How to Differentiate Yourself as a Real Estate Agent in a Competitive Market

This week we had Jeff Lobb CEO and founder of SParkTank Media with us in our webinar to discuss ways to effectively differentiate yourself as a Real Estate Agent in a competitive market. These days the market is pretty cut-throat and recognition and standing out is key for success for every Real Estate agent. Jeff Lobb describes how agents can make the most out of social media to do so.

How to Use Videos to Get Brand Awareness

It’s time to use videos. It has been a long conversation for almost 20 years. Video has evolved a lot and turned into long videos on YouTube. However, the reality is video today has turned into a short attention span. We have short videos now on social media and YouTube. The topic is the biggest challenge Real Estate agents face when talking about videos. there are many things to say and some are not even about Real Estate. Agents can talk about the home and what homeowners can do with and around their homes. Then there comes the next challenge and that is how are they going to fit the content into 60 seconds or less.

Fear of Social Media

Real Estate is one of the most public-facing businesses in the world. We need to market the homes and ourselves on social media to as many people as possible. Some agents feel insecure about social media and say they do not want to market themselves because marketing in Real Estate these days happens on social media. If you think you need to protect yourself from social media you will miss out on a ridiculous amount of market, customers, and attention.

The Importance of Marketing Listings

Listing inventory is the catalyst to not only more business but to more listings and more buyers. It is permission to market yourself, your brand, and the home. But many agents take listings for granted. A while ago when listings were on the market for a short time before they were sold, agents would say why they would need to market the listing or have an open house. Listings are opportunities. You need to do coming soon videos, three days of marketing, social media posts, and Saturday’s open houses. Today’s world tends to bounce a lot more but the basics are the same. Agents complain bout getting no business yet they forget that one listing should propel you into more listing and business. Show you are the local expert when marketing the listings. Show the lifestyle and the community.

What Agents Do Wrong with Social Media

We see lots of agents posting “Just Listed” and “Just Sold” content on their social media over and over again. That can be the definition of insanity. That does not add any value to your audience and in the best-case scenario, they just might wonder how much money you are making which is the wrong kind of question you would hope your audience would ask. You need to let your audience know about you and your family. and Give something useful about the listing like the story behind the home.

Social Media Perception

What people see and hear on social media is what people scarily believe. The perception of social media is amazing. When you post only “Just Listed” and “Just sold” photos of your listings people may wonder if you are too good for them. On the other hand, such content will help your audience see you and recognize you but they will never get to know you as a person. if you are a family person or if they can connect with you on different levels.

How to Create an Authentic Relationship with Leads

What people do these days to nurture their leads is too mundane. They mostly used emails which may not be the best idea as emails get lost among many other emails users receive. The best way to create an authentic relationship with your new leads is to send them a personalized short video message on your phone. this shows that you care. You can even create generic video messages that sound personal and send them to a lot of people.

How to Create New Sales Opportunities in a Changing Market

The key is to boost visibility. The more you are out there the more people know you are available. Agents can use social media like Reels on Instagram, Tiktok videos, Facebook, etc to show that they are out and about and that they are in the business and shows people that they are always on the go and if they need an agent, they are always the one they see and remember. It is a classic mistake to think that in a changing market there are no buyers or sellers and agents should not spend on their market. Because once the market picks up, you will be out of sight, and agents who have been present everywhere will get the leads.

Going Viral

The goal should not be going viral. The goal should be to do a good job in front of people who follow you and matter to you. You should focus on your local audience. What do you think is not important. No one cares. What your consumer and audience care about and are concerned about matters. The resourcefulness and value you create for the audience matter.

Ego and Perfectionism

A lot of agents feel insecure about the content they create and how they appear in it and therefore, avoid posting the video they have recorded as they are being too self-conscious. The fact is no one cares about who you look like as long as you have something valuable to say. Done is better than perfect. Stop trying to be perfect because it won’t be perfect anyway. Get over it.

How to Add Personal Touch to Your Content

Whatever content you are sharing you can add a personal touch to it by appearing in the video while you are living your normal life. It can include you in the car when your kids are in the back. Some people say they do not want others to know about their life but they have to consider that they are in a pretty personal life. They do not have to share everything with their audience, but the commonalities of who you are as a person are key. Find what you have in common with your audience and use it in your content.

Likes and Views

Personal content on social media tends to get more engagement from your audience. For this reason, many agents are concerned about the engagement their business content gets. The reason for that is that your personal content may appeal to and resonate with more people while your business content only appeals to people who need your business. Therefore, you would rather go after 200 likes from people who might one day do business with you rather than 20k likes from people all over the world. However, you can always add some personal touch to your content to increase engagement of your content on social media. You are not trying to be a social media guru. You are trying to be a better Real Estate agent.

Branding and Outbound Reach

The market always shifts. People who have been in the business for a long time know this. Jeff’s advice on this is that you can’t stop marketing to sit around and search MLS. That would be like killing time. you have to be proactive. You have to fill your calendar with efforts to find new business. People with empty calendars are doomed to fail. Stronger marketing and more prospecting are what may exclude you from being 300,000 agents that will go out of business.