In order to keep up with this rapidly changing and competitive industry that is real estate, agents have adapted to social media platforms and other marketing/advertising tools to help grow their business.
At Tru Realty, we pride ourselves on being a tech-forward brokerage. We recognize that technology is an effective way for us to connect with more people in more places. We are committed to educating our agents on how best to utilize social media platforms as part of their outreach efforts. This represents just a portion of our tech-forward mentality. Our brokerage also features a dynamic CRM, lead generation, contract management software, and ways to make your business operate paperlessly.
All of these advancements have proven to be effective tools in delivering an extraordinary real estate experience to ALL of our clients. Part of being an industry leader is recognizing how best to use tech in all of its forms. Social media can be one that is often improperly used by real estate agents.
Are You Using Social Media Properly?
Social media platforms should assist real estate agents in two significant ways. It should enable them to deliver more value to consumers in innovative ways and save them time when carrying out their day to day tasks. Social media (when done right) should help to build relationships with clients and assist in efficiently delivering messages to select audiences.
Notice I said “select”. Message relevance is a key component to driving engagement on social media.
Too often agents will rely on a motivational quote or a silly meme to perpetuate engagement. That might check the box for you on staying in front of your contacts but it falls short of the interaction they seek. Social media platforms afford you the ability to communicate that you are an expert. Top real estate agents are showcasing their knowledge of the housing market, the neighborhoods they list in, and their ability to deliver a quality real estate experience.
When is Too Much … Too Much?
This can be a real challenge for even the savviest real estate agent. In speaking with the experts the answer is almost inevitably “it depends”. Relevant social media messaging can be as frequent as once, maybe even twice a day. Again, the key is relevance. Posting something like a new open house and following it up later in the day with important information about a new school being built in the neighborhood is a solid strategy. The next day might include a post about interest rates—your opinion on where they are going and what might be a good next move for a home buyer or seller.
Valuable information can be readily shared on social media to contacts that your recipient may have. This is a great way to grow your portfolio.
It’s also OK to humanize yourself a little but remember this needs to be done judiciously. Often times, having a professional page outside of your personal one can be advantageous. This allows you to separate content so that you’re not sending pictures of your husband’s keg stand to your potential clients.
Remember, we are inundated with so many messages, advertisements, memes, and other forms of social/digital communications that relevance and value can be our only differentiators. If you truly want to stand out: stay on point, stay relevant, and be consistent.
A recent study by the American Psychological Association found that frequent use of social media can impair empathy as well as compromise emotional intelligence. At Tru Realty, we direct our agents to spend no more than one hour a day on social media platforms as part of their outreach. Too much time with your head buried in your phone can leave you distracted, distant, and drained. I think we can all agree that too much of anything can keep us from achieving success or more importantly, living a good life.
Sarah C. Richardson is one of the preeminent leaders of residential real estate in Arizona. As the CEO and founder of Tru Realty, she is responsible for both the daily operations and oversight of the multiple growth strategies that the brokerage carries out. Sarah launched Tru Realty in 2010 as a way to serve a marketplace that was seeing a shift from auction centric fix/flips to an MLS flow. She is now rethinking the way her brokerage uses technology to better serve clients and agents alike.