Unchained Notes: SMM is a Process, Not a Fetish

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Author website

This is the third in an ongoing series of posts sharing some of the gold I found at the Unchained Orlando Conference on Social Media Marketing for Real Estate.  The first post was on theme, the second was philosophy and now it’s time to talk nuts and bolts.

You hear a lot about Social Media Marketing. It is variously described as the future of prospecting, a revolutionary version of networking for a 2.0 world, the miracle of permission based marketing and – if I remember correctly – a cure for the common cold.  But more often than not you’re hearing from someone who talks about it as opposed to someone out here in the trenches doing it.  You can always tell because the person just talking about it doesn’t give a whole lot of information on how it works. You hear all the sizzle but what’s needed is for someone to actually throw a big, juicy steak on your plate.  Well, I hope you’re hungry because Brian Brady worked the grill for hours at the Unchained Conference in Orlando and he did not disappoint.  Not only did he serve up the meat of the matter, he cut it into bite size pieces and made it easy to digest.

Why
As with all teaching opportunities, Brian started with the “Why.”  Why do we market and why, specifically, is Social Media Marketing important.  The answer to the first question was easy.  Farming for new customers creates new customers and they are the life-blood of our practice.  It was the answer to the latter question that hit me right between the eyes.  The Internet allows us to automate our Unique Selling Proposition.  Think about the power in that last statement.  Automating your USP and reaching an exponentially larger audience with no extra effort or cost is a magical formula.

Brian identified the five pillars of Social Media Marketing:

1. Declaration of Identity
2. Identity by Association
3. Consumer Generated Conversation
4. Provider Generated Conversation
5. Off-Line Conversation

He went on to show us how to “set traps” using these five pillars.  What did he mean by “setting traps?”  Being in the right place at the right time by design – that’s how I would describe it.  You are most definitely NOT trapping your clients.  Rather, you are setting yourself up to be in front of them at that exact moment when they realize they are going to need the services of someone like you.  You are trapping their epiphany and directing it toward you.

This is accomplished by being in the various communities your clients, potential clients, prospects and just plain consumers visit.  How do you find them?  The easiest way he shared is simply to ask them where they go.  Brilliant in its simplicity.  Once there you follow the five pillars: make sure you create and update a profile that tells people who you are and what you do.  Join communities you want to be associated with and with whom you want to associate.  Listen to the consumers and provide useful content that answers their questions.  Most importantly: pick up the phone and talk to them.  Real Estate is still belly-to-belly.  (This reminded me of a little retail wisdom I heard from Home Depot’s founders.  They said “we didn’t spend all that money paying for advertising and purchasing inventory just to have the consumer walk away because the check-out line was too long.”  When someone walks up to your register with money in their hand… engage them!)

Goals
The goal of Social Media Marketing is to get people onto your landing page, blog or web site.  Once there you want them to subscribe to your Provider Generated Conversation.  Of course, the only way to do that is to first listen to the Consumer Generated Conversation and then provide useful, relevant information created for their benefit.  If you do this well you will begin to collect data and build a community of your own.  This is the ultimate goal: create a community of raving fans by continuously feeding them good ideas and relevant information.  Once you’ve done that, you can run for mayor.

There are a great many places to practice the art of Social Media Marketing, from LinkedIn to YouTube.  Brian, of course, goes into more detail (if want to see it all you can read my post on Social Media Marketing for Real Estate), but in the end it’s all about being in front of your prospects, consumers, clients and community on a regular basis.  It is the process of creating your community, being where they are, making sure they know who you are and giving them answers and information they can use.  Consumers have the power in the real estate business relationship.  They can choose to learn about you (or not learn about you) as they see fit.  They reject most forms of “push” marketing (cold calls, email spam, fliers on the door step, etc.) and are out there – in the various mediums just mentioned.  Imagine a potential client stumbling across your front doorstep… make sure your porch-light is on and your door is open.  Maybe even offer them a steak.

In the next installment of Unchained Notes, the amazing Teri Lussier shows us how to Build a Community by blogging.