During last week’s Tom Ferry Success Summit in Dallas, TX, we published (in my opinion) a super-useful video resource: The Top 22 Vertical Videos of 2022.
No doubt, vertical video is THE trend to follow: Reels on Instagram and Facebook, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and so on. So… if you’re looking for some ideas and inspiration to level-up your video marketing, be sure to check out this resource. Just click HERE.
#TFSummit22 was absolutely EPIC this year — I dare say the best-ever! More than 7,000 rockstar agents, teams, and coaches in-person—plus thousands more on livestream—all working collectively and collaboratively to level-up their businesses. I flat-out love what I get to do!
Tom Ferry laid out the perfect framework to organize 3-day’s worth of stellar content:
Day 1: DEMAND (i.e., how to establish multiple lead-generation pillars to drive new business)
Day 2: BRAND (i.e., positioning to create massive consideration and credibility in your marketplace)
Day 3: REFERRALS (i.e., working your database and personal network to to build a business empire)
What were your top takeaways?—I’d love your thoughts. 💬
P.S. Photo cred 📸 goes to the ultra-talented AJ Canaria, courtesy of Moxiworks. 🙏
Wanna attract more Instagram followers who are like your current followers?
For starters, double-down on making valuable content that’s intended FOR your followers. It’s sometimes easy to get caught up in the desire to grow your following, all the while failing to look after the followers you’ve already got. Thing is, if you 100% focus on adding value to your existing audience by continually publishing content “worth following,” then you’ll naturally draw a bigger crowd (i.e., more followers).
That said, there are some accounts that for one reason or another stall out growth-wise. And I know you’re thinking—that it’s gotta be the content. But not necessarily.
Sometimes it’s the product of a low engagement ratio—i.e., an account’s average number of hearts/likes relative to its follower count. Engagement ratios are a major factor Instagram evaluates in deciding whether it should suggest your account to non-followers or distribute your content in its explore feed.
Over time, accounts gain and lose followers. Some of those followers engage with your content, some don’t, and some are bots—regardless of whether you’ve ever “purchased followers.” The point is, it’s possible to fall victim to stagnation at no real fault of your own.
So… Another tactic you may consider is to try boosting your posts. Not all of them — just every so often. When you boost, by default, Instagram targets people LIKE your followers. So… if you’re making content that’s FOR your current followers, perhaps consider boosting your posts to Instagramers LIKE them. Logically, since they’re LIKE your followers, the odds are pretty solid they too will elect to follow you.
Instagram’s job, in terms of helping its users discover new accounts to follow, is to size up your page and recommend it to other Instagramers who are “like” your current followers.
So… If you’re dissatisfied with the degree to which that’s happening for you, boosting may go a long way.
Vertical Video📱is most definitely on trend: TikTok videos, Reels on Instagram and Facebook, YouTube Shorts, etc.
One of their perks is a relatively high coefficient for going viral—sometimes tens-of-thousands, hundreds-of-thousands, or even millions of views!
However, that’s not necessarily enough by itself.
Instagram and TikTok, for instance, are working to improve their respective search 🔦tools to give users additional means to discover new videos and content. Otherwise, it’s all up to the feeds.
But YouTube’s already been there and done that 😏.
Lately, in fact, my most viewed videos on YouTube have been Shorts. What’s more, the way in which viewers discovered them was predominantly via YouTube Search. Videos that only get views in a feed, for instance, run their course in about a day-or-two and then essentially vanish without trace. Videos that rank in search results, on the other hand, well—they could last indefinitely. Case in point… my top-viewed Shorts were published over a year ago!
All that to say: over-index on YouTube Shorts!
Postcard 📪 marketing most definitely has its benefits. In fact, when compared to digital campaigns, postcard campaigns reportedly require less brain-power to mentally process, they’re quantifiably more memorable, and, what’s more, they hold attention spans for longer. That said, print campaigns tend to cost more than digital alternatives. Bottom line—the point I’m trying to make—is that postcards have a place in your marketing mix.
According to UK ad-agency, JICMAIL—when primed by physical mail—people spend 30% longer viewing the sender-business’s content online. In practical application, that means folks scanned the QR-code on the postage and then spent longer on whatever web-page or video the QR-code opened.
So let’s assume you’re sending out mailers regularly to a defined geographic farm, to your database of personal contacts, or to the neighbors around your listings? Perhaps, from time-to-time, you oughta slip in what we’ve dubbed a “Thumb-Mailer.”
