Social Media

How long should Realtors spend using social media every day?

Published

10 years ago

August 18, 2010

How much time should you spend on social media for real estate each day? This is a common question that I am often asked and so I have decided that I will answer it definitively for once and for all.

You should spend five hours a day on social media. Or fifteen minutes. Or two and a half hours, or forty-five minutes.

Ok, so that isn’t much of a clarification, but it is an honest response. Everyone has a different level of interest and ability to dedicate to their social media and internet presence.

Let us take a look at two different real estate agents who are working on their social media marketing plan.

Example #1:

Ron Realtor is brand new to social media and he doesn’t want to spend a lot of time each day, but knows that he needs to explore a social media plan. Ron could accomplish a basic plan in under a half hour a day.

Visits Facebook fan page to post a helpful link and respond to any comments. 5 minutes
Logs into Twitter application. Responds to any replies or direct messages. Tweets something that might get a conversation started. Ron should check back later in the day as well. 5 – 10 minutes
Goes to Linkedin and updates his status including the same link as above, or something different for this venue. 5 minutes
Checks his RSS feed for latest news and informative blog posts (like Agent Genius). 5 minutes

25 minutes TOTAL. That is realistic and completely doable as small tasks in between the regular business of the day.

Example #2

Now let us meet Susie Social who already has a social media presence and LOVES all things internet. For her, social media isn’t just a work thing, she has friends all over the world who she loves to chat with and the line between work and play is blurred while online. For this agent, two to three hours a day on social media and internet marketing is normal. How is she spending that time?

Facebook: Susie has a fan page where she shares real estate news and information, of course, but spends a lot of time messaging and interacting on other people’s pages, as well. Sometimes she will enable the Facebook chat and spend some time chatting with friends. Her personal page is not heavy with real estate, but she makes sure to place subtle reminders on this page to remind her friends and family that she is an active real estate professional. 30 minutes to 1 hour
Twitter: Susie leaves her Twitter application open all day long and checks it frequently. She tweets her blog posts and other interesting links, but spends most of her time reading other people’s tweets and responding to them. She has an international network of friends and when she has a question she starts by asking it on Twitter. In order to keep things sorted, her application is column based and she uses and follows multiple hashtags. After work hours, she attends Twitter chats and “plays” with her friends. Susie isn’t that interested in television and often spends that time on Twitter. 1 to 2 hours
Linkedin: Susie uses this strictly for the purpose intended and will change her status and share blog posts in addition to contributing to groups. She knows that it is important to have a keyword rich profile and to be very professional in this venue. 10 minutes
Blogging: Susie has a real estate blog site as well as a photo blog and she is a regular poster. She shares real estate news, market reports, advice and sometimes just her regular life events with her readers. While she may not post daily, she does spend this time reading other people’s blogs. Susie knows that it is important to read and comment on other blogs regularly. 30 minutes
RSS: as part of finding new inspiration, news to share with clients and friends and educating herself, Susie keeps an RSS feed in her Google Reader that she checks when she is able. 10 minutes

2 hours, 20 minutes to 3 hours, 50 minutes total.

So how much time SHOULD you spend on social media?

Asking how much time you should spend on social media marketing is akin to asking how much time you should spend on the phone or in the car. These are necessary parts of every real estate agent’s day.

So are you Ron or Susie? There is no right or wrong here. Social media marketing is but one tool in your kit which can be implemented to best suit your personality and interest. The most important thing is that you use it in the way that suits you and remember that social media is not a competition.

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Lesley Lambert

Lesley offers 21 years experience in real estate, public speaking and training. Lesley has a degree in communications and was the recipient of an international award for coordinating media in real estate. In the course of her career Lesley has presented at international real estate conferences and state REALTOR associations, hosted a real estate television program, written articles for trade magazines and created marketing and PR plans for many individuals, companies and non-profits.

89 Comments

Charles Mackenzie-Hill

August 18, 2010 at 2:02 pm

Your absolutely right, its impossible to quantify. Results ,leads ect would sway the argument. My bet social susie we be closing more deals as would have more options, because of the higher profile?

