What Does a Social Media Manager Do?

If you follow me on Instagram you would be forgiven for thinking my life is spent on my balcony drinking coffee & owning more singlets than any man should. Not to mention my latest obsession, my farm. 

However, there’s a little more that goes on in my day & people often question what it is I ACTUALLY do?

Most people seem to think I spend all day posting on Facebook and Instagram – I wish. 

Sometimes I get a full night's sleep, but Social Media is active 24/7, so I am basically on call 24/7. It’s so important to be aware of what’s going on with our channels at all times and to be on top of current news trends. A great example was this past New Year's Eve.

It’s quite common for people to post a well-intentioned “Happy New Year's” post with a picture of the fireworks off the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It was my observation however, given the bushfire crisis we were facing and the call to ban the Sydney fireworks, that this could be considered tone deaf and strongly advised all our clients to avoid it.

There’s always a post that gets trolled or someone who doesn’t like you or your company and that’s life. Our job is to monitor engagement and evaluate the risk & determine the best course of action. Most of the time it’s a simple “let it go” It’ll be forgotten at lunch time approach, however sometimes, immediate action needs to be taken. 

So, while you have probably hit your snooze button around 19 times by now, I’ve finished scanning all our client's profiles and I’m stalking news sites for breaking news stories or trending topics related to the industry.

Now coffee – It's probably around 6:30am at this point. Now I know most of my clients will have a giggle when reading this, but by the time you have walked into the office and the clocks strikes 8:30am or 9am you have usually had a call or email from me.  I’m straight on the phone/email with an update as to what’s been going on. It’s a good idea if you are going to be one of our clients to always have a shot of caffeine before 8:30 just in case. 

In the meantime, having a handle on the day’s news is especially useful for crafting engaging posts, which is the next item on the agenda and usually wraps up my morning.

Although this part of the day usually takes 4-5 hours it’s one of the most important.

Social media has turned out to be one of the best possible ways for real estate agents to connect with potential buyers/sellers and landlords while growing their business online. 

Some of the key benefits of using social media for real estate are:

• Cost-Effectiveness and Easy to Use

• Targeted Advertising

• Brand Reinforcement

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

• Instant Engagement

How Do We Craft A Social Media Strategy for a Real Estate Agent or Agency?

It's such a crowded space at the moment. Everyone has a social media account on nearly all the platforms these days and your audience is getting smashed with “stuff”.

Let’s look at a popular Sydney suburb. You might expect to see anywhere from 5-10 agencies on the main drag. If each agency has 2 sales agents, that’s 10 - 20 people trying to market to the same audience. Do you really think a picture of a lounge room is going to cut through the noise from your competitors?  This is where we come in. 

We follow six steps to craft a social media strategy for your real estate business to stand out online. 

1. Research Your Customer's Persona 2. Define Your Social Media Goals 3. Identify the Best Social Media Networks for Your Business 4. Create High Quality Content 5. Pick A Target Audience And Advertise Smartly 6. Analyze, Optimize, And Repeat

Written content

The majority of real estate businesses stick to just advertisements and listings, but the catch is that no one wants to scroll past a deluge of ads. Instead, we:

• Share your brand's story and tell people why you are passionate about real estate

• Explain how you got started in the industry and let people know who works in your company

• Share customer stories describing the problems they faced and the challenges they overcame

• Describe locations and the list of services and facilities in each geographical area

• Ask people questions and give your expert answers in a F.A.Q. Page

Create personalized content for customer persona that we defined earlier, and whether you create social media posts, articles, eBooks, or even newsletters, always consider how it fulfills the needs of a specific persona.

Stand out visually

Properties or listings with professional real estate photos are more likely to be viewed on social media than properties that have no pictures or have poor quality photos.

Here are some tips to stand out visually:

• Hire a professional photographer to post high-quality photos of properties

• Share staff photos, pictures of events, and show people your brand values

• Put out slideshows that are perfect for how-to content, market information, and serves as quick guides for buyers

Video content

An exciting and engaging video of the homes and properties that you're selling will pique buyers' interest and make them more likely to reach out to your real estate business.

So, while it might seem like life is super chill, I have an enormous responsibility to ensure my clients online reputation is under control, updating them as to what’s on trend, creating engaging content, researching the local market and keeping my clients at the forefront,  while also trying to build my brand and sometimes, I just don;t have the time to get dressed, hence the singlets.

And you know what, I wouldn’t change it for the world. 

Nic Fren

Founder

Bespoke Media Management.