4 Tips to Generate Real Leads (and Close More Deals) from Social Media
Social media is becoming more prevalent for businesses to use than ever before. In real estate, the National Association of REALTORS® 2023 Member Profile found real estate agents using Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram most for professional promotion. And with more buyers starting their search online than ever, being seen where they’re scrolling is a must.
Brian Ostrowiak, Founder & Owner of Bird Dog Group, joined us to break down his four top tips to maximize social media for lead generation.
Starting with Brian’s 3 Cs
Before diving straight into posting, liking, and following, Brian shares the “3 Cs” to follow to lay the foundation that will help you create consistent connections from social media.
Create
The first C is “create,” which signifies the need to create content to make viewers on social media remember you. Put simply, the content you create needs to consist of the stories you tell as an agent. Whether it’s a video, a static post, a carousel of images, a status update, or a story post, start with a foundation of the stories you want to tell your audience.
Consistency
The second C is “consistency,” which Brian argues is the most crucial. The goal of posting consistently is to be seen by your target audiences, and you don’t want to do it just once. Think about it: there’s no tactic in real estate that works if you do it just once: cold calling, door knocking, and sourcing internet leads. Social media marketing is no different.
Connections
As a real estate agent, you know how important it is to build meaningful connections. When you reach new audiences on social media, it’s important to aim to connect with them one-on-one. Likes, comments, and follows are great for engagement. But getting the connection built outside of that environment via call, text, email, or even direct message is key to fostering those connections. It also turns these points of contact into meetings, appointments, and sales.
4 Tips to Leverage Social Media for Smart, Effective Lead Generation
With the foundation set, you’re ready to dive into Brian’s four tips that helped him maximize his social media to generate leads and close 30 deals in the last year. It’s not rocket science; it’s a simple formula.
#1. Create Content that Helps People Remember You
When you create memorable content, viewers are able to easily create an association with your image. Posting content that’s engaging, timely, fun, and educational all adds up to drive viewers and followers to start associating the thought of real estate with you.
Brian also stresses that when it comes to your social media content, you’re the star of the show. Lean into creating video content on social media, even if you’re shy. It’s one of the highest-performing formats online, and simply put, if people can recall your video, they’ll be able to recall you. He also recommends using tactics like callouts, sign-offs, logos, and other digital habits to make your mark.
Incorporating these clever or distinguishing details consistently means people will be far more likely to remember your videos.
#2. Post Your Content Consistently
Most real estate pros rack their brain trying to figure out the best times to post. Is it multiple times a day? A few times a week? How often in an entire month? Spoiler alert: There’s no one-size-fits-all. The cadence that fits you and your business’s online presence best is the one that allows people to remember you, recall your brand, and see you on social media consistently.
To reach local prospects, Brian shares a game-changer with “pay to play.” As he shares, $5 spent on your social media promotion a day is $1825 a year, less than most agents’ staging budgets. In short, swapping the price of a latte for social media ads in your local area can equal thousands of views from your target audience. It also helps increase frequency in impressions you make locally. And, when people see you’re local in your content, this same local target audience is more likely to reach out to you.
There’s also a major perk of social media: you can’t really bother anyone. Think about it, if you doorknock every single day in the same neighborhood, it can quickly backfire.. But if you post on social media every day, it’s much more accepted — and even expected. Consistent posting is what drives recall and recognition of your brand.
#3. Forge Real Connections from Social Media
Brian stresses likes, shares, and comments are great — but they don’t sell real estate. It’s important to steer the conversation off the public forum and into direct contact with you. Creating and posting content consistently helps these connections unfold organically. To make more of an impact to get the conversation going offline, using powerful calls to action, like “give me a call,” “reach out to my team,” or “hit that download button” can open the door.
To strengthen your online connections, Brian shares it’s important to always be proactive, be responsive, and be helpful. When people know your social media brand and see you online consistently, they already inherently feel like they can trust you and are more ready to work with you.
#4. Bring Your Social Media and Your CRM Together
To round out your social media efforts, it’s important to keep in mind that cross-pollination is key. Brian shares that agents need to focus on activities like driving people from social media to their website and promoting their social media in their CRM drip campaigns. If you send out an email blast encouraging people to follow you on your social media, you can create another door opening to thaw out even the coldest of online leads.
Don’t just rely solely on social media; instead, integrate it into other aspects of your business. It’s a complementary strategy to your other efforts, and its value is in its consistency and the trust and recognition you can build.