Reply
Eric Hempler

August 18, 2010 at 2:25 pm

I don’t think it should be decided on how much time you should spend, but what tasks should you do in Social Media. Ron doesn’t do very much, but put little things out there that may drive business to him and on the other hand Susie does a lot more, which would also drive business to her. It doesn’t matter how much time you put in, but how you use that time to produce the results you want.

Reply
Tassia Bezdeka

August 18, 2010 at 4:07 pm

#1 is an excellent example of a minimal but effective schedule.

Really the key is to stay on top of things. A lot of my agents ask me how often I’m on social media every day, and I always get a kick out of how big their eyes get when I tell them that I check my social sites a between 5-10 times a day. The trick however, is that I’m never on for more than a few minutes, because I’m keeping up with things.

Use your time wisely as well. Facebook friend lists can be extremely useful here, so that you. You’re not on FB to browse through your old buddies pictures for hours on end… you’re there to connect with a variety of people and give them news they can use.

Waiting in line at the grocery store or gas station? Bust out that smart phone.
On hold for a phone call? Use that time wisely.

Facebook is a meal best enjoyed in small portions throughout the day, in my opinion.

Reply
Chris R

August 18, 2010 at 4:29 pm

I think the key thing here is balance. This article shows people at two sides of the spectrum. I’m sure that there is a place in the middle that offers all the social benefits that Suzie has with better time management like Joe.

Reply
Steve Visio

August 18, 2010 at 5:07 pm

The implication is the opportunity cost for time wasted. You can only know that if you correlate the time spent with the results gained. What metrics should the agents be tracking?

Reply
Joe Loomer

August 18, 2010 at 6:21 pm

Neither is my model. I think there’s a middle ground here. Twitter is nearly non-existent in our town (yet), and Facebook is the place we invest our efforts. Lost in this post is the fact that you can do other things at the same time. As I’m researching and posting and blogging, I’m also making lists of prospects and calling them. When they answer the phone, I stop what I’m doing and stand up and pay attention to the call. Call it multi-tasking, but what I’m trying to do is grow my sphere simultaneously. If an agent I’m attempting to set an appointment with (read: a listing or buyer prospect for most of you) is not my friend on FB and I succeed in having a warm conversation with them, I follow it up immediately with a friend request. Usually works.

My bottom line is I create events, posts, pictures, whatever that I try to keep relevant and on-target. I do not worry about how many likes or comments I get because I’m focused on just putting information in front of people that may read it and never give me the insights on their opinions, but I know they see it from my interviews. It’s my way of shouting our our culture, training, and coaching at them without expecting a reply – it’s on their wall feed, that’s all I care about.

I obviously have a different agenda than your primary audience, but that’s my two cents.
Two – three hours a day, minimum – but a lot of it is before/after business hours.

Navy Chief, Navy Pride

Reply
Chris Lengquist

August 18, 2010 at 6:36 pm

I make money from my blogging. So my social media time is also my prospecting time most of the time. Therefore, the more I SM the more money I make to a certain degree.

But I have to say I can burn myself out. I’ve been blogging since 2005 (December) and there have been two or three times over the last 5 years that I just had to push away from the table a bit. Sadly, my leads began to dry up. So back I go, sometimes before I was ready. Making a living is work. So is whatever avenue you utilize for prospecting.

Reply
Melissa Delgaudio

August 18, 2010 at 7:17 pm

I love your answer (or NON-answer, really) to this question. People ask me all the time what they should be doing or for how long they should be doing it. I tell them that it’s not a one-size-fits-all thing. Spend time doing the things that are effective for you (and those that you enjoy). If they’re really benefitting your business, then it’s time well-spent. If people find that their online activities are detracting from their day-to-day business, however, setting some limits and focusing on only what’s “important” will be helpful.

Reply
LesleyLambert

August 18, 2010 at 7:19 pm

Great comments everyone! I meant to imply that there is a middle ground. In fact, my point is that there shouldn’t be a hard and fast rule about how much time or how you spend it. I am, as most of you might have guessed, the model for Susie, but I know that many people have no interest in dedicating so much time. Regarding metrics, that is the harder question. All I can tell you is that it is working for me. Several times a week I get a call out of the blue that someone wants a market analysis or buyer’s agent and they are looking at a blog post or saw a post on Facebook.

