Content Creation with Katie Lance: Marketing’s Takeaways

The Marketing Department attended the wonderful Katie Lance‘s Digital Mastery course — Here’s our key takeaways and some of the ideas that the session generated!

Why should I invest time into content creation?

In short: creating content can create conversations, which creates trust, which can result in more business. Put yourself in your clients’ shoes; the home buying or selling process can be daunting and it always comes with the promise of a lifestyle shift/disruption. AKA, they’re going to want an agent who walks the walk. Content you create can promote credibility, build relationships, educate your clients, differentiate you from the market, and most importantly — get you more business!

In today’s age, people are going to stalk you online. Someone in your SOI mentions to a friend that you’re a REALTOR^®? Best believe they will Google you to make sure you’re legitimate. A previous client sees your post on their social media feed? Best believe they will remember you to use or suggest to friends and family. Boom! That’s business you have attracted, and you didn’t have to chase a lead to generate it.

What if I don’t know what to post??

The biggest thing to keep in mind is: “You don’t have to be all the things for all the people.” If educational content isn’t your vibe, but interior design is, then go ahead and post about what interests you intermingled with posts about how your business is going. Katie mentioned that she has a golden rule of 80% business, 20% personal for your business’ social media page, and we thought that was a great break down. Humanizing yourself and sharing your opinions on what’s going on in the real estate market can go a long way with building client trust. 🙂

1. Consider who you want to work with to help determine the type of content you want to create.
2. Brainstorm some FAQ’s if you’re struggling to come up with content topics.
3. Make a plan. When will you create, edit, distribute, and post?

Here’s some examples of content ideas that Katie curated:

• Who pays for what?
• How do I find a lender?
• What’s the biggest mistake that 1st time home buyers make?
• The #1 thing you tell sellers.
• Why decluttering is key.

IDEA: Write down painpoints or interesting questions that you’ve faced with clients from the last 4-6 months. These can be topics you use for your content either as stories you share, or as educational content (i.e. Red flags when buying a home; How to know when a house is priced too high; etc).

Content pillars to help you diversify your content:

• People: Client stories, your own stories about people who impacted you, or stories/events with the people in your community.
• Places: Sharing what you love about where you live (this is a great idea to help clients new to the area get an idea of what it’s like in the NRV & RV), share the best place to [fill this in; i.e. “eat,” “bike,” “shop locally,” etc], or share something about the home you grew up in.
• Things: Share what you think the best thing about real estate is, something you tell every client, the most important thing to know when your house is on the market, etc.
• Events: Bring up can’t-miss events in the area. Some that come to mind: Blacksburg Steppin’ Out, Fireworks at SML, Blacksburg Summer Solstice Fest, or holiday parades.
• Stories: What was your experience like with your first listing/clients? How did you get into real estate? Are there some memorable client stories you have? (I know I’ve heard some crazy ones about a cat and a cooler… LOL)

“Create content your ideal client would want to see.”

IDEA: Educational content about terms in the real estate industry that the average person probably doesn’t know. Explain the jargon. What is the MLS? EHO? What’s a contingency, a title, a settlement, etc?

You can also use ChatGPT to help you come up with content ideas, outlines, interview questions, and about a billion other things.

Get into the routine of content creation.

Katie recommends taking at least 2-4 hours once to twice a month to batch out content, and then set a schedule to post it all. Tools like Meta Business Suite, Hootsuite, or other social scheduling sites can come especially in handy for this.

We thought this was a great idea as well. Integrating content in with your schedule and delegating 1-2x a month is an easier time-management pill to swallow than having to brainstorm and create multiple posts every single week.

Some other tips to help simplify your content creation include:

• Utilize us (Marketing) for your property-specific posts! We can take the time commitment of your Sold, Open House, Just Listed, etc graphics off of your shoulders.

• If you’re making video content, make your setup simple. You don’t need a fancy camera or expensive microphones to start. Katie said, “Done is better than perfect.” Pick a spot in your house or office, or even just film yourself talking as you’re walking around. Make it as friendly of a process as possible for yourself!
• If you’re making video content, keep it under 60 seconds, and try to lead with your topic rather than a drawn out introduction.
• Consider hiring out for social media if you’re finding it difficult to create!

TIP: Engage with other businesses or people on social media!

Reach out to marketing if you’d like some more perspective on upping your social media game, or even if you just need to bounce some ideas off of a real person. 🙂

— Marketing <3