Learn how Realtors market themselves on social media to grow their book of business by consistently creating content and adding value on Facebook and Instagram.
How should Realtors market themselves on social media? This is a topic we work on with our clients, and today we are sharing our strategies with you. Social media has never been more relevant to your real estate business than it is today.
Everyone is online! In the past, it was mainly young people and tech enthusiasts. Now, my grandma is on Facebook. When you market yourself on social media at a high level, you have the potential to reach more people than ever.
Today we are focusing on Facebook and Instagram. Why? Because these platforms are the most popular (and therefore, effective) as of the publication of this blog post.
VIDEO: How Realtors Market Themselves on Social Media
Social media is part of your larger contact plan
To get the highest return from your sphere of influence (SOI), you use an Annual Contact Plan. This Annual Contact Plan is comprised of 100 touches to each contact in your SOI database over the course of a year. You must use a variety of contact methods to complete these touches.
4 primary methods of contact
- emails
- telephone calls and texts
- mailers
- social media posts and stories
How Realtors market themselves on social media becomes super important. Because let’s face it — you’re gonna be popping up everywhere. You need to walk the fine line that keeps you from being blocked. You also need to cater to the social media algorithms that decide whether or not to show your posts.
Your messaging needs to be positive, neutral, and full of value. As I say often, you should always be coming from contribution. This applies to social media as well as everything else you do as outreach to your SOI.
You social media followers are another, separate database
Though it’s a good idea to store all of your contacts in your CRM, you will find that you have unique contacts on your various social media channels. In this way, you can treat each of your social media channels as their own SOI databases.
Yes, you should strive to get everyone (and their contact info) into your CRM. But to some degree, these databases will always be separate and slightly different.
How Realtors should market themselves on social media
Social media touches will make up most of the 100 contacts in your Annual Contact Plan. This is great news for you because social media is easy and cheap. And, there are many ways to use social media. Today I am going to give you four action steps you can put into practice immediately.
- Send direct messages that offer value (see example Facebook DM script)
- Interact with with your followers’ posts and stories (use the 10-10-5 method)
- Create a Facebook list (to use as you do your 10-10-5 each day)
- Post and create stories (at least once per week using the 4:1 ratio)
1. Personal Facebook direct message script
This script is a great example of how Realtors should market themselves on social media.
“Hi it’s (Agent Name). How have you been? I’m updating my real estate database and I’d love to send you something over the holidays and from time to time. My real estate business was amazing last year, but I need to do a better job of staying in touch with people I know. So would you mind replying with your current home address, phone number and email address to help me out? Thank you!“
People love holiday cards. Yes, you are reaching out to update your database. But, you’re also telling them that you’re going to send them a holiday card. That’s the item of value that you’re offering them.
Send 50 of these Facebook direct messages per day. When you get responses, you can then add these contacts to your SOI. This is huge for growing your SOI database.
2. The 10-10-5 method daily
You need to use this method every single day as you interact and engage with your followers on social media. And, you must limit your time. This should take no longer than 15-30 minutes. It is so easy to go down the social media rabbit hole and waste your entire morning. Set the timer on your phone to keep yourself on track.
- 10 likes or emoji reactions on posts and stories
- 10 comments on posts (make these quick: “Awesome!” “So cute!” “Congrats!”)
- 5 shares or personal messages
These interactions are powerful. It means a lot to people and it keeps your relationship going strong. And, it makes it more likely that they will engage with your posts. They will feel more connected to you, and, they will also feel obligated to “return the favor.”
Not to mention, mindshare. The more your followers see your name pop up on social media as you interact with their posts and stories, the more mindshare you gain. This is how Realtors should market themselves on Facebook.
3. Create a Facebook list for your SOI
This is not the same as a Facebook group. You can categorize your Facebook friends into lists. By doing so, you can more effectively target (and engage with) your SOI. As you do your 10-10-5 each day, you can focus on the people you need to be interacting with.
Who doesn’t belong in your Facebook SOI list? Other Realtors, friends and family that live across the country, etc.
FREE DOWNLOAD: How to Create a Friends List on Facebook
This packet will walk you through the process, step by step, as you create Friends Lists on Facebook. By categorizing your Facebook friends into lists, you’ll be able to target your messaging and reach out to your SOI in a more effective manner. Note: Facebook revamps its interface periodically, but we keep up with the updates.
4. Post and create stories weekly
Make 1 post or story per week, minimum. That is 50 touches a year, roughly. There is a rule that you need to follow, however. Our 4:1 ratio dictates that for every one business-related post you make, you need to balance it out with four personal posts. The content you post on social media needs to adhere to this ratio.
Video is the most powerful for growing relationships with your SOI. It is the most powerful touch you can use on social media. Many real estate agents are not comfortable using video, but, like many things in life, you can get comfortable with practice.
What about your Facebook business page?
We get a lot of questions about how to use your Facebook business page. I’m not going to spend time talking about it today, but I’ll tell you this. A Facebook business page is not very useful, except for running ads. It also can serve as a “website” for your business, because it has all of your contact info and examples of your past clients, marketing, etc.
Yes, you should have a Facebook business page. But the social media strategies we are talking about today apply to your personal page. This is truly what you should focus on. Lead generation comes from your personal page. Lead conversion comes from your business page.
Sign up for our Social Media online course
For more strategies, systems, and high-powered takeaways, sign up for our SOCIAL MEDIA & DIGITAL MARKETING masterclass.
Want to learn more?
- Read The High-Performing Real Estate Team. You can buy Brian Icenhower’s best-selling book on Amazon.
- Subscribe to The Real Estate Trainer Podcast. You can find it on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, and anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts.
- Join the Real Estate Agent Round Table. We are always posting fresh content, including market updates, free templates, and host dynamic discussions with the industry’s top producers.
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