Keep the input coming everyone!

Reply
hermanchan.com

August 18, 2010 at 7:37 pm

https://dlvr.it and https://ping.fm are two sites than help ppl more efficiently manage social media. i use ping, but does anyone have feedback about dlvr?

Reply
- Tassia Bezdeka
  
  August 19, 2010 at 3:04 am
  
  I use Hootsuite exclusively (although if you don’t have an iPhone, you’re SOL in terms of mobile posting… BB and Droid apps have been forthcoming for a few months now)
  
  Hootsuite will manage Facebook, Facebook Pages, Twitter, LinkedIn, WordPress, Ping.fm, FourSquare, MySpace. They are in the process of going freemium, but a free account (up to five linked networks) should be sufficient for the average user.
  
  Reply
  - hermanchan.com
    
    August 19, 2010 at 3:33 am
    
    thanks tassia! i’m about to toss my bb out the window next month once my upgrade is due. not sure what phone to pick but hootsuite looks like something i need to explore.
    
    ps; i’m following u. follow me , merci!
    
    Reply
Rob McCance

August 18, 2010 at 11:04 pm

I don’t do any, unless you count this.

I landed none of my 30 clients in the last two years via social media and as far as I know, none of them use it or used it to find me.

I do spend a ton of time on my web site, both the design and SEO aspects.

I always thought all the social media stuff was for teenagers, not professionals, or people making the largest investment in their lives. So I just personally refused to FB, Tweet, LinkIn, and whatever else. I don’t feel as if I’ve missed a single thing in the last five years choosing not to participate.

I read and contribute to blogs primarlily to try and learn things about websites, the web and SEO, etc. Also, some technology in general.

All that said, if you land ONE client via social media and it nets you $30k in commission, it’s definitely all worth it!

RM

Reply
Chris Lengquist

August 18, 2010 at 11:34 pm

@ Rob – Your distinction is probably correct. But I’ve never figured out how to tell the difference of when I’m blogging or social mediaing or whatever the heck you call it. I use facebook and my three websites. I don’t make a lot of comments on realtor blogs because realtors don’t buy houses. But I do take filled out lead forms that go to my Top Producer very seriously and then I go offline with those prospects.

So maybe my comment was completely off base. But I do agree with your Twitter comment. I’ve never figured out how that helps me or my clients. I guess I just don’t get it. Too old? 🙂

Reply
- Tassia Bezdeka
  
  August 19, 2010 at 3:02 am
  
  You also have to distinguish Twitter for output vs Twitter for listening.
  
  There are very few people that I actually converse with on Twitter, but I do feel it gives me a broader reach to people who might not other find me (via RT or Twitter searches, etc).
  
  But where Twitter *really* makes itself useful for me is by giving me one central location to get a lot of information. I could go to 5 news sites, 10 local restaurants/bars, 18 blogs, etc OR I could follow them all on Twitter and get what they consider to be pertinent news filtered directly to me.
  
  Reply
- hermanchan.com
  
  August 19, 2010 at 3:36 am
  
  sometimes clients (especially websavvy, tech oriented clients) will go thru twitter posts as a way to get to know you more. it’s real, live and snapshots of your personality and interpersonal skills, which are qualities they can’t get from reading a website. think of twitter as an extension of your website in a way. u cant update your site multiple times a day, but with twitter you can. and clients feel they are with you on topics and that you are relevant.
  
  Reply
Sheila Rasak

August 19, 2010 at 7:14 am

As always amazing content that offers so much information in a condensed format! Thank you for shedding even more light on the subject of social media!

Reply
- LesleyLambert
  
  August 19, 2010 at 12:13 pm
  
  Glad you like it and pleased to meet you!
  
  Reply
Missy Caulk

August 19, 2010 at 9:09 am

I get asked this a lot too, people assume I spend more time than I do, but probably less than an hour.

Mobile updates help and you can respond quickly, retweet, give an like etc…

I see a lot of extremes from some Social Media guru’s. Not sure how they can be selling many houses…but who am I to judge?