Basically, you’d take the thumbnail image that corresponds with a video you’ve presumably posted on YouTube, Facebook or wherever, and you’d make that image the front side of your postcard 🤯 Slap a QR-code on it that links🔗 to your video and enjoy the perks of folks watching said video for an average of 30% longer 📈. That’ll make the algorithms happy with you 😎
And one more point to mention… By using the postcard AND the video together, it’ll trigger a bit of multichannel magic✨— meaning, it’ll make a more memorable and meaningful impression with your audience.
I expect you’ve noticed how Instagram Videos (IG Video) has transfigured into Instagram Reels, right? Lemme explain:
Instagram recently terminated/obliterated/decimated IG Video (formerly dubbed, IGTV). Now ALL videos on Insta are vertical ↕️—i.e., either Stories, Reels, or Livestreams.
Any IG Videos less than 15-minutes were relabeled as Reels—so now your Reels Grid probably looks gross with disproportioned cover images and freeze frames 😡. I feel ya!
So how long can Reels be then? Welp, in order for your Reels to be distributed in the official “Reels Feed,” they cannot exceed 90 seconds. What’s more, that’s STILL the limit if you’re recording the Reel in Instagram’s built-in editor. That said, if you publish a prerecorded video that’s longer (the same way you used to publish an IG Video), it’ll still end up as a Reel—it just won’t distribute in the Reels Feed. Makes total sense 🙄.
Before this change, IG Lives (after a broadcast concluded) could be posted as IG Videos. Now they’re posting as Reels—and I’ve seen more than 20 minute runtimes. So… same as before, I expect video runtime is dependent on the follower-size of the account (e.g. fewer than 10,000 followers and so on)..
So, in a nutshell, what’s actually different? To put it simply: all VIDEO is VERTICAL 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎 on Instagram.
Reality check: buyers won’t always buy; sellers won’t always sell. Sometimes it’s because of…
Inadequate resources
Misgivings or jitters
Deficient information
For one reason or another—whether valid or invalid—some folks are gonna call it quits. You cannot make someone buy or sell because it simply isn’t your decision to make.
Notwithstanding, many sales professionals get rattled by objections—scared of not knowing how to handle them properly. But the fact is, there are most certainly objections one cannot, quote-unquote, “handle.” Understanding them, on the other hand, is something altogether different.
Objections, whether based on fact or fiction, are data-points. They help to convey what matters to the client. There are no Jedi mind-tricks to be performed – which means, consequently, that the pressure is off. The very best sales technique is (and always has been) service.
It’s easy to become intimidated by objections or react defensively. Resist that urge. Instead, train yourself to hear the objective, not the objection, and resolve to help your clients overcome their obstacles.
Attn. real estate team leaders: should you involve your team-members in/on your team’s social media pages? It’s a fair question—I mean, what if a team member up and leaves?
I’ve gotta say, in my opinion, that’s just a risk of doing business. For example, check out how @FarrGroupNW goes about it.
They prep/plan content throughout the month and then block a day during which they film VERTICAL VIDEOS together — as a team.
Next, they contract a local videographer who handles all the technical aspects of the production—like setup, filming, gear, editing, an so on.—so all they have do is basically show-up and talk to the camera.
Finally, once the videos are edited the team utilizes the Instagram Collab feature to effectively “co-author” the videos.
With FarrGroup NW, it isn’t a so-called team page that only features its leader(s); it’s actually a team effort—and they all win together! It’s like your favorite TV show 📺 with a whole ensemble of characters.
For a long time I’ve been sharing just how important video is in terms of building your agent brand. After all, real estate is most-definitely a know-you, like-you, trust-you form of business.
Your agent-brand is, to put it simply: YOU. Nobody does you better than you — and, in all the land of marketing, there’s nothing that puts YOU on display quite like video.
But not just you—your entire team. No team’s value or culture is defined by a single individual. Unfortunately, though, when it comes to content and social media, that’s traditionally the extent of it. Together, in my opinion, is ALWAYS better.
From an SEO standpoint, there are effectively THREE types of keywords in #realestate.
Name: If you’re an agent the name of your business, for instance, is most likely just your first and last name. If you’re running a team or if you operate an office, obviously, it’d be that. The point is, if someone Googles your business name—assuming your SEO is strong—then your content and web pages oughta rank.
Occupation: The second type of keyword has to do with the sort of business you conduct. So, for example: “Realtor,” “real estate agent,” “listing agent,” etc. It describes “what” you do—your role and the function of your job.
Location: Finally, there are location-based keywords that specify “where” you do business: counties, cities, neighborhoods, and so forth.
