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Tuesday, April 30, 2024

social media

    A few weeks ago, we promised to update you on the latest social media demographics. We started with TikTok, and today we dive into Instagram.

    The criteria we used when choosing the “best” social media options is simple: Those in your target demographic should use the platform heavily. If that includes buyers and sellers, you’ll want to hang out where baby boomers do. 

    If, on the other hand, you are targeting millennial real estate consumers, we can show you where to spend your time.

    Remember, when it comes to marketing your real estate business, targeting is critical. Otherwise, you are wasting both your time and money.

    Let’s talk Instagram

    Although India leads the world in Instagram users, with more than 225 million active users, the U.S. comes in second, with “… at least 143.4 million active users,” according to DataReportal.com.

    Instagram tends to attract a young crowd in the U.S., with ages 18 to 24 accounting for its largest audience share (27.7). The second-largest share of audience is those aged 25-to-34 … to which 25.7% of Instagrammers belong,” according to data from Oberlo.com.

    Pay close attention to this statistic: “As of 2022, around 87% of Instagram’s 1.31 billion users who might potentially be targeted with ads are outside the United States.”

    If you’re selling international real estate, this statistic may not bother you. But that nearly 90% of the platform’s targeted users are outside the U.S. should be a deal breaker for real estate agents.

    Add to that the young age of the average user. There are platforms with far better demographics if you’re looking for potential homebuyers and sellers.

    Who you should be targeting

    Although we went over this in our last post about TikTok, in a nutshell, baby boomers are the ones buying and selling right now, making up 39% of buyers. According to the NAR, they have overtaken millennials’ share of the buyer pool (28%).

    Sellers? Baby boomers again, but Gen X is part of the pool as well. NAR says the typical seller is 60 years old.

    So, we’ve struck out with both TikTok and Instagram. But check back because soon we’ll have the winners of which the-social-media-platforms-are-best-for-real-estate- agents contest.

    PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

    1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

    Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine with rich, full-color content and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts and engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you. Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

    2. The Free 12-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

    The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

    3. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

    The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

    4. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

    Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

      The old saying about how people do business with people they know, like, and trust gets thrown around a lot in the real estate industry. What you don’t hear very often is how to get total strangers to know, like, and trust you; especially enough to become your client.

      There are many ways to do that, of course. But of the three, I think it’s safe to say that the trust issue is not only the most important to real estate consumers but more challenging for agents to build.

      Being new to the real estate business doesn’t help. Not when your competition is boasting 30 years in the business and endless successful sales.

      Photo Introduction postcards are shown above. See more, click HERE

      Building trust isn’t easy, but it is doable. Let’s take a look at what a new agent can do to wow potential clients.

      You do have your own real estate website?

      Your own business website provides a place for consumers to get to know you and your business. Not taking the free ride on your broker’s website, also lends an air of professionalism.

      Did you know, 56% of consumers surveyed by weebly.com stated that they lack trust in businesses that don’t have websites.

      Your website, if done right, is full of ways to help people get to know you. The content, also if done right, can help them to like you and trust you.

      Keep away from sales spiels with your blog content and do vary between real estate, homeowner, and hyper-local topics.

      Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through and show the human side of what can be fairly complex subjects.

      The About Me page is the place to laser focus on helping visitors get to know you and your business philosophy.

      Have you any positions in your background that transfer well to the real estate industry? Any from the following is worth a mention:

      • Marketing
      • Advertising
      • Negotiating
      • Teaching
      • Videography/photography
      Get to work on social media

      Your time is valuable, especially now at the beginning of your real estate business. It’s time to whittle down the social media choices to one.

      The Real Estate Times Series is shown above. See more, click HERE

      Facebook is a good place to start. Get your business page set up and start cross-posting your blog posts and other pertinent and interesting information to Facebook.

