5 Simple Facebook Features: Up Your Influence and Reach
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Facebook features can change rapidly, so here's a quick roundup of current tips and tricks for real estate pros to quickly increase your brand awareness and networking potential on Facebook.
Your Personal Profile - It's important that your profile shows you are a real estate professional when someone hovers over your name and gets a preview. Make sure your personal profile is updated and privacy settings allow for people to see your work information.
BONUS: You can link your Facebook business page to your profile too, so it's easy for someone to click over and find you there.Friends Lists – Many agents receive a lot of unsolicited friend requests on Facebook. You are missing opportunities to connect, network, and grow your sphere if you're declining these requests. I get it, we all like our privacy and separation from our business life – You can have both!!
You can create custom lists for different classes of Facebook friends. They'll never know which list you've put them into, and if you put them in the preset 'Restricted' list, they will only see the information that's shown on your public profile.
Now, why should you do this? Because, you can also add them to another list that you create, where you can network and engage with them on their posts. This keeps you top of mind and helps you build a network all while protecting your privacy.BONUS: This also helps you stay focused on networking and avoid the social media time suck when you are only looking at and engaging with specific friend lists.
Share Button – This is key to increasing your reach and influence on Facebook. Love a post from a local business? Share it to your personal or business page. You are building your networking relationships and showing your engagement with the community. Who knows, maybe they'll share a post from your business page next month!
Share your listing posts to local groups, share weekend events to your personal/business page, share the occasional post from your business page to your personal page – Remember, staying top of mind takes some effort on social media.Private messages - Did you just accept a friend request from a distant acquaintance? Make sure you send them a private message thanking them for the connection! Facebook messages can be a great casual “touch” to include in your plan to keep in touch with your sphere. It's easy to hop onto a person's Facebook page, see what's happening in their life, and send them a quick private message. It will mean a lot more to them than just a comment on one of their posts.
BONUS: When you private message someone, the message stays in their Facebook messenger history, so they will see your name and message every time they visit messenger!
Facebook Groups - Have you started your own local-centric Facebook group yet? What are you waiting for? With the 2018 Facebook changes that focuses on limiting business posts, you need to find another way to get in front of your audience. Group posts show up more often in a person's feed and notifications, and they are a more personal place to focus, network, and provide value. You will gain tons of organic exposure as people often see your name popping up on their feeds and notifications as you network and post in the group – make sure you have a group that offers real value to your community.
“A strong social media marketing strategy for real estate professionals begins with Facebook.”
Facebook is a fantastic way to connect with potential clients of a wide age range, keep in touch with past clients, as well as market your listings.
Whatever you do, make sure you have a plan and stay consistent. Your social media marketing strategy is a sprint, not a marathon. You need to show up consistently every week, even when you're buried in closings or on vacations. Try using a scheduling tool or hiring an experienced social media manager to support your goals. If you're looking for support with your social media, message me – I'd love to chat!
Original Content written by Amanda Behm, Copyright 2018