“Estate Agency owners and their marketing managers/team need to fully understand the latest trends within their industry and locality when using Social Media so as to best reach their Target Audiences. They should also be aware that using and managing Social Media platforms can either boost or cause significant harm to their company’s reputation, operations and potentially, earnings.” Christopher Walkey, CEO of Marketme TV.
So, is Social Media a Digital Marketing trend that should be adopted?
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.” – Seth Godin
Social Media should feature as part of your current marketing plan, even if just on experimental mode. You will no doubt see your rival Estate Agencies using the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube and Pinterest so it would be wise for any Agency to explore these marketing avenues to discover the best platform(s) for them. We hear that on average, Social Media makes up around 15% of companies marketing spend and this figure is increasing as rewards from careful and successful management bring ROI (Return On Investment).
Social Media for Estate Agency.
We must remember that currently, Social Media is free to use and will only consume your time in effort. The success is based on building Target Audiences that are willing to engage in your brand and the information that you share – Remember that marketing campaigns need to always focus on customers needs and adopt that age old catch phrase, ie WIIFM’s (What’s In It For Me).
Select and build a Target Audience and feed them not only facts and information of your business, but engaging and educational factors such as, in this example, how to present your house for sale or how to convert your spare room in to a bedroom etc.
“Our head of social media is the customer.” –McDonald’s
Create a community on your Social Media platforms. Although it is important to have a large number of Target Followers, Likes or Fans, it is the ability to get them talking to each other about your business which is what takes time, research and knowledge. Think about questions you can ask which can build communications and dialogue so your Target Audience feel like it’s a human talking to them, not a machine. One of the biggest complaints we hear from consumers using Social Media is that a company or brand only posts updates on products and services for sale, it’s not what they are following for unless it’s a crazy 95% off sale on everything! It is very recognisable to those using Social Media when posts are automated or part of a third party software simply updating on houses for sale or rent as part of their Estate Agency Software package. As we say, “Would you follow McDonald’s if they simply Tweeted that it was $5.39 for the Big Mac meal combo with fries and a drink.”
“With the growing reliance on social media, we no longer search for news, or the products and services we wish to buy. Instead they are being pushed to us by friends, acquaintances and business colleagues.” Erik Qualma.
Lastly, think about Social Media as an important part of your current and future marketing plans. If you self manage your accounts, look at the effect your updates are having with regards to hits on your website (research analytics to see if Tweets / Posts have trended). If you are receiving enquiries and want to research feedback such as ‘Where did you see us advertised’, think not only about asking regarding seeing for sale signs and local newspaper ads, see if customers come to you view Tweets, Videos or Likes.
Estate Agency Social Media Management by Marketme TV. To find out more about our monthly intensive management packages that start from £100 PCM, contact: 01206 700888.