Rob Hahn from 7DS and Associate and Tom Ferry of YourCoach discuss social media.
First of all, although Rob starts being facetious here, some of the points he makes, he’s quite serious about. So let’s tackle some of them:
1) Why do “none” of the top 10% of Realtors in the MLS engage in social media? Well I would suggest that first of all a very small percentage on a whole of all Realtors engage in regular social media usage. Second, a big issue is that these Realtors can sit back and be fairly complacent with their current practices and know they have checks coming in… They don’t need to embrace social media as either a lead generation or branding play. I would suggest that it’s Realtors that are looking to get to be top that are in the trenches of social media and the ones using it effectively. A great point Rob made here was that “what’s your time worth?” The top agents just don’t want to spend the time. Again Rob correctly points out that you can’t pay someone on your team to tweet for you. Unfortunately, many of top professionals attempt this only to lose all credibility.
2) “Social Media is new media” that should be treated like a marketing campaign. It’s a way to reach more people and lower costs. Although I tend to agree that social media CAN be used like the farming postcard campaigns of old, its not necessarily a given. You don’t have to hyperlocate your tweets. I think that you can easily brand yourself for your entire area and beyond as an intelligent Realtor. Using the farming method for tweeting and social media interaction is probably the closest you will get lead generation. But social media is much more about interactions. It’s about creating relationships. No print campaign can create a relationship. Social Media is so much more than just a postcard campaign.
3) Apple has no social media, so social media isn’t always necessary. Tom Ferry makes a good point here. Apple has a $400million ad budget. They don’t need social media. Much like in #1 how top Realtors don’t need social media, big brands don’t need it either. However, Apple does have some social media interaction. They do have at least two Facebook pages, one for Students for Macs and one for iTunes. Both offer free music downloads, and push current discounts for Mac products. Furthermore, Apple uses its standoff nature in it’s marketing. That’s part of their game. There is a reason they don’t release any information about products early. It’s how they build hype. They keep things close to the chest. It works for them, it doesn’t work for everyone. Realtors can’t do big announcements of new listings that everyone will fawn over.
4) Agents shouldn’t brand the broker on Facebook. This concept goes directly to one of our core beliefs at Tribus. The balance has shifted DRAMATICALLY towards agents having too much power. When agents can put out ads like these brokers need to start taking control. Consumers think less of those major brands because of the ads that the agents put out. Just like with print ads, someone in a brokerage should at least be monitoring the brand and ensuring it’s proper usage in ads like on facebook.
What do you think of each’s arguments?
Rob Hahn – 7DS & Associates
or
Your Coach Tom Ferry – Also of You Reach Social Media Training