It’s mission-critical to make good use of these keywords when representing your business online: on your website, Google Business Profile, and social media pages, for instance.
If you wanna get discovered by customers more frequently on Google, you’ve gotta CRUSH your keywords!
It doesn’t matter the platform… Every social algorithm is wired such that INTERACTION = VISIBILITY.
Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn… I could keep going.
In other words, content that generates hearts, likes, comments, views, swipes, shares, and/or the like is gonna be distributed and recommended more widely than content that doesn’t. It’s a signal to the algorithm(s) of good, quality content BECAUSE users are interacting with it.
Notwithstanding, it isn’t as simple as saying good, quality content ALWAYS gets a fair shake 🤝 – there are other variables to consider.
For instance, if you’re producing content you know is darn-good, but alas 😩, it isn’t garnering much of any engagement—I’d wager it’s because you’re not actively “working” the platform(s) where it’s posted.
The algorithms, remember, are all trying to spot patterns of interaction. This is, after all, social “networking” we’re talking about. So for example. if so-and-so routinely comments on my posts, then, algorithmically speaking, there’s a high probability they’ll do the same on my next post. Thus, the platform is likely to prioritize my posts in that user’s feed(s).
Likewise, if I go and comment on my followers’ posts and, let’s say, they reply to my comments—welp, that’s an interaction. If it happens over-and-again, it becomes a pattern. My point is, if you wanna generate more engagement and interaction on your posts, go engage and interact with others’ posts: comment, message, story-share, mention, etc. etc. You’ve gotta work your networks!
But wait, there’s more! No doubt, social media takes a lot of effort: producing/publishing content and, quote-unquote, “working” the platforms. It’s kind of a hamster wheel 🐹.
What’s more, as a content creator, the algorithms effectively decide the fate of your posts. For instance, you might’ve published a video that should’ve crushed, but, for one reason or another, it floundered.
And that, in my opinion, is precisely why you should put some money behind your organic content regularly: a boost, a full-blown ad, or whatever is within your means.
For starters, consider retargeting your followers. Research has shown that only a small percentage of your followers are likely to see a given post organically—meaning, most of your followers don’t see most of what you post. So pay for it!
You may also opt to target users who are “like your followers.” In essence, that’s basically paying the algorithm to do what you wanted/expected it to do organically.
All this to say, it’s not just posting content or just networking on social or just running ads — it’s all of that together: participate, publish, and promote!
Is it worth it to publish videos in different languages? 100%, yes!
Here’s a list of the TOP FIVE spoken languages, worldwide 🌏:
Chinese
Spanish
English
Hindi
Arabic
I figure you’ve got a couple of options in terms of how to go about implementing a multilingual video strategy:
You could create standalone pages and channels across social, each customized to a particular language. If you don’t actually speak that language, you could consider hiring a voice-over translation artist. No lying, it’s gonna be a lot of extra work. I should also point out that closed-captioning and subtitling tools have come along way in terms of translation capabilities.
You could produce “some” multilingual content—like, for example, a market update video in different languages. Maybe all that content lives on your blog OR in its own Playlist on your YouTube channel, for instance.
Instagram’s leveling-up its “business search” capabilities. It’s definitely nowhere close to Google, but is nonetheless worth watching.
Within IG’s Explore 🔎 tab there’s a search-bar across the top that organizes its findings according to preset sections: Top, Accounts, Audio, Tags (i.e., hashtags), and Places.
Places, for instance, lists out a bunch of pinned📍 locations — select an option and it’ll plot it on a map (plus display a bunch of info about the business/location).
From there, if one taps anywhere else on the map, IG displays the user’s city location and reveals a handful of predefined search categories, which currently includes: Restaurants, Cafes, Sights, Hotels, Parks & Gardens, and Bars. The idea is to search for what’s around you or proximate to a point of interest. You can also zoom in/out to redo your search within the visible area of map.
I predict Instagram will eventually add additional/custom categories down the road (as in, “Real Estate Agents,” possibly).
Many agents, whether they’re using a Creator or Business profile, have modified their account category from “Real Estate Agent” to, say, “Entrepreneur,” to expand their sound-and-music options in IG’s audio library for Reels and such. However, if Instagram does indeed add more categories to its map-search feature, agents may opt to switch their category back to “Real Estate Agent” to improve their odds of ranking. Not now, necessarily—just if/when that expansion occurs.
For search engines and social networks alike, local discovery is no doubt a trend of growing importance — so keep an eye 👁 on it, friends.
As the real estate market continues to decelerate – my thoughts: CHANGES CREATE CHANCES.
