Social Media Marketing Myths for Realtors - Busted!

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Ever feel like it's impossible to keep up with social media marketing for real estate? It seems like every week, one of the platforms makes a change, or what was working last year is now a waste of time. These changes and everyday challenges then lead to widespread myths. 

And I find that if you believe one of these myths, it's likely to impact how successful you'll be with your overall strategy. It's so easy to let a misconception or even limiting belief take hold of our marketing. You might have heard these myths somewhere or started agreeing with them yourself. 

So, listen in to hear the nine social media marketing myths that could be leading to fewer opportunities for you and ultimately fewer closings! 

Myth 1: Posting is the Most Important Part of Social 

What to post is often the number one challenge Realtors struggle with on social. From choosing the right photo or video to writing the captions to scheduling your content, you might feel like that's all you need to do. 

Yet, to have an effective social media strategy, you need to focus on engaging as much as you focus on posting - because social is a two-way street. If you want to get results with your marketing, then you need to be willing to give as well.

Now, engaging isn't simply liking somebody else's post. Engaging is taking the time to write a thoughtful comment or send a DM (direct message). If you're on Instagram, engaging could also be participating in actions on Stories like polls, sharing somebody's post or Reel to your Instagram Stories, or replying to Stories. It's all about authentically starting conversations. 

And I'm sure you already spend time on social media scrolling away. While this can be a nice break from the day, it won't help you build your real estate business. However, strategic engagement can help you reach your goals. Here's why:

• It lets the other person know that you are genuinely interested in them as well.

• It's a signal to the social algorithms that these people are connected and should be shown each other's content.

• It helps you build your social media strategy. The more you engage, the more accounts (potential customers!) you can reach.

• It's good business! Real estate is about relationships, and this helps you stay genuinely connected with more people.

• Social media is about conversations, and conversations lead to closings!

Myth 2: You Can Use the Same Strategy for Facebook & Instagram 

Thanks to many social media scheduling apps, it's easy to share one post across all platforms. With a click of a button, you can share to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more. While this is ideal for efficiency, it doesn't allow you to leverage what works best for each channel for real estate marketing. 

This concept is especially true for Facebook and Instagram.

It's best to take advantage of what each platform is good at and the options you have with each. For example, on Instagram, you have a profile that you can use any way you want. On Facebook, you have a personal profile where you are friends with people you know and you can make a business page that people can like and follow. So, many agents have created Facebook Business Pages over the years where they post the same content they share on Instagram. This is a missed opportunity for Facebook marketing!

Let's quickly cover how to best use Facebook profiles, business pages, and Instagram profiles:

• Use your Facebook Business Page for paid ads. Facebook Business Pages are now "pay to play." So, unless you're paying to promote your post, people aren't seeing much of what you're sharing. While this can be frustrating, it doesn't mean that Business Pages are not effective. Use your business page if you want to run any strategic ads meant to capture leads. You can still share content here, but for the average agent, focusing on simply sharing content doesn't have a high enough ROI without running ads. It might make more sense for you to focus on your Facebook profile.

• Share more on your Facebook personal profile about real estate. Some agents feel salesy when sharing too much real estate content on their personal profiles. But real estate content doesn't have to feel forced, and your personal profile is a great way to generate referrals and future business! You can share behind the scenes of your day and your life in real estate. People are interested in real estate and their local communities. And of course, if their friends with you, they're interested in your life.

• Use links on Facebook. Facebook's advantage is that you can easily share links and drive traffic back to wherever you want people to go. Take advantage of this because it's not so easy on Instagram!

• Use More Videos on Instagram. Instagram has announced it's no longer just a photo-sharing platform. Take advantage of the trend for short videos and create more bingeable content for Instagram. Listen to or read" 7 Video Ideas for Realtor Branding on Instagram" or "Instagram Reels for Real Estate Marketing".

The bottom line, think more about the way people consume content on each platform, and you can leverage these trends to create connections!

Myth 3: Social Media for Real Estate is Time Consuming

Marketing on social can be time-consuming if you don't have a strategy in place!

That's why it's important first to figure out what your goal is for social, who you are trying to connect with, and the best place to show up consistently for social. Because you can't be everything to all people, and you can't effectively be everywhere. 

If your goal is to "sell more real estate," that's going to be difficult to narrow in on your social media strategy. However, if your goal is to grow your personal brand in a specific area to attract listings, that's specific enough to guide you. Then, you know you'll post on social media about hyperlocal real estate, the lifestyle of the community, and content for sellers. I'd highly recommend you check out What to Post on Social and Instagram for Realtors to learn more about what type of content to post based on your strategy.

Once you've created your overall plan, your social media marketing will be much more streamlined. And you can do actions such as:

• Choosing one social media platform to focus on.

• Pre-scheduling your social media.

• Batching content such as videos or Reels. (Pick a time to film multiple posts at once)

• Repurposing content. Learn "How to Turn Old Listing Photos Into New Social Posts."

Myth 4: Every Post Must be New and Original 

The best marketing hack I use is to repurpose content. Oftentimes, you can easily take one concept or original piece of content and turn it into multiple social media posts.

Let's take a look at an example. A 2-3 minute video titled "Why Now is a Good Time to Sell in XYZ Area" can turn into the following social posts:

• Post 1: You share the full-length video. On Instagram based on the length, this would be an IGTV video.

• Post 2: You take screenshots from the video to share as a post and the caption could be a concept from the video.

