5 reasons why creating a Facebook business page might not be for you

 

With social media being such a great tool for Estate Agents, it is hard to see why more aren’t putting an effort into using these websites.

Setting up a facebook page for your estate agency is free and only takes a couple of minutes to do. Although what you usually don’t read a lot about is the negative factors that can come from having social media accounts.

Now we aren’t saying any of the social networking sites can affect your business but your input into the social campaigns can reflect badly on you.

Estate agents know it’s becoming important to have a presence on Facebook but don’t want to put the effort in so simply cut corners and use the website wrong.

So before rushing in to try and keep up with the crowd, consider these situations and you may realise Facebook isn’t necessarily for you.

You’re just following the crowd

Everyone’s talking about Facebook these days and that it's one of the best places on the net to spread the word about your business. However, estate agents that don’t understand what people use Facebook for and what people want from it probably won’t see too much benefit from having a Facebook account.

Knowing what the customer/user wants is how you become successful with Social Networking. Just posting all the properties you’ve got for sale isn’t what Facebook users want; if they want that they would just go to your website. Facebook users want interesting information that will benefit them and not you...

You don’t know who to target and how to connect

As with most things it’s not about quantity it’s about quality. Having no particular target and just trying to attract all types of people is never going to benefit you, you may end up with hundreds of users but no one that is actually interested in what you have to offer.

A great way to connect is to optimise your page for groups and things relating to your business.

You don’t have the resources or time to keep your page up-to-date

This is something you will see a lot of on Facebook and Twitter, Estate Agents usually get excited about setting up their Facebook page, put a lot of effort into the descriptions and photos, posts up a couple of comments and then forget about it.

Nobody is interested in a dead Facebook page. To get followers its essential to post up interesting information regularly, which I can assure you is more difficult than it sounds. Finding interesting posts can be quite tricky, especially when you are short of time.

To keep the users attention, you have to keep updating your page, aim to post up 4 or 5 comments a week.

Your lack interest

I’ve spoken to many Estate Agents that still don’t believe Facebook can improve their online presence and a common phrase we hear a lot is that “Facebook is only for kids”.

It doesn’t matter what we say or what proof we show them that Facebook is a great tool, they still don’t buy into the whole Social Media campaigns.

Now when they’ve given into peer pressure and set up a Facebook business page, it’s obvious they won’t put any effort into it and settle for bare minimum. In this case it is more likely to have a negative effect and reflect badly on you.

Before setting up a Facebook page you really need to understand how you can benefit from Facebook.

You aren’t willing to customise your Facebook fan page

An easy trap to fall into when creating a Facebook page is to produce a very basic and boring layout.

Standing out can really draw people to your Facebook page. You can customise your page by adding your logo, clever thumbnails and by personalising the tabs. 

Some companies have even gone to the lengths of creating unique and interesting landing pages to separate them from the crowd. Check out www.facebook.com/cocacola.

In conclusion, you will find it more rewarding to have a strategy before making a Facebook page for your business. Make sure you have the time and determination to engage your audience. Creating a Facebook page can do so much for your business as long as you’re willing to put in the effort, if not; instead of drawing in lots of business it can taint your image.

So plan ahead, sort out a strategy and put the time into developing a connection.

 

By Luke Stanley
SEO Consultant