(Part 3 of a Three-Part Series)
Burning question: Why go social?
Many people mistake it as a trend, but the reality is, social media has become a staple in our lives. As a REALTOR®, if you’re not using social media, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities. It is a valuable tool for communicating and building relationships with your audience and can do wonders for your business.
To wrap up our three-part series on how to boost your social media presence, we thought we’d share with you a few tips and reminders.
1. Google yourself. (It’s totally fine!)
Chances are, potential clients are Googling you right now. Do you know what information they can find? Aside from your website, blog, news articles, and images, your social profiles also show up for this search result. Make sure you cover the basics. Check out our social media do’s article.
To get results that are not affected by your search history, log out of your Google accounts, and set your browser to incognito or private mode.
Pro tip: Set up Google Alerts for your name. This will help you monitor when new information is published with your name on the world wide web.
2. Ask for reviews and recommendations.
Many people turn to online reviews to gauge the sentiment about brands, especially now with lockdowns and physical distancing measures in place. Google- and Facebook reviews, as well as the star rankings from them, are prominently displayed in the search engine results. Your past clients are your best marketers and salespeople. So if you haven`t been consistent in asking them for glowing testimonials, it is high time to do so.
Pro tip: Reply to every review you get and include some context that will help future clients learn about the level of service you provide. Add in details about how fast the home was sold, the selling price, and how your marketing program made a difference.
3. Think Calls-to-Action!
Entice your audience to respond to your social activities. Your calls-to-action or CTAs don’t always have to be promotional (remember the social media don’ts). Ask them to read an article, watch your video, share their thoughts, attend an event, or join the conversation. However, don’t ask for too many actions. You would just confuse or irritate (yikes!) your audience.
4. Proofread your massages. (See what we did there?)
Social media is rife with errors. Don’t let misspellings and grammatical mistakes creep into your Feed or Stories. They undermine your authority as a Realtor. Read every word in your post or tweet out loud to catch blunders that your eyes may have glazed over.
Pro tip: Toss your text into online tools and apps like Grammarly to do a quick spellcheck and identify grammar mistakes. Just remember that there are no foolproof AI assistants. You still need to proofread.
5. Profile photos are public. Keep them appropriate.
These are key elements of your social media presence. They help verify who you are. The best profile photos are friendly and professional-looking, clear with good lighting, high quality, and recognizable.
Need a more recent photo? It’s often a good bet to have your headshot taken by a professional photographer.
6. Don’t plagiarize.
In your quest to establish thought leadership over time, it’s tempting to represent ideas, words, or work of another person as your own. But being a trustworthy and responsible Realtor also means citing your sources. Feel free to use as many resources as you see fit to demonstrate your expansive knowledge – just don’t ever forget to give credit where it is due.
7. Measure your success.
Track the right social media KPIs or key performance indicators – beyond your fan, follower, or “like” counts. Worry less about your number of followers and worry more about your content strategy. Dedicate time to be active on social. Provide value to your audience and keep them engaged. Monitor what is working well and tweak your strategies accordingly.
Do you have any tips to share or questions to ask? We’d love to hear them. Post them on the Fraser Valley REALTORS Network Facebook Group and let’s get social!
Source: FVREB Communications