Using Instagram to get Referrals, Reviews, & Leads: Realtor Edition

As the end of the year approaches, I'm sure many of you are reviewing this current year and goal setting for next year. At RE PIXS, we love to track the data - we monitor just about everything that comes in and review what worked and didn't work as we plan for the upcoming year.

And you know what worked for us in 2020? Social media! 😱

Prior to 2020, we didn't have a consistent marketing plan. We were posting frequently and trying our best to increase our followers and get more engagement... and all we heard were crickets. Nothing was converting, our team was putting in all of this effort - thinking of content, writing perfect captions, posting it, and HOPING our ideal client sees it... and nothing. Have you found yourself in the same boat this year?

This continued until we learned about vanity metrics vs conversion metrics. Did you know the number of followers and comments you get doesn't necessarily equate to the number of leads, referrals, and reviews you get?! We're going to explain all of this in our new Intentional Marketing Course for Instagram which you can pre-order today! Coming early 2021!

Before we get into the nitty-gritty on the Instagram course let's talk about things you and your team can do now to increase your referrals, reviews, and leads in 2021!!

Getting Leads on Social Media

Step 1: Create an Instagram account! Here is why:

There are 1 billion active monthly users on Instagram each month. 71% of businesses use Instagram, and only 14% of Realtors use Instagram for business (SAY WHAT?!) which means there is a HUGE opportunity to be seen online as a go-to real estate professional. If you don't have an Instagram, create one today. Add all of your friends, family, local businesses, vendors you work with, and other Realtors! This is an easy way to connect with hundreds of people in no time.

Step 2: Link your Instagram to your Facebook page

Whether you have a business Facebook, a personal one, or both - an easy way to double your online views is to auto post from Instagram to Facebook. This is a great way to show your content on both platforms without any extra work! By doing this simple step you increase your chances of getting leads from both social media platforms.

Step 3: Post about your business, help your followers understand what you do!

Not sure what to post on Instagram? In our course, we will help you develop a full 30-day plan for marketing on Instagram, and make it easier than ever to continue intentionally connecting with your new followers. A good rule of thumb is to post answers to common questions you get as a Realtor. Let's say you specialize in working with first-time homebuyers - make the majority of your posts answers to questions they would be asking you. This is a great way to convert your followers into leads. In many cases, you may not know which of your followers are looking to buy their first home and if you're answering questions before they even thought of the question that puts you in a position of authority. Chances will be high they reach out to you when they're ready to buy their first home!

Step 4: Ask for reviews from past clients!

This was a huge lesson for our marketing team this last year, so we set this huge goal of getting a significant amount of reviews for our business this year. We pride ourselves in the great services we offer, and truly do always try our best and we know our clients love us. However, we only had ONE review on Google at the beginning of 2020 - after 8 years in business! 😳 The first time we actually asked our clients for a review, we got 22 in one day! Can you believe that?! All you have to do is ask (well... and also work super hard to deserve all those reviews 😉), then ask! Asking for reviews (and getting them) will increase your authority in your field! Some studies suggest that 97% of consumers use reviews to determine what local business they decide to work with.

Getting Referrals from Social Media

Step 1: Be Intentional

We believe in being intentional about everything here at RE PIXS, especially marketing! Do you post to social media intentionally? Have you ever thought about what your end game is? Or where you are leading your followers to go after they interact with you on social media? In our opinion, the question "Where are my leads going?" is one of the most important questions to know the answer to. So... where do your leads go? Do you have a website that has a way to capture email addresses? Do you have an email marketing list? Do you have a way for your followers to join your email list? Creating an intentional marketing path may seem like a daunting task, however, it doesn't have to be. Start today by thinking about how you will capture the information of your leads beyond social media - we suggest an email marketing list! Write down a step-by-step map of how leads can find you online and how you would like to communicate with them once they have expressed interest in working with you!

Step 2: Ask for referrals from past clients

Asking for referrals from past clients is a great way to get hot leads. It is important that your ask is done in a meaningful and intentional way. We typically suggest sending your client base an email with information that current buyers or sellers would love to know. As a Realtor, using current market reports is a great way to ask for referrals. Simply send the market report out to all of your email subscribers with information about why someone should buy or sell. Pass along this information and simply ask for referrals for buyers/sellers or both at the bottom of the email. You could even add a little note asking your clients to forward your email to anyone they know that is currently looking to buy or sell. There are so many options!

Step 3: Thank the people who referred you

This seems like a no-brainer, however, it is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle and simply forget to thank people who referred business to you. Sending a text or email thanking them should be the bare minimum, we suggest handwriting cards or send them a small gift as a token of gratitude (or all of the above!) We have a program here at RE PIXS called "Give $25, Get $25", meaning anyone who refers our small business services gifts a $25 gift card towards our services to their referral and also get $25 off their next order! It's a win-win. We are also fans of sending handwritten notes and are known to send little coffee gift cards to thank anyone who is kind enough to refer our services.

Step 4: Publicly thank clients on social media

Want a free and simple way to intentionally advertise your services? Thank your current clients for working with you. A great way you could do this, as a Realtor, is to take a photo of you and your clients (or a socially distanced photo of your clients in front of their new house) and post it to social media! Better yet, tag your clients in the post too. On Facebook, this will share your post with all of their followers as well which increases people seeing your brand online! Thanking clients for working with you is a great way for them to leave a sweet review in the comment section for you, as well.

If you made it to the end of this blog post CONGRATULATIONS! We have a special deal just for you. It seems like you're committed to improving your social media marketing this upcoming year! We know this blog post in particular is packed with a lot of great information - but it's just the tip of the iceberg! There is so much more we are excited to teach you in our upcoming Intentional Marketing Course (Instagram Edition!).

Our goal in 2021 is to help Realtors intentionally market their businesses online in an authentic and meaningful way. We want to help you close the gap between your business and your leads! As you can tell from the simple steps above, so many leads, reviews, and referrals are left on the table each year simply by not having an intentional marketing plan set up. We're here to help 2021 be your BEST year yet! If you're interested in learning more about how to intentionally market your business - we have an opportunity for you. You can pre-order our Intentional Marketing Course (Instagram Edition) today! Launching in early 2021.

For our first 10 pre-orders, our team will do a complete Online Presence Audit for your Real Estate business, and give you invaluable insight on how you can improve your social media and web presence. This deal expires soon, so don't miss out! We're excited to work with you!

Pre-order the Intentional Marketing for Instagram course today! This special discount and bonus offer is only good through December 31st, 2020!