Reply
Ken Brand

August 19, 2010 at 2:01 pm

True words.

Reply
Debbie Harris

August 19, 2010 at 6:08 pm

I agree 100% – it will vary. For those that want to see the most consistent long term benefit from it, commitment will be key. As part of a regular daily marketing/prospecting plan it can consume various different times. One of its great assets is its no cost or minimal cost making it an excellent avenue for reaching out and connecting.

Reply
Lori Ballen Wekerle

August 19, 2010 at 9:53 pm

Man – here is a topic I can sink my teeth into. Besides FARMING (he-he) – I spend about an hour or two with posts, shares, tweets, facebook communication, and feeds to Twitter and Linked In.

I LOVE IT and don’t remember life without you.

My Facebook Link is facebook.com/lori.ballen

cbwardley.com/ballengroup

Reply
Peter Guichard

August 21, 2010 at 12:18 am

Hi Lesley,

Thanks for your article. It was very helpful. I’ve been guilty for sometime for not participating in the social networking phenomena. I was overwhelmed by the thought of how to get started. Believe it or not, I managed to revive or open accounts at Linked In, Facebook and Twitter after your article.

Reply
SmartVestors Realty

August 22, 2010 at 6:33 am

This is a never ending process along with the desired automation from the social medias. The great part on this is to have the real ideology in regards of collaboration throughout the scene.

Thanks,
SmartVestors Realty

Reply
Teresa boardman

August 23, 2010 at 5:07 pm

23 Min and 40 seconds. longer for men because most can’t type very fast.

Reply
Michael Sosnowski

September 14, 2010 at 9:13 am

To begin, social media is easier than developing a well conceived and lead generating website. That being said, in the end, there will only be a few that are really committed to success, understand what needs to be done and will benefit from attracting potential clients.

Reply
- Rob McCance
  
  September 14, 2010 at 10:00 am
  
  Mike,
  
  I agree with this completely. But you get what you “pay” for…or work for.
  
  If you do develop a ” well conceived and lead generating website” you can literally bring in 100 or more leads per month. And this, in my estimation, FAR outweights anything you can accomplish in social media with regards to raw lead generation.
  
  Not that it matters to anyone, and shouldn’t: but this is why I do ZERO social media and 100% web site and SEO development.
  
  We can wax on about the future and social media but hey, nobody really knows the future and I’ve got to eat and pay the mortgage NOW.
  
  Reply
Cheron Lange

September 20, 2010 at 7:04 pm

Okay, I have to admit I am guilty of seriously over doing it at times. There are days, I am only on for less than an hour and days it is more than 2-4 hours. And to boot I get nothing done!

I have several websites and fb pages that I like to read, and that is time consuming, along with catching up on local and community news. Oh yeah and I forgot to say I am a mom, along with being a Realtor and social media junkie!

I honestly do not think there should be a specific time frame, but beware…it can get out of hand!

Reply
eric

March 16, 2011 at 10:51 pm

Social media is cake. get some tools and automate twitter. twitter is not for interaction it is the #1 source of traffic to your blog. I spend 10min a day on twitter automate everything i have 4 active accounts that have close to 100k followers. imagine how much targeted traffic i get when i tweet my most recent blog post.

Facebook is for interaction answer every that writes to you. find a couple new ppl to follow another 5-10min

blogging a couple posts a week 1 hr each

all in all 20-30 min a day for social media is more than enough.

Reply

Social Media

Facebook pays $52M to content mods with PTSD, proving major flaw in their business

(SOCIAL MEDIA) Facebook will pay out up to millions to former content moderators suffering PTSD to settle the 2018 class action lawsuit.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 15, 2020

Joleen Jernigan, Staff Writer

Facebook’s traumatized former content moderators are finally receiving their settlement for the psychological damage caused by having to view extremely disturbing content to keep it off of Facebook.

The settlement is costing the company $52 million, distributed as a one time payment of $1,000 to each of the 10,000+ content moderators in four states. If any of these workers seek psychological help and are diagnosed with psychological conditions related to their jobs, Facebook also has to pay for that medical treatment. They pay up to $50,000 per moderator in additional damages (on a case-by-case basis).

