Sharing content across multiple mediums, apps and platforms has become a daily activity for millions of people throughout the world, and, in real estate, it is crucial to your business for many reasons: It engages and informs prospects and clients; promotes your industry expertise; and creates awareness about you, your brokerage and your brand.
But, what use is valuable content if you don’t advocate, educate and inspire your agents to share it as a key element of their marketing?
Set an Example
Nothing encourages a team more than being a leader by example. Your agents will look to you to set the precedent when it comes to sharing content or information with the public. To make your agents comfortable with content sharing, familiarize them with the type of content, the frequency and the platforms they should use by doing so yourself.
Have discussions about online conversations and groups as part of your team’s marketing strategy. Try holding classes or mini-training sessions for all levels of online sharing expertise so no agent is left behind when it comes to technology, social media or digital campaigns. Part of fostering a sharing-based environment means being a leader that all agents can look up to and rely on when they need guidance.
Create and Provide Relevant Content
For agents to promote their brokerage and expertise through content, it’s important they understand that content worth sharing with the world comes from more than just posts on social media. In fact, the posts or conversations on social media should be generated through your agents sharing the new and existing content you create on your brokerage’s blog and website. Give your agents the foundational content they need—start a blog and write and publish actionable content that ties back to your business, local area, trends, agent announcements and stories with buyer and seller interest.
The opportunity is to create awareness of your brand through writing about your industry expertise, then use that content to reach as many clients and prospects as possible.
After your blog posts are live, encourage your agents to share the content via social media, text, email drip campaigns or newsletters. The broader the reach, the more conversations will start up with clients and leads, directing them back to the agent’s and your website.
Share Consistently
The frequency of sharing content isn’t going to be the same for every company, brand or industry; however, it is typically best practice to keep a consistent posting schedule.
Depending on your time and commitment to the effort, try posting to your blog on the same days once or twice a week, then extending the reach of that content on your social channels. The longer you are consistent, the more your agents will rely on you for relevant updates and information, which will inspire them to share your content with their sphere of influence.
Action Item: Create a content and social media schedule spreadsheet. Add columns to keep track of messaging, posting date and time, graphics, outbound links and post likes or clicks. This is a useful tool for referencing later or keeping track of what content was most popular!
As a broker, it’s important to be a guide for your agents as they navigate marketing avenues that involve community-based content and conversations. Taking time to provide a culture that supports a digital approach to sharing information and content will prove to be beneficial to you and your agents.
Todd Sumney is the chief marketing officer for HomeSmart International. In his leadership role, Sumney is responsible for spearheading all of the company’s branding and marketing initiatives, including agent marketing and presentations.
For more information about joining HomeSmart as an agent, please visit HomeSmart.com/join-us.
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