Our guest at our latest Agent First Summit was Ray Ellen, a content marketing for REALTORS® expert working in real estate in Arkansas. Ray started as a real estate assistant in 2006, helping agents with marketing. He got his license in 2007 and quickly became a top producer in his state by leveraging his content marketing expertise.
Eventually, Ray launched his own real estate brokerage to help agents with their real estate business. Over the years, he has been able to help build the brands of his agents and helped them sell a ton more real estate.
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In this Summit, Ray shared with us how to succeed at content marketing for REALTORS® by developing our skills in both real estate and media.
Where To Start with Real Estate Marketing
Getting started in real estate is challenging. Everyone is going to do it differently, but everyone has to do it or they’ll never reach the stability necessary to make it as an agent.
As new agents, you have to start out with focus. Every lead generation source will work, but you have to be willing to work hard at it. You can’t just call it quits on one strategy after a week because you didn’t like it–it will only work with dedication.
As you’re starting out, don’t try to do everything at once. You have to start with one or two strategies until you get the success you need to build sustainability. Once you’ve got a sustainable business, you can expand into more lead generation channels.
But just remember that every successful real estate agent must also learn about their real estate craft. You need to be learning more about how to be a better real estate agent every single day. Real estate agents must learn more than just the marketing side of real estate.
Work Your Sphere First
To begin, focus on your sphere, the people who already love and support you. Write them a handwritten letter to explain your new job. You want this to be handwritten personally to make it feel personable and authentic.
A couple of days later, give your sphere a call and offer to send your cards so they can give them out to people in need. Finally, call them again to make sure they get the cards. In this way, you can get started with your sphere by touching them at least four times in the first two weeks of your business.
After connecting with your sphere, just start doing videos on local businesses and industries in the area. This will help you build expertise in your area that you can share and use to engage curious people.
How To Win at Instagram
Instagram is becoming a very popular platform. It’s simple to use and is one of the top social platforms in use in the world today. But what’s the best way to get started with content marketing for REALTORS® on Instagram?
When Ray started, he hired a professional lifestyle photographer to come to take pictures of him once a month or so. Within one to two hours, he can get 60-80 photos which he can use to plan, schedule, and launch different posts throughout the month.
While professional photography is not necessary, it is a great boost to traffic. Try hiring a professional for just one shoot a month and see where that gets you.
Then, set up a schedule for each week. Post photos a few days a week, but dabble in Reels, Carousels, and live posts two or three times a week as well. Instagram even gives you a boost for posting at the same time each day.
When you post, use 8-15 hashtags. There should be at least 3 you use ALL the time, and the rest of the hashtags need to remain relevant to your caption to improve your rankings.
As you’re posting, make sure you always watch the data. Know what outfits, hashtags, and post formats work to get you more views. Keep an eye on video as well. It’s becoming more popular, so be sure to use short form video to engage with people at least every week.
When you’re posting on social media, there’s one question you need to ask: “What do they need the real estate agent for?” By answering this question in your posts, you will become a media company that specializes in real estate. This allows you to show people why they need your service simply by creating great media.
If you maintain a steady posting schedule and focus on providing value, you’ll succeed at Instagram in no time. This platform can provide a much higher, more authentic level of engagement than Facebook and certain other social platforms.
How to Create Content for Social Media
If you’re not sure how to get started on content creation, here are a few tips you can follow.
- Use shorter form content for most of your platforms. This is the content that truly attracts people in today’s environment.
- When you’re creating stuff, use your interests to create content that’s relevant to real estate. For example, if you love gardening, consider what a gardener thinks about when buying a home (soil, sunlight zones, etc.), then create content to answer those questions.
- If real estate is the only interest you can come up with, take the first question someone asks you about real estate each week and start creating all kinds of content surrounding it. If someone asks about closing week, create several videos offering information around closing. You can then build a base of content to use as a reference when people ask you the same questions in the future.
And that’s about it…it truly is that simple! Winning at content marketing for REALTORS® is really not that complicated if you implement these steps. Focus on your viewers, post regularly, don’t be afraid to hire a professional, and always focus on what works best for you.
If you can follow these steps, you’ll be a content marketing expert in no time.
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