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Having been obsessed with social media marketing for the past several years, I’m always searching for ways to post value-added content to Instagram and Facebook.
To build trust with your audience (and stand out from the sea of other agents posting on social media), you need to give them some content or information that they don’t see every day.
Here are seven things that real estate agents can do to add value to their audience when posting on Facebook and Instagram.
1. Do a weekly video
Whether it’s two minutes or 10, do a weekly video on a real estate tip, but make sure the tip is good.
You have to think about something that 60 percent of your audience doesn’t already know — something like: “Why you need to work with a lender that’s local and reputable.”
2. Tap into your clients at the closing table
This is only if they’re willing. We have all seen the “just sold” photos at the closing table for years. I’m really not mad at it. I think it’s better than doing nothing.
But why not do more?
Make a video of something like “What I learned by selling my home,” and just ask them what they learned this time that they didn’t know before.
This is gold on social media. Make a one-minute clip of this, and put it on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and more.
There are many variations of this:
- What was your favorite design when searching for homes?
- What were the features in this house that turned you off?
Pro hack: Tag the client on every social media outlet you put the video on, and you’ll be sharing with their audience as well.
3. Feature an expert
There are many different ways to go about doing this. The best way is through video. We do a biweekly series of videos where we sit down with a different expert, a home stager, interior designer, plumber, etc.
We do it for 20 minutes and have a lot invested into it. But even if you do a two-minute q-and-a, that’s huge, as long as the content is really good. Here’s the thing with this: You have to be genuine.
Choose the people you really care about or respect. And try to truly help them. It’s one thing to feature an expert and show them off. But when you really start to care about it being an equal opportunity, magical things happen.
They start to truly care about you, and they will show off your social media posts. You can easily build a referral-relationship with them if you are a genuine person and a capable real estate professional.
4. Showcase monthly market reports
There are two ways to do this, and you should be doing both.
- Make a graphic that shows the simple version that is aesthetically pleasing and easy to read. Our local association does a monthly one for all the agents. We take it, and we rebrand it with our stuff. Guess what guys? They don’t care. We have an awesome board that is happy to provide that to us. Then, we put that on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and in a newsletter. Side note: For everything we do, we put “link in bio,” which leads consumers to the blog where we have a snippet of the market report and then links to our other content.
- The other way to do it is harder, and it takes more time and effort, but it’s worth it. Do a video interview in a neighborhood where you are in front of a home or walking down the street, and you go through the market report information that’s just been released. Have a video editor put the information on the screen. Make it less than one minute, and ask them to go to your website to see more information. And of course then, take that information, and bundle it with another article.
5. Take your audience on the journey with you
I do a lot of coffee and lunches with other agents I network with or those I might be trying to recruit. I bring a GoPro with me and do a mini-review of wherever I’m at.
I spend less than three minutes on this, but I then make a blog on my site, cut the video into a one-minute piece and put the video on Instagram with … you guessed it, “link in bio.”
I write a longer review on the blog, and I’m starting to rank on Google for some of the reviews I’m doing.
6. Feature your clients, vendors, mortgage brokers, insurance people and inspectors in your content
Let’s be honest, we have some really interesting things go down on a daily basis. Make sure to take note of those instances, especially if you can feature someone with whom you have a fun relationship.
You find something weird or crazy that has happened at a showing or an inspection and make a one-minute video about it. Everyone loves real estate and the stories behind it.
Make a written note in your journal right now, and have it say “Look out for crazy stuff that happened to me or my sphere.” And when it happens, bring that person in, and say: “Tell me what just went down.”
Not only are you giving people a very interesting story, but you’re also tapping into people you know.
7. Take the exact same tips above, and share them to your newsletter list
Newsletters are still very powerful, and they’re absolutely free. You’ll get a lot of traction out of this if what you are emailing is valuable. Use the most highly ranked 25 percent of your content.
Everything I’ve talked about here is really contingent on one main ingredient: adding value. You have to talk about things that are:
- Interesting.
- Not something your audience has seen 10 times before.
- That you yourself are passionate about. Even in real estate, make sure it’s something new and cool that you actually like talking about.
And you always want to spread content out through every social media platform, preferably at different times. We often will post something on Instagram and then post it on LinkedIn three weeks later. Work your content marketing, and make it work for you.
Ryan Rodenbeck is the broker-owner of Spyglass Realty and Investments in Austin. Connect with him on Instagram.
