do is dig deeper. So, let’s do that right now. First, however, let’s take a look at your average homebuyer.

According to the NAR, “the typical home buyer is 44 years old, married, no children at home, and has a median income of $88,500.” Keep these statistics in mind while taking the deep dive into Instagram.

Who’s hanging out on Instagram?

• 80 percent of Instagram users don’t live in the U.S.
• Of the users who do live in the U.S., only 28 percent of them are on Instagram, according to Pew Research.
• The largest demographic of Instagram users are between the ages of 18 and 29 while only 18 percent are between the ages of 30 and 49 – the most likely buyer pool.
• The largest demographic earns less than $30k
• The average Instagram user “misses about 70% of the posts” in their feed, according to Influencer Marketing Hub.

Until Instagram begins attracting an older, wealthier demographic, it’s an ineffective use of time. Your time is better spent on other lead-generation strategies.

LinkedIn – A good investment

No, it doesn’t have the largest share of online users (only 29 percent of American adults), but LinkedIn’s demographics are ideal for real estate marketing.

• 77 percent of users are age 30 and older
• 50 percent are college graduates
• 45 percent of LinkedIn users earn more than $75,000 per year and only 21 percent earn less than $30,000.

Again, recall the profile of the average homebuyer and seller and you’ll realize that this is the demographic you should be chasing.

Not only are the demographics ideal on LinkedIn, but Hubspot gathered data from more than 5,000 companies and found “LinkedIn 277% More Effective for Lead Generation than Facebook & Twitter.”

Hubspot’s Rebecca Corliss points out that “because most of the content posted on LinkedIn is of a marketing nature, as opposed to family photos or social ‘chatter,’ there is less clutter…

…so business’ marketing posts are more likely to be noticed on LinkedIn than somewhere else.”

Social media is an ever-evolving resource.

What’s hot this year may die next year.

When choosing where to spend your marketing time, don’t judge a platform by its number of users – that figure is useless for real estate agents.

Do a deep dive, periodically, into the demographics of each to decide when the time is right to jump in.

Related: 3 Tools That Drive More Business

Need help?  Call our team today at 866.405.3638 to put the best marketing tools in place to build your business easily, and cost-effectively.