Spending time on social media without a social media strategy is a lot like going to the grocery store on an empty stomach. Without a list (a plan) you’ll most likely wander aimlessly down the aisles grabbing whatever looks good, calories and nutrition be darned.
It’s the same with your social media marketing plan. Without a strategy you’re most likely throwing ideas against the wall, hoping something will stick.
This willy-nilly process leads to time sucks such as reading and responding to every post, following links posted by friends and generally following every shiny object on the screen in front of you.
Before you know it, there’s a big chunk of time missing from the workday. Let’s look at some ways the pros recommend disciplining yourself while using social media.
What’s your social media marketing plan?
If you waste a ton of time on social media, the first step to cure yourself is to get clear on why you’re even on your chosen platforms. Some of these reasons might include:
- To keep in touch with those in your sphere — Interacting with your sphere of influence is a great way to stay top-of- mind, so that when the topic of buying or selling a house comes up, you are the person that comes to mind first.
Social media is the ideal place to do so if you use caution in the amount of time spent interacting.
- Reaching out to new clients and leads – As part of a well-rounded content strategy, social media can help you rank in Google search results.
Use those twice-weekly Easy Agent Pro blog posts as social media content. Add in hyperlocal content as well. Anything that is sharable will not only entertain those you’re trying to reach out to, but their network as well.
- Learning – Many real estate agents use social media as a learning platform. It’s a place where you can seek out other agents and industry experts and get answers to your business questions.
Some of the social media sites where agents might go to learn from others include agent-specific groups on Facebook and LinkedIn. Again, once you take control of social media and force it to stop controlling you, the time spent on it will be far more productive.
Taking control of your social media marketing plan
Now that you know why you need a social media marketing plan it will be easier to figure out ways to make it less of a time suck. Time management, while important in all aspects of your real estate practice, is critical when working with social media.
- Determine a Strategy – Your daily social media activities should start where they will have the most impact, according to Rich Brooks, President of flyte new media. That means your first social media stop of the day should be wherever most of your clients hang out, such as Facebook. Read and respond to those in your CRM first and save the links to YouTube videos or news stories that your friends share when you get off work.
- Schedule your visits – Time blocking will help you keep on track and able to avoid the temptation to follow every shiny object you see while using social media.
Schedule a block of time to tweet, to create and respond to Facebook posts and check in on LinkedIn.
Set an alarm and, once that block of time is up, close the sites and move on to the next task on your daily schedule.
Some agents find it more advantageous to schedule two blocks of time: one in the morning and one at the end of the work day.
- Avoid industry groups and communities during your time blocks – Productivity experts recommend staying away from these social media time sucks unless you are using social media purely to get business advice, or if you schedule these visits for times outside of your normal work hours.
It is far too easy to get lured into debates and conversations and, before you know it, you’ve wasted precious time that should have been put toward making money. Save the groups and communities for your down time, such as in the evening after the kids go to bed or an open-house-less weekend.
- Avoid Distractions – Rethink using Facebook Notifications or any other social media platform’s “handy” feature that emails or texts you every time someone mentions you or posts to your Facebook or Twitter.
It’s far too easy to let curiosity get the best of you and find yourself on these sites outside of the time you’ve scheduled for them.
- Use tools – While many agents and social media experts debate the pros and cons of social media scheduling tools, any discussion of how to avoid wasting time wouldn’t be complete without mentioning them.
Tools to automate the publishing of your content, such as those offered by HootSuite, TweetDeck (Twitter’s scheduler) and the Facebook post scheduler tool, will definitely save time but there are drawbacks.
The most significant argument against using scheduling tools is that it makes your participation more akin to an announcement than a conversation.
If you are asked a question or if one of your comments takes off, if you’ve followed the advice to avoid being contacted when people post, you won’t be there to respond.
Too busy for a DIY social media marketing plan? Consider hiring a social media manager
For the busy agent who depends on leads generated online, a good social media manager is worth her/his weight in gold. You don’t necessarily have to spend a fortune, either.
If you hire a management company, you can expect to pay between “… $300 and $5,000+ per month …,” according to Dan Barraclough at expertmarket.com.
If your budget just let out a scream, consider hiring a freelancer to handle your social media tasks. Barraclough says that you can expect to pay according to the freelancer’s experience:
- Basic (0-3 years’ experience): $25 – $35 per hour
- Intermediate (3-5 years’ experience): $50 – $100 per hour
- Advanced (5-10+ years’ experience): $120+ per hour
If you hire a freelance social media manager at Upwork.com, expect to pay between $14 and $35 an hour. Many freelancers are open to negotiation so use those skills you’ve developed as an agent to haggle for a fee you can afford.
If all else fails, hire a virtual assistant
A virtual assistant is far less expensive than a social media manager. Plus, if you hire someone well-rounded, they can take on other tasks as well and, typically, on an as-needed basis.
When you consider that your time is money and that you waste a lot of time (thus, money) on social media, this assistant will pay for him/herself in no time.
While face-to-face interaction with past and prospective clients is always more memorable, communication via social media can be a valuable resource in your efforts to remain top-of-mind. The trick is to not allow it to dominate your day, but to take control by coming up with a solid social media marketing plan.