The great debate – how Realtors should promote themselves on Facebook. Got ideas?
Last week we ran a blog with some tips for Realtors on how they should use Facebook to promote their business. It elicited quite a few comments, many of which were posted on Linkedin groups.
There are a few items up for debate concerning the use of Facebook and we thought we would continue the conversation.
First, we’re still hearing from some in the biz that Facebook is useless. Well, we hope to change the mind of those folks y saying that any venue that brings you, a real estate agent, in contact with your prospects, say 500 MILLION of them, has got to be beneficial.
Think of it this way, wouldn’t it be nice to go to a party with a bunch of potential clients in your town. But, as you know, parties aren’t always conducive to generating business, especially if you get stuck with that hyper-yakking jerk with the tumbler filled with scotch who just won’t let you go.
On Facebook, you can easily enter into a dialogue with each and every person in your market. And you pick and choose the conversations that are most likely to be productive in your goals.
We would like to hear some feedback from You on a couple of questions regarding the social marketing aspect.
- Is Facebook working for you to generate contacts?
- If you spend all your time socializing on Facebook, showing members that you are the hyperlocal expert on your neighborhood, providing useful lifestyle information instead of personal hype, is it a good idea to “friend” other real estate agents? Some experts say no. You are putting in the time to develop your contacts, so why let a competitor come in and mingle with them as well? Naturally, real estate agents help other real estate agents all the time with referrals, etc., but is Facebook the place to do it?
Finally, you have to watch your knitting on Facebook – they are cracking down on agents who try to show listings or overly promote themselves.
“There’s a feature for that” the monitors will tell you, and that’s in Facebook Ads. [By the way, that’s not necessarily a bad thing – the ad program allows you to target the demographic and location you want to hit, and you can start out modestly just paying per click.]
So what are the best practices on Facebook? If you got an idea or opinion, bring it!
Here’s an example of somebody who seems to be doing it right, using a hyperlocal expert strategy: 365 Things To Do In Vancouver, WA
