Lead by example, and do more than the competition.

Social media isn’t about sales, and with the younger generation coming into the age where they’re ready to buy a house you’re going to be in trouble if the only content you’re putting online is a house sale. The younger generations have the most evolved filter for advertising and sales we’ve ever seen. Bombarded with marketing messages all day every day, if there’s nothing of value in what you’re posting to them they’ll switch off entirely.

The rulebook has been re-written for advertising to the social media generations. The main point to take away is that you’ve got to be providing value, whether that’s through entertainment or education and providing knowledgeable information with the only way to cut through all the crap is to do more than your competition.

You’re not going to see any substantial R.O.I if you’re just posting the same standard content every other real estate agent is. If you’re posting each house sale and leaving it at that, you’ll be leaving money on the table and wasting your advertising dollars.

Cutting through all the digital bullshit means carving out your own unique following. By providing real content that’s really valuable to your target audience, you’ll stand ahead of most of the competition. I know there are some agents out there in Australia I follow absolutely killing it in this regard, on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. But there’s way, way-way too many thinking a one size fits all approach will help them.

And if your vendor still wants to market their property on social media, get creative with it. Tell their story. Bring people into their lives a little bit. Because most social media house posts are lifeless and unoriginal and social is all about telling stories, and being social. Take the time and care to learn and test what works and build from there.