I use every social media platform that I can figure out and at times think its probably over kill. I also stop using any social media platform that doesn’t give me immediate results or engagement and write it off as my lack of understanding the product or it is the wrong audience. Snap Chat for instance was a short lived affair I had but the app was so difficult for this 40 year old to use I found it to be cumbersome and eventually just quit. Twitter, well I am not famous or a celebrity and don’t want to be so I can’t figure out its ability to grow my local business. Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn? Now we are talking and while I have your attention I have a few suggestions to make your social media your number one place for current, future and past client engagements.
Regular Posting – Are you posting daily or weekly or never? Understanding that a post only lasts as long as its relevant is key and in Real Estate the post lifetime is rather short. If you posted last tuesday, that post is probably long gone so maintaining a regular routine or habit of posting good content is a must. Sometimes we can over post or get redundant but understanding that its a constant news feed and filling it will pertinent information is the key to keeping your business top of mind for sure. Post regularly and set a schedule if you need.
Tell a Story – Many people look at Facebook and Instagram a dozen or more times per day based on their notifications and need to know what everyone is doing. Its a habit now for most and I think people are looking for a story that they can follow. Telling a real estate story is a cool way to engage clients with new interesting posts. Realtors see a lot of things and sharing that is a great way to teach people about yourself and your business. I always suggest that agents choose a story line and stick to it. Mine was always a Westfield Real Estate Family Guy from day one. I sprinkle in my love to cook with #realtorgrub and stick to that. It just gets confusing if I throw in new stuff or try to be less specific. You might be surprised how interested your story is to others and how much they may want to be a part of it.
Know your client base – Do you sell houses? Do you sell land? Do you sell vacation rentals? No matter what you are selling you need to have an idea of who you are talking to through social media. If I were to spend my time telling people I sell beach condos, it would be wasteful here in Indiana and when I watch agents posting about huge LA homes or a Florida high rise locally, I am confident they couldn’t tell you who their audience is. Take a few minutes each week to be sure that you are talking to the people that you sell to and that you are not trying to be everything to everyone. The latter will never work.
They see through the BS – I could post that I sell high end condos in downtown Indy all day long but I have never sold one and my circle knows this. So why would I ever try to fool my audience? If I said I was an expert in selling apartment buildings would anyone take me serious just because I posted it? No way and people are not idiots. I always make sure I am being honest and sincere when I share a product or expert advice since I only get one chance to be wrong or bad at it and the last thing a Realtor can do is come acrossed as full of crap. Study your craft and offer a skillset that you have experience in and educate yourself in a new product before you pitch it. People are wanting real expert advice and these are big decisions so being what you say you are is one of the most important responsibilities in social media as a Realtor.
Messenger – Facebook Messenger is one of the most powerful tools in Social Media for my business. Once you are connected to someone its a great, organized way to stay in touch with them. You can send links, pictures and attachments and its all searchable and saved in your messenger feed. I bet I spend half as much time in my messenger feed as I do my email inbox just because it can be a direct connection to a client and it brings a personal touch into the equation. Not spam but good managed communications. If you are not using messenger I would encourage you to work on a strategy to start soon
Share Share Share – I think many times we get stuck in the habit of working our feed and ignoring the feeds around us. For instance I like to share other listings in my market area and maybe show my connections something that I do not have listed or project I am not working on. Other peoples content can be fantastic and being able to leverage their knowledge or expert post for my contacts is a great resource. There are a couple of agents and RE professionals that I constantly check in on and see what info they have that might be a benefit to who I talk to. Many of our colleagues have awesome posts that talk about details that we normally wouldn’t be able to share so why not use that and help them along the way. Look for a few colleagues and peers to piggy back and share information back and forth. I even meet regularly with a few to stay up to date on upcoming content to watch for. There are a lot of smarter people out there then me doing a lot cooler things so I will gladly support them and share that with people that may look to my pages as a place for advice.
So social media is as important as ever and just because everyone is doing it doesn’t mean you can’t stand out and be original. Come up with a plan and continually monitor the engagement and ROI. Come up with a story and become an expert at something, not everything. You will be surprised how much a niche can gain you street cred and the reach a good content plan can have. Good luck
Curt has been in the Indianapolis Real Estate business for over 10 years and spent his first years learning all aspects of commercial management and brokerage. He has had great success in managing existing commercial projects and new retail and office developments. Curt specializes in building owner representation and purchases in the Westfield Indiana market as well throughout the Indianapolis Metro area. Curt is passionate about growing the local Westfield community and in his free time volunteers with Westfield Youth Assistance and raising 2 children with his wife Jennifer.
