The era of direct sales has come to an end. With the barrage of marketing messages, a target audience is exposed to innumerable marketing messages on a daily basis. The more the messages the fewer people respond to direct sales. Now it is the time of inbound marketing that includes content and social media marketing as their main value proposition. However, few have realized the true potential of content marketing, and even fewer are using it correctly. But agents who do know how to leverage content and social media can become a Realtor influencer.
Did you know that in content marketing there is no selling, asking for real estate referrals, or asking people if they are ready to buy and sell? Content marketing does not care about immediate sales. It focuses on creating an audience who truly believes in your expertise and knowledge. The ultimate level in content marketing happens when you have gained the trust of your audience as the top agent in your area. When you meet their needs for valuable information. This is when you can be called a Realtor influencer.
At roomvu over 15,000 agents use our platform. We look through their best practices, to learn their know hows, why their content works, and what can we learn from their marketing?
Why Become a Realtor influencer?
You might wonder if there are no sales, why would you bother and spend so much time becoming a Realtor influencer? After all, what’s in it for you? As a matter of fact a lot. So many agents are out there promoting their business and claiming to be the best. And people are looking for a neighborhood expert. Now, you can claim you are the one, or you can show and prove you are one. But with so many people already using content marketing, the competition is tough. Therefore you need to be one: a Realtor influencer who stands out from the rest.
Why do people need agents? Apart from the technical side of things, it is your knowledge of the area that makes you the proper person to find homes and present homes to potential buyers. People look for agents who know the neighborhood the best. You win leads and turn them into clients when you convince prospects you are that agent. Becoming a Realtor influencer in a town makes you the go-to agent in any neighborhood.
Roomvu videos are designed around each user’s market and created by an ever-growing team of local creatives. Broad-based, more universal industry topics can be chosen and promoted, as well. Localized videos connect with data sources to automatically overlay market stats as graphics and push viewers to new custom video landing pages.”
Inman News
Who Is a Realtor influencer?
In the real world, mayors are local leaders who resolve different administrative, legal, and civic projects. They also know a lot about their town, its issues, threats, opportunities, etc. In the world of real estate, however, the term “digital mayor of your town” was first used by an online marketing leader called Gary Vaynerchuk at an Inman Connect Conference in the summer of 2016. It suggests that, in real estate, the digital mayor of a town should have the same level of extensive familiarity with the neighborhood. That they should be the source from which people can get their info.
How to Become a Realtor influencer
You need to rule the neighborhood digitally. You need to show off your knowledge online to be a Realtor influencer. What is it like to live, work, and play in the neighborhood? Show your audience every possible aspect of the city homebuyers may be interested in.
Here is how to do just that:
Valuable High-Quality Content
There is so much content online that much of it is ignored. Users scan through content, stop for a short time on what seems interesting, open what looks promising, and keep scrolling when nothing catches their attention or resembles junk and spam. This is where quality content comes in.
Quality content has the following features:
It is relevant.
When you are trying to be a Realtor influencer in your neighborhood your content also needs to be focused on the neighborhood, town, etc. You may cover a few extra miles outside to make sure you appeal to those in close proximity to where you are active. Sharing content and data outside this radius will not make you a Realtor influencer in that town. It might make you a knowledgeable agent for other areas.
It is Up to Date.
Another important feature of the content that people are looking for is up to date information. Your content may convey a lot of information, but if it fails to cover the latest trends and data in the neighborhood, while other agents have, you have lost the edge in your marketing efforts. Make sure you keep yourself updated. Of course, that requires research and time spent following news and developments. Everything has a price.
It is Versatile.
The content you share should cover almost everything there is in the neighborhood related to real estate. From how it feels to live, work, and play there, to the local businesses and establishments, crime rates, job opportunities, facilities and amenities, transportation, and recreation. Put yourself in the shoes of your potential clients and ask yourself what you need to know about to city to be convinced it is the ideal place to live?
It Uses Videos.
Local neighborhood videos are engaging videos that show the neighborhood to interested home buyers. At the same time, they prove your expertise and professionalism. Go through the city on different occasions and events, walk around the city, interview local businesses and school principals and do your best to show every aspect of life in your neighborhood.
