Nowadays, people spend a lot of time diving into social media. We get up and check Instagram; we want to know what’s happening in the world, we open Twitter; we’re in the bathroom, and there’s Facebook to keep us entertained. According to the Digital Report from WeAreSocial, in 2020, users spend almost seven hours a day online; 2.25 of those hours were spent in social media. Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic increased in 13% the amount of social media users: now there are 4.20 billion of us out there interacting.
Taking all these numbers into account, Ed Stulak –brand strategist, trainer, and realtor– has a point in questioning why we’re always on there just as content consumers and don’t become the content creators. To help real estate agents and investors with this, he spoke at Real Estate IQ’s webinar “How to grow your Instagram as a Real Estate professional.”
I’ve been on social media for the past decade. Eventually, it snowballed into beneficial elements: I started getting connections, I started building a network. Social media is nothing to neglect nowadays, and content creators are usually the ones that feed off and profit from the content consumers.
Ed Stulak, brand strategist, trainer, and realtor.
But what does it take to be a content creator?
Create and impulse your brand
As the realtor pointed out, branding is the key: “We need to figure out how to build a personal brand first, before focusing on how to go ahead and scale our social media. If you don’t have a personal brand, a name, a company, what are you pushing?”. Being on Instagram –or Facebook or Twitter– is all about communicating, so you should know what you want to say before you say it. You need a consistent message to spread, and that’s what branding is all about.
Everyone has a brand to work with, whether you like it or not. Maybe you have a weird haircut, or you love the color yellow or have a deep voice. Those are all things people can remember you for; they are part of your personal brand. And remembering you is crucial to your brand. That’s why we need some signature or a tagline.
Ed Stulak, brand strategist, trainer, and realtor.
The expert added that sometimes you might not like the thing people associate you with, but it’s vital to own it even in these cases. “We need to work with what we have, embrace it, and have fun with it. There’s no one like us, so instead of comparing ourselves with others, we need to be us to the best capacity we can,” he assured.
So, without a brand, the bottom line is that there’s no point in having social media. And Stulak backed it up with some numbers from Gary Vaynerchuk: “90% of people sell, 10% of people brand. That 10% ends up selling 90% more than those who only sell.”
6 tips for growing your Instagram account
Once you define your brand, it’s time to make and execute a plan. Your actions should point to conquer your goals and convert into leads and profit at the end of the day. “It’s fundamental that you understand the algorithm behind Instagram and use it in your favor. There are many things to take advantage of and so many people who don’t know how to do it”, observed Stulak.
Of course, he already put all his knowledge to work to create his own example of success. “I get many leads from social media. More than 70% of my business comes from Instagram.” Now, Stulak helps other realtors to do the same. Here are six tips he mentioned to grow a Real Estate professional’s Instagram account:
- Be proactive: make yourself visible and useful to others. Try to have meaningful interactions, collaborate with people, give advice, offer help, provide value. You have to give in order to receive. If you do so, it will all end up in a network that will most certainly help your business. Engaging with others not only will train the algorithm in your taste and behavior but also show you’re professional, which leads to a positive impact on your reputation.
- Try to capture attention: “People are paying attention, and I believe attention equals dollars. So it’s just a matter of figuring out how to get more attention”, affirmed Stulak.
- Be an active user: post, post, post! Use every tool Instagram provides you: posts, stories, reels, IGTV.
- Be consistent: post every day, and if you can, try to post several times a day. Not only you’re telling Instagram you’re there and you’re creating content but also your activity -and your stories in particular- becomes like a free billboard that’s there every time your followers open their apps. The more you post, the more exposure you get.
- Be patient: success doesn’t come overnight. If you’re consistent, traffic (and leads and money) will come in due time. It’s a gradual process. Just keep posting; you don’t know what will be the post that boosts your interactions.
- Be authentic: you don’t need to be someone else to succeed. Own your brand, own your distinctive feature, and always be professional. It’s essential to showcase who you truly are as a person because people can resonate with it and will make them pay attention.
Disclaimer: The blog articles are intended for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing in the content is designed to be legal or financial advice.
