Your Online Presence in Real Estate

Real estate is a career that has unlimited potential but your reputation and how you represent yourself online is your greatest asset as your starting out. A common misconception is that a new agent only needs licensing education in order to be successful. The truth is, there are strict limitations on what can and cannot be taught in a licensing course. Here are 5 easy ways to increase your online presence in real estate, especially for the newer agent.

It’s Your Reputation

Your reputation isn’t just built by word-of-mouth anymore — potential clients are often checking you out online before they even get in touch with you. They’ll look at your social media profiles, new listing, reviews and other places. Where your name appears on the Internet to get a full sense of your social profile.

Clients are particular about their real estate agents, which makes sense—they’re about to make a costly and potentially life-changing investment. What’s highest on a client’s list when they’re choosing an agent? Most of the time, it’s your reputation. Studies show that after a positive experience, 76% of customers are likely to recommend a business to friends and family. The first step to increasing your online presence in real estate is reputation management.

Monitor Your Online Presence

There are several ways to monitor your online presence. For example, the simplest is setting google alerts. It is very easy to set up. Anytime someone mentions your name or business on the internet, you will receive an email to review, who or where it is coming from. However , social listening tools are just as important, which is something google alerts cannot provide.

Your customers are talking. Can you hear them? Monitor customer conversations across websites, forums, blogs, Real Estate Directories,  new sources and social media platforms is the second step to increasing your online presence in real estate.

Leverage Social Currency in Real Estate

Social media is low-cost and very effective. It is worth taking the time to learn and set up a digital marketing plan. There are three major advantages to using digital marketing: time, money and interactions. The speed of communication has changed the fundamentals of traditional marketing. Within seconds of sending an email, someone could be reading it. The cost of sending an email or posting on social media is extremely low, and you are able to interact with your followers. Your readers can respond instantly. You are able to get instant feedback on your marketing. You know if something is getting a lot of views, likes, comments and you instantly know your marketing technique is resonating with people. For example, if it is not getting any attention, you instantly know to adjust your marketing plan.

Every real estate agent wants to reach more clients and prospects. The market is very competitive, and it can be challenging to stand out and get attention. You want to make sure your clients and prospects understand the value of service you provide. Are able to trust you and your brand, find positive reviews about you and are able to establish a relationship with you. The more you are seen in the online world, consisting of social media posts, videos and blog articles. As a result, the more known and trusted you will become.

Your customers care about your reviews. Studies show that 92% of customers consult reviews before making a purchase decision. Your customers want to know if you are the real deal and the proof of that is in your reviews. Every time you interact with a new customer or someone within your sphere of influence, look for opportunities to request client reviews. Work smarter, not harder and leverage your social currency. Thus being the third step to increasing your online presence in real estate.

Have a Social Niche

A sphere of influence business model is a strategy that focuses on attracting business to you from the people you know and the people you meet socially. As opposed to pursuing business from strangers. Your sphere of influence exists because of the relationships you’ve built with each person.

As real estate agents, it is very important to stay visible to your sphere of influence. In the days prior to the internet, that meant being active in the community, attending dinner parties and other social events. While being social, we made sure to wear our name tags and tried to spark conversations about real estate.

Today, those things still stand, but all top agents use technology to augment being social in the real world. People spend an enormous amount of time online, whether that be checking email, reading the news, surfing websites or just hanging out on social media. Think of the names of the people in your database and the relationship you have with them as your business. Contributing to community discussions on message boards and on Facebook groups is one way to establish yourself as an expert.

To find them, head to the search bar inside of Facebook, enter your top keywords, and select “Groups” from the subheadings you can search within.  Your social niche is the forth step to increasing your online presence in real estate.

What can you learn from a rock?

Ok, so I may be aging myself, but remember the Pet Rock? In 1975, Gary Dahl was in a local pub drinking beer and listening to two friends complaining about their pets. He immediately had an idea for a pet that didn’t eat, get sick, need walks and is easily trained—the Pet Rock. The Pet Rock was an ordinary 3-inch gray stone that was cleverly packaged with a little book about how to teach your rock to roll over, play dead and stay.

The rock cost 1 cent; the packaging and manual, around 25 cents. During the six months they were available, 1.5 million Pet Rocks were sold for $4.95 each, and Gary became a millionaire. When is a rock not a rock? When it is branded as something else. Branding works.

You, as an agent, offer the same exact service as every other agent. Branding is how you can differentiate yourself from the thousands of other agents in your market who perform the exact same service as you do.

In a survey done by the NAR, 76 percent of people who decide to market their home interview only one agent. Essentially, most have chosen their agent prior to the listing appointment. As an agent, you are the product. Real Estate is not about selling houses, it’s about selling yourself. Therefore, branding yourself is the fifth step to increasing your online presence in real estate.