Do's & Dont’s of Social Media Marketing in the Summer
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As far as I see it, summertime can quickly go two ways for your marketing.
It's either an excellent time to gain momentum or an easy time to lose momentum. And I get it. You're probably busy working with your customers and focusing on your business. At the same time, you have a personal life to navigate and family vacations to enjoy. The last thing you want is more stress caused by what you're posting or not posting on social.
Now, for the rest of the month, I'm doing a "summer of social." Every week, I will discuss different topics geared to help you with your social media marketing. We'll be covering everything from best practices to hacks to save time to branding yourself and everything in between.
So, let's kick off the series with the Do's & Dont's of Social Media Marketing in the Summer. That way, you can move forward with a marketing strategy that aligns with your ideal Summer.
Don't - Ignore Your Plan
If you created a marketing plan at the end of last year or the beginning of this year, now is the time to reassess it.
You'll notice I said, "don't ignore your plan" and not "stick to your plan." Your plan might need to change a little as you've had half a year to get into good habits and find out what works for you. On the other hand, you might have found out that you had trouble sticking to your original plan.
Now, is the time to reevaluate your social media marketing strategy moving forward. If you'd like to create a complete marketing plan, make sure you visit https://ideasforrealestate.com/plan to download my template. However, your approach moving forward doesn't have to be complicated.
For the remainder of the summer, I'd like you to consider the following:
One - figure out one goal for your social media marketing for the season. That could be actively trying to generate listings, or it could be actively staying in touch with key people in my database. Once you've figured out a specific goal, we can move on to the second step.
Two - pick a target audience to focus on based on your goal. For example, if you're trying to generate listings, your target audience is sellers within a defined geographic area.
Three - choose a social media platform to focus on that your target audience is most likely to be on.
Four - Aim to post one to two times a week on social with content geared for that target audience. By posting content weekly designed with your ideal customer in mind, you'll not only be attracting your target audience, but you'll also be building your brand. From there, you can post more times a week or on more platforms as it fits into your schedule. However, this strategy ensures that you're continuing to build your business on social by being specific and consistent.
Don't - Forget to Provide Value
If you followed the advice is the first tip, then this one will be much easier!
As tempting as it is to fill up your feed with posts about "the market being hot" or the current status of a home, lean into service even more than sales. Figure out how you can show up for your audience on social. Your audience could be potential customers or sources of referrals - think about what you can do for them.
Summertime is a great time to start a series, just as I'm doing now with my "summer of social." You could do something similar but instead create content for your ideal customer. This could be a video series for first-time homebuyers or weekly tips for sellers in your local market.
The goal is to keep your content engaging by first establishing that it's relevant. Because your content, what you post on social, whether it's a video, photo, or even an Instagram Reel, should be designed with your ideal customer in mind.
If you're having difficulty figuring out how to provide value, consider your most frequently asked questions and address them. You have so much knowledge about real estate and your local area, that it's often easy to forget that the average person doesn't know all that you do!
Pick a real estate topic or two to focus on this Summer, and break it down bit by bit. Better yet, consider starting a weekly video series where you discuss a topic. It doesn't have to be fancy. Just your phone and real estate experience is all you need to get started.
However you express yourself, don't be shy about showing up and sharing your knowledge. Education is one of the most straightforward ways to providing value with your content and social media marketing. And if you choose a topic that you're passionate about, that passion will shine through on social.
Don't - Shy Away from Authentically Promoting Yourself
If you're actively trying to get new business, the last thing we want is for people to think that you're unavailable to help them. And trust me, people make a lot of assumptions. They might see you posting on social about how busy you are and think you don't have time for their real estate questions. Or they might see you posting about your summer vacations and believe you are taking a break from real estate.
Make it clear that you're actively working with new buyers and sellers and make it even easier to get in touch with you.
If every day you say on social, "I'm a REALTOR - let me sell your house this summer," then people are naturally going to start to tune you out. However, if you never talk about real estate and being able to assist people, then how would they know?
