How 5 Minutes Can Expand Your Client Base on Social Media, REALLY
Originally written for and posted on Realtor.com.
Does selling on social media intimidate or frustrate you? I can understand if it does. You may have only one or various social media accounts because you want to promote your real estate sales business. You do the conventional, obligatory thing of posting your listings but social media has not become a big bread winner for you yet and you are more than slightly miffed with this time zapper.
One main way that you can correct this today is to stop speaking to an empty page or site. It makes total sense that if you walk into an empty room (that is not adjacent to anything or anyone and has no cameras, mics, telephones, etc.), no matter how loud or long you scream, there is no one there to hear you. Believe it or not, many of us make this same mistake on social media. We post on pages and to accounts where no one is listening. Stop waiting for potential home sellers and buyers to come to you, go to them. You may be thinking, I want to do that but with the millions of people on social media that just does not seem possible. Au contraire, mon cher! In today's technological age, there is an app, site, software, something that can help you with that.
Here is one of my favorite tools to help you get on the offensive and make social connections that boost your likelihood of converting clicks to clients to closings to commissions (which are the vital 4 Cs of online real estate sales):
Mention.com
When it comes to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, Mention offers a more extensive search than Google Alerts because it tells you what is being said about your followed topic on social media instead of just on various websites, which may not have the same level of engagement and interest as social media. (Another alert system I favor is Talkwalker Alerts because it too retrieves intel from social media sites.) This means that you can find on social media those that are chattering about the target area (or farm area) that you want to become the agent of choice (like Cherry Hills Village in Colorado, El Cerrito in California, Woodridge in Washington, East Atlanta in Georgia, Palmer Woods in Michigan, and so forth).
I have found that home buyers and sellers that are online may not go looking for you specifically or even a REALTOR®, but they are posting their housing dreams and concerns in hopes that help will find them. Mention allows you to do that more efficiently. This can easily beat doing postcard mailings in that you spend less money yet will likely have more authentic connections if you actively pursue those posting about your real estate area of interest.
Here is a recent example:
In addition to following topics of interest relevant to my business, I also follow myself and my brand (which I recommend that you do too). Above is a screenshot of someone on social media sharing an article I wrote for Huffington Post. You better believe I connected with this person, who is a "raving fan" but whom I had never met. This shows the power of using Mention.
Are you multilingual? You can create simply one alert that searches on social media and the web in the different languages you speak - I love easy automation!
Imagine what would happen if you could easily locate those that share and comment on articles and topics germane to your sales area. And it all starts with creating an account and an alert of your choosing in under 5 minutes. I hope that puts a smile on your face.
If you are not convinced this can be done in under 5 minutes, watch me setup an alert from my phone (my only qualm is that Mention.com is not as mobile responsive as I would like since you will see in the video how I have to scroll to see everything on the webpage):
Once you are getting the alerts (which you can send to your email), make sure to review them in short order. Connect with the person that posted asap. These alerts will all be in vain if you do not do anything with them.
Also, there should be a method to your posting madness. Make sure you do not become a creepy, cyber stalker - there has to be finesse in your approach to connecting with those you do not already know. Check out this past article or grab this workbook to help create strategic posts to build your sales. Here's to your success!
