Take Your Word-Of-Mouth Real Estate Marketing to the Next Level by Teaming up with a Local Influencer

Most real estate agents use social media as a means of marketing themselves, at least to some degree. Some agents are able to build a massive following, while others have only a handful of people. Regardless of which group you fall into, the number of followers you have doesn’t always translate into actual business anyway.

How effective your social media marketing is, and how much business you get from it, can depend a lot upon not only how many people follow you, but also how much you can personally influence them.

Some people just have a knack for not only racking up reactions, comments, and sharing of their content, but can also get people to do things. They’re so good at influencing people to do things, they’re literally called “influencers”—and they can make a lot of money (maybe even an entire living!) just by posting things for companies and brands.

Whether you’re killing it on social media or not, and no matter how many friends and followers you have, how awesome would it be to have someone like that posting things about you and your business?

Well, you can get an influencer to post things for you, and it might not cost you as much as you think!

It’s Basically Just Word-Of-Mouth on Steroids

There’s nothing like good old word-of-mouth marketing, right?! People like to make decisions based on recommendations from people they know and trust, which is why having your sphere of influence (family, friends, past clients, etc.) telling other people about you and your services is the holy grail in this business.

According to this Marketing Dive article, 81% of consumers claimed that social media posts from friends, family, and influencers impacted their buying decisions in the past year…

…which is why “influencers” have been able to carve out a nice living for themselves, if you think about it. They just have to come across as believable when endorsing a product to people who trust (or worship) their opinion. It’s basically just word-of-mouth marketing…but for money.

When you hear the term influencer, people like Kim and the rest of the Kardashian crew probably come to mind, right? Getting someone like that to endorse you isn’t impossible; if you have enough money, you could probably get them to post things for you. But a few posts probably wouldn’t do much for you long term, and just one of them would cost you more than many agents make in a year.

Plus, influencers on that level often require you to commit to a lot more than a post or two. So, unless you have a huge budget, hiring an influencer of that magnitude isn’t in the cards.

Fortunately, there are different levels of influencers!

It’s Probably More Affordable Than You Think

The reason influencers like the Kardashians can charge so much for a single post is because they have so many followers. But according to this Influencer Marketing Hub article, most influencers have their own individual rate sheets, and how much they charge varies greatly depending upon many factors, such as:

• The platform they post on
• Their reach
• The engagement they get with their audience
• Their niche or industry specialty
• The rights to the content they create
• Exclusivity

The article also breaks down influencers into different categories, based upon the number of followers they have:

• Mega-influencers: 1,000,000+
• Macro-influencers: 500,000–1,000,000
• Mid-tier influencers: 50,000–500,000
• Micro-influencers: 10,000–50,000
• Nano-influencers: 1,000–10,000

While there’s no way to give an exact amount a post costs due to the many variables, the general gist is that a mega-influencer can charge thousands (if not tens of thousands) of dollars per post depending upon the platform and type of content, while a nano-influencer only fetches anywhere from a few bucks to maybe a hundred bucks per post. Now that’s pretty affordable!

Smaller (More Local) Influencers Have More Influence

The even better news is that influencers with a smaller following may actually be better for you to work with anyway!

Check out this excerpt from this Ethos Marketing article:

So, it actually makes more sense for you to set your sights on local nano-influencers. Not only are they the less-expensive type of influencer to team up with, they’re also the most influential in getting people to make decisions in their life!

Think about it. Unless you’re marketing high-end mansions that only celebrities and hedge fund managers could afford, it might seem kind of odd to have a mega-influencer gushing about a new listing you’re trying to market. It’d be way more believable to have a local nano-influencer raving about how cool a house you just listed is, and how he or she loved the kitchen and spa-like bathrooms, and casually throwing in that he or she can’t wait to see it in person at the open house this Sunday between 1-4PM, if it isn’t already under contract by then! Nobody would believe a Karashian (or the like) saying that, but a local influencer with a decent sized following and some social clout is a lot more believable and likely to generate some buzz.
What you want to look for is someone who has a sizable following in your area, and gets a good amount of reactions and engagement on much of what they post on social media. Someone whose followers look up to, aspire to be, or just find relatable or likable for whatever reason.That type of person is more likely to influence local home buyers and sellers than a mega-influencer, and is probably a lot more accessible and available to you if you want to have them do some in-person things on a local level.

