The Two-Pronged Approach to Social Media That Agents Must Use

What's the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?

Brush your teeth, maybe comb your hair, feed your cat? How about check your phone? According to a 2016 study, more than 60 percent of people check their phones within minutes of hitting the alarm. That number rises to 88 percent within a half hour and 96 percent within the hour.

What does this mean for real estate agents? With more than 2 billion active monthly users on Facebook and 800 million on Instagram, it means social media's marketing power is undeniable. Traditionally, agents connected with buyers and sellers via sites like Zillow, which averages around 32 million visits a month. Compared to the collective 2.8 billion people interacting monthly on Facebook and Instagram, that’s only a drop in the bucket of the total market.

It isn’t just quantity, but consistency that makes social media valuable. Not only are consumers checking their phones first thing in the morning, but they're also spending “more than five years of their lives on social media,” logging onto Facebook for an average of 35 minutes a day and Instagram for 15 minutes. Social media gives you the chance to drive potential clients to your site before they start searching randomly online.

By leveraging both platforms to create a comprehensive, two-pronged approach, you can generate more high-quality leads and reach them more effectively.

Getting the Right Kind of Attention

Your online profile is only as strong as it is authentic. People hate clickbait and obvious sales pitches, and they’ve grown impressively adept at spotting them. Authenticity means establishing real, meaningful connections by interacting with your audience and sharing real, personal information about you and your brand.

When you have a strong profile, your list of friends and followers will continue to grow — but the quantity of followers will mean nothing if they're not engaging with your content. One of the easiest methods to engage followers is to ask fun, quick questions. For instance, you can post a photo of a kitchen design concept to your Instagram Story and utilize the poll sticker to allow users to vote yes or no. You can post the same design concept on Facebook and simply ask followers to click "Like" if they approve.

Tapping local businesses is another great tactic. When you visit the new coffee house, ice cream shop, or pizza place in the neighborhood, take a photo or go Live on Facebook with the owner. Then, tag the business and its employees in your post.

You’ll quickly make friends with local business owners, but you’ll also create brand awareness, provide valuable content for your audience, and solidify yourself as the friendly, well-connected neighborhood expert. When people in your friend group need an agent, they’ll not only recognize your name, but also remember that you’re the best resource for finding quality real estate.

Turning Followers Into Leads and Leads Into Clients

Besides its reach, Facebook has an incredible array of audience targeting tools that help you identify potential clients; its remarketing tool also lets you deliver valuable and relevant content to people who've already visited your site or seen you on other platforms.

For instance, through Instagram, you can provide visually engaging photos of new listings or developments that pique interest and make your name recognizable. Then with Facebook, you can tag interested users and retarget them with more informational content, such as in-depth blogs about nearby schools or restaurants.

But generating leads is the easy part. What you do with those leads is the key to your success.

You need the proper systems in place to engage with leads quickly and effectively. You're 21 times more likely to convert cold leads into clients if you reach out within five minutes. Facebook’s targeting tools can help you here as well. You can segment your Instagram and Facebook audience into different demographics, including age and location, then target segments according to their unique web behavior.

Facebook even categorizes important life events so you can target newlyweds looking for a starter home or new parents looking to expand. Your previous posts about new developments, schools, and businesses, as well as your general knowledge of the area, will make potential customers more confident in your ability to find them the perfect home.

Making use of these systems can be time-consuming, but it’s more than worth it. Every year, real estate agents dump almost $15 billion into generating leads, and less than half of those leads ever respond. With a two-pronged approach to using two powerful social media platforms, you’ll have a much better chance of finding and reaching out to leads who want to engage with you.