When it comes to your social media you have to be intentional. You need to have a game plan, an outline. Whether you are shooting a video, a Facebook LIVE, posting on Instagram or Tweeting something you make it intentional! This post focuses on Facebook as it is the most prominent social media platform when it comes to real estate.
Content Grids
When I say be intentional I’m not saying you skip things that come up that you want to get out there because there are going to be times when that happens! You have to have some flexibility but you shouldn't walk into your day with a blank slate of what you are going to be posting or talking about. I have a content grid that lays out 4 weeks worth of content. Every Monday I do my Mug Monday Live Feed at 11 (don’t forget to tune in!). Every Thursday we post our blog so that is marked on the content grid and I note who the blog post will be by. Those things happen like clockwork, they are consistent. If some interesting news or something relevant to that day comes up (such as a holiday or some breaking real estate news) I will schedule a post to go out so that it does not interfere time wise with our scheduled post. However, if on Tuesday I decide I want to put a list of the “Best Things to Do in Boston” and the Housing Report comes up (usually I can predict when this is coming and schedule accordingly but for the sake of example lets say it’s a surprise) then I’ll move the “Best Things to Do in Boston” to another day. That is a flexible post. It’s not breaking news, it’s not time sensitive, it is simply a post that provides some information to our clients. It is important you have a balance of flexibility and consistency when it comes to your social media.
Facebook Boosting
Facebook Boosting is a great tool! I love it personally and it’s very easy. You simply set an audience (interests, ages, area, etc) which you can save, select how long you want the boost it to run for and how much money you want to spend. You can spend as little as a dollar a day or a couple hundred bucks! Boosting is great for a graphics. But again the idea of all this is to be intentional. You need to know what posts you’re going to boost and what posts you’re going to let go organically. You will also need to be mindful of the amount of text on a graphic. Facebook has guidelines on how much text can be on a boosted graphic. As we’ve started boosting, the posts we don’t boost have started getting a higher organic reach as well!
Facebook Scheduling
Now I know that you all have instances (very often) when things come up unexpectedly. You don’t have time to go to your laptop every time you want to post but there’s an easy solution! Facebook scheduling! Now I’ve talked about this before in a vlog I did (I’ve posted it below so you can watch it) and it’s a super easy great way to schedule out your posts so that you can set a bunch of your posts up at once and then let Facebook do the publishing! Do note that (unfortunately) you can’t boost a scheduled post until after it has been published.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ8hHTQ3t5o
Facebook LIVE
I know what you're thinking…wait live? That means as I talk people are watching? As in, if I screw up everyone is going to see it? And if I”m being “intentional” I should have a script right? Well yes and no. You need to be intentional in the sense that you know what your topic is, you should have some bullet points ready and then you can let your personality flow with the rest. That is what Facebook live is about. It can seem daunting and nerve wracking but the more you do it the better you get at it. I have so many agents come up to me and tell me they are nervous to do Live Video or need to build up the confidence to do it and it surprises me because I do it every week and agents spend so much time talking to people and being “on” that I think agents would be some of the best people at it! So give yourself a little credit and take the leap!
Your Facebook page is an important part of branding yourself and it does take time and planning but it can also be a lot of fun! If you put in the time you can make a lot of it and let your personality shine through!
Feel free to reach out to me at EmilyDugal@LeadingEdgeAgents.com with any questions you have or if you’d like to sit down and learn more!