4 interconnected ways to produce leads from social media

 

Sometimes an Estate Agent’s only reason to join social media is to produce leads. Whilst this is only one single aspect of the online social experience, it is important that Estate Agents know the best way to produce leads from websites such as Twitter and Facebook.

• Be loud and proud

One of the very first things that people do when starting your social media venture is to gain new followers/likes/connections.

This can be done by inputting your email address, search for local people and industry leaders, talking about social networks face-to-face, advertising your social networks on your marketing material, creating a link on your email signature and much more.

What Estate Agents have to do is make sure that when they undertake social media purpose, they involve it in as many aspects of their business as possible. Tell anyone and everyone who will listen.

• Presence

There is simplistic logic when it comes to having a presence on social networks. There is a known correlation between the number of times you update your social network and the number of followers/likes you have as well as, the more people that like/follow you the more likely it is that people will see your post.

Therefore without regularly updating your chosen social network, it is impossible to achieve those leads that you so desire.

It is important to note here that you should not concentrate completely on the number of followers you have. Sure, we all want to have as many followers as the next guy (or more than!), but if only a small fraction of your followers are from your local area – or worse, from another country – then the chances of converting a follower into a lead are minute.

Concentrate on your local community.

• Engage

This is the most important rule that anyone will tell you when it comes to social media:

Without engagement, you will not get a single lead.

Here at Resource Techniques, we do not believe that any part of the social media experience should be automated whatsoever. It should be a completely organic approach that comes from an Estate Agent with general and industry-related knowledge.

That ‘real person’ then has to engage with social network users (ideally in the local area) by either helping, replying or simply by conversing with them. This then leads us to the next point…

• Establish a connection

Social media is social by name because it requires two-way communication. By opening up lines of communication, you are establishing the foundations of a connection between your business and the individual person and the more you communicate with that person, the greater the trust.

Now that doesn’t mean that they’ll invite you round for tea or put you on their Christmas card list, but it does mean that one day, whenever that is,  they will eventually be looking for a property in your local area.

By creating a connection and continuing to communicate with that person, you have greatly increased your chances that when they look for a property, you have established yourself as a local expert that people can turn to.

Of course there are other factors involved when someone chooses an Estate Agent, but the fact of the matter is that when they are thinking of putting their property on the market - you will be there.

James Coyne eMarketing and Social Media Consultant