We received a question from a client, and it’s incredibly relevant and important, so I wanted to share it here.
It’s summed up by the idea of “How do you know you’re getting the best value for the money you spend on a Social Media Manager for your real estate business?”
Great question. Below, I’ve compiled 23 questions directly related to social media for real estate that are crucial to ask when selecting a Social Media Manager or Social Media Management Company for your business. Let’s dive in, and we’ll use the exact scenario I came across today.
Emailed Question: “A social media service was recommended to me yesterday, and the price is hard to overlook for what ‘they say’ they can do for me. Can you please let me know what sets you apart or what the difference is in what I’m getting for the money I spend each month?”
My Answer: Your question is a good one – it’s natural to want the lowest price. In short, the difference is all about quality and expertise.
Let’s take a look closer… There are several revealing questions you should ask any Social Media Manager or Social Media Management Company for real estate. I’ve also included answers as to how we do it here at Agent Operations:
- Do you manage social media only for the real estate industry or do you do it for many industries?
At Agent Operations, we ONLY manage social media accounts for real estate. Period. This allows us to truly specialize and become experts for our clients. - Are you or have you been a licensed REALTOR®?
At Agent Operations, we want you to know that we speak YOUR language. Because of that, we have both current and previously-licensed REALTORS® on our Team, NONE of whom actively sell. - Where is your company located?
We’re located in Central Texas, AND we have first-hand experience of many markets throughout the country, including Nevada, Michigan, Alabama, Florida, Virginia, Wisconsin, California, and more. - Are you familiar with the market I do business in? If yes, how?
Yes! Before we begin, we spend a tremendous amount of time studying both our clients’ brands, tones, and markets, and we have first-hand knowledge of Austin, Austin real estate, and the Austin lifestyle. - Do you mine all of your content by hand?
Yes, we mine every bit of content by hand. We’re crazy like that! The best content is found with patience, diligence, and consistency. We work to channel our clients’ voice and market area, and that helps us hand-selected prime content for their feeds. - Do you post hyper-local content for my area?
Yes. Your fans want to see what affect them, in their backyard. Hyper-local social media content is crucial to social media engagement. - Do you write the teasers you use or do you copy them from the article?
We write our teasers from scratch. - Do you mass-post to social media? In other words, do you use a posting service that blasts to several agents’ accounts at the same time?
No way. Mass posting from a posting service affects how/how often your content is shown to your fans (according to the social medium’s algorithm). - Do all of your agent clients receive the same posts?
Nope. Every client is different. Each brand is different. Every area is different. And while a BIG story like an Apple campus coming to town is relevant enough where we should be posting to multiple clients’ social media, we take careful consideration when we post a big story so that every client’s account shines. - Do you have a system to capture my authentic voice and brand? If yes, what do you do?
At Agent Operations, yes, we do! We request our clients to fill out at least 1-2 “Getting to Know You” Questionnaires where we learn about your tone, brand, voice, preferences, and niche audiences. - Do you include 3-4 hashtags that are unique to me and are used regularly?
Yes, we do! - If you use hashtags on my posts, how do you decide which ones will be used?
As we get to know you, we will ask about your hashtag preferences or if you have any that you want to use. Based on that information we come up with 3 custom hashtags to regularly use. We also use hashtags that relate to the content we’re sharing for you. - How do you and your team stay up-to-date on the rapidly changing best practices in social media?
We are immersed in real estate marketing–every day. We teach classes and lunch-and-learns on best practices in real estate marketing and social media – to the public and to our team – on a regular basis. - How do you and your team stay up-to-date on the Facebook algorithm changes?
We are marketing nerds, and we love that stuff. Yes, we’re weird. We are always learning. - Do you research when my fans are online and create a posting strategy to optimize the timing of my social media posts?
Absolutely! This is hugely important when it comes to getting your content seen by the most fans as possible. - Do you provide strategic guidance when it comes to how I can unite my social media strategy with other parts of my business like my website, blog, online advertising, and sphere of influence marketing?
This is HUGE. If you’re not marketing strategically, you’re not marketing effectively. Period. It’s so important that we (and our clients) understand how this all fits together in their holistic marketing plan. We also offer this as a consulting service to our clients. - How do you screen the Social Media Managers that you hire?
We have a rigorous application, interview, and strengths-test process to ensure each Team member is a great fit for our valued clients. - Will I have the same Social Media Manager each month?
Yes! - Do you outsource your labor to other countries?
Never have. Never will. - What type of posts do you post on each social medium?
Each social media channel is slightly different, and we cater to both the agent and the social medium. - Do I have the ability to customize my posts?
Yes! We offer customized plans in addition to our traditional Classic and Premium plans. As part of our customized plans, we build a full social media content calendar so that your content is even more intentional and fitting for your long-term marketing strategy. - What is your Instagram strategy for REALTORS®?
Niche audiences and specialties all the way! Carve your real estate niche and reach more like you than you thought possible! - If you don’t provide social media options for LinkedIn, why not?
LinkedIn is one of the most powerful social media channels today. If you’re in real estate, you need to be on LinkedIn to reach additional demographic audiences.
I hope the question/answer format is helpful in demonstrating how we differ from others. We’re not the cheapest. But I’m confident that we are the BEST.
If you need help with your social media management, reach out to us! We would love to help make your business SHINE!
