Educate and share When establishing a social media strategy, acquiring fans and followers is only half the strategy, the other half is educating them. You’re an expert in your field so share that expertise. Educating and sharing consistent, industry relevant, useful information with your fans and followers will turn those occasional page viewers into long-term followers and paying clients. The mortgage industry is at a particular advantage here with so much everchanging information to share. Let’s face it … purchasing a home is one of largest purchases your client will make in their lives, and according to Pew Research Center (2013), one in three Americans get their news via Facebook. Use your social media platforms to provide industry news, trends and statistics, homebuying tips and loan options. In addition to providing your fans and followers with news, generate news as well. Write your own
opinions about the latest bills that are impacting the housing market, a green renovation investment or how to strengthen relationships with real estate agents. Monitor social media to choose topics that are already being discussed in online conversations, write a timely blog and promote it via your own social media channels. Here is a quick SEO tip: If you are writing blogs for multiple sites, that’s great, but make sure you vary your content or summarize your post and provide a link to the original blog to avoid duplicate content, which will negatively affect your SEO.
Keep ‘em coming back Now that you’ve created a loyal following, it’s important to create content that will keep them coming back. Educating and sharing information with your fans and followers is one important aspect, but it’s also a great idea to lighten it up a bit and
provide them with a weekly or monthly regular post they look can forward to. Perhaps host a poll and ask your fans and followers questions about the housing industry to gain better insight, develop a “Mortgage Word of the Week” with a definition to enlighten viewers, post warmhearted community news to show the softer side of your business or enlist the ideas of your online community to determine what type of posts they’d like to see. Take the time to create interesting, engaging content that matters to your audience. Striving to reveal the true authenticity of your firm won’t happen overnight. It’s a process that involves accepting not only your firm’s greatest attributes and offerings, but also your shortcomings and weaknesses. And while many businesses fear the unknown and a possible negative outcome that may arise from engaging in social media, it’s these human qualities of the online conversation that allows you to
be yourself, unique and valuable to your fans and followers. Cal Haupt founded Southeast Mortgage in 1993, currently serving as the company’s chief executive officer. He may be reached by e-mail at cal.haupt@southeastmortgage.com.
The Obsession With Social Media According to 2014 social media statistics, social media is a digital asset that continues to grow every year. l There are now more than 1.15 billion Facebook users l Today, there are more than one billion Google+ enabled accounts l Twitter has more than 550 million registered users 61
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n Georgia Mortgage Professional Magazine n JULY 2014