Four Digital Marketing Influencers Share Their Secret Sauce

We gathered four of the top real estate influencers in the country and asked them to share their personal strategies and tactics to stay top of mind in their sphere of influence for our industry paper. Here are some highlights and strategies you can start implementing now!

Stacie Staub

Be the local expert online and off

“I always say that people should see you in their inbox and their mailbox, plus NextDoor and Facebook Groups where people are talking about your neighborhood.”

With the market slowing down, Staub encourages her agents to take the opportunity now to build a personality and presence in their farm areas that they haven’t had time to do in the past few years. An easy way to grow this presence is online with hyperlocal data and community-focused posts. 

Nikki Beauchamp

Be consistent 

“They get a sense for who you are as a person, who you are as an agent, what your marketing approach is, what your company’s marketing approach is.”

Beauchamp shares that social media marketing can be a long game. Her biggest advantage of posting to social media is that it helps smooth the way for her relationships with buyers and sellers, who feel like they know her before they speak with her for the first time. She had a client follow her online for nine months before reaching out. But by the time they met, he already had a sense of what it was like working with her and ultimately chose Beauchamp out of four other agents. 

Sue “Pinky” Benson

Lean into personal branding

“It’s kind of that Disney World effect of, how many Mickey Mouses are there? There’s only one. You have to conceptualize it so that this goes all the way around. It is a dedication that many people don’t have. But as you go into the digital sphere, you have to have that consistency.”

Not only does it help to have a consistent strategy, but it’s also even more important to have consistent branding. What makes you or your business unique? Find something that is memorable and can be replicated across all your marketing. 

Brad Allen

Invest in your marketing strategy

“I was spending $150,000 a year on Zillow, and it dawned on me that I wasn’t in control of those leads. And I thought, ‘What if I take that money and invest it in videographers and social media people?’”

There are a ton of ways to generate leads, but there is a big difference between chasing leads and attracting clients. Almost all homebuyers and sellers start their journey online. Instead of spending money on leads, look into reinvesting that money for your marketing. That can include content creators, social media managers, videographers, photographers, editors, marketing tools, ads, and more! 

Want more secret sauce? Click here to read the whole industry paper to learn more why it’s time to grow your digital sphere of influence and more tips from our influencers. 

3 Statistics That Prove You Need to Grow Your Digital Sphere of Influence in 2023

As a real estate agent, your relationships are the foundation of your business. To grow a successful business means nurturing and growing your sphere of influence. A sphere of influence consists of all of your connections. This can include friends and family, previous clients, and leads. Today you can build your digital sphere of influence by being proactive online through social media, websites, and online profiles – expanding your online presence and reach. 

The National Association of Realtors® released the 2022 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers which provides data that proves your digital presence is more important than ever before. Take a look at these consumer trends and how you can lean into digital marketing to meet them. 

The age of first-time buyers jumped to 36 from 33 years, where it had been for three years. And for repeat buyers, the age has risen to 59 years, up from 56 years in last year’s report. First-time home buyers would be considered “elder millennials” while repeat buyers are in between Gen X and baby boomers. 

What does this mean when it comes to online marketing? You need to meet your audience where they are. Social media is an easy way to reach targetted audiences, organic (free) and paid. 

Facebook: According to Facebook, 77% of people ages 30–49 and 51% of people ages 50–65 are active on their platform. Having a business page, posting regularly, engaging with your sphere of influence, and running ads are all going to reach the demographics of current home buyers. 

Instagram: 47% of people ages 30–49 and 23% of people ages 50–64 utilize Instagram. Instagram provides a way to visually showcase the homes you are working with as well as tell a visual brand story. 

YouTube: 67% of people ages 36–45 and 58% of people that are 56+ years old use YouTube. Not only is YouTube used by a large percentage of homebuyer demographics, but it’s also a search engine. Posting to YouTube helps the search engine optimization (SEO) of your brand! 

Due to the recent pandemic, many people’s lifestyles changed. The number of people primarily working from home tripled between 2019 and 2021 – growing from 5.7% to 17.9% and the number is continuing to grow. 

Marketing local expertise is always crucial to educating those in your community, but 50 miles might be out of your scope. That’s why it’s more important than ever to connect with other agents with whom you’d trust with your clients. Start building your sphere of influence with local, state, and out-of-state agents because the data is stating that people are moving further distances. It’s the perfect time to build your referral network. 

88% percent of buyers used a real estate agent to purchase their home. Buyers are most satisfied with their agent’s honesty and integrity, and knowledge of the purchase process.

Consumers are looking to professionals to help guide them through their homebuying and selling journey. But, the first place they look is online. 97% of all homebuyers used the internet in their home search according to the National Association of REALTORS. 

The data supports the idea that your internet presence matters! Consumers want to see your reviews, online profiles, and what type of content you regularly post to get a better idea of who they will work with. 

If you are interested in learning how your online presence ranks compared to your peers and how to grow your digital sphere, check out SphereBuilder^TM at https://www.spherebuilder.io.