Facebook also will offer psychological counseling going forward, and will attempt to create a type of screening for future candidates to determine a candidate’s emotional resiliency, and will make one-on-one mental health counseling available to content moderators going forward. They will also give moderators the ability to stop seeing specific types of reported content.

According to NPR, Steve Williams, a lawyer for the content moderators, said, “We are so pleased that Facebook worked with us to create an unprecedented program to help people performing work that was unimaginable even a few years ago. The harm that can be suffered from this work is real and severe.”

Honestly, this job is not for the faint of heart, to say the least. Like the hard-working, yet not unfazeable police officers on Law & Order SVU, seeing the worst of humanity takes a toll on one’s psyche. Facebook’s content moderators are only human, after all. These workers moderated every conceivable–and inconceivable–type of disturbing content people posted on the 2 billion-users-strong social media platform for a living. Some for $28,800 a year.

I wouldn’t last five minutes in this role. It is painful to even read about what these content moderators witnessed for eight hours a day, five days a week. While Facebook refuses to admit any wrongdoing, as part of the agreement, come on, man. Graphic and disturbing content that upset someone enough to report to Facebook is what these people viewed all day every day. It sounds almost like a blueprint for creating trauma.

This settlement surely sets the precedent for more class action lawsuits to come from traumatized content moderators on other social media platforms. The settlement also shows this business model for what it is: flawed. This isn’t sustainable. It’s disgusting to think there are people out there posting heinous acts, and I am grateful the platform removes them.

However, they have to come up with a better way. Facebook employs thousands upon thousands of really smart people who are brilliant at computer technology. Twitter and YouTube and similar platforms do, too. They need to come up with a better plan going forward, instead of traumatizing these unfortunate souls. I don’t know what that will look like. But with Facebook’s sky-high piles of money and access to so many brilliant minds, they can figure it out. Something’s got to give. Please figure it out.

Social Media

Twitter will give users a warning before a harmful tweet is sent

(SOCIAL MEDIA) Twitter is rolling out a new warning giving users a chance to edit their tweet before they post “harmful” language, and we aren’t sure how to feel about it.

Published

3 weeks ago

May 12, 2020

Joleen Jernigan, Staff Writer

Twitter is testing out a new warning system for potentially offensive tweets. If a tweet contains language Twitter deems “harmful,” Twitter will pop up with a warning and opportunity to revise the potentially offensive tweet before posting. The warning mentions that language in the tweet is similar to previously reported tweets.

If internal alarms are going off in your head, congratulations, you are wary of any censorship! However, if you read a tweet spewing with bile, racism, or threatening violence against a person or institution, do you report it? Do you want Twitter to take it down? If you said yes, then congratulations, you want to protect the vulnerable and fight hatred.

If you are wary of censorship, yet want to fight hatred and protect the vulnerable, welcome to the interwebs! It’s a crazy and precarious place where almost anything can happen. Despite decades of use, we’re still navigating our way through the gauntlet of tough decisions the proliferation of platforms and ease of use have given us.

First, how does Twitter gauge a potentially harmful tweet? According to Twitter, the app responds to language similar to prior tweets that people have reported. Twitter, like Facebook, Instagram, and other social platforms, already has hateful conduct rules in place. In fact, Twitter has a host of rules and policies intended to protect users from fraud, graphic violence, or explicitly sexual images.

Their rationale is detailed, but explains, “Our role is to serve the public conversation, which requires representation of a diverse range of perspectives.” However, they “recognise that if people experience abuse on Twitter, it can jeopardize their ability to express themselves.”

We’ve heard stories of teenagers–or even younger children–killing themselves after relentless bullying online. The feeling of anonymity when insulting a living, breathing being from behind a computer screen often causes a nasty pile-on effect. We’ve seen people use social media to bully, sexually harass, and threaten others.

Twitter cites research showing women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and other vulnerable populations are more likely to stop expressing themselves freely when someone abuses them on social media. Even Kelly Marie Tran, who played Resistance fighter Rose Tico in Star Wars, took down her Instagram photos before taking a stand against haters. And she had Jedis in her corner. Imagine your average person’s response to such cruel tactics?