I'd recommend you follow the content strategy I lay out in Episode 7 - What to Post on Social for Realtors. In it, I cover my content pillars and how to show up on social in a way that best represents you. That way, you can create a balance of posts for social that help you attract new customers and engage the people you already know.
It's all about balance. You don't have to be obnoxious and salesy to let people know that you're excited to help them with their real estate needs. You need to communicate that you are in fact available, how you're able to assist people, and how to get started working with you. In addition to talking about real estate, Summer is an excellent time to work on your agent branding.
Do - Get Personal by Sharing Experiences
If you're focused on building your brand as a real estate agent, people have to get to know you. Yet, agents often struggle with how to do just that. It might seem more straightforward to share tips for homebuyers and sellers, but creating posts to show off who you are - that's where many agents trip up.
Summertime is excellent for highlighting who you are by giving a peek into what you're enjoying and doing. You can learn a lot about a person by their interests and activities. So, make a point of documenting what you're doing to share on social. That outdoor summer concert you went to, take a selfie and tag the local venue. That nature trail you hiked, share the best views along the way. The backyard garden you've been working on, share the progress with a quick video.
Let people look at what you're enjoying this time of year and be descriptive with your captions. Instead of saying "loved the summer concert," get more personal. Share how you got interested in classical music from a young age or how the music makes you feel. In the hiking example, you could share how you're focused on healthy living or why you appreciate the outdoor spaces in your area.
Your summer experiences can be a way for people to get to know beyond what's obvious, and these extra details you share can lead to genuine connections online.
Do - Engage More
Often when we talk about social media strategies, it's all about what we're doing online. However, it's equally important that you're tuned in to what other people are sharing and make it a point to engage with them. Now, engagement isn't simply liking somebody's post. Take time to leave a meaningful comment or even reach out with a direct message.
The great news about Summer is that your friends and followers are posting about their summer adventures as well. Instead of simply liking their family vacation photos, ask them a specific question you're genuinely interested in instead.
You could say, "looks like you guys had a great time at (insert vacation spot). I've always wanted to go there myself. What did you think of the resort you stayed at?" This prompt is a great way to strike up conversations with people you haven't talked to in a while. This is a great way to use social media to stay in touch with your sphere and the people you already know.
You can take it one step further and send them a direct message. For example, you could DM someone you haven't talked to in a while, "Hey (insert name). I saw the summer BBQ you planned on social. How are you enjoying entertaining in the new house?"
This conversation starter is an easy way to reach out to a past customer. The goal is to strike up genuine conversations by engaging more. So, instead of focusing on how many likes or comments you got on a post, consider spending ten or twenty minutes a day commenting on other's posts. This strategy will keep you top of mind for real estate while forming connections.
Do - Collect Local Content
For many places, Summer is when our local communities shine. So, it's completely natural to share what's going on in the communities you serve. From local events to developments, Summer is often buzzing with activity.
Of course, this is prime content for you to share what's going on in your area as this further establishes you as a local agent. However, it's also an ideal time to collect content to use in the future. So, make a point to take as many photos and videos as you can. Capture your local area when it's thriving because this is content you can use now and in the future.
One of the best positions to be in when it comes to your marketing is to have a surplus of content. If you take photos and videos now, you'll already have it ready to go for the following months and even next year.
Let's say you do your marketing planning in November. Wouldn't it be amazing to have content for the following year already? Now, this might seem ambitious. It's a good habit to try to get into. The more content you have about your local market, the more opportunities you have to show off the area's lifestyle later. Learn more lifestyle marketing here.
Moving Forward
Summer is an opportunity in your real estate marketing and a time to realign your plan. So, use this time to focus on your social media marketing. If you haven't already, be sure to download my 30-day calendar of social media ideas or the marketing plan template. I'd also suggest you take a look at the following blog posts & episodes: