Words: Ashley Rigg
Published: 25th February 2010
Twitter – An agent's perspective
Our article arguing that Twitter is a complete waste of time for the most internationally-focused agents’ polarised opinion.
To use it properly you need to create great content regularly that helps reinforce your position as an expert in your niche. However, we argued that in the majority of cases, it takes up valuable time; time that can be spent more profitably on other activities.
Today Mike Cliffe-Jones, Managing Director of Spanish estate agent Estupendo Lanzarote responds to the article with a persuasive argument that Twitter has a role to play in the marketing mix of most overseas agents. As ever, we welcome your comments and feedback.
To be honest, Twitter is a complete waste of time for any business if used simply as a broadcast medium. I've seen many companies set up Twitter or Facebook accounts, create an auto feed from their sites for a few months, and then declare it a waste of time.
As with any social media, Twitter will give back what you put into it – engage and help people, and they will be interested in and value what you offer them.
The point of contact
But let's take a step back for a moment, and examine the key benefit of Twitter for any estate agent. Most agents have a well optimised web site, which attracts people searching for properties in their area. If a potential client keys “Property for sale in Lanzarote” they are quite likely to find my company's website.
The problem is, people rarely start there when they're contemplating a purchase.
They start with much, much, more general stuff: “Which are the best resorts? Where are the best beaches? Where are the kid's schools? Which bank should we use?” They will do a whole load of research to narrow down where they want to buy in more detail, before they start looking at estate agents websites. They'll do that through search, but increasingly they will use a medium like Twitter.
Using social media effectively, will put you in touch with those people weeks, and sometimes months before they ever planned to talk to an agent. By the time they start thinking about that, if you've been helpful and useful to them, at the very least you'll have a chance to take them viewing, and in many cases, they won't even bother talking to anyone else. They already have a “mate” who runs an agency.
So how does it work with Twitter?
You need to establish yourself as an “area expert.” Use a tool like Tweetdeck, which allows you to set up search columns, which search the Twitter stream in real time. By doing that, you will see every message using your area's name.
You'll be amazed at the volume. Even for little old Lanzarote, there are more than 100 every day. There will be a complete mixture – people already living there talking about what they are doing, people planning holidays, people asking for help or advice.
Concentrate on anyone asking for help, and help them! Give them the benefit of your local knowledge. Don't even mention your business. You'll have a link in your bio, and you'll find almost everyone you help will click the link to your site. You'll never hear from many, but some will contact you and ask you for more help. Others will directly respond, having visited your site, by making an enquiry.
In time you'll establish a reputation on Twitter as the expert, and more and more people will refer others to you.
If you really want to make it work well, then link from Twitter to a blog. And make sure the blog is about your area, filled with the kind of useful information we've discussed. We post all kinds of things on our blog and give away a really useful relocation pack there. And it's a great place to capture data.
It takes time and it takes effort, but using social media tools effectively will give you a decent return on that investment, by delivering more leads, much earlier in the purchase cycle.
Mike Cliffe-Jones is the MD of Estupendo Lanzarote and is author of Beyond Blogging. You can connect with him at Twitter @mikecj.
User Comments
I have to say that Twitter has been good for business from my perspective but never expect it to sell a house; at least a frontline sale anyway.
Twitter, and other social media platforms, are a lot to do with networking and there are corporate philosophical aspects to consider about the future of business here as well. It is allowing a "persons" brand to become almost more important than a companies brand - a measure no one really ever considers.
Exciting times in the world of property and marketing I feel
I am @jamesdearsley by the way if you fancy talking to me direct!
James Dearlsey,
Atlas International
Thanks for your insight Mike, you totally changed my perspective and I've decided to give it a try. I'm a real estate agent in a destination city. I have a strong commitment to supporting the local artists and business that make my city such an awesome place to live. I'm going to use Twitter to come from contribution and help out of state and international buyers get to know about our unique culture. I started Today!
Karen Cernek,
Keller Williams Realty
Don't get too hung up on the time issue, but the way. What I described above can be accomplished with four 5 minute sessions per day.
If you just spend five minutes on Twitter while you're drinking a coffee, you'll have time to answer a few questions and say hello to a few celebs!
Mike CJ,
Estupendo
I would concur with that. I was astonished when I read the full-frontal attack on twitter a few weeks ago and am impressed you have alllowed an alternative view to be presented.
Steve Hall,
ThisIsSpain
I agree Mike. There is a huge opportunity because most people using social media marketing miss the point entirely. They think its about technology. Its not its about attitude.
Its about paying it forwards being genuinly helpful and underlining not only your expertise in the area but also your authenticity and integrity. People buy from people and they buy from people they like and trust.
It can work even better if you use wordtracker to research keywords that are popular but not widely competed for. You then use these words in your material making sure you are being genuinely helpful and the search engines will find you for that key word because they are heavilly biased towards twitter and the other social media site.
Good luck everyone.
John Wolfendale,
Eco Vida
I broker mortgages in Tenerife and the Canary Islands and now have two lead generating sie for mainland Spain. Have also been concentrating on generating property leads as we have a good network of agents now.
Thought about using twitter, set up an account, had a look but really so no point to it to be honest. I guess time constraints play a part in that.
So an interesting read to see an agent in my neck of the woods is having some success with this medium. I may just revisit it for a couple of months and see how I get on.
Thanks for the idea!
TenerifeMortgageBroker.com
Andy,
TenerifeMortgageBroker.com
Hi Mike -
I couldnt agree more. How refreshing to hear that despite the subject being a relatively new tool,it seems to work well with the addition of good old values like trust and communication as an additional aid to encourage sales.
Thanks for the insight.
Rob Watchorn
Deal Hunter Spain
rob watchorn,
Deal Hunter Spain