What's happening Rainers! It's been a long time since my last post here, actually it has been well over a year! Goodness time flies when you are having fun I guess. I wanted to take some time today to write a post to hopefully help people both here in the Rain as well as those who are creating content on other social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Etc. I see this question asked over & over as well as I see many people who are just plain out doing it wrong.
Now, what I'm sharing today is my personal opinion as well as my experience since getting back into selling real estate full time in 2014. As some of the older crowd here might remember me, the new rainers may not know, I've been around this business since 2001 and have spoken to thousands of people around the country as a Social Media Speaker, so I would say I've got a pretty good understanding on what works & what doesn't by now in the world of social media.
Below is a screenshot from a group I am in with a question I see asked almost on a daily basis in different groups. People are constantly trying to figure out how to get better engagement on social media and have it turn into business for them.
We've been told over & over that social media can be a great source of business and that it can help our business, but the ways that some people are going about it, is completely wrong. I took a few screenshots of comments on this post that I'll post below.
The comments to start were pretty good. Creating content that is non real estate is a good start. They are correct, people are sick of seeing just listed, just sold posts. Sharing hobbies is another great way for people to connect with you.
Then someone mentioned about giving stuff away... Please don't do this. All you are doing is giving away stuff and not building a viable good business. Yes, he shared about how he got great interaction on the post, but what wasn't mentioned was that he spent money boosting this post out to people. He paid to get the interaction, gave away a $100 gift card and at the end of the day had a bunch of interactions, but zero business. He showed his "sellers" he could spend money to get likes.
After the brief distraction of paying to play, we got back on track with comments from other agents. I agree with them, nothing that would be considered marketing related is a great way to connect with people & get them interested. People don't like being sold to.
"Her People"... Ok, so I did a little research. She said how it's getting a lot of views. After searching, the video had 118 views. The dog is teaching social media now? That class is going to be "ruff."
Do you really think that parents that are preparing for back to school are thinking of buying a home at the moment? As a dad of 3 children that start school this next Monday, I can guarantee that moving homes right now is the LAST thing on my mind. And the cheesy saying "Let us do your Home work!" C'mon people, we are better than that. Notice, the post had zero interactions.
Um "Hello." Once again, zero interactions.
This one just disturbed me. It also disturbed my wife when I showed to her. She asked me, what kind of stuff is this person trying to sell? Unfortunately at some point this person listened to an expert who told them that we need to post content on a regular basis. The expert said you need to post daily & sometimes multiple times a day, so when you are trying to come up with content, a good option is see what the holiday of the day is & post about it. So this person saw it was national lipstick day & posted about it. That's cool & fine to do, but the image... Not a good pick. Then to place the brand logo over top just makes me cringe. The image looked more like the cover of a adult rated movie instead of something for real estate.
The point is this. People don't really care how much you have sold, how many buyers you got their home, that you are the best Listing agent in the world. They don't care that you closed 4 million dollars in inventory in a month. To consumers this is bragging that can turn them off. It takes them from knowing, liking, and trusting you to thinking of you as someone who is making too much money, who is driving a fancy car, living in a fancy house and they no longer can relate to you.
That person feels like they can no longer reach out to you to help them with their most important transaction of their lives because well, you are too busy with your business helping others sell homes twice the size of theirs. This is the image you give off by bragging all the time on social media. Either that, or your constant trying to shove sales down their throat as turned them off and they no longer pay attention to anything you share online. I relate this example to when you go to purchase a new car and the salesman is standing at your car door as you enter the lot trying to sell you instantly on how he can get you in a new car and out of here before your feet even hit the blacktop.
So What Should I Post?
Now that I've given you a good understanding of items what not to post, let me share with you what kind of content you should be posting. The power of social media and connecting with thousands of people online lies within storytelling.
You can still create content about that home you just sold, but the way you share that message can be done completely different and tell a different story to get you much more interactions, connections, and business. I recently sat down with an agent in my office who needed some help sharing a video she made & when we started the conversation, she was trying to write a description that went something like this:
"Just sold this fantastic home in Waterford..."
