Leverage Facebook For Your Real Estate Practice

*One in every five page views in the U.S. occurred on Facebook, bringing in more than 400 billion page views this year.

*The average visit time on Facebook is 20 minutes.

*Facebook members know a thing or two about loyalty.  About 96% of Facebook visitors have returned within the past 30 days, as of April 2012. 

Based on current numbers, it’s estimated that by the end of 2012, Facebook will approach one billion members.  As social media has become a big part of life in a technology-saturated world, it developed functions other than to connect with friends and family.  Social media helps businesses and professionals network, promote their products and services, and find potential clients.  However, it’s a fine line, building one’s “funnel “ of prospective buyers and sellers, while not annoying them with your unsolicited marketing efforts.  How you engage them is key.  

A lot of you in real estate have embraced social media, and some have really learned how to fully leverage it in your business.  The Corcoran Group out of NYC, in particular comes to mind, as does the Get Home Denver team.  Both have iPhone and Android apps, blogs, and integrate other effective social media tools into their Facebook.   And equally important, they seem to have a grasp on that fine line of the right content to engage and convert, without putting people off with overly done marketing. 

Join us for an informative workshop to learn the ins and outs of leveraging Facebook in YOUR real estate business!  This intensive workshop will teach you all the necessary basics to use Facebook for your business including the following: 

Everything you need to know about the new Facebook Timeline 

How to grow your brand with a compelling business page 

How to best engage customers and prospects, build loyalty and create brand advocates 

How to generate leads and business on Facebook 

This is not a generic Facebook workshop but is specific for the real estate industry. You will leave with an actionable plan on how to grow your real estate practice using Facebook.

Speaker: Nadine Kagan Wilson, Moxie Consulting 

Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2012 

Time: 10:00 AM—11:30AM 

RSVP: Erika.Kalpakoff@fnf.com 

Where: Fidelity National Title– Training Room 

60 E. Rio Salado Pkwy, 11th Floor 

Tempe, AZ 85281

Source:  Mashable, Samantha Murphy

Facebook Best Practices

We previously shared 5 of our 20 Facebook best practices and today we share the next 15 best practices.

#6: Put a fan page widget on your blog or website: You’d be amazed at how many people simply don’t know about your fan page. Putting it on your website (i.e., your home base) will get it in front of all of your website visitors. My favorite example of this is from Klout. It got me to Like them!

#7: Customize your fan page URL: Vanity URLs are a fantastic way to make your fan page memorable. Check this awesome fan page http://facebook.com/awesomefanpage. Vanity, baby!

#8: Put your fan page URL on your business cards: Combine offline and online by letting the people you meet IRL know about your fan page.

#9: Put a link on your personal Facebook profile: Put this under the “links” section. This is a “soft sell” of sorts, letting your friends passively know about your page. You might have forgotten that people actually check that part of your profile!

#10: Harness the power of your team: Have everyone in your organization put your fan page link on their personal profile.

#11: Ask fans to post a link: Ask all of your current fans to post a link to the fan page on their personal profile. As long as you don’t ask this often, I’ve found that people love to help out. Leverage the power of your existing audience and get results! For instance, at Monk Development, we simply asked everyone to post a link to our company fan page on the same day. We doubled our average daily Likes because of one simple step.

#12: Put a tag in your YouTube videos: If you make compelling videos as a part of your content marketing strategy, throw in a well-timed fan page link at the end of your YouTube videos. The Gregory Brothers, the geniuses behind “Auto-tune the News,” are some of the best social marketers around. They always include a link to their fan page (and other social networks) at the end of every video and make it a welcome addition to their content.

#13: Put your fan page URL on your Twitter profile background: Lots of tweeters still use the web-based version and your profile background is a prime piece of web real estate. Cross-advertise and use one social network to promote another! CenturyLink does a great job of this. If you go to their Twitter page, you can clearly see where their fan page is located. They don’t make you guess, which leads to conversions!

#14: QR codes for your page: I bought the furniture for our house mostly because the store used QR codes to get me to their fan page. Once I got to the fan page, I was welcomed with a custom landing page that welcomed me to the store. It wasn’t elaborate, but it was creative and it worked! They engaged me as a customer both online (QR code leading to fan page) and offline (sales agents in the store), making sure I knew I was welcome. Smart!