• Post 3: You edit down a short key point from the video and share that alone as a post or Instagram Story.

• Post 4: You record a quick video promoting your video and share to Stories. You can then link to your IGTV video

• Post 5: You take the content from the video and create an Instagram Reel

You can get creative with repurposing your content. Also, don't forget that not everyone sees everything you post. 

It's OK to reshare the same content. I'd recommend you change it up a bit, but you can easily reshare a video and tweak the caption, or update a caption and put it with a new photo or video. Make your marketing work for you!

Myth 5: Videos Aren't For Everyone 

Video should be a part of every agent's social media marketing strategy! Video is engaging and what people want to see on social now. It's also what the algorithms want to see.

So, if you're not comfortable with video, that's OK! There are many types of videos that you can create, from property to community tours, where you can be behind the scenes. 

However, I'd highly encourage you to get on video. It will help you build your personal brand as more people get to know you and further establish you as a local real estate agent. And in today's video landscape, you can quickly create a 15-second video, like for Instagram Reels, and easily start incorporating video into your strategy. If you'd like to take your video to the next level, be sure to download my Video Planning worksheet.

Myth 6: All Your Posts Should Be Real Estate Content

When it comes to marketing, you have so many opportunities with real estate content. You can share information on homes for sales, overviews of communities, promote your area's lifestyle, and of course, educate on the real estate process.

But if you're focused on growing your brand as a real estate agent, then people need to get to know you as well. While providing content on tips for homebuyers and sellers helps you become a go-to resource of information, it often doesn't highlight your personality. 

Don't be afraid to share more personal posts about your life. Whether that's your passions outside of real estate or how much you love your dog, people are looking for real connections. So, post a healthy mix of content related to real estate and your daily life. This will also help you stay connected with those who might not have an active need for real estate, such as past customers or your general sphere.

Sharing more personal posts also gives you opportunities with your account set-up. I often have agents ask me about how many accounts they should have. You could have an Instagram profile where you spend 75% of the time focused on real estate content and have a personal Facebook profile where you spend 25% of the time talking about real estate. There are many ways to promote your business and engage with people on social in a way that works best for you. 

Myth 7: You Have to Pay to Be Successful 

While I recommend paying for ads on Facebook business pages to promote a particular initiative, you do not have to pay to be successful.

I've seen many agents have great success on their Facebook personal profiles by sharing more strategically about real estate. And my go-to platform for organic growth (non-paid) is Instagram!

There are many ways to form connections and promote yourself using Instagram. In fact, if you're looking for just one platform to focus on, I would recommend Instagram. By optimizing your Instagram posts with strategic hashtags and using trending features like Reels, you can grow your Instagram following without spending any money. It's all about showing up consistently with targeted content to attract your ideal home buyer or seller. From there, the sky is the limit with how you can grow your Instagram to meet your specific business goals, and I have many episodes of the podcast to help you do just that!

Myth 8: Social Media Should be Lead Driven

I'll admit, it's pretty exciting to launch a marketing initiative and generate leads from it! The other week on the podcast, we did an entire episode about How to Generate Seller Leads using Quizzes. And there are many techniques and strategies you can use to generate leads on social. However, for most agents, I like to take the approach of using social media to form connections.

The very best marketing is about opening doors to conversations, and from those conversations, you can create relationships that lead to closings. 

If you spend all your time focused on optimizing social to give you leads, many agents lose focus of how they can come from a place of value. (This is service-based vs sales-based marketing.) If you authentically show up on social intending to help people and be true to who you are, that naturally generates more business. 

It's a lot easier to help out somebody who you've been chatting with on social than it is to nurture a cold lead where all you have is an email address.

The people you attract and engage with on social will already be forming a relationship with you. They know who you are, how you can help them and are often excited to work with you. You don't have to convince them of that because you've been building trust the entire time through your social media marketing. Leads are great, but relationships are better.

Myth 9: It's Too Hard to Stay Up-to-Date

I get it! Social media marketing is constantly changing. There are always new platforms being introduced and changes within them.

It's essential that you don't get so distracted by what's new that you lose sight of your original goals. If you have clear goals, then you can execute your social media strategy to achieve those goals. Not too long ago, you didn't have to worry about Instagram Reels, but now they are a cornerstone of Instagram marketing. Instead of getting discouraged by the changes, see how you can leverage changes for new opportunities.

And don't feel like you need to hop on to every new trend out there! Figure out what works for you and lean into the expertise of others in the industry. 

I always test a new marketing channel for myself before I ever recommend it to agents and give honest feedback on the likelihood for helping your business. So, if you're ever not sure when it comes to your own marketing, always feel free to reach out to me! The best way to ask a question is to DM me on Instagram at @IdeasForRealEstate. 

Moving Forward with Your Social 

Did you believe any of the myths we talked about today? 

It's OK if you did! And if you didn't, I hope today's episode inspired you to refocus on your social media marketing with a plan in place. If you need more resources, visit ideasforrealestate.com/freebies. I have everything from complete marketing plans to new agent social media tips. 

Because I know just how effective social media marketing can be in your business, marketing, and even life. So, I'll see you on my favorite platform, Instagram - make sure you're following @IdeasForRealEstate - and I'm looking forward to connecting with you there!

UP NEXT:

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I’m Heather Colby, host of the “Ideas for Real Estate Podcast.”

If you like what you read here today, I’d encourage you to take a listen to the episodes. :