I stopped her and said "Kim, let's try to tell the story you shared with me instead of just another sales pitch." So instead we wrote the description instead that talked about how she was closing a chapter in her & her friends life where they had raised their children and how part of her was sad to be ending this chapter. See the post below:
This video had over 1,100 views in 3 days, had 24 comments here & was shared by the friend whose house she had just sold. As I shared with Kim about the power of telling stories instead of selling, I could see the lightbulbs going off as it set her free. She has dreaded sharing content on social because just like most consumers, Kim doesn't like to be sold to.
I shared with her how I shared a story back in January that was very personal for my wife & I and our struggles to get back to home ownership from 2009 till today. You can read the entire post here on my Facebook profile. This post is by far my most active post of the year.
To write this post made me and my wife vulnerable. It shared about how we had struggles and had to go through foreclosures when the market tanked.. It shared how our credit was destroyed in 2014 when trying to purchase a vehicle and getinng multiple denial letters. It shared how we were human and that everything isn't always perfect in our lives. It was relatable content that people attached you immediately.
When I posted this content, I didn't expect much from it other than to share a testimony of how my wife & I were finally able to own a house again. Then it all clicked shortly after posting this out online. Within an hour of sharing this post my phone rang and it was an old friend that I had not talked to in years who told me they had a home that they wanted to sell and needed some help to get it sold.
They shared that they had seen my post and while they were so nervous to sell their first home ever that they felt confident working with me would be the perfect way to get this done. They shared how they read my story and just connected immediately to me. While they knew many other agents, they felt they needed to hire me to help them sell their home. A few weeks later we met, got their home on the market & sold it in under 36 hours. This was a friend from college that I had not seen in over 10 years.
Then a few weeks later, I got an email from another person that I've not spoken to in probably 8 years. We had connected back in my days of traveling as a social media speaker. He knew I used to build custom WordPress sites and that I had gotten back into real estate after my dad had passed away, but to call an acquaintance is a stretch. Check out his email:
Notice the last sentence of his email. "Anyways, I'm sure you're busy, but if you have some time to chat and see if we could work together, I'd appreciate it." So instead of me having to try & search down the sale, the sale is coming to me & asking if we can work together.
Next month Chris and his wife will be purchasing a brand new home and it will be one of my largest sales of the year. Chris knew many agents here in the area too. In fact, shortly after announcing online that he was moving back to the area, his previous agent reached out to him trying to work with him to which Chris replied, "Thanks we are good, we have Jeremy."
That post back in January not only brought these two deals this year, but also brought forth 2 agents that have also sent me referrals this year from other parts of the country. One is for a listing which is right now one of my higher priced listings, and also a buyer who I am meeting with this coming weekend who want to buy and close by the end of September.
I share this success not to brag about how awesome I am as an agent. If you are reading this post thinking that this is just a brag fest, you are completely missing the poing. Instead I share this to encourage you to write content that tells better stories to consumers to connect to.
The post I shared on Facebook goes against almost all the rules of social media. It shows my wife & I in a unpleasant situation. It shows that we had a foreclosure happen. The post written was way too long. It was 856 words in length. Experts say keep it short & simple to keep your audiences attention. The post wasn't on a current trending topic. It wasn't a video. It didn't wasn't a contest. It was simply a heartfelt story of our struggles, and triumph of once again being able to own a home.
So next time you are trying to create content, don't go immediately to sales pitch mode, but take a moment to think things through and consider a way to tell a story that a consumer can relate to & connect with you on. Trust me when I say, this will work much better than the sales pitch and connect with many more people.
As many of you who know me well already understand, I'm an open book and am not afraid to share online about my victories, and also my struggles online. So to give you an idea of how well that single post has done for me in 2019, let me put it into financial terms. By the end of September, that single post will have made me over $29,000 alone in business in 8 months time.
So figure out ways to become a better storyteller. That is what consumers are looking for and what they can relate to. As they relate to you & your stories, they will then begin to know, like and trust you. They will then begin to not only use you for their own buying and selling of a home, but they will also start to share your name out to others who are looking for an agent in the area.
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