Fear and uncertainty has led many agents to slash marketing budgets and cost-cut their way into “feeling safe.” For example:
The overall cost-per-lead on pay-per-click platforms like Google and Facebook has recently declined. I smell 👃an opportunity!
Once claimed territories and zip codes offered by third-party home search portals have become suddenly available.
Listing agents are stepping-down property marketing efforts (bad timing, if you ask me!) because they’re concerned it’ll take too long to recoup their costs.
Loads of agents are giving up their seats. So, my thinking is, you oughta go and sit down.
Fast markets, slow markets; up markets, down markets; strong markets, weak markets—no matter the circumstances, remember: NEVER STOP MARKETING! 👊
When should Realtors ASK clients for an online review🤨: Google, Yelp, et al.
From what I’ve observed, loads of agents wait to ask until they’re at the closing table ✍️. I don’t wanna sound hypercritical or anything, but I’d argue that’s perhaps the least-optimal time to request a review because clients tend to be fairly preoccupied with the proceedings of the closing.
The best time to ask for a review, IMO, is whenever something good happens. For example:
☑️ a ratified purchase agreement
☑️ contingency removal(s)
☑️ the clear-to-close notice
☑️ post-occupancy, after the dust has settled
Build in multiple requests as part of your transaction-to-close process! As the saying goes: “If at first you don’t succeed – try, try again!”
And it isn’t just WHEN you ask – it’s HOW you ask.
Most agents simply send out a one-off email 📧 with a link to leave a review 💬. Unfortunately, that isn’t enough! You may get some reviews but not as many as possible (IMO). Even if it’s the best-written, warmest email ever — a lone email isn’t gonna cut it. Try, for example, accompanying that email with a text message. Something like…
“{NAME}, it’s Jason Pantana. I just sent you an email requesting a review on {PLATFORM]. It’s been truly wonderful working with you and I’d be grateful to hear your feedback about the experience. Will you take a look at that email when you get a free moment, please? Thanks in advance!”
Sending a coinciding text, DM, video message, or even a handwritten note or card with your email casts a spell of multichannel magic ✨—thereby upping the odds of request performance.
Getting online reviews is well worth the effort (IMO). REVIEWS = REPUTATION.
Apple’s release of their App Tracking Transparency Framework essentially rendered the Facebook Pixel 👾 useless back in April of 2021 — but now, it’s back! (Sort of.)
In a nutshell, Apple’s program required any/all apps distributed via the App Store (so, pretty much ALL apps — Facebook included) to be more transparent concerning user data collected for advertising purposes—which, for Facebook, is sort of what they do for a living, LOL 😂. Google’s App Store essentially followed Apple’s lead on the issue.
In simple terms, a Facebook Pixel is a unique snippet of code installed on a website (yours, for instance) used to monitor the activities of visitors on said site: how long someone spends on a given page, what buttons they click, the forms they start or complete, and so on. What’s more, the Pixel owner is then able to run Facebook and/or Instagram ads targeting (actually, “retargeting,” technically speaking) those website visitors based on the actions they performed on said “Pixeled” website.
Welp, the tracking-transparency trend massively reduced the Pixel’s capabilities — UNTIL NOW.
Meta’s just released the “Conversions API.” Basically, it circumvents (that’s the word I’d use, anyhow) the limitations of transparency frameworks so that your Pixel is able to accurately monitor key events on your site, such as when someone visits a particular landing page or, for instance, spends a certain amount of time perusing your site. You can read more about it and review setup instructions here: bit.ly/FB-CVR-API.
A post on social media (Instagram, Facebook, et al.) has approximately the lifespan of a fruit-fly. It circulates through the feeds for about a day and then abruptly keels over into content oblivion. The fact is, producing and sharing content on a consistent basis is most definitely a grind.
But here me out: SEO is social media afterlife 😇—it’s the difference between SEARCH vs. SCROLL.
So why not repurpose your social posts as blogs on your website?
Last year, for instance, I published an Instagram Reel that, for all intents and purposes, did well in the feeds. Nevertheless, let’s not forget it was just a fruit-fly—so it flatlined in a day or two. However, the respective blog-post is generating roughly 2,000 - 3,000 clicks per month from related Google searches ever since. Every month Google sends me its Search Console report, and there’s that fruit-fly, transformed in a dragon.🐲
What if your physical mailing address 📍 of your #GoogleBusinessProfile is outside the area(s) you conduct business?—will that impede your ranking position in Google Search and/or Google Maps?
