This Agency Sold A House Through Social Media….. Twice!
Social media is a movement that has already happened in the property industry and for those who haven’t yet caught on, be warned: other agents are claiming your business. With the new millennial generation of home buyers relying on mobile and social more, the industry is being urged to embrace new communications in order to succeed. Remember that old adage ‘adapt or die’?
For whatever reason, we don’t often hear from the agents mastering social. Perhaps they’re just keeping schtum incase their competitors catch on, but you’d be mistaken if you think this means it doesn’t work. Quite the opposite, and we think it’s about time to celebrate agents’ success.
We took a trip (t’up North) to grab a coffee with the MD of Goole’s Housesetc, David Leake. First reason to take David seriously: His office has sold more properties than any other in their postcode sector, for four years running. And this competitive edge is coming from social. So why did David (and other agents engaged on social) decide to jump online? On a basic level, social media is an affordable way to get more eyes on your business. But it hasn’t taken marketers long to realise that social media is less about technology and more about psychology. In an industry where trust makes or breaks everything, social media helps agents show their human side and build relationships with homemovers.
The problem is, getting online is the easy part, the challenge is knowing what to do when you’re there. Like many agents new to social media, when David first joined Twitter he used the channel to predominantly push stock. Having access to so many people makes it ever so tempting to use social media just like a portal, but resist the temptation. When David diluted listings and shifted his strategy more towards sharing valuable content people cared about, things got better. When he sprinkled in some personality, things really took flight.
So David is a big Barnsley F.C. fan. In fact he’s a season ticket holder. Why does this matter? Because by sharing this with his audience and joining conversations around his passion, he quickly attracted likeminded clients. In fact, a direct message popped into his inbox when a fellow fan fancied relocating to Goole. Best thing? After taking him on a viewing, the client paid full asking price and David had his first sale without spending a penny on marketing. This is the power of networks, and what David quickly realised was that by focusing on relationships he had created a big audience that wanted to listen. So much so, that it took a mere hour for David to get an enquiry from posting a property on Facebook. A follower tagged a friend and Housesetc had a call almost immediately. Now this property was not listed on any portal, big or small, just Facebook. And this was not a one-off event, Housesetc are getting consistent ROI from their social media efforts.
With an instant, cost effective, and schedulable marketing channel right at his fingertips, David struggles to understand why sticking a photo in the paper is still even a thing. But admits: “We’re pleased a lot of agents don’t use it because it gives us an edge”.
Housesetc are huge advocates of social media and are reaping the rewards. Closing words from David: “if you stand still, you’ll go backwards”.
View the full videos here.
Originally posted on Propertyflock.
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