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More than a year ago my wife and I sold our house in the suburbs and moved to the city. And as I write this, there are three houses up for sale on my block. When you sell a house you work closely with your Realtor to make sure it is attractive to potential buyers. Here are 9 Social Media lessons I learned from my Realtor and others as I was selling my home and as I observe the local housing market.
1. Curb appeal is important – A lot of people won’t even look at the inside of your house if the outside isn’t attractive. As you create your Social Media presence, your platforms such as Facebook and Twitter need to feel “lived in” and be pleasing to the eye. Yes, content is important, but people won’t even get to the content if they can’t get past the ugly looks of your website and social properties.
2. Practice full disclosure – When we moved we needed to fill out a disclosure statement that told any potential buyers about any problems that we knew were inherent in the house. Did the roof leak? Was there any hidden damage? We needed to make sure that any potential buyer didn’t run across any surprises. In the same way, we need to practice full disclosure and transparency online. Complete transparency is the best policy.
3. Form and function are both important - As people shop for homes they are looking for different things. One of the houses on our block is one of the few in our area with central air. Others look nicer than others. Our social properties not only need to be attractive to the senses, they also need to be functional. Are your social spaces and website easily navigable?
4. A house might be complete, but a home is a work in progress – When the builder finishes building a home, it is done. But when someone decides to move in they have specific things they want to do to make it their “home”. And even after you move in there are changes and updates, not to mention regular maintenance. Like I tell my clients, your Social Media program is never done. Every day you should be adding, changing, and tweaking your social presence. Your house needs to feel like a home. That means making sure it stays current and in keeping with your changing tastes and interests.
5. Don’t oversell or over promise – I love reading real estate listings. They are written in such a way as to draw you in and make the house sound really attractive. But we need to be careful not to oversell. Terms like “spacious” and “elegant” are rather subjective. The key to Social Media is not to oversell, but to let your product or service speak for itself. Better yet, let your community tell others how wonderful your product is. That’s one of the wonderful things about a community. If you’re doing your job properly, your community will speak for you so you don’t have to sing your own praises.
6. Respond to questions – When our Realtor showed our house to prospective buyers, she often had to come back to us with questions. If we wanted to sell the house we needed to respond quickly and honestly. I still see many social media properties, particularly Facebook, where “fans” ask questions that seem like they are talking to the wall. We need to respond, and quickly. Otherwise the conversation will die, and your “fans” will disappear.
7. It’s a give and take – Nothing in the home selling process is one sided. Once a party is interested in purchasing a home, there is a little dance that takes place. There are generally negotiations involving price, mortgage terms, and possibly last minute home repairs. Gone are the days of where consumers simply buy a product that you produce without any input. The price might not always be negotiated, but Social Media allows for an unprecedented (and hopefully welcome) amount of consumer input into the product development and marketing process.
8. Do your homework – You don’t just put your house on the market. Our Realtor researched the neighborhood and found comparable homes that had recently sold or were currently on the market. These were guidelines that helped in determining asking price. In Social Media,, your homework is extremely important. You can’t just create social properties without knowing how they mesh with your target audience. Who is your audience? How should you craft your messaging? Just jumping in without knowing what your goals are can lead to serious disappointment.
9. It’s not over until everyone signs on the dotted line – I’ve heard stories of buyers walking away from the table at the closing over any number of things. You can execute everything in textbook style, but until you’ve reached your intended goal, usually converting a lead into a sale, your job isn’t done. Having a lot of “fans” means nothing, just like having a lot of showings is meaningless if no one buys.
Have you ever bought or sold a home? What lessons have you learned that you apply to your digital social spaces?
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