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Social Media Beyond Facebook Part One

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A few weeks ago, Facebook’s stock took a historic plunge, losing $119 billion in one day. It’s the largest one-day stock drop in history. Younger generations are leaving Facebook for newer social media sites, while others are fed up with scandals surrounding data usage.

Although Facebook is still a powerhouse, other social media sites are on the rise. In this two-part series, we are going to look at some of the most popular social media beyond Facebook and how to make the most of them to grow your client base as a land agent.

Instagram 

Instagram is a photographer’s paradise. The land industry thrives on this platform, as pictures of beautiful properties rack up thousands of likes. Chris Miller, ALC, gave us some insider tips for having a successful Instagram account.

Make The Photo The Star

“A picture is worth a thousand words” perfectly captures how to be successful on Instagram. Wordy posts that would normally do well on Facebook flop on Instagram. When thinking about what to post, think about what draws the eye: rich colors, sweeping shots of land, and pictures of horses on ranch land.

If you need any inspiration, check out Miller’s Instagram page. It’s an excellent mix of stunning land shots, short videos of properties, and promotional material for his real estate group, American Forest Management.

“I post tract photos of lands I have for sale, I do some iPhone video clips that I create in movie maker which I share to talk about tracts or land-related issues. I also just share really good photos of land pictures or land management activities that I think interest landowners,” says Miller. “I take some great photos from the side of the road or when I am walking a tract and see something interesting.”

Consider Using Apps

There are apps to make photos better, schedule posts for you, and track all your likes and comments. Apps can take your Instagram game to the next level. Chris Miller likes the app Ezy Watermark.

“I use an app called Ezy Watermark to add my company’s logo to my videos and some photos for brand awareness as well.  However, I have heard Instagram favors photos with no text so I do not use this on every photo.”

The Repost app is also a fan favorite with land experts. You can use this app to repost from other Instagram accounts. This is great because it can save you time from having to create your own post while still staying top of mind and providing valuable content to your followers.

Love What You Do

If you always get your thumb in the way, you might want to try another platform. However, if you love photography, like Miller, Instagram might be the perfect social media site for you. “I enjoy photography, especially iPhone photography. So it is enjoyable to me to take the photos and share them and then see how people react to the photos.  I think it helps tremendously with top-of-mind awareness among your following and makes people think of you in land conversations they have or if they have a need.”

Having fun with Instagram also adds authenticity and makes your brand seem more relatable. This helps to generate trust from your audience.

Twitter

Twitter is rapid-fire takes on current news, different topics, and anything else you can imagine. RLI Future Leaders Committee Member Tim Hadley put it perfectly in his guest post for RLI: “Twitter is like a crowded club where you pop in and out of conversations and stay with the ones you find interesting.” But amid all the chaos, there are a lot of opportunities to brand yourself and meet new people.

Tweet Frequently And On Brand

The speed and vast amount of content of Twitter can sometimes feel catholic, but there’s a method behind the madness. Tweeting frequently keeps you top of mind for clients. Tweeting about topics related to land shows off how much you know about the industry and how in the know you are.

Take Mossy Oak’s twitter account for example. They tweet frequently (about two or three times a day). While they post lots of different topics (land news, hunting tips, nature shots, promotions for new merchandise), it is all tied around their brand.

Stay On Top Of The News

Who has time to read through a whole newspaper? Twitter keeps you up-to-date on not just national news, but also news specific to your interests. Check out hashtags to find content on topics you are interested in and you can even join the conversation and share your own expertise using them.

Track What’s Working

One of the great things about Twitter is how easy it is to see how successful certain posts are. Just click on your profile, click the “Analytics” button, and you’ve got a detailed report of the engagement of every single thing you’ve ever tweeted.

Hear What’s Being Said About You

Social media makes it easier than ever to keep track of what people are saying about you, good or bad. Follow your company accounts and hashtags to see what clients are tweeting about you. Google Alerts are also a great way to know when you or your company are being mentioned.

While Facebook is still a great place to network on, there are many other social media platforms that you can promote your brand on, meet other professionals on, and get your name out to potential clients through.

In the second part of this series, we’ll explore LinkedIn, YouTube, and one more surprise social media site!

About the Author: Laura Barker is the Membership and Communications Specialist for the REALTORS® Land Institute. She graduated from Clark University in May 2017 and has been with RLI since October 2017.

