Social media: 5 questions you should be asking yourself.
Social media plays a big part in our lives today, and this is no exception when it comes to letting agents and property management companies. These social channels have turned communication on its head and revolutionised how agents interact with, and advertise to, their audiences.
But are you doing it right? Is it working for your business?
If you feel that the answer to that is possibly ‘no’ then don’t worry, you’re not alone. The stereotypical thing to do with social media has been to just give the password to the youngest person in the office, or to simply use it as a channel broadcast to market the messages that you want to impart on the world. But lots of agents are now realising that doesn’t seem to be working.
Want to improve your social media presence? Here are 5 questions you should be asking yourself to help you get more from social media:
1. What do you want from it?
A simple question, but not necessarily a simple answer. Is it simply to rent properties faster? Or is it about attracting new landlords? Different outcomes will require different approaches, but having a goal in mind from the beginning will help you to quantify or measure how successful it is being.
Some agents have had success using social media as a communication tool to improve relationships (and longevity) with tenants and/or landlords – and this is likely to be a much more productive use of social media than using it to try and sell directly.
2. Who are you trying to target?
Again, it may sound like a simple question, but knowing your audience will help drive which channels you use. Pinterest, for example, is about 80% female in its audience, and they are more the millennial generation – this could be a great place for finding tenants if you have beautiful or luxury properties to rent. Similarly, Instagram’s audience is young, but its gender balance is much closer. Facebook’s demographic is aging rapidly, but this could mean it is a place to target potential new landlords. The list is endless.
3. What channels are you using?
When you know who you’re targeting start looking at the channels you’re using. Is Twitter really good for pictures and new properties, or would this be better for customer service? Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Vine and others are all really visual channels, so if you don’t have high-quality images these might not work for you. Facebook is really limiting the organic reach of brands – are you willing to pay to promote content and if so what content will generate a return for you?
If you’re looking to target people with multiple properties in their portfolio, would LinkedIn be a better place to target them?
4. What content are you promoting?
This links in to all of the above questions – but are you using the right content to target the right audiences? If you are simply linking to the latest property you are trying to let ask yourself what this is really achieving. We’re not saying don’t do it – in fact, entirely the opposite, it can be really successful – but think about what else you could put out to better achieve your goals.
5. Who is looking after it?
It’s tempting to give the keys to all the social media to a person who is young and keen, but using social media in your personal life and using it for business are really, really different. If you don’t understand the audiences you are targeting or the goals you are working to then how can you target the right people?
Social media has the power to dramatically change how you do business, but it needs to be handled well and done with purpose to be successful. Think about these five questions, then ask yourself if your social media could be better.
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