Mention social media for real estate to anyone and chances are they will name Katie Lance.
Katie is the CEO and Owner of Katie Lance Consulting – a full service social media agency specializing in social media strategy and content development. She is a nationally known keynote speaker at conferences and is a frequent blogger and contributor to The Huffington Post, Social Media Examiner and Women 2.0.
And all with good reason. Katie makes social media understandable and actionable for anybody who wants to use it, be it for real estate or any business, really.
We always hear what to do on social media, but when we sat down together for this episode of SamSpeaks!, I asked Katie to tell me what NOT to do. She was ready with an answer.
“We still see agents just blasting their listings out in social media,” she said. She’s absolutely right. It’s like writing in all caps. So hard to read when you see it, and boring when you see it all the time. Katie pointed out it’s ok to talk about your listings sometimes, it’s just how you do it.
“How do you talk to your best friend?” Katie asked. “That’s how you talk on social media. Especially with Facebook. Your clients and prospects are there.”
We know that agents get lead blindness. We want the leads but ignore the relationships. We blast our listings out there without taking part in what’s really happening — conversations. It’s a huge mistake. If you’ve watched me speak anywhere around the world, I’ve always maintained a consistent message when discussing social media. Remember to keep social media social. If you want people to respond, you need to talk to them, not preach to them. And most importantly, know that people are reading what you’re posting…even if they aren’t “commenting” or “liking” it, they still may respond to it by calling you directly or remember your posts and have you top of mind for when they need to use your services.
Katie wants agents to be intentional. Don’t just sit and scroll through your entire news feed, where everything happens, and then come away from it thinking social isn’t helping your business. Create groups of specific people, from clients to prospects. Then you can hone in on what they’re doing, what’s happening in their lives and be part of a meaningful moment on social media.
“It’s all about getting a system together,” she recommends. “And that needs to come from your story. What does it feel like to work with you? It’s not about how many times you post. Its how are you going to create content that tells the story of who you are.”
The balance of business and personal in social media is really one of the hardest things to find, for most people, but real estate in particular. Should you completely open the kimono? Do you invite the world to see you, warts and all, and hope they still want to work with you?
“You can try to stay away from polarizing topics, like politics or religion, but you should still share what you’re passionate about,” Katie said. Things like wine, dogs, crafts, sports, and of course real estate. These are the things that make you unique, and social media is the best place to share those elements of your life.
Watch the full interview for more of Katie’s insights on Snapchat and systems to make it all work together.
Here’s what you’ll find in this episode:
1:05 What are the no-nos of social media for real estate?
5:50 how do you put together a system to deal with social media?
8:08 How do agents use Snapchat to grow their business?
10:50 how personal is too personal in social media?
11:50 Are there better times during the day for social media?
13:35 should you have a business and a personal page?
15:20 what’s your favorite old-school method of marketing?