Google offers what’s known as a “service-area based business.” Basically, it’s a GBP with no physical address. Instead, it specifies area(s)—like zip codes, cities, counties, etc.—in which one conducts business.
That’s a fine option IF all your competitors also operate service-area-only businesses. Unfortunately, in real estate, that’s definitely not the case.
Having (and listing) a verified address in the CITY whereby or wherefore the “Googler” is searching gives you a major algorithmic edge. What’s more, Google evaluates your address proximate to the prospective customer’s point of search – so it pays to be nearby.
Anybody can specify service areas on their GBP—whether they have a physical address or not. But doing so is effectively superficial. Service areas don’t have any direct impact on improving a profile’s discoverability across Google’s products. They do however, provide two major benefits:
Google will map-overlay a shaded outline that defines where you do business. So if a customer does manage pull up your profile on Google, your service areas will help to give them a sense visually about whether or not you work in their territory.
When it comes to ranking factors, Google DOES analyze whether or not a GBP has been totally filled out. That includes ALL informational fields, which, of course, takes service areas into account. Service areas alone don’t really give you any extra Google juice, so to speak—however, a failure to include them takes some away.
Fake reviews on Google Business Profiles are a monumental pain. Assuming they’re 1-star, scathing reviews -- fake ones usually are -- they’re harmful to your online reputation, curtail your profile’s ranking position, and are darn-near impossible to get removed.
Browse to the REVIEWS tab of your Google Business Profile Manager (business.google.com), tap the vertical ellipsis in the top right corner, and flag the review as “inappropriate.”
Submit a Review Removal Request form. Make sure to peruse Google’s “prohibited and restricted content” policies first though—that way you’re able to reference the offended violation. Presumably, if a 𝗳𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 goes against Google’s directives, it put’s Google on your side.
Contact Google Small Business Support. Open up the page, scroll to the bottom, tap the “Contact Us” button, and follow its prompts. If you don’t receive a satisfactory reply, perhaps consider tweeting or messaging @GoogleSmallBiz on Twitter.
Brace yourself: there’s a good chance Google’s canned “auto-reply” nonsense is gonna say that the review doesn’t violate their policies 🙄. It’s frustrating, but it is what it is. It’s mission-critical therefore to establish a process of continually adding new, positive reviews. By doing so, you effectively dilute the bad ones.
Fact is, Google’s got a problem. Consider that 46% of Google’s 8.5-billion daily searches are conducted with local intent. What’s more, 93% of those searches trigger Google’s Map Pack, which means the searcher is actually looking up local businesses. That approximates 3.64B local-biz searches on Google per day🤯
Reviews are simply a HUGE part of the equation for Google! Notwithstanding, Google holds the highest percentage of “inauthentic reviews” on the web—more than Yelp, TripAdvisor, or Facebook. The point being, they’ve gotta do something about it.
So… When it comes to fighting-off review trolls 😈, my thinking is… throw everything at ‘em but the kitchen sink!
TikTok, evidently taking a queue from Instagram, has ditched the “Discovery” tab in lieu of a new, “Friends” feed. One could argue that TikTok isn’t actually a social network, per se – it’s more of an entertainment platform.
Unlike Instagram‘s main feed, TikTok’s default feed (dubbed, the “For You,” feed) doesn’t necessarily show you posts from the accounts you follow. Instead,; it’s based almost entirely off of your perceived/inferred interests. It’s been suggested that TikTok‘s algorithm can practically read your mood.
TikTok also features a “Following” feed, which only displays posts from the accounts you follow. The “Discover” tab was a spot to explore and widen your interests: hashtags, audio/sounds, and trending content. Welp, it’s been demoted to a less prominent location within the app and replaced by the “Friends” tab. The “Friends” tab is actually a third, distinct feed that only shows you posts of accounts you follow who also follow you—i.e., your friends.
All that to say, it looks like TikTok is trying to create a bit more community-like stickiness between its users
It’s time to BRAND your ground, friends! Every time you share a video, post on social, or send an email that confers value—it’s building your agent-brand.
Fact is, the market has shifted and will continue doing so. On top of that, recent headlines, to borrow a line from @keepingcurrentmatters, tend to “do more to terrify than to clarify”—speculating ad nauseam of corrections, collapses, and crashes.
Consequently, many consumers have or are contemplating a withdrawal from the market.
And, because of all that, it appears buyers/sellers won’t so readily listen to, heed the advice of, or opt to work with just “any” agent—things being how they are now. To the contrary, they’ll look to the Knowledge Broker.
So, my advice: be (or become) the agent-authority! Or don’t—but don’t expect buyers/sellers to come running either.
