In today’s world of real estate we have to remember that real estate is a business.
Like any business this means you have to have a specific marketing structure and know what the trends in marketing are.
Selling a candy bar is, in so very many ways, almost equal to selling a home; the only difference being one is a series of small dollar transactions while the other a single transaction at a time with a value much higher individually. However marketing either candy or homes both come down to billions of dollars worth of transactions a year, if not more. What you need to do is keep up with marketing trends and what’s working; then figure out how it can work in real estate and in particular in your area of real estate.
What’s Trending in Marketing
First and foremost in marketing is the large focus towards Social Media. Today’s world consists of instant access to information at the consumer’s fingertips and often quick and immediate knowledge is exchanged. Utilizing this type of media to buy and sell homes should be a very big part of your marketing scheme but with enough emphasis remaining on the one to one personal interaction also. Utilizing sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more will give you an upper hand not only in attracting customers but making contacts with other professionals that could potentially help you in your endeavors.
For example, having a Facebook page that you include other Realtors/Agents as friends would allow you to announce a new home you have put on the market instantly to anywhere from hundreds to thousands of both potential buyers and agents. A quick Tweet sent out on your Twitter account with a picture of a new home you’ve listed gives people in your area who are following you, again potential buyers and agents, an immediate visual of the home. Being a part of any Social Media group is exactly like being invited to one of the largest Real Estate parties possible and having the chance to make work related contacts from every avenue (buyers, sellers, other agents, builders, lenders and more).
The Biggest Rule in Social Media Marketing
One of the absolute biggest rules in Social Media marketing is to make sure you conduct yourself professionally. This means you don’t post on your professional site anything but professional comments and information. You don’t utilize your professional social site to play games, make any comments about anything BUT your specific work. You can comment on other agents’ posts about their homes, stating perhaps that the property may interest some of your clients or even privately send a client a message through Facebook and say, check out this link and provide them a link to the photo on the property. Do NOT ever connect your private social media to your professional media and in all honesty if you are smart you will also make sure your own private social medias all remain “private” and require you to specifically accept those who follow you.
Aside from the obvious, some of the reasons you want to keep you private and work social medias separate could include:
- Possibly giving too much personal information out about yourself and your family to anyone you don’t really personally know.
- Facing a client who ended up with a problem that truly was not of your doing but them being dissatisfied and using personal information to “stalk” or follow you if they’re truly upset.
- The possibility of offending someone with a comment or joke or any type of message that may create a bit of “bad blood”.
- On days when you spend more time on your personal site (playing games, etc.) it may seem to a client that you’re not doing your job when the truth is that perhaps you’re waiting for answers or just taking some down time.
- Keeping business and pleasure separate is just “good business” for the most part, especially until a transaction is complete. If you’ve become friends with a client or other agent then you can choose on your own later how much to involve them in your personal life but for the most part it’s important to keep the two separate to be safe.
To assure that you don’t run into problems make sure you set your personal settings for your personal social media sites as high as possible so that only your friends or followers can see the and not their friends or anyone else. Your professional site doesn’t have to be as closed off to the world; actually you probably want just the opposite and have your information available to everyone so even friends of friends can see comments they may make or answer back to your professional posts.
Be aware that Social Media is one of the fastest growing ways to be in touch with thousands of people at once. You also have to remember that it’s not the only means of marketing you should rely upon. Remember that nothing is better than human to human interaction; but utilizing Social Media helps you obtain more avenues of contacting potential buyers, sellers, and other professionals that may need your assistance and utilize your services.
