Marketing Can Save You Some Dough
20 million slices of bread are thrown away in the UK every day! What!? How does one reduce the amount of bread that goes in the garbage daily? Ogilvy Consulting used behavioral interventions. How did they do it? They thought outside the box and redesigned the bread packaging to encourage users to freeze part of the loaf, created dedicated freezer packaging, touched on emotions so people perceived freezing bread as preserving freshness, and used color and design to make the freezer-based message stand out. Thanks to these marketing efforts, bread waste dropped considerably and helped citizens save money. How can you get creative with your marketing on social media to engage your leads and grow your business? Let's open a loaf of bread and see what we can find.
Photo compliments of Ogilvy Consulting Research
Get Personal
You want to save time (and bread!) posting on social media so let's look at what you need to post to engage your real estate leads. Posting on social media is necessary for marketing yourself and your business and converting real estate leads into paying customers. Sure, you can create posts about your latest listings, open houses, and sales but getting personal will help you engage more with your leads. Here are a few tips from Marisa Corcoran, content strategy genius and creator of "The Copy Chat," for creating personal posts that resonate with your leads. Start by sharing something unique about yourself and presenting it in a short video.
- Do you love movies? Is there a movie quote that describes what you do or what you're like?
- A quote from a book?
- A literary figure?
- Are you like someone famous?
By sharing something unique about yourself, you open the door to like-minded people wanting to connect with you and your business. Do you look like a famous actor? I have two friends who are married and happen to look like famous actors, Jamie Lee Curtis and Steve Martin. When they were on vacation, someone asked if they could get "Jamie's" autograph and take a picture with her. My friend said yes! OMG, so funny! What about you? Do you look like a famous person? Use it to your advantage and engage more followers on social media!
Photo of Jamie, compliments of Wikimedia Commons. Photo of Steve Martin by David Shankbone.
So, what could you share with your real estate leads that will build a more profound connection? What book are you reading right now? What do you like about it? Would you recommend it? Post a photo or short video with the book and ask your followers to comment if they've read it or encourage them to share what they're reading. You'd be surprised how many people respond to personal posts like this. Your leads want to connect with someone they share common interests with and who they trust. You're that agent when you post about your life outside of real estate.
Have Fun Editing Videos
Sharing short videos is the best way to engage with your real estate leads and followers. If you're looking for ways to make posting videos on social media a bit easier and more enjoyable, try these apps recommended by Lynda Gill, a top-performing real estate agent in Kauai:
The Videoshop app helps you edit your videos, add special effects and music, change the speed, and more. Once you start editing with Videoshop, you'll realize how fun it is and look forward to recording more videos for your real estate leads.
The Revive app brings images to life. Download a still image, and Revive will animate it, so it moves, talks, or sings. Upload a photo of your dog, partner, sibling, or anyone, and watch them come to life. Quite entertaining! You'll have to check it out on their website.
GetCaptions, also known as Captions, lets you edit and transcribe your videos. You can also add emojis and captions in your preferred style and color and place them over any area of the video. The app will also automatically cut out dead space (excellent!)—no more awkward lulls in your videos.
69% of people view videos with the sound off in public and 25% in private places (study by Verizon Media and Publicis Media, 2019).
Teleprompter and Rev apps make it easy to read your script, so you sound like a professional real estate agent. These apps also add captions to make it easier for your followers to see what you have to say without turning on the volume. You can edit the videos once you've recorded them, add filters and your logo, transcribe what you've said, and more.
Conclusion
When preparing your real estate marketing materials, remember to produce personal and real-estate-focused content on social media. Real estate marketing ideas don't have to be about the houses you're selling or have recently sold; they can be about you and your life. Consider posting about the book you're reading, the Netflix series you're enjoying, your favorite local business, or anything to help your real estate leads get to know and trust you. The more you post on social media and in your blog about your personal side, the more engaged your audience will be. It's time to connect with your real estate leads by letting them get to know you.
TIP: Use a post-it note to cover up your face on your smartphone when shooting a video in selfie mode. Instead of looking at yourself, you'll look at the camera lens, which lets viewers know you're looking directly at them.
Pelpina Trip, Smartphone Video Coach