Seven Land Real Estate Social Media Marketing Tips

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As a land agent, social media can be your best friend or your worst enemy. When used correctly, land real estate social media marketing can be a great (and free or low cost!) way to stay connected with people in your industry and drive traffic to your business. However, it can be very easy to lose potential clients or waste hours of your day if you don’t know what you are doing. Below, we’ve listed some tested and true ways to make sure you are in control of your social media, not the other way around.

1. Don’t Spread Yourself Too Thin

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter, Tumblr – who has time for all of it? Trying to have a presence on all of those platforms can be overwhelming and take up all your free time. Remember: the companies that are on all of those platforms (Google,McDonald’s, Geico) all have entire departments dedicated to Twitter alone. Your best bet is to pick two or three different platforms and focus on those. “You don’t need to be everywhere, you just need to be in the places online where your time and effort will have the most impact,” says Jessa Friedrich, MBA, RLI’s Marketing Manager. “You need to find your audience on social media. To get started, take a look at where your competitors are and what channels they are spending the most time engaging on to get an idea of where you need to be to have the most impact.”

2. Use Tools like Hootsuite to Make Social Media Less Time Consuming

One of the biggest problems with social media is how much time it eats up. You’ll post something on Facebook in the morning, scroll through some friends’ photos, comment on a funny video of a cat riding a horse, and before you know it it’s time for dinner.

Tools like Socializer and Hootsuite can help. These easy-to-use apps allow you to schedule posts on various social media platforms. You can plan out your posts days or even weeks ahead so that you don’t have to be checking Twitter every single day. Just don’t forget to be social, too!

3. Figure Out What Your Brand Is

To make the most out of your social media presence, you need to have a good sense of the image you want to project to your potential clients. Figuring out what you want your current and potential clients to see can help you determine what to post. Are you trying to:

  • Raise awareness of new products/services?
  • Raise awareness of current products/services?
  • Network with other professionals in your business?
  • Increase traffic to your website?
  • Position yourself as an industry expert and resource to landowners?
  • A combination of all these ?

Having a clear sense of what you want to get out of land real estate social media marketing can help you focus on what sort of content to produce.

4. What Are The Best Times To Post?

Timing is everything when it comes to social media. Even if you craft the perfect post, if there’s no one online to see it, all that hard work will have been for nothing. According to Sprout Social, a social media management group, these are the best times to post on each social media channel:

  • Facebook: 12-3 pm
  • Instagram: 3-4 pm
  • Twitter: 9-10 am
  • LinkedIn: After 4 pm

Posts during these times have gotten the highest amounts of interactions and feedback from users. When you first start on social, try posting on social media during these times to increase your likes and shares. “After a while, it’s also a good idea to do some A/B Testing by posting at different times to see which posts get the most engagement. Then, start scheduling your posts at those optimal times specific to your audience,” Friedrich says.

5. Use Video

Videos are visually appealing and require very little work on the part of the consumer – you just have to press play and enjoy! Nobu Hata, the director of Digital Engagement for the National Association of REALTORS ® says that video is one of the most relevant social platforms available for land agents.

“Whether you’re speaking on camera about tips to buy and develop land, using it to convey the size and scope of a land offering or re-envisioning what that land can be via digital mock-up recorded on video, the options are many,” says Hata. “The one thing about video that makes it stand out against its brethren is that it’s not viewed as a “toy” and a time-suck like Facebook and Twitter can be, plus YouTube’s little red “play” button has universal – and multi-lingual – appeal.”

6. Keep It Professional

You might not want to go to your teenage niece for advice on your professional social media accounts. Posting personal drama or your political opinions doesn’t come off as professional and can turn off your followers. That doesn’t mean you have to be serious all the time. You can post as many funny photos as you want, but remember that once you press ‘send’, that post will be on the internet forever.

7. Follow Like-Minded Professionals

No matter what platforms you choose, there will be other like-minded professionals to follow. Here are some great social media Twitter accounts if you want to get into the land industry social media scene:

Social media can be a double-edge sword. It can be a great way to reach out to new clients and interact with other professionals, but it can also be a huge time drain if not done right. We hope these tips will help you make the most out of your land real estate social media marketing.

About the author: Laura Barker is a Marketing Assistant Intern for the REALTORS® Land Institute. She graduated from Clark University in May 2017 and has been with RLI since October 2017.