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.