Once COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, many businesses nationwide had to recreate their new normal. For a number of individuals, this meant practicing social distancing by staying home, away from large gatherings and crowded areas. For real estate agents, practicing social distancing may equate to less showings and to more virtual open houses. Fortunately, the market continues to show strength with little slow down.
There are a number of things Realtors can do while working from home. We created a guide for agents by highlighting helpful tasks and areas of focus during these unprecedented and potentially isolating times.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Due to social distancing practices, there is an influx of online users. Consider social media your temporary replacement to door knocking. If you’ve been thinking about upping your social media presence or spending some of your marketing budget on Facebook ads, now is a good time to start exploring those avenues.
We recommend learning how to improve your social media presence by reading this article: Social Media For Real Estate, Strategies to Grow Your Brand Online. It will teach you how to establish a strong real estate brand on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. You will learn best times to post, how to understand insights, what type of content to post, and best practices for each platform.
Additionally, you’ll want to create a social media calendar. A real estate social media calendar will alleviate the stress of planning a daily post, will keep you organized, and will help you create content that offers variety to your audience.
CONTENT
If you’ve frequently felt like you have not had time to create and publish content, this is a good time to start creating that habit. Content marketing is a powerful way to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry. It’s also an effective way to grow your organic traffic and build credibility on Google.
Below are some content topics you should consider writing about:
- How to sell a house
- How to pick the right realtor
- 5 ways to improve your listing
- Best tips for preparing your house to sell
- Why it’s a good time to sell your home
- How to sell your house fast
- How to attract buyers to your home
- Best practices for selling your home
- What to look for at your listing appointment
- A guide to the home selling process
- 5 things buyers look for when touring listings
- Why you need a listing agent when selling your home
You can also consider reposting content to your website that you think viewers will enjoy. Just make sure you credit the source and link back to the original post. Here are some articles to get you started: 5 Content Pieces to Add to Your Social Media Calendar This Week.
While we’re on the topic of content, another task you can work on while working from home is writing an updated real estate bio. A real estate bio is an important way to summarize your skills and achievements. A well-written real estate bio also allows both home sellers and buyers to have a better understanding of who you are. Here is an article to help you write the perfect real estate bio: 5 Real Estate Bio Tips to Help You Stand Out as a Realtor.
LISTING PRESENTATION
Right now is a great time to improve your listing presentation for future listing appointments. Start by reflecting on your previous appointments and make a list of what went well and what did not go so well. This will help you understand what you can improve upon. Once you make those changes, practice! Practice your presentation with your family members, pets, or even on FaceTime with friends. Really nail it.
Next, focus on your slide deck. Determine what statistics you can update or what graphics need freshening up. Is your slide deck attractive and modern or is it tired and cluttered? Go ahead and spend some time creating a clean slide deck that resembles your brand.
Lastly, take some time planning and creating leave-behind materials. This can include materials from your referral network, like your professional real estate photographer, stager, and landscaper. You can also include checklists and guides on how the home selling process works.
To learn more about how to improve your listing presentation, take a look at this article: 5 Ways to Crush Your Listing Appointments in 2020.
LEAD GENERATION
With some scale back on time normally spent showing homes and hosting open houses, you now have the ability to focus on lead generation and lead nurturing. Inevitability, the need to practice social distancing will pass and you’ll be back in the swing of things. Until then, it’s a great time to build up your pipeline.
Gated-Content
While door-knocking may be out of the question for many realtors right now, there are plenty of ways to generate leads digitally. Try creating a lead magnet. This can be gated-content like an infographic, a checklist, or a webinar. Visitors can download the content after submitting their email address, phone number, and/or other information.
Display Ads
Another way to generate leads is through Facebook ads. If you have a solid social media strategy, adding real estate ads will help boost your lead count. Here is more information on real estate ads for Facebook: Create Real Estate Ads.
If you’re looking for lead generation opportunities with ads outside of Facebook, take a look at our article: How to Get Started Using Display Ads for Real Estate.
Lead Nurturing
Once you have your lead generation strategy in place, you’ll want to make sure you are nurturing those leads. This is especially important right now as we wait out our social distancing recommendations. You can nurture your leads by creating educational email drip campaigns. You can also make ‘check-in’ calls, or warm calls. A check-in call is a great way to let a lead know that you are thinking about them during this time.
If you want to learn more about email marketing, take a look at our email marketing guide: Turning Home Buyers and Sellers into Clients.
ONGOING EDUCATION
Now is a good opportunity to work on your ongoing education. Successful real estate agents put an emphasis on continuing their education. They are eager to learn and stay up to date with best practices. Take some time during this period to register for online real estate courses, webinars, or training classes. Make sure you continue to sharpen your spear during this time.
Here are some suggested webinars
- Real Estate Worldwide: THE BEST REAL ESTATE WEBINARS OF 2020
- National Association of Realtors: Financial Wellness Webinars
- BiggerPockets: Free Real Estate Webinars
Another way to dive into ongoing education is by joining real estate Facebook groups. There are a number of active and educational Facebook groups for realtors to join.
Here are some of our favorites
If reading is more your style, we offer a number of blog articles that cover how to better market your brand. You can check them out here: Real Estate Marketing Ideas
GENERAL HOUSEKEEPING
It’s time to stop putting off the mundane tasks that are weighing on you. If you’re typically out of the house conducting showings or giving listing presentations, you likely do not dedicate much time to organizing your life, let alone your computer folders.
Take this time to purge your laptop. Reorganize your folders and trash any files, images, screenshots that are no longer relevant. You can also consider moving some of your files to cloud storage to free up space. Cleaning up your folders is much like cleaning out your closet, and you’ll feel just as fulfilled.
If you’ve been feeling very scattered or disorganized this year, it’d also be a good time to create a time blocking template. Time blocking is a scientifically-proven time management technique where you segment your daily tasks into blocks. You can learn more about time blocking and time management by reading this article: How To Use Time Blocking To Help You Focus
We hope this real estate task guide is helpful for you. While your new normal may feel a little different, there are plenty of key things you can focus on during this time. This includes social, content, lead generation, listing presentations, ongoing education and general housekeeping.
