Did you know that the average person spends over TWO HOURS on social media every day?
With 2.2 billion active users on Facebook and 500 million on Instagram, not only is social media where your clients and potential clients are hanging out, it is hands down the most economical vehicle to market your products and services in your home town and around the world.
Targeted Audiences are at your fingertips.
You can build your TRIBE (or community) with just a few posts every week. These loyal followers will also help promote your services for FREE by sharing your content and engaging with posts that resonate with them.
We have taught thousands of Realtors® how to market their services efficiently on social media. We handle social media accounts for real estate agents and we get to experience hands-on how powerful it is for our clients.
We PROMISE you that if you apply the content we will share with you today, you will see an increase in your brand awareness, in traffic to your website and in engagement on your posts, all of which can help you convert real fans into leads and clients.
Ready? Let’s get started! 10 tips, 10 x 2-3 minute video tutorials. Easy.
(Note: Use the table of contents below to jump to a specific video tutorial, or just scroll down to view them all in order.)
Table of Contents
- Pick One Platform and Master It
- Strategy is key!
- Consistency
- Use Beautiful Images & Videos
- Engage!
- VIDEO, start shooting!
- Know your niche and position yourself as an expert in your field
- Play in Instagram’s Backyard
- Collect photos
- GO Live!
Tip #1 Pick One Platform and Master It
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Pinterest…
With so many social media platforms to choose from, it can be overwhelming. The trick is to pick one and master it.
Where do YOU spend the most time?
For example, if you are already active on Instagram, then convert your account to a business account or start a new one and focus on that.
Build an Instagram strategy, learn how to schedule your posts, plan your feed, research the hashtags relevant to your industry, learn about Instagram stories, learn how to advertise, study other business accounts… and become an expert at it!
If you are just starting with social media, ask your clients what platforms THEY are using, or research businesses similar to yours to see where they are hanging out.
This being said, Facebook owns Instagram so it would be a good idea to have a presence on both platforms.
Even if you just open an account on Instagram or build a Facebook business page, it’s important to secure your name and add the basic info.
Tip #2 Strategy is key!
Avoid getting sucked into the social media vortex!
Having a basic idea of where you are heading will help you be efficient, save time, and save money. Take the time to do the following exercise:
1. Identify your target customer
Who are you talking to? You want to make sure you post content that is relevant to your audience, content that will also attract ideal customers your way.
2. Build a Content Calendar
Use whatever works best for you. Your daytimer, Google sheets, iPhone calendar. Start by marking the key dates like Mother’s Day, a holiday weekend and so on. Add the events that are key to your business (open house, community event, fundraiser). This is the framework of your content.
3. Group your content.
Maybe introduce a new product (or real estate listing) every Monday, share a tip on Tuesdays, post a video on Wednesdays, testimonial Thursday…
Build folders on your computer and save images, videos, links, and notes relevant to your topic.
This allows you to always have quality content & images to post or schedule!
It also allows you to take vacations and to always look your best ;)Download our free social media calendar template and start planning!
Tip #3 Consistency
One of the keys to your success in using social media is to be consistent.
In order to be consistent, you’ll want to have a set time each week or day to create content for your social media. Without a solid plan in place for your social media goals, you might have a hard time meeting those goals.
Scheduling a specific time on your calendar will make it real and help hold you accountable. In the beginning, you’ll need to estimate the amount of time needed to complete and schedule your posts.
If you are on a team, divide the tasks up, and help each other. You can even create your content for the week by scheduling it on most platforms or using a third-party scheduler. This simple tool can make your life much easier and can help when you are planning to take a vacation.
The KISS Method
Sometimes the biggest time wasted is overthinking what content to create. Here at KISS, our model is to “KEEP IT SIMPLE” Watch the world around you every day to help create your content.
Maybe keep a file you can add great ideas to as you see them throughout your day.
Consistency with your brand … It is also beneficial to your brand to keep your tone and themes consistent. It doesn’t mean you always need to be exactly the same.
Just be consistent.
Write down your colour codes and keep your logo handy to drop onto photos.
Create a simple theme around each week and get into a rhythm of being consistent! Before you know it, consistency will become a habit!
Tip #4 Use Beautiful Images & Videos
The saying “A picture is worth a thousand words,” exists for good reason: 90 percent of information your brain absorbs is visual, and visual messages are processed 60,000 times faster than text.
Way too often when we do social media audits for our clients, we notice that the images they use are too dark or that there is something strange in the background like an open toilet seat or a dirty pair of socks!
The key is to take an extra few seconds to clean the camera lens on your smartphone and do a background check. Make sure your composition is good, maybe add some interesting elements, see if you can improve the lighting or the angle of your photo.
Play with your phone. Try the different modes. Portrait, depth effect, panoramic, HDR, Live, Zoom, Filter. Experiment. This will spice up your images and increase your engagement.
Think old school photo album… You do not have to post in real life, actually, you shouldn’t post in real life ever!