#15: Use your fan page: Use the “Tell Your Fans” feature. With the tools built in to the fan page, Facebook allows you to import a contact file or import your contacts from Hotmail, Yahoo, etc. Good for when you’re just starting out and want to tell people you already know.

#16: Add a Like box: Place this in your blog/website sidebar. This is a given. A must. But when you do this, make sure you set the options to include face pile. That way, your Like box will show your readers how many of their friends like the page as well. Genius.

#17: Use targeted keywords in a Google AdWords: Use a keyword-based ad and direct people to your fan page. This is like Facebook ads on steroids. If you’ve never used AdWords before, it’s fairly straightforward.

#18: Redirect your webinar guests to your fan page: If you use GoToWebinar, you can choose to send registrants to a URL of your choosing after they sign up. This is where you let them know of the awesomeness that is your fan page.

#19: Put your fan page URL in your Keynote/PowerPoint slides: When I present, the last slide I show is my contact info, complete with our organization’s fan page. Most people are already on Facebook, so it’s a no-brainer to give them an easy way to connect with you.

#20: Last, and certainly least, invite all of your friends (if you must): This is at the end for a reason. Pester your friends only as the nuclear option. I’ve given you 19 other ways to let people know about your fan page. Give your friends a break!

Don’t let the list stop there. There are hundreds of different ways to let people know about what you and your online community are up to on Facebook. Why not get creative and start a list of your own? What are some of the most interesting ways you’ve seen people or businesses promote their fan page? Let us know; share what you’ve found!


Source: Social Media Examiner, Justin Wise

Facebook Best Practices

Welcome to our series on Facebook Best Practices. Today we share a little information about Facebook with you along with the first 5 of the 20 best practices we will share with you throughout this series - so be sure to check back!

If you build it, they will come? Perhaps in baseball, but not necessarily when it comes to people (i.e. potential customers) finding your Facebook page. Those potential consumers ARE using social media…. but it’s up to YOU to make sure they can find you. Your fan page can be one of your organization’s richest sources of interaction, R&D and lead generation…. as long as you’ve done a good job of making people aware of it!

First, go to facebook.com/username and secure a custom URL for your Facebook page. Then, put that URL everywhere it’s appropriate: your website; TV, radio and print ads; signs, banners, table tents and window clings, door flyers – all marketing pieces; and your email signature.

Don’t just tell people “Find us on Facebook!” If they conduct a search for your business on Facebook, they may find many similar pages that are not yours. Make it easy for people – direct them to your URL.

The numbers associated with expertise in integrating social media into your business marketing can be mind-blowing! And with social media continuing to grow, the numbers can only get better, as businesses better understand how to effectively engage people.

A report from Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate reveal people feel more inclined to purchase from the brands they are fans of on Facebook. 51% of Facebook fans said they are more likely to purchase from at least a few brands they are fans of on Facebook. 60% said that being a Facebook fan of a brand would cause them to be more likely to recommend that brand to a friend.

Unless you have a built-in audience like the huge brands (think Nike, Coca-Cola), you’ll need to help drive traffic to your fan base. There are myriad creative ways to promote your Facebook page, one of the most complete lists below, put together by Justin Wise on Social Media Examiner:

#1: Put your fan page URL in your email signature: How many emails do you send per day? Now imagine each email you send is a chance for someone new to find out about your awesome fan page! This URL goes out on every email I send! Talk about free publicity!

#2: Write a blog post about your new fan page: Give your readers five compelling reasons why they should join your fan page. Don’t beg; just give reasons they’ll benefit.

#3: Tag other, well-trafficked fan pages in your updates: Their fans might see your page and you may get some cross-traffic.

#4: Ask your Twitter followers to join your fan page: Give some compelling reasons why your Twitter base should join your Facebook community. If Twitter is the new water cooler, think of your fan page as an invite to come in and chat. For example, tweet something like, “Wanting more conversation than 140 characters will allow? Join us on Facebook at http://fb.me/awesomefanpage.” A nice and simple ask that will get results.

#5: Invest in Facebook ads: They’re easier than you think and you can spend as little (or as much) as you’d like.

Source: Social Media Examiner, Justin Wise