Growing your Social Media Audience to Increase Business
I often get asked either ‘how did I build such as big social media following‘ and ‘what business value is there from owning a large following on social media‘. Both questions certainly deserve to be answered so let’s start off with these:
How to build a big social media following: Simple I say, either you put a lot of thinking and time towards it, you throw a bucket load of money at it or you use what is already out there and leverage yourself up on the back of others.
I built groups upon groups and created many accounts across all social media platforms to include those no longer with us today such as Vine and GooglePlus, I captured key user and page names / URLs and I connected with everyone I could do within the sectors I worked in (at the time digital media / wine / property). I quickly realised the platforms that I worked best with, we can not be the master of all, and most importantly I concentrated on sharing content.
In the early days of social media, the take up was slow and the opportunities were vast for those who could envision what they were to become. I soon saw social media as the future of marketing and an excellent way of building audiences for free. I remember the day Facebook opened up the option to secure your username (as opposed to a unique number ID) and thinking of property and selling property on Facebook I chose my username to be FB.com/houseforsale as others were securing their birth names! When groups were an option to be created on Facebook I secured relevant keywords of which many I have given away or sold, though some I still hold of which have grown to a credible size for instance FB.com/groups/EstateAgency – I also made sure that I secured all my business names across social media which sees me today owning countless accounts / groups / pages!
Today, within property / real estate, I still run and own several large social media groups which are up for sale and as understanding of social media increases they are not only growing in size, but those thinking about ‘leveraging themselves up quickly‘ chose to purchase them:
Facebook Page – Estate Agency UK – 1,056 followers – £2,112
Facebook Group – Interior Designers – 3,030 members – £6,060
Facebook Group – Real Estate Page – 14,676 members – £14,676
LinkedIn Group – Women in Estate Agency – 407 members – £814
Twitter Account – LAUKNetworking (Letting Agent Networking) – 8,423 followers – £8,423
You can also leverage your profile on social media by joining larger groups and engaging, though you can be limited re direct marketing as most group owners / admins do not allow others to profit from their hard work.
What business value is there from owning a large following on social media: Social media today has a whole different meaning to what it held only a few years ago. During the birth years of social media, ie 2005 – 2010, the understanding of these platforms was in its infancy by both users and those running them, it was a ultra fast journey with many twists and turns. By this I mean they evolved quickly and their numbers grow intensively where internet legends were being created daily and new updates were being constantly added so to adapt to user demands.
As the user numbers grew and most of the internet using population globally where active with fast adapting hand held appliances making for further ease of use and increased time spent using social media, the power they held grew to even a point where presidency elections were altered by posts / tweets / account suppression etc.
From grandparents to A list celebrities, there was and continues to be no limit to who can use social media, other than for age restrictions. Businesses spend millions to grow their audiences, increase their engagement and build brand awareness. Even in the property industry, there is continued popularity on social media in marketing with more and more creativity that even the likes of negotiators / agents are becoming personalities and dare I say even celebrities within the sector.
Groups are key to social media success: I stand by this with success thanks to groups where I have created brands thanks to them and grown client relationships. Owning the likes of themed groups and especially locally themed, is similar to owning a local newspaper in that you can control several thousand local members and deliver daily updates. Being clever with content is key also, you will be required to share engaging, entertaining and enlightening updates daily in tune with the target members interest and only in amongst such posts you can randomly sell your service / display homes for sale / rent or entice valuations. An example of a local community group on Facebook that is ideal for Estate / Letting Agents to acquire and build brand awareness (PS: for sale £16,302) can be viewed here: Haverhill, Suffolk community page
If you are interested in any of the above groups / pages / accounts or want a list of further for sale, please email propertywine@gmail.com
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