Online Endorsements / Reviews for REALTORS® are As Important as Offline Now... Maybe Even More!
We all know the power of the rapidly growing "online world" and hopefully you are taking steps to implement various aspects of this powerhouse into your real estate business and marketing. Another necessary component to your business is to have your clients say good things about what a fantastic REALTOR® you are.
If you are giving great customer service as a REALTOR® offline then you want to begin having that reflect online. "Social Proof" has become so impacting that Google now strongly alters website rankings based on endorsements/reviews/likes from various online properties.
Although this post focuses on YELP which provides a place for consumers to leave reviews for businesses, there are countless other places online you as a REALTOR® can set up an account (usually free) for your clients to leave feedback about you and your business. Since many of these online review sites can be targeted to a certain country or location we will leave some of the research to you and the local area you have your real estate business in. After our YELP piece we will leave a short list of some of the most popular and widely used sites you can check out.
Morgan Remmers knows how to get your customers to rave about you online using your Business Page on Yelp (Insights from Yelp’s manager of local business outreach)...
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- Upload unlimited amount of photos for your real estate business
- 3000 characters of info about your business specialty, history, bio about owner and links to your website and social sites
- Respond via private messenger and public commenting (best PR Tool when done right)
- Monetize by creating YELP deal (dollar for dollar amount certificate) or on mobile by giving an offer when people “check in” to your business
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Engagement of your clients starts in the offline world by giving great customer service and have it carried forward online.
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- Include YELP badge in your email signature and on your website
- Plaster your YELP Badge everywhere (Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedin etc)... this hyperlinks your client over to those pages where you have that presence. Very natural way to have people engage
- On YELP specifically – offer a “check in” for first consultation, coffee etc. The next time the client logs in to YELP, they will be reminded they “checked in” to this REALTORS® office and are asked if they would like to leave a review?
- Allow YELP to ask for a referral versus you as an agent asking on your own behalf
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You can claim your business listing for free at...
biz.yelp.com (USA)
biz.yelp.ca (Canada)
biz.yelp.co.uk (UK)
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- Google + (Definitely a must)
- Realtor.com
- Rate-My-Agent.com
- Realestateratingz.com
- Zillow.com
- Trulia.com
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These only take 10-15 minutes each (MAX) to setup so sit down one night and take a couple hours to carve out a bigger online presence.
Once these are in place try sending your clients a hand written note (pop in a scratch and win lottery ticket) and ask them for a review of you and your real estate service and to let you know if they win the big one on the ticket.
Linkedin is a very powerful network you want to take some time developing. A good way to kick start your own endorsements is to take the time to review someone else on Linkedin and ask if they would return the favor.
Check out the video of Morgan Remmers on her insights into using your Business Page on Yelp
Strength and courage,
Wade
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