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Real estate customers have changed their behaviors significantly in the last decade. On major shift is housing consumers use social media and use it to connect and make decisions in fact, about 3 in 4 Internet users is on social media. And Facebook is the largest, single most used social media site out there. As a real estate professional, you can use Facebook s business features to grow your database and communicate with your Digital Sphere of Influence. Because of its magnitude, Facebook is absolutely necessary to adopt in order to market your business. Facebook use is cross-demographic, ranging from newly formed households to individuals well into their senior years, all driven by the camaraderie of online social engagement and the ease of use on the platform. The ability to reach your prospects in this realm has the potential to be more fruitful than many other methods that you may be using as long as you re using Facebook *the right way*. When marketing your business, Facebook isn't necessarily as selfexplanatory as it is when using it for purely social purposes. There is definitely a certain strategy you will have to take, and it's not the obvious strategy you will find when doing an elementary Google search. In fact, most of what s being taught in real estate about using Facebook will no longer work! It will involve a bit of money (though relative to other marketing services, Facebook is very inexpensive) and some experimentation, but it s worth the small effort. Copyright 2014, The Paperless Agent 2
Due to the lack of good education about using Facebook for Real Estate, The Paperless Agent has put together this guide to help you understand the importance of using Facebook. Hopefully you'll find our guiding principles useful and valuable, and see how Facebook marketing works will boost your advertising and engagement effectiveness. After reading through this report, you be able to: Understand the power of using Facebook to promote your business and develop your database. Be able to use Social Media to Connect with your Consumer - the Home Buyer and Seller. Avoid the common Facebook Trap most real estate professionals get caught in. Have a proven, yet simple Facebook strategy to implement in your business to grow your database. Why Facebook is No Longer an "Option" According to the Pew Research Center's Internet Project Library Survey (2013), 73% of all Internet users are on Social Media (this includes such networks as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter). According to the survey, these age demographics had their Copyright 2014, The Paperless Agent 3
corresponding social media site usage statistics in September of 2013: 30-49: 78% 50-64: 65% 65+ : 48% As you can see, every major housing consumer demographic has a significant social media presence - even as much as nearly half of senior citizens engage in social media. Being that our consumer is crossdemographic, this means that all of our consumers are using social media. As a general sales and marketing principle, we have to be where our consumers are if we want our marketing to connect with them. Which is why every business has to actively engage in Facebook use in order to maintain our audience and clientele. As Facebook membership increases, this need to connect with a broad Facebook audience will only grow so it's best to master this platform now Copyright 2014, The Paperless Agent 4
and get ahead of your competition's curve. Furthermore, of all social media properties, Facebook is the most dominant in the marketplace, and has been for some time. Since at least 2012, Facebook has had the largest share of users of all social media properties, with three times the users compared to its closest competitor. 71% of online adults use Facebook as of 2013 - Facebook's closest competitor, LinkedIn, only has a share of 22% of online adults in the social marketplace. Additionally, Facebook is the most frequently used social media property, with 85% of its users checking in once a week, and 63% checking in daily. You might be wondering who the other "competitors" in the social media marketplace are (even though they are only competing amongst themselves, and none come even close to being competition for Facebook). There are quite a few - LinkedIn, Pintertest, Twitter, and Instagram are the top 4 below Facebook - but just because there are 5 major social media platforms out there right now doesn't mean you should spend time, energy, and resources on each of them. We recommend you master the most important platform and do it well, rather than spread yourself thin by spending small amounts of effort on sites that don t have as many of your current and prospective clients. Copyright 2014, The Paperless Agent 5
