#AskMarcAnything | How our society consumes content has been continually evolving from letters to radio to television, and now mobile devices. This puts a huge demand on you as a business owner to adapt your business for today’s consumer. Here I dive into how to learn the basics, how facebook pages has evolved, what to post on your platforms and how often you should post.
How to begin social media marketing
Just Start
Issue: People get intimidated and don’t start. People make excuses that they do not need to be on social media. 76% of population uses Facebook daily. Let that sink in. People are on social platforms before, during and after work.
Learn: Google and Youtube. Watch videos, read articles and learn how to create a page, learn how to create nice posts, learn how to use facebook ads manager, just learn
Expensive route, hire a digital media company. They are expensive but can help you do the complete package. Problem is you still won’t know it. Without being in the middle of the change to a mobile platform, you will miss out on many opportunities you would have otherwise recognized if you learned it yourself.
People’s attention have gone from the radio to television to mobile devices. It’s all the same.. Consuming content. Platforms changes. That’s why you have to adapt your marketing to fit those platforms.
You’re doing the same thing. Connecting with people. But the internet has allowed every single one of us to connect with others instead of one corporation that held all the power.
Facebook Page
In the top right corner of your personal facebook page, click on the drop-down menu and click on Create a page.
Facebook is testing ways they can compete with Youtube. Youtube has been the go to for videos but YT lacks an easy virality feature. Facebook has it with the news feeds and share buttons.
Facebook pages have slowly evolved over last few years in pages that showcase you and your business. A channel for your business. They are slowly releasing Show Pages for those that have a video or podcast show.
People will be watching more video content and audio content on Facebook. Facebook is testing ads. Youtubers upset with YT.. what if a small portion switch to FB?
What to Post – Value
What to post? For real estate agents, advertising your listing for sale or for rent is ok. However this gets very old when every single post is the same type of post. Also get’s old when every post is a listing, or open house, or handing keys to someone, or signing a contract. Yes these can be valuable posts at times but real estate agents just overdo it. It eventually gets to a point where the majority of the likes and comments a real estate agent gets are from other real estate agents. Not useful if you are trying to target home buyers and sellers.
Think like a media company. How would a media company showcase your business? Very simple. They would showcase the clients and who they are (doesn’t mean showcase them getting keys), showcase the listings and sometimes open houses, showcase the agent explaining how the business is done (educating the public), showcase neighborhoods, showcase the people living within the community, showcase the schools, etc. Right there alone there is so much content to create simply around what is already around you. No need to reinvent the wheel. Don’t create content, just document it.
Test. Test different items from written word to photos to videos. Then get more creative. Make a video into a video meme. Look at my instagram for an example. Use filters on photos, or try no filters. There are millions of ways to create creative and fun content. It’s all about being yourself and showcasing your business.
If you are someone who does not like to be in front of a camera, do audio or written word. If you truly cannot do any of that, find a partner that can. If you’re a big brokerage business, find someone to be the face and representative of your company. You must have a PR and communications department. Especially in real estate. The real estate industry has gone from the public hiring a brokerage to the public hiring an agent due to their reputation, not their company’s reputation. That is why brokerages are now focusing their attention of providing services to their agents because the agents have become the main customer. And it’s simple to understand why, the agent has build the reputation, aka attention, with the public thus they have the leverage against the broker. If a broker wants to win in that environment, its simple. Gain the public’s attention.
How often should you post
Many people think you should limit how much you post because you don’t want to come off as spam. News for you… everyone’s feeds today are so full of information and post after post after post that they see a very small percentage of what has actually been posted. Every 48 hours, humanity creates as much content as from the dawn of time to 2003. That’s a lot of content. So you need to post often.