Internet Marketing Strategy, Social Media Marketing, Social Networks, Speaking & Presentations
10 ways to Market your Real Estate Agency on Facebook
Oct 06 2010
I do presentations, seminars, workshops and training on Social Media a lot, and there are always a number of questions about Facebook and how companies and agencies can grow using Facebook. Here are 10 opportunities to take advantage of that will help grow your agency on Facebook.
This is the most obvious Facebook marketing tool for most companies and agencies. The problem is that most Facebook pages are not very effective. You collect “fans” (who are primarily your friends and not really your fans anyways) only to ignore them. It can be a good idea to set up a fan page and reserve your name (you need at least 25 fans to do this), but beyond that, if you want to grow your agency with a fan page you need to have compelling and consistent content and a clear call to action. Otherwise you are wasting your time.
Rather than just a fan page, consider creating a group for your agency, as it can be broader and more overarching. For example, rather than requesting people to fan Howard’s Real Estate Agency, which is rather limited in its appeal, consider starting Cincinnati’s Best Real Estate Agencies as a group. You will then be the connector for all of the real estate agencies in the city. Sure they will talk about other agencies, but you will get the benefit of awareness through bringing the community together and facilitating. You can also periodically promote your own agency too.
Facebook ads can be a great way to grow your agency. Facebook ads have a self-service mechanism you can use to set up and target your ad campaign. Facebook ads are great because you can start with low budgets, analyze results and make changes. Facebook ads also allow you to target based on profile key words, so they can be more effective than search ads. Consider promoting special services that your agency provides such as Tax Credit or news on mortgage rates.
Consider setting up an event on Facebook. When we had our launch party we had almost twice the number of RSVPs through Facebook as we did through EventBrite and non-Facebook promotion. Next time you are hosting a big open house or event, consider creating it as a Facebook event to drive awareness.
Rather than create your own group you can find other established groups to participate in. For example, if you are Howard’s Real Estate Agency there might be a group for Real Estate Agencies in Cincinnati or Cincinnati Real Estate. You can participate in these groups to build awareness. Be careful not to spam (it is annoying and unprofessional).
Again, you need to be careful not to be irrelevant and spammy, and you don’t want to participate on your competitors’ pages. However, you may find it valuable to participate in other fan pages. For example, being a part of a real estate fan page will allow you to see what consumers, who are also members of the fan page, are sharing through links and comments about what they are looking for or complaints, or agencies will promote their own special services and events. This provides them with exposure to their target audience beyond those who are already fans.
There are apps that allow you to link your other social accounts in to Facebook including Twitter, SlideShare and YouTube. Share your other social content on Facebook (where appropriate) to maximize value.
Consider creating an app for your agency. For your agency, an app where people can share photos of their new homes or a map of homes on the market might be beneficial for potential homebuyers. This is a great way to gain exposure while proving something useful and fun.
Facebook connect allows you to link with Facebook directly from your site or blog. You can use Facebook connect to integrate with Facebook and gain exposure and encourage your fans to share content on Facebook.
Facebook has widgets that you can create and display on your blog. Widgets are a great way to connect Facebook with your website and they are relatively easy to install. This is also a great way to increase the number of fans that you have.
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