3 Reasons to Use Facebook for Business 1. As a real estate professional, one of the reasons people look to you are because they don't have industry knowledge, and we do. They need to come to us for guidance. Facebook is a way to demonstrate that you have authority and market expertise in the industry in the ways that you reach out to your connections. You can post market statistics and trivia, post your listings, and offer consultations in order to establish yourself as the industry expert in your digital sphere of influence. 2. You can expand your targeted digital sphere of influence. One of the things Facebook allows you to do is focus enough on your digital sphere of influence that you can bring individuals into your personal and business spheres of influence. 3. Facebook is an alternate communication channel. It's one more way to reach your fans, clients, and prospects outside of the normal methodologies while simultaneously demonstrating that you're up to speed on current technology and standards of communication. It's also an additional way to share information and market your listings, as well as expand your direct communication network. Meeting the Unique Interests of Today's Housing Consumer Facebook allows you to meet the current unique needs and interest of the modern day housing consumer - from their need to list their homes online, to researching their real estate professionals that they want to work with. Copyright 2014, The Paperless Agent 6
According to a recent survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors, the most dominant expectation that sellers have of their agents is that they want you to *market* the home to potential buyers. Sellers will expect you to use social media (as well as other specific listing services) to market their homes. This can be addressed by posting your listings on your Facebook business Page to demonstrate your knowledge of the need to market the home to other potential sellers. Additionally, sellers are selecting their agents based on their reputation. In the information age, reputation is formed by so much more than word of mouth and in-person referrals. This includes interacting with your audience on social media, as those interactions will spread across your social network for others to see. Building up your online reviews and fan base on Facebook will enhance your professional appearance and solidify your reputation as a desired real estate professional in the industry as well as brand yourself as a market expert. Finally, you can offer value after the transaction as a means to remain connected with previous clients. This keeps you fresh in their minds, which will help you generate more referrals and keep your reputation current and positive. Copyright 2014, The Paperless Agent 7
Most Common Facebook Trap And Why It Doesn t Work! If you do an online search for basic Facebook marketing strategies, the most common strategy you'll see is the "Build it, and they will come" strategy. The advice tends to say that as long as you regularly post good content, engage your audience, and stick to a few rules of what to post and what not to post, your audience will generate itself and you will keep people engaged. Unfortunately this does not answer the problem of driving traffic to your page and keeping people engaged enough to "Like" it. Having good content and engagement techniques is not enough, as it will still be the equivalent of speaking to an empty room. This ties directly in with your reputation. For example: What looks more reputable - a page with 117 Likes, or a page with 5,218 Likes? The more people that are fans of your Page and the more you engage them, the more reputable you will appear, and thus more business will generate. 3 Facebook Tips That Work 1. Proactively target new people to grow your database. Use Facebook's Advertising tools to expand your sphere of digital influence to get more people to opt-in to your database. Copyright 2014, The Paperless Agent 8
2. Use Facebook Ad tools to get posts seen by fans so your message gets into your Fans Newsfeeds. 3. Promote your business in ways that you can't do using your Facebook profile - such as listing advertisements, boosting posts, and running contests. Building Your Database Using Facebook We use a tried-and-true formula that we've tested to build our database using Facebook. 1. Acquire Fans. You can build your fan base using Facebook s Ad tools, such as Custom Audiences or Friends of Fans Campaigns. 2. Share information on your page. The information that you share has to be valuable and thoughtful, and also establish your credibility as an authority in the industry. 3. Interact with your audience. Interacting with your audience regularly shows both your availability to their inquiries as well as establishes your knowledge and enthusiasm for the real estate industry. Additionally, interactions on each post will get them seen by more people (for instance, if someone comments on a post and you Copyright 2014, The Paperless Agent 9
respond, there's a higher chance that the interaction will appear on another member's newsfeed). 4. Promote posts. Promoting posts is inexpensive and increases their visibility to others on Facebook (which will lead to more interaction, and thus, more visibility). When you promote posts, you'll want them to link to. 5. An opt-in to your database. Promoting valuable posts to share solid, thoughtful information in exchange for an opt-in is a tried and true method of expanding your database. What's Next? Now that you ve had an overview of using Facebook Marketing for Real Estate, there are 4 things you can do: 1. Create your Facebook Business Page 2. Provide Good Information on Your Business Page 3. Get More Fans using Facebook s Ad tools 4. Get Your Posts Seen by Promoting Posts Using Facebook s Ad Tools are easy once you get a handle on how they work. But if you don t do it right, you can waste a lot of money trying to figure it out. If you would like help, access a complimentary webinar where we are going to show you exactly how you can use Facebook to grow your Digital Sphere of Influence and get your messages seen. http://thepaperlessagent.com/learn-facebook Copyright 2014, The Paperless Agent 10