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examples of marketing. But the most effective marketing is actually almost free. In fact, you can do it from your own home. It is content marketing. Blogs, social media posts, videos, podcasts—anything you can distribute online. You’ve probably already seen some form of content marketing. A come- dian has a funny clip on a podcast and reposts it to Instagram. Gary Vee records a short video about financial literacy. Even this article is a form of content marketing. Content marketing may sound like a buzzword, but it truly does represent a paradigm shift in how professionals engage with their audience. It centers on storytelling, value, and authenticity. It allows you to truly build a relationship with your customer, and with that comes trust—an invaluable currency. This is all built on the fact that content marketing is organic: You post a video with the goal of someone else enjoying it. Because you’re not necessarily trying to reach into their wallet, this builds goodwill with a potential customer. TIPS FOR GREAT CONTENT Consistently creating organic content that is valuable to your au- dience can be hard. Trying to remain authentic with your audience can be a challenge. Trying to “brute force it” and produce as much content as you can using AI doesn’t result. For example, you could ask AI to write up 30 scripts and record them all in a few hours—if you expect piddling results. So, here are a few tips on how to make your content marketing

engaging, authentic, and of course, eventually get you the sale. POST THINGS YOU ENJOY. It is tough to fool people on social media. Your passion for something becomes readily apparent. Going back to the earlier example of using brute force to create organic content with no success. What if, instead, you focus on a hobby that interests you, such as cooking. In that case, make a video making your favorite meal. That one cooking video will likely do NO. 1 better than any of your others because it will be clear you are having fun—and viewers want to see that. Even though a cooking video won’t be about real estate, it can still do a great job of “humanizing” you with potential prospects. NO. 2 QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. Social media gurus will scream, “CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT! POST MORE!” But nothing will drive away a good customer faster than low effort spam content. Before you post anything, put yourself in the shoes of the person on the other side of the screen. Is my video entertaining? Does it have good information? If you yourself can’t be bothered to watch your whole video, then why should anyone else? If everything you post is high quality, it only helps your reputation. NO. 3 THINK OF CONTENT LIKE A BRIDGE. Your eventual goal is to turn a viewer into a customer. This is where social media marketing can fall short. On the surface, it seems like the return-on-investment is very low, but that is because you’re looking at the content you’re making as a buy button instead of as a bridge

to the buy button. Content serves as a bridge, fostering awareness, interest, consideration, and ultimately, action. Specifically for real estate professionals, content can be a bridge to attracting prospects and leads and building long-term loyalty. Now that you know the main tips for approaching your content marketing, you may be feeling overwhelmed. You’re telling me I need to create consistent quality content that I enjoy—and try to get a sale out of it? All while trying to run my business? Yes, it’s a lot to handle. Business owners frequently attempt to keep up with a content marketing plan but get busy and fall off the path after the first few months. So, the final tip? Hire professionals to create it for you. Whoever you hire must be willing to get to know you, understand your goals, and ultimately take the stress off you to create good content. Small businesses and real estate professionals can harness the full potential of content marketing and unlock unprecedented growth in today’s dynamic digital landscape. •

Skyler Wilson is an entrepreneur obsessed with video production and marketing. It started with making YouTube videos in middle school, then

interning at a marketing firm and church, mastering editing and live production. Wilson founded video production and marketing company Shift Z in 2022 and Retro Current Marketing in 2023, targeting music artists and real estate pros. He offers a fresh perspective, blending creativity, leadership, and processes. Wilson has a degree in marketing from the University of Georgia.

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