Why Snapchat is Crap for Real Estate Agents

Wondering if you should hop on SnapChat to market your real estate business? I don't think 99% of agents should worry about SnapChat. Here's why...

Let’s talk about SnapChat for a moment here…

I’m sure you’re seeing a ton of stuff come up online about how Snapchat is the place to be.

If you haven’t heard about it…let me catch you up on some of the headlines:

snapchat_for_real_estate_-_Google_Search

In other words, this widely popular messaging app is being touted as a next-level lead generating bombshell.???

Here’s my opinion on the whole thing:

I think that SnapChat is nearly a complete waste of time for most agents.

I think it will do nothing to help you generate more leads. And I think this for 99% of the agents reading this.

#SnapChat is a huge waste of time for most real estate agents. Click To Tweet

Snapchat isn’t like the other social media tools we’ve discussed before. In fact, it’s really different from most other social networks.

It’s not meant to produce the same results or serve the same purpose in the long run as Facebook, Twitter, or even Instagram.

See, with Snapchat you can record videos (called stories) and post them to your audience. The video will be live for 24 hours before it disappears…forever.

And the proponents of SnapChat will tell you that they’re getting higher engagement there then on other social networks. Or that these stories that disappear get viewed for longer.

And that’s cool. I understand that.

But here’s my big problem…

99% of the agents that email me daily already aren’t executing nearly well enough on the channels that have already been proven to work.

I get website after website emailed to me. And none of them have blog posts. None of them have videos. None of them have neighborhood pages setup. And none of them have lead capture.

I then click to these Facebook Pages. And I see this:

_3__Distressed_Homes

And this isn’t a one-off, random happening. I see this everyday. We, as a real estate community, are so attracted to the next shiny object. And we forget to execute on the big thing that works.

Execute On The Big Thing That WORKS.

Why wouldn’t you just use the Magisto app for a quick and easy edit and post your video to Youtube in the first place? Or use Facebook’s new Live function to record yourself in the moment? Or boost a video you recorded to your email list?

We’ve talked about this before. Your time is precious and your daily marketing efforts should be focused and geared toward achieving your goals. Snapchat, as a means of communication so you can reach new people and maintain conversations within your network, is a way to deepen connections, but this really can’t go anywhere if you’ve nowhere to drive your relationships.

When was the last time you updated your real estate agent blog? And how about your agent page on Facebook? Have you figured out how to retweet or send people direct messages on Twitter? And how is your Pinterest account coming along?

I see literally hundreds of agent websites every month (which I love!) and way too many of them aren’t actively blogging.

In fact, some don’t even have their complete contact information available on their site.

Most Real Estate Websites I See

Don’t Even Have Current Contact Information

If this is the case….

Why worry about Snapchat?

Snapchat doesn’t provide a section for you to include an agent bio or even a link to your website so after you make first contact with a potential client they’re going to have to then figure out a way to get in touch with you and where are they going to look first? Probably Google.

The problem now becomes that you aren’t going to show up in any search results. People that liked you on SnapChat won’t be able to find your phone number if you aren’t executing an effective Google strategy!

Or, even if you connect with someone directly on Snapchat, you’re still going to end up needing to direct them to your website, and it doesn’t hurt to give them the option to check you out on other social media channels as well, but you can’t do that if you’re not active on those necessary platforms.

A new lead would probably love to read through your client testimonials and success stories or may be more inclined to further the transaction with you if you can share a super helpful blog post with them.

BUT:

Do you have relevant posts ready to go?
Is your testimonial page completed?

These are the questions you’ll want to be asking yourself before you try to engage leads on this next-level application.

When I see that an agent isn’t maintaining a blog that’s a pretty good indication of what the rest of their social media presence looks like. And if I Google an agent and have to dig through pages upon pages of search results to find anything about them, chances are very good that leads aren’t seeing them either.

Now, if you’re already ranking on the first page of Google like my friend Dustin Brohm and keeping up with publishing weekly blog content as well as killing it across lead-driving social networks, definitely feel free to hop onto Snapchat. It’s a great way to deepen what you’re already doing.

SnapChat is better than email marketing if you’ve already got the infrastructure in place for it to fit into.

But for most agents…Snapchat is going to be pretty useless.

So, what can you do to grow your social media presence and drive more web leads?

Start with the most basic, yet most necessary components and work your way up from there.

Make sure your full contact information is completely filled in and easy to find on your agent site so leads can get a hold of you easily.

And while you’re at it, make sure that your website is finished. Sure, our sites are always growing and evolving, but having half filled in neighborhood pages and limited imagery to accompany your text are the type of things keeping you from getting leads.

Want more? Here are two articles to keep your site in top-performing condition:

You also should blog regularly. Check out these posts to get started and keep up the pace:

These are the two big things. You need to find ways to be helpful and provide value via social & Google first. From there, you can look into vlogging on Youtube, engaging your network on Twitter and driving qualified leads from Pinterest. You should also take a minute to set up an Instagram account at this point.

And keep in mind that these things take time and commitment. They’re repetitive activities and this is what will help you move up in Google searches. Once you get into a good routine on these platforms, then you can look into joining Snapchat.

If you’re looking for advice on marketing with SnapChat, Check Out The Onion Juice Podcast.

It’s a great overview of who’s using the network. And how to connect with them. Here’s a list of everyone on that show:

Dustin Brohm – Utah

Bucky Beeman – Minnesota

Marian Rosaaen – Washington DC

Dean Ouellette – Arizona

Eric Larkin – Forida

Alex Wang – California

…In Conclusion…

If you don’t have a business with a strong and established online presence, then you’ve really got nothing to offer to people on Snapchat. Real Estate is the ultimate give to get business.

This means executing on your real estate website, blog and the social media channels that are time-tested and proven to guide you toward success in your real estate career.

Only then can you turn your Snapchat audience into one that is concrete and valuable. If you haven’t already, be sure to watch the video above to hear my full rant!

And I’d love to know your thoughts on Snapchat, too! Do you agree with our stance? Tell me all about it in the comments.

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Tyler Zey

Hey! I'm Tyler with Easy Agent Pro! We provide top notch marketing content for realtors... And we do it for FREE! I get excited about sharing tactics and strategies that can be implemented TODAY.

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