You already have a personal Facebook profile, do you really need a business page to successfully market yourself as a real estate agent?
The answer is 1,000%, yes.
You probably know you need a business page as an agent, and you may even have one, but you might not be aware of why it’s so important to have one.
And if you currently market your business on your personal profile, I hate to break it to you, but your account could be suspended. It’s against Facebook’s terms to use your profile to represent something other than yourself, so you’ll want to create a separate page to promote your business without breaking the rules.
The concept of a Facebook business page can be confusing if you don’t understand the differences between a page and a personal profile and what type of content to share on each one.
What is a Personal Facebook Profile? Your personal profile represents you as an individual and allows you to connect directly with your family, friends, and acquaintances through status updates and direct messages.
This is a place to share your life story – your passions, pictures of family, friends, and pets, what you were up to over the weekend, what restaurant you ate at for dinner last night, etc.
You can add up to 5,000 friends to your network.
What is a Facebook Business Page? A business page is essential when you’re seeking to connect and engage with people you don’t already know. It allows you to showcase your business and increase your brand awareness by educating and generating new leads.
You must have a personal profile first in order to create your business page, but all of the information, posts, comments, updates, etc. are separate.
You don’t add friends on a business page like you do with a profile, you gain likes. There are so many cool things you can do with your Facebook business page that will help boost your online presence that you can’t do with your personal profile.
What Are Some Features I Get With My Business Page That I Don’t With My Personal Profile?
1. Show Up in Online Search Results – All Facebook pages are public, which means search engines such as Google could include them in their search results. This will ultimately improve your search engine rankings and increase the chances of people finding your Facebook page and your website.
Pro-Tip – When you create your business page, make sure the name matches your company name or the address of your website. The name of your page will appear as a URL, and this will make it much easier for people to find your profile either when searching Facebook or through a Google search.
2. Gain More Followers – Unlike a personal profile, your business page does not limit the number of likes you can obtain so you’re likely to end up with more followers and eyeballs on your page than your profile (since it’s limited to 5,000). Pro-Tip – To give your page more exposure, don’t forget to link it on your website, in your email signature, and to your other social media accounts such as your personal Facebook profile, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
3. Use Paid Advertising Tools – It’s certainly possible to promote your business without paid advertising, but your business page allows you to buy advertising and/or boost your posts to a larger audience if you choose to do so. You can even set up targeted advertisements so you can push content to a specific audience.
4. Collect Reviews – Your business page will allow you to collect reviews, which is a huge factor in grabbing the attention of those searching for a local agent online.
5. Utilize Page Insights – You’ll be provided an overview of page views, previews, likes, post reach, page followers, and more that you can easily track to see how your business page is performing.
6. Schedule Your Posts in Advance – If you’re a set it and forget it-type person, you’ll be happy to know you can schedule out your posts in advance on your business page so you don’t have to worry about scrambling to find relevant content on the fly. The list of page features goes on and on. Check out this article for more benefits of having a Facebook business page and other tips on how to grow your following and optimize your page.
How Can I Leverage My Personal Profile For My Business Page? Just because it’s imperative that you promote yourself through your business page, doesn’t mean you should leave your personal profile in the dust.
When it comes to social media in general, people are rarely coming specifically to Facebook to find an agent or search for a house. But if they’re debating whether or not to work with you, they’ll most definitely scope you out online first. And they’re likely to land on your personal profile first when they conduct their research.
Here are some ways you can leverage your personal profile for your business page.
1. Become the Online Trusted Advisor – Your personal profile plays a role in your brand too, so use it to your advantage and be the voice of knowledge and education to stand out and turn those likes into leads!
2. Send Page Invites – Leverage the network you already have on your personal page and invite your friends to like your business page.
Pro-Tip – to increase the chances of them liking the page, include a personal note when you invite them. It’s very common to get multiple requests to like pages in one day, so make sure yours stands out. When you send your note, you can also ask those within your network to share out the content you post on your page so it’s exposed to even more people.
3. Friend Your Clients – Don’t be afraid to friend your clients! You want to build a relationship with them and you want them to see the personal side of you. Engage in their lives so when it comes time to buy or sell again, they’ll think of you as a friend and want to work with you. And if they’re not currently in the market to buy or sell, they’ll be more inclined to give you referrals if you stay in touch.
4. Showcase What You Do For a Living – Your goal with your personal page is to make sure your network knows you’re in real estate. Highlight celebrating moments on your personal page such as team lunches, behind the scenes at the office, recent closings with clients, etc. to remind your network what you do for a living. And if you’re “friends” with your teammates and clients on Facebook (and you should be), tag them in these posts! They’ll be more likely to comment on the post if they’re tagged in it, which will lead to more conversations and more engagement.
5. Like AND Comment – Speaking of comments, it’s critical to comment on your network’s posts instead of just liking them. I understand it’s much easier to just hit the like button and go about your day than to take the time to add a comment, but doing so will ultimately help increase your Facebook algorithm if you consistently engage on other people’s posts.
The best part is, everyone else who comments on that post will see your message, which will keep you top of mind with more people than a simple like ever could.
6. Don’t Over-Promote – A general rule of thumb is not to share everything you post to both of your pages because it can be annoying to those in your network you are friends with and who like your page if they see duplicated information all of the time. You don’t want to over-promote your business to your social circle. But, if you post something on your business page that your network of friends will find useful, share that post from your business page to your personal profile. There’s a tactful way you can do this that won’t break the rules.
Bottom Line A Facebook business page is an essential social media marketing tool for real estate agents. Try out all the features it has to offer to see what works best for you, and don’t forget to leverage your personal profile as often as you can.
This is your time to develop relationships, create conversation, and expand your following outside of just your family, friends, and acquaintances.
So let’s go build some momentum, gain some likes, and show your followers YOU are the one they want to guide them through buying or selling their home.