5 social tricks you should never use

As an estate agent we know you are strapped for time and resources. Your social media campaign feels like a chore and most of the time you struggle to keep up with it all.

At this point you start looking for short cuts...

With social media there are numerous amounts of tricks, tools and apps to assist you with your social media campaigns. Some are brilliant and will help build your social presences, while others may have a negative effect.

Social media has its etiquette, customs and expectations around behaviour that can only be provided by a human.

You should only use tools that increase efficiency while not harming any of these social norms.

5 forbidden strategies for Social Media Marketing:   

1.  Auto-follow

Following people that follow you is good manners in the social world, making auto-follow tools very tempting.

Why shouldn’t you use it?

By using this tool you can end up following lots of bots, spam and other dodgy accounts which are likely to make your twitter feed absolutely useless because it is full of irrelevant useless junk.

This could potentially damage your credibility as well as appearance.

2.  Auto- direct message

You’ve heard the social media gurus saying if you welcome each of your new followers you are far more likely to keep them around.

And you are right; this will increase engagement by making direct contact.

The problem is sending out an automated welcome message is very obvious and will generally be ignored these days.

People hate automated messages; they are usually dull, impersonal and irrelevant. When sending a welcome message to a new follower you really should make it as personal and friendly as possible.

3.  Send all your content across multiple channels

Instead of logging onto both Twitter and Facebook why not just log onto one and send it to both?

This will seem like a great idea as it will save you time but why shouldn’t you do it?

• People hate automated message and it is obvious when you are doing it.Â
• People are more likely to ignore the post
• Engagement is likely to decrease dramatically

4. Use Facebook as your Primary Web Presence

This has probably crossed a lot of Estate Agents minds. Should you invest in a website or just use Facebook instead as it’s free?

Remember you always get what you pay for...

Why you shouldn’t do this:

• Facebook does not offer the customisation that a website does
• You don’t control Facebook – Facebook can change their minds/layout/guidelines/policies at anytime without consulting you
• Facebook can revoke your rights to access your page at any time if they feel you have violated their guidelines leaving your investment completely wasted
• Facebook is a social media site owned by someone else. Not you. Meaning this is NOT a business asset, rather a borrowed platform.

There are many more reasons why you shouldn’t use Facebook but the key reason will always be your online presence is crucial to your success meaning you need a well optimised website so you can be found easily.

5. Ignoring your customers

The only reason you have set up a social networking account is to engage with potential customers and build recognition.

Ignoring customers that have engaged with you will only harm your online presences. You have been notified that someone has left a comment; the person who left the comment knows this so how does it look when you choose to ignore it?

Whatever the message good or bad you have to respond if you don’t it will send a negative message to your audience. We know you might be busy but how long does it really take to log on and message them back.

Avoid these forbidden tactics, they may save you a little bit of time but in the long run they will not make your life any easier. Invest the time to do it right and the benefits will be even greater.