Bernice Ross

I once had one real estate agent tell me she was spending $15,000 per month for online leads. “It’s worth it,” she exclaimed. Really? Tell that to other agents who are spending as little as $1 per day.

Effective marketing has one goal: putting you face-to-face with a buyer or seller who is ready to transact. Consequently, the best place to begin is building online relationships that will achieve this goal.

Naples, Florida-based real estate marketing expert Sue “Pinky” Benson believes that Facebook’s Stories tool is the easiest way to connect and generate leads. The issue is how to take advantage of this powerful platform. Benson’s approach is to comment on other people’s posts, and where appropriate, respond to the comments others have made.

“Avoid ‘post and ghost,’” Benson said. “When most people respond to a post, they disappear. What they fail to realize is that the comments provide the opportunity to build relationships. When you engage someone in a conversation, that’s when to send them a request to connect.”

Video is the Real Opportunity

If you’re not using video to market your business, you’re missing one of the most cost-effective ways to connect, build relationships and generate leads.

With about 1.9 billion active monthly users and the average visitor staying on the site for 40 minutes, YouTube recently surpassed Facebook as the second largest website in the world. Instagram is now fifth.

The keys to building a successful YouTube presence include keeping your videos short, engaging views with compelling imagery and stories right from the beginning, posting consistently and being a fun and welcoming video host.

Building connection with these viewers is about generating interesting content separate from your real estate business.

Benson suggests sharing what’s great about your focus area. Benson has branded her community page as #PinkyKnowsNaples. She’s constantly sharing fun things to do or unusual facts and tidbits about the area. For example, her video about the Rosemary Cemetery in Naples garnered 2,200 views.

This can also include great people in the community. Interview the school principal, local business owners, or civic leaders. Benson’s interview with the owner of a local Naples seafood restaurant generated 4,600 views while an interview with an animal rescue showing puppies up for adoption generated 6,100 views.

Awareness Drives Decision

According to Jason Frazier and Josh Pitts of Shred Media, whoever reaches the consumer first wins. The challenge is that consumers see thousands of ads every day. Your goal as an agent is to create such a high degree of awareness that the people in your market area say, “I see you everywhere.”

First, Frazier and Pitts suggest, post the video you made using Benson’s guidance on your business page or a community page with a lifestyle focus. Then, wait 24 hours and run an ad or pay Facebook to boost the video, making it show up as sponsored content on non-followers’ Facebook timelines. The more you pay, the more people will see it. Make sure to target Facebook users only with a 25- to 35-mile radius of where you do business, and run your video for a total of seven days.

Once you’ve done that, keep repeating the same schedule every week until you develop a brand in your community, or enhance the brand you already have online.

Does it Work?

Frazier and Pitts report that their system yields an average of 1,200 views per video, reaches an average of 2,300 Facebook users per post, with an average ad spend of $7 per video. Keep in mind, their only goal is to build awareness.

On the other hand, Benson reports that she has used the same tactic and it generated leads for her business. She paid $2 per day to boost her videos on Facebook for 10 days and generated 10 solid leads.

If you’re not getting the return on your marketing dollar from purchasing online leads, sending out farming postcards, paying for SEO or for Facebook ads, it’s time to jump on the video bandwagon. Consumers want video and if you don’t provide it, another savvy agent will.

Bernice Ross is a nationally syndicated columnist, author, trainer and speaker on real estate topics. She can be reached at bernice@realestatecoach.com.