Go home, go over your photos, edit the best ones if need be and use only the ones that you think would be good enough to print on your social media channels.
Tip #5 Engage!
Comments, notifications, direct messages… Notifications on social media. Each social platform will send you a notification when your community is engaging with your content or sending you a private message.
This is your opportunity to build your tribe, showing people you care and appreciate their time on your social site. The general rule is to acknowledge interaction on your social media by responding in a timely matter.
Facebook will inform people of exactly how responsive you are directly on your Facebook business page wall. It might be wise to set up an autoresponder or a bot to handle the interaction if you find you are too busy.
People who engage with your brand are your ambassadors and you’ll want to show them lots of love, as they will help promote your products and services for FREE.
Responding can be done in several different ways today, you could have crafted responses ready to go, you could try using Emoji’s, Gifs, or a photo, maybe once in a while send a video of your response.
No matter how you decide to respond to your notifications try to stand out from the crowd… Be creative and have fun.
While all these ideas are easy to say, you will need to be prepared by having easy links available to download Gif’s or understand how to bring up the Emoji keyboard on your computer or smartphone.
A little practice and you will stand out from the crowd!
Tip #6 VIDEO, start shooting!
One of the fastest ways for you to increase your ENGAGEMENT with social media is to start using Video in your marketing mix.
Consumers watch over 13 BILLION videos every day, it is the most active activity on the Internet – WORLDWIDE.
Facebook alone has over 8 billion videos watched daily. You’ll want to feel confident that some of those videos are yours. With this staggering information, we ALL need to be shooting video and adding it to our social media.
The rules are pretty straight forward we recommend three things
- No Nudity
- No Alcohol
- No Swearing
Lighting, Camera, Action… Shoot!
Did you know 85% of videos watched are with the sound off? This means you’ll also need to add captions, which Facebook will do for you when you edit your videos or finish your circles as Catherine and I like to say when we are teaching our Boot Camps.
- Videos can get more than 5 times the engagement as other types of content.
- A video will help build better relationships and trust with your followers, plus make you the expert in your industry.
- Video improves Search Engine Optimization and Social Optimization.
It is no wonder Video is taking social media to new levels of engagement. Not everyone is comfortable shooting video, if you are new to shooting videos you’ll definitely want to start by practising.
Start by using your smartphone and get to know the settings for shooting the best videos. Check your lighting and the sound.
Prepare a long list of different videos you could shoot related to your industry.
People often tell us they don’t like how they look or sound on video. There are many tips and tricks around looking and sounding better on video, you don’t necessarily need to shoot yourself, selfie style.
You could introduce your products and services in other ways. Watch your analytics for which of your videos, get the longest views and the most engagement, Then produce more videos similar to these.
We call these BABY UNICORNS!
Tip #7 Know your niche and position yourself as an expert in your field
What differentiates you as a realtor? Why should people hire you? What are your strengths?
A good way to stand out is by creating content that will showcase your knowledge and keep your name top of mind.
Here are some ideas:
Share tips, answers to frequently asked questions, do market updates, interview people you work with, such as lawyers, mortgage brokers, interior designers, landscapers, and bankers.
Showcase some neighbourhoods: schools, parks, restaurants, events. Showcase some of your favourite local businesses, local success stories. Support your community!
Remember you do not own social media, but you own your real estate website. Make sure you have a professional presence online and on mobile.
Ask feedback from friends. Where they able to get to your listings and find out how to contact you easily? Is you blog up to date? Do you have content on your site that could be useful to your potential clients. Is it genuine content or automated?
You also want to showcase something unique about yourself. Remember there is one ONE you and you are FABULOUS! What differentiates you?
If you are not sure, ask someone to say 5 things about you. For example a friend might say about me: “Catherine lives in Whistler, she loves skiing and trail running, she has 3 kids and she is a social media coach and marketer.”
these are all aspects of what makes me, me. I can share this on social media. Remember, clients might not be ready to buy or sell property right now but they can start relating.
When they are ready to make a move, you want your name to be top of mind. They might not even remember your name but they might think “That woman who’s a soccer mom, she’s a realtor®, I can relate to her, what’s her name again?”
Remember to be strategic. This is a business tool and you are a busy person.
Some things to keep in mind:
- Batch and schedule your content.
- Use a branded hashtag or hashtags (Ex. #whistlerrealestate, #whistlerbysarah) that way when people click your hashtag all your content will show up.
- VIDEO! DO VIDEOS! Share on IGTV, Instagram, Facebook, Instagram stories, YouTube.
- Cross promote your blog, podcast. You can do one blog a month, spread the content by sharing parts of it each week and repurpose it on all platforms.
- Do shoutouts – tag businesses that align with yours
- Show up in your feed (who’s behind the brand?)
Best Practices:
- Stay true to your branding and to yourself. Be genuine, not selly.
- Be consistent
- Have a business account (in Facebook and Instagram)
- Answer you notifications and messages in a timely matter. We have had clients miss out on sales because they forgot to check their messages on Facebook!