We’ve seen hate groups and terrorist organizations use social media to recruit supporters and plan evil acts. We see false information springing up like weeds. Sometimes this information can be dangerous, especially when Joe Blow is out there sharing unresearched and inaccurate medical advice. Go to sleep, Blow, you’re drunk.

As an English major, and an open-minded person, I have a problem with censorship. Banned books are some of my favorites of all time. However, Twitter is a privately owned platform. Twitter has no obligation to amplify messages of hate. They feel, and I personally agree, that they have some responsibility to keep hateful words inciting violence off of their platform. This is a warning, not a ban, and one they’re only rolling out to iOS users for now.

I mean, in the history of angry rants, when was the last time a “Hey, calm down, you shouldn’t say that” ever made the person less angry or less ranty? Almost never. In which case, the person will make their post anyway, leaving it up to masses to report it. At that time, Twitter can make the decision to suspend the account and tell the user to delete it, add a warning, or otherwise take action.

Every once in a while, though, someone may appreciate the note. If you’ve ever had a colleague read an email for “tone” in a thorny work situation, you know heeding a yellow flag is often the wisest decision. This warning notice gives users a chance to edit themselves. As a writer, I always appreciate a chance to edit myself. If they flag every damn curse word, though, that will get real annoying real fast. You’re not my mom, Twitter. You’re not the boss of me.

This isn’t your great granddaddies’ book burning. This is 2020. The internet giveth; the internet taketh away. It’s a crying shame that evil creeps in when we’re not looking. Speech has consequences. Users can’t edit tweets, so once it’s out there, it’s out there. Even if they delete a tweet within moments of posting, anyone can screenshot that baby and share it with the world. Part of me says, “Good, let the haters out themselves.”

Twitter has shown itself to be open to differences in opinion, encouraging freedom of expression, and has opened up a whole new line of communication for traditionally underrepresented populations. They are a private company, and their rules and policies are posted. What, you didn’t read the terms of use? Gasp!

It’s Twitter’s rodeo, after all. This warning gives users a quick, added heads up to posting something that will likely be reported/removed anyway. For better or worse, Twitter’s still leaving it up to users to post what they want and deal with the potential fallout. Hey, I have a great idea! How about we all be respectful of each other on the internet, and Twitter won’t have to come up with this kind of thing.

Social Media

Yelp adds virtual services classification to help during COVID

(SOCIAL MEDIA) Yelp constantly adds new classifications for how to find a business to meet your needs, now because of COVID they have added virtual services.

Published

4 weeks ago

May 7, 2020

Allison Yano, Staff Writer

Yelp is making efforts to accommodate businesses whose operations are adapting in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Several new features will help businesses display updated services.

The company has added an information category titled virtual service offerings. Business can display service option such as classes, virtual consultations, performances, and tours. Yelpers can search for businesses based upon those offerings.

Yelp has already noticed trends where users are incorporating virtual services into their business profiles. In an report by TechCrunch, Yelp’s head of consumer product Akhil Kuduvalli said “With these new product updates, businesses of all types that are adapting and changing the way they operate will be able to better connect with their customers and potentially find new ones.”

Virtual services in categories like fitness, gyms, home services, real estate, and health are already increasing in popularity. Yelp intends to showcase businesses that are providing those services by creating new Collections.

“Once business owners update their virtual service offerings on their Yelp for Business profiles, we will surface those updates to consumers through new call-to-action buttons, by updating the home screen and search results with links to groups of businesses offering these new virtual services, as well as surfacing them in other formats like Collections,” said Kudvalli.

Also in the works is a curbside pickup category for restaurants. Additionally, Yelp introduced a free customized banner for businesses to post updates on their profiles. About 224,000 businesses have used the banner so far.

Yelp hasn’t stopped there. It’s made its Connect feature (which allows businesses to share important updates to all Yelpers on their profile and their email subscribers) free to eligible local businesses as part of the Yelp’s commitment to waive $25 million in fees to support businesses in need during the COVID-19 crisis.

During COVID-19 businesses and consumers need all the help they can get, and thankfully Yelp is there to – help.