Are you an agent who is not reaping any results from social media despite your efforts? Don’t give up. Social media is one of the most powerful marketing tools today. Here are seven common mistakes and how to avoid them.
1. No social media strategy
If your social media presence is lacking goals and objectives, it is unlikely your efforts will convert to real results. Real estate agents need to have a clear idea of what they are trying to achieve from social media and how they are going to achieve it. You must have a solid plan to achieve your end goals.
2. Lacking an objective behind every content piece
Life is busy and social media posts often end up being done at the last minute, posted in desperation just to have something up on the page. This is a waste of opportunity for businesses as social media is a powerful marketing tool. The key is to create content with your audience in mind. Focus on what your audience might like to see instead of what you want them to see. Every image, video, blog or link that you share should engage, entertain, build awareness or inspire your audience.
3. No consistency
Building a social media channel with engaged followers is not easy. It can take six to 12 months of consistent efforts to see real results. Regularly posting useful content is a must. Without consistency, you overlook the opportunity to create anticipation from your followers. Have a structured approach to your social media content each month, plan what you will post and schedule it in advance.
4. Not dedicating enough time and money
Agents should not regard social media as a free advertising platform. It requires time and money to achieve results and, as such, resources need to be allocated from your marketing spend to this channel just as you would for any other marketing efforts such as direct letter drops or newspaper ads.
5. Leaving it to the young
It’s easy to believe that social media can be managed by the tech savvy Millennials in the office. In reality, social media for business is complex and very different to personal social media. It can’t be taught in a one-day course and the main channels are constantly changing. It takes a lot of time to stay on top of the new technology, algorithm changes and trends to ensure that you are implementing the optimal strategy to reach your target market. If you don’t understand how the social media algorithms work, you could be doing damage to your organic reach.
6. Not connecting with people
Let’s say you’ve created an Instagram profile that is high quality, value based and well thought out. But you are still not be achieving the results you want. Why? Engagement is the key to success. This is a time-intensive process and to get the best engagement, you must connect and interact with your audience one-to-one on a regular basis. You can’t expect your audience to come to you. You must go to them.
7. Not targeting the right people or not targeting at all
Don’t focus solely on the number of followers you have. You must focus on getting the right followers on your accounts – quality over quantity. Target people who will potentially convert to dollars for you. Some accounts may seem to have a large following, but they are often fake followers or followers overseas who will never do business with that company.
1. No social media strategy
If your social media presence is lacking goals and objectives, it is unlikely your efforts will convert to real results. Real estate agents need to have a clear idea of what they are trying to achieve from social media and how they are going to achieve it. You must have a solid plan to achieve your end goals.
2. Lacking an objective behind every content piece
Life is busy and social media posts often end up being done at the last minute, posted in desperation just to have something up on the page. This is a waste of opportunity for businesses as social media is a powerful marketing tool. The key is to create content with your audience in mind. Focus on what your audience might like to see instead of what you want them to see. Every image, video, blog or link that you share should engage, entertain, build awareness or inspire your audience.
3. No consistency
Building a social media channel with engaged followers is not easy. It can take six to 12 months of consistent efforts to see real results. Regularly posting useful content is a must. Without consistency, you overlook the opportunity to create anticipation from your followers. Have a structured approach to your social media content each month, plan what you will post and schedule it in advance.
4. Not dedicating enough time and money
Agents should not regard social media as a free advertising platform. It requires time and money to achieve results and, as such, resources need to be allocated from your marketing spend to this channel just as you would for any other marketing efforts such as direct letter drops or newspaper ads.
5. Leaving it to the young
It’s easy to believe that social media can be managed by the tech savvy Millennials in the office. In reality, social media for business is complex and very different to personal social media. It can’t be taught in a one-day course and the main channels are constantly changing. It takes a lot of time to stay on top of the new technology, algorithm changes and trends to ensure that you are implementing the optimal strategy to reach your target market. If you don’t understand how the social media algorithms work, you could be doing damage to your organic reach.
6. Not connecting with people
Let’s say you’ve created an Instagram profile that is high quality, value based and well thought out. But you are still not be achieving the results you want. Why? Engagement is the key to success. This is a time-intensive process and to get the best engagement, you must connect and interact with your audience one-to-one on a regular basis. You can’t expect your audience to come to you. You must go to them.
7. Not targeting the right people or not targeting at all
Don’t focus solely on the number of followers you have. You must focus on getting the right followers on your accounts – quality over quantity. Target people who will potentially convert to dollars for you. Some accounts may seem to have a large following, but they are often fake followers or followers overseas who will never do business with that company.
If you don’t have the right followers, your content efforts are wasted. Your engagement rates will also be low as the people following you will most likely not like, comment or share your posts. As such, you need to know exactly who you are going to target, and the tools and methods you are going to use to reach them.