People are not excited to read what they can watch. You might think that text, blog posts, and articles are great ways of conveying information, but people expect video. The online space generally and social media, in particular, are full of videos. This has made users even less inclined to read. Make sure you use lots and lots of quality and professional videos.
However, if you have no idea what you are doing, don’t just grab your phone and record something. When videos were not used frequently, agents could maybe get away with this. But these days, with many agents sharing quality, professionally produced videos, your videos shot on your phone are not going to be very impressive.
Consistent Content Distribution and Promotion
Creating content is not enough. If people do not see your content there’s no point. You need to get your content seen by your target audience; the people who actually live in the area. There are many channels through which you can promote your real estate video content to end-users. These include your websites, emails, etc. But the most important channel that should be used by all agents (new and veteran) is social media. It doesn’t matter if you use the platforms for personal purposes or not.
Social media is where your audience spends 20 percent of their time every day. Gone are days when social media was a mere recreational hobby for people to find out what their friends and family were up to. People use social media to find products and services they need. Consistent presence across various platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and LinkedIn is a must if you want to be a Realtor influencer in your neighborhood or town.
There is more to sharing content on social media than meets the eye. Users on social media are not patient when you go silent. Social media needs to be done in a consistent fashion. Content should be shared on certain dates and times to create anticipation in your audience. There should a plan for when content is published, how it will be shared, and where.
Creating Engagement
When you have done a great job creating content and you share consistently your job doesn’t end here. Content needs to be shared by your audience. Mass sharing is what makes content go viral.
This is how you create engagement.
You need to take some extra steps to increase your content’s chances of being shared:
Ask Questions
When you share content on social media ask your audience questions and have them answer in the comments. Asking engaging and interesting questions will encourage your audience to click on the comment section and start typing. Once a few people start commenting others will follow. The number of comments on certain social media like Instagram affects the platforms’ algorithms so it will appear on global feeds like Explorer.
Attend to Comments and Direct Messages
Once you share your content people will have questions and might approach you by leaving a comment or sending you a direct message. Many agents fail to reply to such questions since they don’t have time. What do you think will happen? You will lose your credibility. Show that you are there, and you care. A person who asks a question is a lead!
Ask Your Audience to Share the Content!
It might sound a little aggressive but if done politely there is nothing wrong with asking people to share your content with their friends and family if they find it interesting or valuable. However, do not go overboard and don’t spam your audience’s news feed with requests to share your content. That looks desperate and unprofessional. Do it in moderation and you will be fine.
Read More: How To Become A Real Estate Neighborhood Expert Using Technology and Social Media
roomvu Content Calendar and Social Media Automation
All that being said, we know that becoming a Realtor influencer in any given neighborhood requires agents to spend a lot of time creating content and sharing on across social media, email, etc. Many agents pass on the idea of such an intensive online marketing plan since they already have too much on their plate. That’s why we have thought of how we can help agents achieve such a level of digital presence.
The result is what we called the roomvu Content factory and social media automation calendar. It offers 3 distinctive features:
Content Factory
Based on data, we create high-quality videos including neighborhood videos, market updates, tips, and tricks, etc. The videos are created using artificial intelligence and meet the highest standards in terms of accuracy, quality, and production.
Social Media Sharing and Promotion
Content needs to be shared therefore we also have this covered. We automate social media for real estate agents. All agents need to do is to connect their dashboard to their social media account and leave the rest to roomvu. We suggest the content and also the days to share it. If interested we can even promote it on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
Landing Pages
We believe the ultimate goal in every business is finding leads and making money. That’s why we have designed practical landing pages with different themes to attract home buyers, home sellers, and even renters and turn them into leads.
All you need to do is sign up for an account and start generating leads via landing pages. Our plans offers many features that will help your business get going and get you closer to becoming a Realtor influencer in your neighborhood.
Realtor influenced: Final Words
Becoming a Realtor influencer in Your Neighborhood will make you the go-to agent among many other agents. However, that requires you to spend time creating quality content, sharing it on social media and other channels, and also creating engagement and making your content go viral. If you want to be a mayor you need to act like one. Mayors know everything about their community, are aware of opportunities, and try to help with solutions. The digital mayor does all that using digital technology.
Read More: Real Estate Digital Marketing Best Practices: Converting Leads Effectively