If it takes work, it ain’t gonna get done. But, make it easy and you’ve got a sure thing. This is the world of social media… marketing.
And by this, I’m not talking about marketing yourself through social media, I’m talking about marketing social media itself.
“Check out this fancy socialwidget 2.0. It slices, dices, cleans up after itself, and all you have to do is stay sitting in your chair and press this big red button.”
Over on AgentGenius, I recently covered one of the big fallacies surrounding social media and business: that social media is a business strategy.
It’s not. It’s just a tool, a tactic, that should complement your overall marketing plan. If you just tweet it they will not come. But, some folks will have you believe otherwise.
As Jeff Turner pointed out, the horizon is filled with snake oil salesman selling promises that simply “joining the conversation” will cause traffic spikes and a bullish bank account.
You’ve probably seen the surge of self-proclaimed social media gurus, ebooks, and training courses. Look, use of a tool does not connotate proficiency.
To be frank, I’m working with a few different folks on social media projects but these aren’t your typical tactics-only approach to social media. You can expect specific Stomper-style strategies of how to include social media in your current marketing for bigger business-generating wins.
Content Generation
You must generate content that attracts people. This isn’t limited solely to wesbites, blog posts or videos. Your ideas and perspectives count just as much.
Content Syndication
Just because you have content that’s attractive doesn’t mean folks will flock to it. If you build it they will not come. You need to have a means for getting your content from here to there.
Play to Your Fans
Once you attract folks, you must have a means for converting those interested people into supportive people. The more supportive fans you have then the further your message will reach and the more pre-sold, pre-qualified business you’ll generate.
So, whenever someone is trying to sell you some social media doo-hickey (book, course, workshop) make sure it covers all the above points.
Social media is not a push-button solution to gaining more real estate business. Problem is, many of the folks out there are willing to tell you otherwise.
Now, it also ain’t rocket science. What you really need is a real marketing strategy that leverages the power of social media inside your complete business generation strategy.
If you’re using social media in your business, use the comments below to tell me what you’re doing with it.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Reading: “Snake-Oil in Social Media? 3 Things to Watch For” via @MarkEckenrode http://tinyurl.com/cgxqgc
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Phrasing the comments as questions, information or reports and adding a link to a video topic has helped with Views.
The views make a contribution to rankings.
Readership is reflected in pageviews on related matters. Maybe expecting the readership to call for business is premature. You still need to build a relationship with people directly.
Never the less, social media is fascinating. Almost voyeuristic.
David Pylyp
@MarkEckenrode nice posts by the way, well done http://agentgenius.com/?p=10694 http://www.homestomper.com/social-media-snake-oil/
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Rather than “receprocal” following I’m trying to only follow people I can either learn from or target as possible supportive fans .. based on geography or occupation.
Then I try to establish a relationship by contributing to their conversation with the goal that they will find reason to follow back.
It’s a 3 week old strategy, I’ve been able to trim my follow list and have several successes.
Cheers Dave
@Dave Chomitz – spot on with phrasing things as questions – they make great post titles, too
and while it may be premature to expect a reader to holler at you for a house, it’s important to give them something to do. some sort of call to action so that you can continue to contact and build that relationship.
on those videos.. do you add a text overlay or anything with a call-to-action?
it’s funny you mention SM being voyeuristic. i love people watching and observing/studying how they interact. SM is the online equivalent
@David Pylyp – good follow strategy… it’ll help keep your stream relevant, for sure. otherwise it’s easy to end up with a stream that does you no good. and the fact that your conscious about adding value to their conversations is a big win.
great tips so far.