Marketing correctly on social media can give you the same effect as sending out 10,000 postcards to people in the towns you serve, for .01% of the price. It can help brand your company, your name and get exposure for your listings - hard numbers that you can turn around and show your sellers. It can help drive web traffic, bring attention to you and the value you bring, and yes, you can go viral on social media.
So how do you become more social? Here are 3 quick tips to get started:
1) Create a Business Page on Facebook.
Business pages on Facebook are separate from your personal Facebook account. A business page allows you to have a place to highlight both industry information and information specific to your business. Make sure you create original content to post on this page in addition to highlighting work that has been published elsewhere.
2) Get people to "Like" your business Facebook page.
The impact of your business Facebook page is directly proportionate to how many people like it. Make sure you have your Facebook Business Page URL (For instance, ours is Facebook.com/ExposeYourselfPR) on everything from email signatures to business cards.
3) Run ads.
Running ads on Facebook to the people in the towns you serve is one of the smartest things you can do. Consider this: To reach 10,000 people (in the towns you serve) on Facebook costs between $150-$200. You can also reach these people multiple times (frequency) on Facebook. To send ONE postcard to these SAME people would cost you over $1700 in POSTAGE ALONE! Make sure to track the effectiveness of your ads, and be consistent. Branding takes time, but with Facebook ads you can speed up the process!
Unless working with social media is something you have the time and inclination to do on a consistent basis, it can seem like an overwhelming medium to leverage for your business. Let's face it, things are always changing on social media sites, it's hard to understand where you information is being seen and most likely, you are having a hard time figuring out how to turn it into a lead source.
Many real estate agents understand that they do not have the time capacity to master this medium, but know they need to be present and see its value. Hiring a company to handle your social media is like hiring a house keeper. Yes, you can clean your own home. You can learn the best techniques, you can buy the best products and you can put in the time to make your house sparkle. If you don't have time, you can hire a professional to do it for you.
It's the same approach with social media. You can spend the time to learn the platforms, read information on how to maximize your impact, commit to managing and maintaining it and, if you put in the time, most likely, you will have success on your own. The question becomes - is this something you want to master? Do you want to be managing social media all week while learning how to be effective on their ad platforms? Do you want to keep up on the ever constant changes and continually spend the time to learn the best techniques for success? If so, great! If not, perhaps it makes sense to hire a social media housekeeper. Know that this medium provides an opportunity that can be a powerful brand builder, a great way to stay top of mind with the people most likely to do business with you and a tangible way to show your sellers exposure for their listings. You can be sure that your competition will be there, even if they aren't now.
It's time to clear out the dust bunnies and start cleaning!