      Whatever you do, don’t fill your feed with marketing and salesy stuff. Here are some ideas about what to post:

      • Local housing market statisics & news
      • Restaurant reviews
      • Best places in [your town] to buy [whatever]
      • Interesting real estate poll or survey results
      • Local news
      • Funny memes
      • Contests

      This is just a handful of topic ideas.

      The key to gaining engagement with your followers, at least in the beginning, is hyper-local content. Avoid political or religious topics. And don’t forget to engage with others on your feed, and theirs.

      Overall, just be your super-stunning, personable self.

      PLUS: When you have time…below are some free tools to help support your success.


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

      The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

      2. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

      The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

      3. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

      The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

      4. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

      This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

      Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

      5. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

      Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here

      Please reach out to our support team at 866.405.3638 with questions or if there is anything we can do to help you in your success.

      We’re here to support you.

      Your ProspectsPLUS! Team

        Has cold calling officially become a thing of the past? There are more than a few agents out there and several well-known real estate coaches that would say NO.

        I would say minimally, it might not be the most efficient option. Unless you consider spending 7.5 hours to make 209 phone calls to get one appointment efficient.

        Generating real estate leads on social media, if done right, is not only efficient but pleasant as well. 

        Facebook can be a goldmine for new real estate agents.

        Why Facebook?

        The platform’s demographics are one of the most compelling reasons to use Facebook for real estate lead generation. The largest age group among Facebook users is 35 to 54 (right in line with the average real estate consumer). Next, nearly 75 percent of users earn more than $75,000.

        Finally, a study of CRM data from various companies across the planet finds that while the highest lead conversion rates come from referrals, the second-highest can be attributed to leads generated on social media.

        If you understand the power of Facebook when it comes to real estate lead generation but haven’t quite figured out how to tap it, consider starting with Facebook groups.

        A Memorial Day Super Sale is going on right now! Get 10% off on ALL postcards.

        Use promo code: MEMORIAL10 (excluding postage, data, tax, and EDDM. Offer expires 6/4/22).

        To get started saving, Click Here.

        Join some groups

        Start by finding some groups that Facebook thinks you might like. You can do that by going here and then clicking on “Discover.”

        Naturally, if you post frequently to Facebook, the algorithm is going to assume you are interested in real estate so be prepared for lots of real estate-agent-related groups among the suggestions.

        There’s nothing wrong with joining these groups but to generate real estate leads, however, go where consumers hang out.

        You’ll find a “Categories” list on the left side of the page. And, since “all real estate is local,” the best category for a real estate agent to peruse is “Local.” 

        Here you’ll find some interesting groups. Mine includes one for a popular neighborhood in my city (with 31,000 members). As an agent, I would join that one. But there are tons of others to join as well.

        Choose groups with interests that you can blog about because that’s one of the ways in which you’ll be using these groups to generate real estate leads. 

        Don’t be “that annoying real estate agent”

        When interacting in your Facebook groups, keep your focus on the “social” aspect of social media. You’re not there to sell yourself or your business but to build relationships and get your name in front of people.

        Don’t just use the groups to share your blog posts; interact with other group members.

        And, keep in mind that some groups have rules, so learn them and abide by them.

        It’s also important to keep in mind that interacting in groups is not about getting a flood of leads right now. Like most lead gen strategies, you’re building future business.

        PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

        1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

        Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine, with rich, full-color content, and a sharp, professional esthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts, combined with engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you.

        Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here


        2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

        The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

        3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

        The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

        4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

        The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

        5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

        This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

        Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

        6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

        Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here

          Sure, social media marketing for real estate agents should be an important part of your overall marketing plan.

          But, for pity’s sake, fish where your fish are. Nobody goes fishing for marlin in a stream or lake, right?

          The truth is:

          The majority of real estate consumers aren’t active on Instagram

          We aren’t dissing the social media platform; it’s a fun place to hang out and catch up on the latest trends. But if you’re on it for business reasons and not for personal enjoyment, maybe it’s time to reconsider your social media strategy.

