Do you want to ROCK your Real Estate Facebook Business Page?

Then you absolutely MUST take an hour out of your time and watch this Google Hangout – it’s an interactive Facebook Marketing Q&A with Michael Stelzner and Mari Smith.

While they take a very short amount of time brushing up on basic concepts, there is a ton of high-level Facebook Marketing content in this video.

Are you too busy? Don’t have an hour to spare? Do you understand that you are an expert at Real Estate and you’d prefer to leave being a Facebook Marketing Expert to someone else? Ok then! I listened in for you. Here are some of the highlights and take aways and what each one means to you, as a real estate agent, and your online marketing strategy with your Facebook Business Page.

Hang on cause here we go….

“On average, only 16% of your “fans” will ever see your page posts in their newsfeeds”

What does this mean for real estate agents? It means now, more than ever, it is vitally important that your posts are heavily engagement focused. That your posts get the reader to share it, comment on it or like it, ideally doing all three. The percentage above can vary by 2% to 45%, with the higher end being pages that are extremely interactive with their fans. It also means that a combined paid and organic strategy is extremely important.

“75% of users access Facebook via their mobile device”

What does that mean for real estate agents? It means people are using mobile. It means Facebook is used heavily. It means mobile dominates. It means that when you are posting content to your Real Estate Facebook Business Page you absolutely must make sure any content you link to is mobile responsive. You must make sure that your focus is a combined computer friendly and mobile friendly environment.

“Using Power Editor is paramount when implementing Facebook ads”

What does that mean for real estate agents? It means that if you are going to put an ad in the sidebar, or promote a post, or sponsor a story, you need to be using Facebook’s Power Editor. Creating ads via “traditional Facebook avenues” means your ads are not seen in mobile browsers! This is HUGE. When 75% of users are accessing Facebook via mobile, where do you want your paid ads? You want your ads optimized to show up in both the computer and mobile browsers.

“Story Bump is more relevant than “EdgeRank” was”

What does this mean for real estate agents? In order to get your posts “bumped” (getting them to show up multiple times in users newsfeeds), your posts need to be popular and interactive. You need to be posting multiple times each day.

“Link posts are not getting the visibility they should be getting”

What does this mean for real estate agents? It means that either you need to use fewer link posts or figure out a way around your posts being classified as link posts. It means that just popping your blog post link in a status update isn’t going to cut it. It means using strategic methods to get your link posts seen and interacted with.

“Last Actor” was just released by Facebook”

What does this mean for real estate agents? The need to understand what the heck “Last Actor” even means, and then understanding how to keep your content relevant and continuously engaging so that your page is one of the top 50 rolling items in each person’s newsfeed. It means that now, more so than ever before, interactive and engagement focused posts are absolutely paramount.

Christina Ethridge is the founder of LeadsAndLeverage.com, helping real estate agents capture, convert and close Facebook leads.

Facebook Personal Profile vs. Facebook Business Page, THAT is the million dollar question and guess what?  I’ve got the answer!

Facebook. Everyone’s doing it. Everyone’s “teaching” it. Everyone has a different opinion. Which opinion is right? What opinion should you choose? What people choose to follow and promote depends upon the “perceived credibility” of the source of the opinion. But, what source is “the source”? Who has the most credibility? Why do some, who are seen as experts, pooh pooh profiles and yet other experts pooh pooh business pages?

Have you ever thought that their “pooh pooh” has nothing to do with real estate marketing best practices but has more to do with personal annoyances? Perhaps it bothers them that some real estate agents use their personal profiles for spamming their listings over and over and over again. Since it’s against Facebook’s terms of service, this seems like an obvious annoyance? Perhaps it bothers them that there is a ghost town of real estate Facebook Business Pages out there… started, but never utilized. Whatever it is, it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty…. what should YOU, as a real estate agent, be doing on Facebook?

So which is it? Which should you have for your real estate business? Should you, as a real estate agent, be using your personal profile or should you create a real estate focused Facebook business page?

Here’s the deal.

 

Your Facebook personal profile is all about you. Since real estate is a part of “you”, it will naturally flow onto your personal profile. You’ll probably share photos here and there, comments about your day, engage with friends who are clients, and whatever else you typically share on Facebook on any given day. The thing is, your personal profile is not the place to sell or blatantly promote your business. Why?

For one, it’s against Facebook’s usage guidelines…

“You will not use your personal timeline primarily for your own commercial gain, and will use a Facebook page for such purposes.”

Second, it’s not indexable by search engines.  If you are trying to build an online presence for your real estate business, you’ll want your content to be indexed.  You’ll want it to come up in searches made by consumers.

Third, who exactly are you connected to via your profile?  Friends? Family?  Are you connected to current clients?  Do you know who all of your future clients are already and are you connected with them?  Are you only seeking referrals from your current sphere or are you growing your business and are seeking any real estate consumer within your niche?  A Facebook Business Page for your real estate business is essential when you are seeking to connect and engage with people you do not already know.

Fourth, Is your Facebook Personal Profile opened up to the public or do you have it on locked down for privacy reasons?  Most people keep their profiles locked down.  They tend to share family events, photos, etc. that they just aren’t willing to share with anyone and everyone. 

Your personal profile is an excellent place to subtly remind friends and family about your real estate business.  This is not the place to push out your listings.  This is the place to share thoughts, actions, etc. that include you doing your real estate business, but not blatantly promote your business.

Your Facebook business page is ideal for anyone building any type of business.  Here’s why.

 

First of all, if you are at all interested in building an online presence for your real estate, your Facebook Business Page is indexable.  Its content is found and spidered by search engines.  Your content is assessed and your value, according to the search engines, is increased.  You’ll come up in searches by real estate consumers.  It’s a strong cog in the wheel when building your online presence.

Second, It’s professional.  It reinforces expertise.  Businesses focused on the consumer have several online features and one of them is a Facebook Business Page.

Third, it’s open to anyone and everyone to connect with you and your real estate business.  You aren’t limited to just family and friends.  Since most agents want their real estate business to be bigger than just what their family and friends can provide, a Facebook Business Page is an answer.

Fourth, it’s a valuable real estate lead generating tool.  When done consistently and done well, you’ll increase your “fan base”, increase your engagement, increase your inquiries and ultimately increase your closed real estate transactions.

Fifth, it’s a valuable real estate marketing tool.  Sellers love it when their home is everywhere.  Everywhere includes Facebook.  

So, my questions to you are . . .  Do you have a Facebook Business Page for your real estate business?  Do you struggle with it?  Have you found success with it? 

Christina Ethridge is the founder of LeadsAndLeverage.com, helping real estate agents capture, convert and close Facebook leads.