Sometimes I get so sick of hearing about social media. It is constantly used as a buzzword to try to get attention. But to be honest, using social media can be a great way to get your message out, and to bring in real estate leads. Today’s post is going to discuss several different social media sites, and how to use them. The idea is to use these sites a little better and a little different than most agents do so you really stand out.
(Click here for a free Ebook I wrote on selling more real estate fast)
Social Media Sites And Tricks to Make Them Pay Off
Your Facebook friends can be a good source of real estate leads. Let’s just start with the most popular site in the world. It gets the most traffic, so its a no-brainer that this is the place to start. Facebook has several elements you can use to bring in real estate leads. The first is just the networking aspect of it. Your Facebook friends can be good lead sources. Post your listings. Post interesting updates about your local real estate market. Don’t overdo it, but make sure that your Facebook friends are aware that you are a real estate professional.
Run totally awesome giveaways on Facebook. You may have read my post about a marketing campaign I worked on where the agent threw darts at pictures of the people that entered the contest. It got a ton of views on Facebook, and people talked about it, liked it, and shared it with their friends. There are a few keys to running a successful contest or drawing to get people to talk about it. First, you need to make sure the prizes are pretty awesome. The cooler it is, the more people will want to join the contest. Next, you have to promote the contest well so people will sign up. Finally, you need to do something interesting for the drawing so people will want to watch it, even if they didn’t win. And one last little trick, if you make a video of yourself doing the drawing, you can upload it to Facebook and tag all of the people that entered. A lot of people will see it if you do that.
Update Twitter automatically. This isn’t any big breakthrough or anything, but it is a quick and simple way to keep your Twitter account updated without spending any extra time. Just log into Facbook, then go to Facebook.com/twitter. It will let you link your account. If you have a page for your business, this is the best one to link. Now everything you type on Facebook will automatically post to your Twitter account. If you type a post that is too long for Twitter, it will automatically be shortened and will link back to the post on your Facebook page. Easy.
Get them to contact you. Whatever social media platform you are using, the goal is to get people to contact you, or give you their contact information. The best way to do this is to get them away from the social media site, and to your website. You do this by post interesting updates with links to your website. Your site should have a call to action which encourages prospects to give you their contact information. Things such as local foreclosure property lists can be a big draw. Also having people sign up for contests can be a good way to convince them to give you their contact information.
YouTube can make you a local celebrity. YouTube is a great platform to get your content out there. There are two important things you need to know about using YouTube. First, when you upload your videos, you need to set things up properly so that they can be found in searches. Make sure you add tags to your video. This is very important. Tag it with keyords about real estate and about the area that you sell real estate in. Also make sure you type a detailed description of what the video is about, and ALWAYS include a link back to your website so they can get more information. Your website is where you collect contact information, so make sure to send them there!
The other important thing you need to do is create really good content. You can always make videos of your listings, which is good, but to really stand out you need to do something different. It can take awhile to come up with something interesting that matches your style, and its not for everyone. I’ve seen pretty cool videos from real estate agents that answer common questions people have about the local market and about how real estate transactions work. I’ve also seen agents make videos that aren’t real estate related, but talk about things within the community where the real estate agent works. These videos attract people in the right area, and of course a portion of them will turn into leads. The really important thing is that you need to have fun with it so people will have fun watching it.
Justin Razmus built his real estate company from the ground up, eventually employing over 25 full-time workers. The majority of his real estate business revolves around investment properties and working with real estate investors. He has taught many in-person real estate classes and spoken at many events. He is passionate about building businesses and helping others do the same.
August 6, 2012
Great article. I’m wondering if you have any advice on using Pinterest, or if you even think it is worth messing around with?
August 14, 2012
Good info, its amazing how much social media has changed marketing and advertising. Personally I love it. It’s made the world smaller and easier for the small business owner to advertise, and its free. Just takes effort and time.