Using Facebook and Social Media to Attract Motivated Sellers

[Amber Barger]

Good Afternoon All,

I read Likeable Social Media by Dave Kerpen and am hoping for advice on how to apply what I learned. Has anyone used Facebook to interact with the local community in general? The idea behind it is if you make an effort to connect with people in your area and they come across a motivated seller they might remember seeing your posts and suggest the seller contact you. I was planning on just starting with general home related posts and eventually adding stories of people we have helped avoid foreclosure (with their permission of course) and the progress of our flips. The other idea behind it is if someone gets a letter and looks us up they might see our page and feel more comfortable giving us a call. Has anyone done this or is it not a good idea? I know some real estate agents do it but searching through FB I didn't see any investor pages.Thank you in advance for any insight!

[Armen Zakarian]

Hello @Amber Barger 

As an individual who's business is based around social media marketing, I would say it is a MUST for anyone, in any industry to interact with their ideal audience to remain relevant.  People appreciate free insight on tops, especially when it comes to their property.  This is how you can build your know, like and trust factor with your community.  

I could sit here all day long and type out many reasons why should be on Facebook and Instagram but I'll save you the reading--as Nike says... just do it!

If you have any questions or need guidance, my business phone number should be in my profile.  You're more than welcome to reach out.

Armen 

PS.  How is that book?    

[Rachel Rendall]

Definitely a good idea! And your idea of offering value FIRST before going after potential leads is right on target. You can even do small promoted posts with valuable articles to get your stuff seen by a wider audience. Even $3-5/day with an engagement post can make a huge difference over time in building an audience/following, and possibly even build an e-mail list that way. Provide value enough times and later people will remember :-D 

[Adam Macy]

I did a very intensive social media campaign in Northern Colorado, paid A LOT of $ for it and I got multiple leads but most of them were junk. People would just click through unknowingly, they were just curious, won't answer calls/emails or they were trying to sell mobile homes. I had about 70 leads over 3 months and none of them turned into a purchase after following up multiple times with them. I think it has something to do with the market to some degree. Where I am based it is a more affluent area and I think people are not motivated enough to unload their properties at a discount.

If you are a realtor then some of the contacts can turn into MLS listings but even this was difficult, very competitive and proved unfruitful.

[Amber Barger]

@Armen Zakarian Thank you for your insight! I will continue to work on our social media presence. I really enjoyed the book it helped me view social media marketing in a different light. Some of it didn't really apply to REI but a lot of it was useful especially because there were certain platforms I was completely unfamiliar with (like twitter). One idea that I never considered but seems obvious now is to post things that the you as a customer would want to see, not what you as the business feel like people should see. I will definitely reach out if I have any more questions!

[Amber Barger]

@Rachel Rendall Thank you for the advice on the ads! I think for now I will post helpful blogs and such and once we have a slightly bigger budget promote some posts. How often do you think I should post? I don't want people to unfollow because they are tired of constantly seeing my posts.

[Zack McCoy]

There was a podcast with a guy from Kentucky that had used social media to help find deals.  I believe he actually created a facebook group for his area.  I forgot the podcast name and number, but I'll look to see if I can find it.  

I remember the guest owned a shirt printing company and was from Kentucky.  It may be episode 242.

[Amber Barger]

@Adam Macy Thank you for sharing your experience. I doubt I will do any paid marketing especially at the beginning. I primarily just want to start establishing a social media presence. Facebook will mostly be a passive marketing strategy. Engage with the community and offer tid bits without expecting anything in return. I know that probably won't generate any leads at first but I suppose if my goal isn't to get leads then I can't be disappointed!

[Amber Barger]

@Adam Macy Thank you for sharing your experience. I doubt I will do any paid marketing especially at the beginning. I primarily just want to start establishing a social media presence. Facebook will mostly be a passive marketing strategy. Engage with the community and offer tid bits without expecting anything in return. I know that probably won't generate any leads at first but I suppose if my goal isn't to get leads then I can't be disappointed!

[Amber Barger]

@Zack McCoy Thanks, I will definitely check that podcast out! The book I read actually talked about creating a group inside your page. A place where people can talk and support each other with minimal interference from you. I thought about creating one for people coping with being house poor lol but I am not quite sure yet.

[Rachel Rendall]

@Amber Barger, posting once a day or every other day is a great start. If you can get 6-8 weeks of posts lined up, you can run them through a cycle a couple times. Different people will see it, or people that have seen it may click on the article after seeing it a second time. And if you're posting blog articles, make sure they're from your website and your website is linked to your Facebook page...posting your own stuff automatically gets shown to more people versus sharing from someone else's page/site. Same goes for pics and videos. There's a great book called "Contagious" by Jonah Berger which goes through a lot of organic social media stuff and how to create a consistent online presence. Good luck!!

[Amber Barger]

@Rachel Rendall I just ordered the book. Thanks again!