Online Lead Platforms
With so many social media sites and online platforms, it can be daunting trying to figure out the platforms you should be investing your time. For starters, avoid trying to master them all. If you spread yourself too thin on multiple platforms, you won't be dedicating the necessary time to build a powerful brand. Pick one main source to advertise on and 1 to 2 others to work on when you can. It's great to have an account on ALL platforms, so it helps your Google search results, but you don't have to worry about posting content on all of them every single day. It's also important to realize that not all online platforms will be beneficial for everyone. We've listed our top online platforms below to focus your time on for your real estate business. Let's dive into the details!
BEST ONLINE PLATFORMS FOR AGENTS:
Facebook Business Page: Business pages are a MUST in today's day an age. If you don't already have a highly successful real estate business, and you don't have a business page, you need to get one right away. Even if you don't utilize Facebook paid ads to be bringing business, you can be certain that people will be looking you up on Facebook prior to deciding if they want to use you/hire you for their buying and selling needs. Now if you know how to use Facebook ads, as we'll be teaching you in past and future modules, Facebook is an essential lead generation tool that can bring you big business for an affordable rate. It is easily the most affordable marketing platform for real estate agents around with PROVEN results. Get the ad techniques right, and you can easily become a millionaire from Facebook alone - as our founder, Linda Ward, has.
Facebook Personal Page: Personal pages are a phenomenal way to build friendships and bonds with local community members. By adding them to a personal page (that you keep fairly professional, but still personal) you can build a true connection with your audience. With subtle techniques and reminders to your sphere, your page alone can be a gold mine for business. Again, something we'll be teaching you to utilize in a way that brings in real business.
Facebook (Local) Groups: Hello big money, fame, and wealth. No kidding, Facebook groups are the biggest gold mine for just about any business on social media, but especially so for real estate agents. But it's not just about joining and spamming a ton of local groups - you won't get far with that. We'll be teaching you how to build your own Facebook group and utilize it to draw in a massive audience, which then translates into buyers and sellers. We'll also show you how to do it so you build a platform that ensures you NEVER have to compete against other agents. Stay tuned for our upcoming modules, where we're going to dive into this in detail!
Instagram: Instagram is a great resource to drum up business, but it's important to know that the audience on Instagram does favor the millennial generations. If you are strictly working in an older age range for your niche, we recommend sticking to Facebook. If you choose to work with millennials, we highly recommend building out an Instagram page.
Meet-Up.com: It's in it's namesake, meet-up.com is a phenomenal platform to be a part of groups and communities on a personal level to help you build relationships and spread your business cards around. Join groups that have the same interests you do, as well ones that fit into your niche marketing. Not only will you have a good time meeting new people and trying new things - you can also drum up business when you build personal bonds with the people you meet.
Yelp: We do NOT mean Yelp advertising, from our own experience, and feedback we've received from 100's of agents within our group who have tried it, it was a bust in spending money. BUT, with that said, we still recommend having a Yelp page. It's great for Google and is a strong resource for consumers to stop by and visit (after they've heard of you, generally) to see what others are saying about you.
Zillow: I know, I know - most of you abhor Zillow, but the truth of the matter is, they aren't going anywhere. Not anytime soon at least. They have become a massive resource for consumers when it comes to getting first hand insight into our market (despite the inaccurate information and pricing). So if you can't beat them, join them. This doesn't mean you have to get a paying advertising account, but be sure to create a free account page with them and request some friends and family leave you reviews. Zillow is massive on Google, so it doesn't hurt to get your face and contact information on their site. From experience and feedback, Zillow advertising really produces the best results when you own a large percentage of a zip code. If you're spending a couple of hundred bucks and their are 20+ other agents advertised in the same zip code, you're not going to get great results.
Google Business: Google business ads CAN work, however, if you're on a tight budget, experience and research shows you'll get a little further with your marketing dollars on Facebook. If you do have a large marketing fund, then Google can produce pretty good results. Just be sure you're up on their free Business Manager section so you come up right away when people search you. Be sure to fill out your profile completely so you're easy to get in touch with.
Nextdoor.com: After all of the attempts at marketing in the Nextdoor app by real estate agents, it seems Nextdoor has decided to capitalize on it by making a program specifically for marketing for agents - and yes, it costs money. Does it work? We're still gathering data on that to give a definitive answer, but it is a great tool to connect with neighbors in your community - and help get your name out there, even in the free mode. Just understand that they are very strictly against any marketing in their free method, it will solely be for relationship building, the advertising portion will have to come at another level in your relationship with your audience.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn can be a great tool if your niche is specific to working professionals, i.e. doctors, lawyers, etc. LinkedIn can be a tough site to utilize as a main source of lead generation. If you want to use LinkedIn, just keep in mind that it will take a good bit of energy and time.
Your Website/Blog: You'll need a platform to advertise your website and blog, but it's a must to have a website these days. In the past it used to be a luxury, these days it's a necessity. Be sure your website has landing pages you can use in your marketing. Remember, landing pages are for specific lead generation (they are call to actions) where as your website as a whole is a branding tool. It tells the story of who you are and why people should use you in their selling/purchasing process.
YouTube: YouTube is a phenomenal way to grow your business. We're going to be providing you the training to create great videos and video content, but keep in mind that YouTube does require a lot more effort to manage then sites like Facebook or Instagram. There is a lot more prep work to the content you create and produce if you want successful results. We'll dive further into YouTube training and provide you with scripts to use and the tools we recommend buying to help you create a YouTube presence that draws in the right audience.
Craigslist: We decided to throw Craigslist on our list, because, surprisingly, it still produces great results for a lot of agents. It seems to be very specific to certain markets. If you want to see if it works in your market, try out a few ads (we'll teach in upcoming modules) and see if you get results that lead to time invested.
We hope that helps you narrow the platforms you should be focusing on to generate business. There are hundreds of other platforms, but we don't think they've produced strong enough results to be worth the investment of time or money. Now anything can work for anyone when done right and in a unique and creative way. But if you're short on funds and short on time and need to make money quickly - utilize the tools above to get your name out to your community.