5 Steps to Better Social Media Engagement for Real Estate
Agents, turn your social media into a success story!
Confirmation is in; buyers no longer conduct their property searches using traditional methods such as newspapers and real estate window advertisements. A recent study from Realtor and Google indicates that the home hunt has turned definitively digital, buyers turning to the internet and utilising fast, efficient and comprehensive platforms to conduct their search. These include search engines, online databases and of course, social media outlets. For realtors that want to get ahead, keeping up-to0date with social media trends such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is an absolute necessity.
Here are our Top 5 Tips to make your social media campaign a flying success.
1. Think Like a Customer
The key to success here is to step away from the marketing state of mind and take on a role of customer. In a recent article published on SocialMediaToday, social media and marketing expert, Ken Mueller explains that customers do not think from a marketing perspective and care only about what companies can give to them. What does a customer want to read or see? What is a customer going to share? What is a customer going to consider valuable information? What sort of material is a customer going to respond to? You can see where this is going. The bottom line is if your social media campaign is going to be effective then you need to get customers to like you, find your posts useful and informative and ultimately, be responsive.
2. Use Call to Action Language
Calls to action are a great way to get followers to interact with your business on social media. A post is far more effective if it is actively shared rather than just passively read and enjoyed. Calls to actions can also be used when drumming up initial followers. Businesses are constantly asking people to ‘Like us on Facebook’ or ‘Follow us on Twitter’. This is fine but to give your social media campaign a real kick try phrasing the question in a way that explains why they should become followers and what’s in it for them. Compare ‘Like us on Facebook’ to ‘Like us on Facebook and keep up-to-date with all the latest in real estate news and information!’ The latter is much more effective!
3. Keep it Real
The whole point of social media is that it’s social. People don’t want to read stale, information-heavy posts with an impersonal voice. They want to see upbeat, engaging and conversational content that is going to make a difference to their day. Forbes Magazine agrees, a recent article titled ‘Five Social Media Tricks Every Entrepreneur Should Know’, explaining that social media is a great platform for businesses to engage with their customers on a far more personal level.
Did something funny happen in the office today? Tell your followers about it! Are you sponsoring the local football team? Tag them in your post! Are you having a particularly exciting open house? Tell the world! Use your social media platforms to give your company a voice of its own and you will no doubt see your online community begin to respond and grow with you.
4. Ask Questions
The best way to get people to respond to your posts is to ask questions. Once again, social media is about connecting with a network and engaging in conversational communication. Asking questions is an excellent way to make the most of the opportunity to interact with your customers on a personal level and let them know that you care about their interests and value their opinions. Effective questions should be bold, attention grabbing and related directly to the wants, needs and interests of your followers. Will a customer respond to a generic ‘What are you up to today?’ question? Probably not. It’s much more likely they will take the time to answer things like ‘What is your best open house makeover tip?’ or ‘Do you prefer auctions or offers?’
5. Tell Stories with Pictures
Followers love photos. A recent article from Inc Magazine reporting that Facebook’s top brand pages receive twice as many likes for image posts and 12 times as many shares for videos. Images offer a visual stimulant that grabs the attention of followers and makes your post stand out amongst the constant influx of news feed content.
Wrapping It All Up
Follow these five tips and you are guaranteed to see your social media campaign go from drab to fab. Most importantly, remember the one underlying rule: Would you as a consumer positively respond to the post and click ‘Like’, ‘Follow’ or ‘Retweet’? If the answer is yes then get the post out there and start engaging!
If writer’s block hits and your creativity starts to sap, don’t forget there are professionals on hand that you can call in to turbo charge your social media engagement. With more gurus than an Apple Genius bar, CityBlast’s social media experts know just what it takes to send stats stellar. With more posts and more sales for more agents in North America than any other real estate social media service, is it time you called in the CityBlast experts? Click HERE to start your FREE 14-day trial now!
