Social Media Would Make Don Draper Pissed

Social media killed these!

Social media engagement is the new focus group.

Don Draper would lose it of he found out about social media.

Why? Because no business would need to hire his agency to conduct focus groups now that social media is here!

It boggles my mind that businesses don’t use Social Media to learn more about their customers’ wants and desires.

I want you to understand why engagement will benefit your followers and improve their lives.

I’m going to use realtors as an example but you can replace realtor with massage therapist, lawyer or running store.

I know lots of realtors where I am from. They all want me to join their Facebook page and since I know them I do.

Am I in the market for a house? Not yet but I still want to see what kind of value they can offer me and what they’re willing to do for my business in the future.

What I find though is that they simply promote the houses they have for sale and nothing more. There are so many better ways to showcase your talent, stand out from the competition and truly care about your audience then just posting open houses.

Shift the Focus Again

Here are a couple of reasons why simply posting open houses can limit realtors potential online. Think also in terms of what type of stuff you post and share online for your followers.

They have assumed everyone on that page is in the market for a house. Unless you’re the world’s best prospector, chances are not everyone on your page is in the market for a house. That can be used to their advantage though if they engage more.
My other issue is that they don’t post any content that offers engagement. Whether its questions, articles or pictures of a house, they have to at least ask a question at the end of a post.

Compelling and detailed questions are likely to get responses. Instead of “Do you like this house?” how about “I really love the open concept of the kitchen, what kind of meals can you see yourself cooking for dinner parties?” This puts them in a visual state as they think about how awesome it might be to cook in that kitchen. It will also warrant more detailed answers.

Market Research at your fingertips

So how can they market with more meaning keeping in mind these two points? Research of course! They must first determine what their audience wants.

These people have been nice enough to like their page so it’s only natural that they benefit in some way.

Engagement when done right can help all parties involved. If people are responsive then everyone is a winner. It can help the fan of the page get more beneficial information. It’ll then help the realtor fine tune their content strategy based on what their followers want.

There’s no sense talking about something no one has any interest in. Where’s the purpose in that? How does the follower benefit? How does the realtor benefit?

Using social media engagement better our realtor could create a simple poll on Facebook to find out:

How many people own a home
How many are planning to sell their home within 5 years
How many people don’t own a home
How many people plan to own a home within 3 years

Out of the answers the realtor will gain clarity as to what information their followers are seeking. Let’s break down some ideas for content and meaningful marketing strategies.

For the people who already own a home, content could be created around how to improve the value of a home for resale. They’re so many topics on this subject that I would need to create a separate post in itself so let’s keep focused!

The content would be published on the realtor’s blog or sent in an email newsletter. If the content is any good, people will share it through their social networks. Obviously this sets the realtor up to reach a larger audience.

Great content gets shared

The key is to have great content. Without great content the realtor will struggle to captivate current followers and getting their content shared. I’ll be posting about what makes great content and why it’s so important to have great content.

You’ll want to join my newsletter below for updates on how to create great content.

If current home owners aren’t looking to sell at all, you’re still providing tips and ideas on how they can improve their home. I’m sure they won’t object to that!

This would be a great time to team up with other industry people and get them involved. The realtor could get interior designers, painters, landscapers and other professionals involved.

What a great way to leverage someone else’s expertise and have them provide meaningful content for your followers. It gains them exposure, helps your followers learn how to create more equity in their home and you look like a champ for coming up with the idea. Another win, win, win! I will create a blog post on leveraging at a later point but you get the idea.

You don’t want to miss that so once again be sure to join my newsletter below.

Now we’ll move onto those who don’t own a home. The realtor could get even more specific and find out if buying a home is in the near future and how much they know about home buying. This would segment these individuals into those who are looking to buy within two or three years and those who still have a ways to go.

Regardless of what stage they might be at a meaningful strategy to educate them on home buying would go a long way.

Take it offline

Outside of creating a blog series on home buying, offering a free seminar series is a great way to get potential homeowners to let their guard down.

I’m not all about online marketing you see! Regardless of where it is, a seminar educating home owners on buying is meaningful marketing at the core.

Doing a home buying seminar definitely isn’t fresh or new. I see a lot of realtors doing these in my city and think others don’t do this because it’s not creative. Sure it’s not creative but if you have a following of people online and they want tips on home buying, do it up!

It doesn’t matter if 3 or 30 people show up it’s still a chance to engage, educate and build trust.

If three people show there are two positives to take from this:

Gives the realtor a chance to build a strong connection with those three people. Remember its the strength of the connection with your followers not how many you have.
Word of mouth will spread. If the seminars are any good, people will talk about it to others. Whether it’s online or offline, they’ll want other people near and dear to them to be educated on home buying.

This is especially important amongst friends who are younger and all looking to purchase their first homes. The seminars have to be informative for people to spread word of mouth. It’s all about providing great content.

Showcase Your Knowledge

Whether its blog posts or seminars the realtor displays their knowledge to an audience that is engaged. I can already see this realtor’s credibility going through the roof. The attendees can now fully trust that the realtor knows what they are talking about and that they actually care about them.

So through better social media engagement this realtor has been able to prospect better, create meaningful content while building trust, credibility and a connection with their followers.

Many businesses fail to take advantage of the fact that they can communicate with their follower’s (whether customers or not) every day. As I have showcased in this example the realtor can benefit not only themselves but they’re followers as well.

It’s all about identifying the needs and caring about your online community. Put yourself in their shoes and think more about benefiting them and not just your bottom line. Chances are your competitors aren’t thinking about their customer as much as they should be.

Seize the mindset of out caring your competition!

I’ll leave you with one important question.

How often do you engage with your followers with the purpose of improving their lives and your business?