          A lot of what you hear and read is hype

          I’ve noticed that the biggest Instagram cheerleaders for real estate agents also have the biggest agendas. They’ll lure you in with vague statistics that actually have nothing to do with real estate or buyers and sellers.

          Stop listening to the bloggers who tell you that:
          • You can find your “Dream Listing” on Instagram and that “Instagram is the best free advertising a real estate agent will find.” This comes from a company that offers, for a large fee, “automated tools” to help you create your real estate social media strategy and campaigns.
          • You can rule the ‘Gram like a Pro” with “these tips” (from a company that provides, for a fee naturally, social media management and marketing).
          • “Using Instagram to market your real estate business is a sound strategic move.” This one is from a former agent who now runs a “real estate technology company.”
          • This is one of my favorites. In a post titled “Instagram Tips for Real Estate Agents,” the author gives the same meaningless statistics but she also posts a demographic breakdown of Instagram users from Pew Research. Demographics from 2015.

          The truth is that, as a real estate agent, you are targeting a very specific population: home sellers. This means that the majority of your “fish” are between the ages of 42 and 75 (Gen X and baby boomers), according to NAR’s latest statistics.

          These two cohorts comprise 70% of all home sellers and represent your target audience.

          Nearly 60% of U.S. Instagram users are between the ages of 13 and 34, according to the number crunchers at statista.com.

          So, where are my fish?

          That depends. If you want to target baby boomers, go big on Facebook. According to a recent Pew Research study, boomers’ two favorite social media hangouts are Facebook (nearly half of them chose this as number one) and Pinterest.

          There was some overlap in the study that finds LinkedIn (largest demographic is age 46 to 55) to be popular with both Gen X and boomers, so you may want to dabble in both.

          But Instagram? You’ll spend, on average, “… 30 minutes to an hour and 25 minutes …” (jennstrends.com) to create a post that in all likelihood will generate zero leads.

          Listings aren’t easy to come by right now and your time is precious. Fish where your fish are and you’ll meet with more success.

          Do some fishing for new clients by launching a monthly Holiday Campaign to your Sphere or Farm.

          Holiday campaigns are currently on sale 10% OFF the first month? But ONLY for 3 MORE DAYS! (sale ends 5/1/21).

          Holiday Scheduled Campaigns (shown above). Learn more, HERE

          TO LAUNCH A HOLIDAY CAMPAIGN:

          Hit “CLICK HERE”, below, to get started on your Holiday Scheduled Campaign (from a desktop or laptop computer).

          And, remember, YOU DON’T PAY for each mailing until it actually goes out (cancel or change each mailing up until the night before it goes out. The price shown at check out is per mailing, not campaign total).

          Launch a Holiday Scheduled Campaign now, CLICK HERE!

          Please reach out to our support team at 866.405.3638 with questions or if there is anything we can do to help you with your success.

          PLUS: When you have time…here are some helpful resources we’ve made available to support your success.

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

          The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Get More Listings, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence. –Click Here

          2. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

          The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

          3. Become a Neighborhood Brand

          Become branded in a specific neighborhood with a 12X15 marketing piece sent automatically each month to an exclusive carrier route. Watch this video to learn more or Click Here.

          4. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

          This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Real-Estate-Mailing-List-Guide2-3-D-999x1024.jpg

          The Real Estate Mailing List Guide outlines the top tools for generating targeted prospecting lists including Baby Boomers, Empty Nesters, Investors, Lifestyle Interests, High-Income Renters, Move-Up Markets, and more. The Guide also defines done-for-you marketing campaigns to match these markets. –Click Here

          5. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

          This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

          Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

          6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

          This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is ROI-calculator-b-233x300.jpg

          Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! –Click Here

          7. The Free Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT” 

          This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is CRUSH-IT-Guide-3-d-298x300.jpg

          The “Crush It” Guide includes easy steps to launching an effective direct mail marketing campaign, how to create a targeted prospect list, the perfect way to layout marketing materials for success, seven opportunities available to target in your area right now. –Click Here

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