Not so long ago, one of our Realty Labs team member was scrolling through her social media feed while enjoying her morning coffee. One after the other, the realtors she was following had the exact same post come up.
The post was an inspirational quote. Beautiful visual, great message. The only downfall was that after seeing the same post three times in a row, it had lost its special meaning. It felt like the post wasn’t put out there for a purpose but rather to just fill the space.
So we wondered: Is generic marketing for realtors (or any business owner) better than no marketing at all? Is there a happy medium between generic and custom marketing?
The word generic simply means that one or several things are similar and relate to an entire group of things, rather than to just one thing.
But when it comes to business, generic often comes with the negative connotations of something being inauthentic, without a trademark, cheap. Even if it’s none of these things.
So here are some thoughts we’d love to share with realtors (and others) with regards to generic marketing.
The Fading Magic of Generic Marketing
Let’s be honest. Life is busy and there are plenty of creative souls out there with the know-how of making beautiful visuals.
On the days when life gets really busy and we want to keep the conversation on social media going, it’s convenient to use something beautiful and pre-made.
At one point in social media history, generic marketing might have been a great way to engage with your clients and build your online presence.
These days, generic content falls on deaf ears. If you wonder where the likes and shares went, they’re accumulating with businesses who speak directly to their clients via personalized messages.
What do People Love About You?
Somewhere between what your clients love about you and what they’re likely to share on their social media, lies a sweet spot that determines your content. Finding this sweet spot is the toughest part.
To help with this, ask your clients for reviews and feedback on your services. If you follow any of your clients on social media, look at what information they share.
Look at what has and hasn’t worked for you on your social media platforms in the past (have you had any viral posts?).
Research other successful business owners and influencers, and see what they talk about on their social media that gets the crowd going.
At Realty Labs, we do an exercise with our clients called the Brand Questionnaire. Among all the questions, there are several that deal with our client’s strengths, weaknesses, and accomplishments, as well as the Ideal Client they want to reach and how they want to be perceived by their clients. We then discuss these answers together and align them with the client’s business and marketing plan.
This approach allows to spot potential areas that could be turned into personalized social media messages. The next is the trial and error step, in which we try out different messages on our client’s social media platforms and analyze the results.
Asking yourself crucial questions about yourself and your business, and analyzing all your steps on social media take time and commitment. At some point, it might be discouraging to try anything at all because you don’t see the kind of engagement you had hoped for.
But these steps lie at the heart of how to represent yourself on your website and social media. More so, once you’ve done all the hard work, you reward yourself with a consistent and engaging message that continuously builds on your brand and client trust.
The Happy Medium
Chances are not many people out there follow every realtor in town, so if you use a generic post here and there it won’t sound like old news as soon as you post it. But do consider creating a post once in a while that’s unique to who you are, and that represents your brand and your clients.
Here are a few ideas.
- Find interesting things about the neighbourhoods you represent.
- Share you clients’ stories on finding their dream home.
- Share a moment where you found a creative solution to a problem.
- Highlight something unique in one of your listed homes (funny welcome mat, interesting decor, stunning landscape, etc.).
- If you’re travelling, post a photo of interesting local architecture.
- Do the occasional “This-Is-The-REAL-Life-Of-A-Realtor” post with photos of your daily routine.
By adding a personalized touch to what you do and tailoring a message to your clients, you’ll build an online presence that invites people to engage with you.
First Impressions Count
The eye buys the home. The eye also decides who will be the person negotiating the sale.
We’re a culture that makes their purchasing and lifestyle decisions by looking up information online. It’s likely that when someone recommends you to their friend or family, these people will google your name.
The first impressions potential clients get come from your website and social media. For some clients, the referral might be more important that your online presence. But why not extend your business and success by offering those who will google you a polished presence that will communicate your professionalism and dedication to real estate.
If you have a vision on how you want your online presence to look like but don’t know how to strategically execute it, our experts at Realty Labs would love to help.
We’d love to chat with you on how we can together recreate your real life personality into a captivating and engaging online persona.
