Are you working on your social media game plan for 2021? I was honored to be a virtual speaker at Inman Connect where I gave a presentation all about putting together your 2021 social media plan. Whether you are a real estate agent or broker looking to up your social media game this year — I know you will get a lot out of this article based on my presentation.
Social media often becomes this “bolt on” that we add onto our business when we have time. Instead, let’s be more intentional with our strategy! Here’s where to start.
1. Time-block on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis
Start with time-blocking 10-15 minutes a day to “focus 5.” Scroll through your feed, and connect with at least five people. Don’t be a drive-by liker. Take a few minutes to like, comment and interact with others. These steps are so crucial because every platform has an algorithm. What we see depends on what we are engaging with on the platform.
If you want to increase your engagement, spend as much time posting as engaging with others. Also, when you comment — leave meaningful comments. A meaningful comment is at least four words. So, instead of “Congrats!” say “Congrats Laura, I’m so happy for you!”
Also, take the time daily to respond to all of your comments and notifications.
Set aside 30-60 minutes for the week ahead. What’s coming up next week? We don’t want to set it and forget it, but it’s essential to plan ahead.
Every month, plan two to four hours to batch create your content (video, graphics, etc.), and plan one or two days annually to evaluate your plan from the year before and create your new plan for the year ahead.
Just say no to generic content in 2021! Remember, the best content you can post is the content you create that is in your voice.
2. Create a pillar content plan that you can commit to each month
What is pillar content? Pillar content is something that might require time, money and resources. It’s valuable information in your voice (with your opinion). It’s not canned, boring or automated! For example, it could be recorded video, Facebook Lives, podcasts or blog content.
I recommend that you decide what type of content you’d like to create consistently. Pick a day once or twice a month that you will publish — add it to your calendar. Batch create your content once a month — schedule one day a month to create this content.
3. Brainstorm what your brand is all about, and find your voice for your content
Although you are most likely part of a brand with your office or franchise — you are your own brand too.
Here are three questions to ask yourself to help you find your voice for your content:
- What type of clients do you love to work with (or not love)? Why?
- Why do you love what you do?
- What is most important to you professionally? Personally?
These questions will help you with your content, social media and all of your marketing. Remember, we can’t be all things to all people. Lean into who you are, and don’t be vanilla!
4. Think beyond the now
Next, decide on your distribution plan for your pillar content plus the type of content for the rest of your social media posts.
If you decide to publish a video once a week — consider how you can repurpose it.
Here’s a sample schedule:
Tuesday:
- Upload a new video to your Facebook business page
- Upload the same video to your YouTube
- Upload a 1-minute version of the video to Instagram, and add a YouTube link to your IG profile
Friday:
- Reshare the video as a new post on Facebook
- Create an Instagram Story about the video
Sunday:
- Upload the video to IGTV and promote on IG Stories
In the example above — you can see how you can take one video and turn it into multiple posts.
Then, you can fill in your schedule with additional posts such as:
- Monday market update post
- Wednesday wisdom
- Throwback Thursday
- Feature Friday
- Community info
5. Evaluate what has worked in the past (and what has not)
Look at your Facebook, Instagram and YouTube analytics at least once or twice a year. Reflect and see what content is working on which platform. Review which posts received the highest level of reach, views and engagement.
Did certain pieces of content perform better on one platform over another? Only by looking at analytics and the data can we get an accurate picture of what’s working and resonating with our audience.
Lastly, I want to share a few of my favorite go-to apps I love!
- Canva: For graphics
- WordSwag: For graphics
- Videoshop: For video editing
- Videorama: For video editing
- InShot: For video editing
- Later.com: For social media scheduling
- HootSuite: For social media scheduling
Remember that people do business with people they know, like, trust and relate to. This is the business reason behind social media for real estate agents and brokers.
Katie Lance is the author of #GetSocialSmart and founder and CEO of Katie Lance Consulting, a social media strategy firm and founder of the #GetSocialSmart Academy. She’s been recognized by Inman News as one of the 100 most influential people in real estate and is a featured keynote speaker at many industry events. Katie is also is the author of the best-selling book, #GetSocialSmart.