Tip #8 Play in Instagram’s Backyard
We like to think about Instagram as a billboard on the side of the highway and Facebook as a super listing in (what use to be) the Yellow Pages. They are both important for marketing but they serve a different purpose.
When we think about Instagram, we often think about the Instagram feed or gallery.
The square images you see when you visit an account are the equivalent of a landing page on a website. If you have catchy images, you might get some likes and comments. Great for the ego and brand awareness but not the best to create an interaction with potential clients.
The Instagram feed is like the facade of a house. You work on the curb appeal, this is where your greet your guests. Where the interaction, the conversations and the party happens is in the backyard!
You are more likely to meet people at a BBQ party than in the driveway. This is where you want to hang out to meet clients.
You backyard on Instagram is: Instagram stories, IGTV, Instagram highlights, Instagram live, direct messages.
Create a little strategy around it and show up! Go live to give a market update – use the filters to look amazing ;) – showcase open houses on Instagram stories. Book the time in your agenda, maybe 10 minutes a day, to explore what like minded businesses or people are doing and be social. Like and comment on posts (with at least 4 words!)
Remember to look at your messages (the little paper airplane). This is like planning to meet a potential client. Imagine if you didn’t show up?
Treat messages and notifications seriously. You can even answer messages with audio or video. How cool is that?
Tip #9 Collect photos
You should always be looking for great content, either it’s going to be someone else’s, or your very own (your own is best).
To keep yourself organized may we suggest putting a folder on your desktop computer and smartphone and call it CONTENT.
Every time you have a photo opportunity take the shot! The world around you is your content.
Think about the people you work with such as a mortgage broker or lawyer, and ask them to a coffee or lunch and shoot a few photos.
Setting yourself up to be the expert in your industry is as simple publishing content that speaks to this.
Watch the marketing and advertising that other businesses are doing and see if you an repurpose any of it for your business.
Ideas:
- Changing seasons
- Parks
- Coffee shops
- Schools
- Clients
- Homes / real estate tours
Cross promote your business with theirs, tag their business page name in your posts. Think of photos that will create positive engagement or feedback instantly on your social media
Ask people questions in your post that are linked somehow to the photos you are using. Take more photos throughout your day and put them into your folders, create many different folders within that folder.
Pretty soon you’ll just do it automatically.
One last tip – Have a box of lens cleaners on hand to make sure your lens is always photo ready!
Tip #10 GO Live!
Want to know how to spark a conversation and engage with your followers, maybe even find new fans?
Going Live on Facebook or Instagram in real time is one of the best ways to interact with viewers. You can answer questions on the spot, hear what other people are thinking, and check out their live reactions to see how your LIVE is going.
Going Live allows you to connect Instantly with your followers. They can even receive notifications when you’re about to go live. You can tell your story your way, you can use filters, themes and effects.
One of the fastest ways to build an authoritative voice in real estate is to publish videos. You can become the industry leader by educating and communicating with the public.
As a realtor, you often hold open houses, and this is the perfect scenario to go start going Live. Practising going Live can be scary at first, but after time you will lose those jitters and start to feel comfortable.
Live video gets into more news feeds and for FREE, and can be very exciting. Try to go live for 5 – 15 minutes, which is a long time if you are not prepared. Take the time to write out the bullet points of what you want to cover. Have them handy, don’t try to show the consumer any graphs or numbers you are holding as they will not be clear.
It’s all about PRACTICING… Time on task again.
Things you should consider purchasing or having with you to go Live at your open house:
- TriP Pod (Catherine and Heather’s Gear List)
- Lapel Mic / Air Pods / Earphones
- Good lighting – either go outside or stand in front of a window if you do not have any lighting equipment.
- Lens cleaners
- Notes or bullet points
- Sharp outfit
In Conclusion…
For the most part, social media is free, except for your time. Scheduling your content to go out when you’re busy doing other things make Facebook and Instagram a little more convenient.
With some practice and a new view of the world as your content, you’ll be ROCKING social media in no time. “Time on Task” is what we say!
If you need help with your social media accounts, please do not hesitate to reach out to us!
Our services include:
- Online weekly monthly coaching (like a personal trainer at the gym, without the sweat)
- Boutique social media account management for real estate agents
- Realtor® Social Media Marketing Workshops
- Acclaimed Six Hr Social Media Boot Camp – June 24th!!
About the Authors
Heather & Catherine are the powerful forces behind Keep it Simple Social Media. They have taught thousands of people how to market their business on Facebook & Instagram with a 6 hour social media bootcamp, private classes, and speaking engagements. Their YouTube channel complements their teaching with close to 500 video tutorials totalling over 670,000 views and over 1,400 Subscribers. Keep it Simple Social Media helps people all over the world, including awesome fans in Dubai and India.
Contact Heather & Catherine via
Email:
hello@keepitsimplesocialmedia.com
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