Tips on Finding Ones to Work With

Finding an influencer to work with might take a little digging, but it’s also not as difficult as you might think. Here are a few ways to find ones you might want to work with:

Where to look for them:

• Influencer search sites: Just do a quick search online for “influencer search tools,” or “find local influencers,” and a bunch of sites will come up. Some require you to pay a subscription to see results, but some just require you to set up a free account. These would be a great way to find someone in your area who’s already putting themselves out there as an influencer and is actively posting for people willing to compensate them.
• Agencies: Some influencers are represented by agencies. You can look into these similarly to the databases mentioned above. Just do a quick search for influencer agents and you’ll find some.
• Research local hashtags: Search local hashtags on the venues you want to promote yourself, and see if you can find someone who uses the hashtag often and has a decent following and engagement with their audience.
• Someone you’re already connected with or know: Do you have a past client who’s killing it on social media? Who better to team up with than someone who’s worked with you in the past?! How about a friend, family member, or just a “Facebook friend” you’ve never actually met who has followers and engagement online? You can probably think of a couple right off the top of your head, but if not, scroll through your friends and followers lists on all of your social media platforms and see if anyone fits the bill.

What to look for:

• Different people for different platforms: Just because one person has a great following on Facebook doesn’t mean they’ve got one on Instagram, and vice versa. You don’t have to put all of your eggs in one basket; look for different influencers on different platforms.
• Influencers with different demographics: You help people from different races, nationalities, and genders, so it only makes sense to find influencers who appeal to different types of people. For example, a female influencer in her 20’s and one in her 40’s will likely have different audiences and influence different types of people. A man will likely have different followers than females.
• Find influencers who post about topics and niches that relate to real estate: Think along the lines of home improvement, decor and interior decorating, lifestyle, etc.
• Or just find someone who’s totally plugged into everything local: Maybe there’s a local friend, teacher, or business owner who has a great local presence and just loves to post about where they ate, new businesses that opened, or showing off their new hair cut and raving about their stylist. If they already do it for others — probably without even getting paid — there’s a good chance they’ll jump at the chance to do it for you and make some money doing it! And you can probably negotiate a lower rate with someone who’s new to the business of posting on behalf of someone else.

Put it in writing:

Once you find one (or more) to work with, make sure to draft a formal agreement that establishes expectations and compensation. Here are a few things you should make sure to address with your influencer:

• How often will they post for you?
• What venues will they post on?
• How much is a post worth?
• Are different types of posts worth more?
• When will you pay them for a post?
• Is there a minimum number of posts or payment per week, per month, or per year that they require?
• Is the content they create exclusive, or will they be creating duplicate content for other people?
• What rights do you have to share the content and for how long?
• Will they keep the relationship private and discreet, or will they let people know that they are paid to promote you?

If you approach someone who’s already being paid as an influencer, they may have a contract or agreement for you to use. If not, these will give you some parameters to start with, and of course add any more that you or the influencer come up with as well. But, just to be safe, you might even want to hire a lawyer to draft a contract for you to use.

Also, this is a little different than many other forms of real estate marketing, so make sure you check with your broker-in-charge, or local board, to make sure you don’t violate any rules or regulations in how you compensate them, or how you have them promote your services.

Give them things to talk about and share:

Even professional influencers need you to give them what you want to share. Some might be able to get creative and come up with topics or content for you. Of course they’ll record or write the post in their own words, but most likely they’ll need to be given ideas and some direction.

Here are a few to get your creative juices flowing:

• Have them share and rave about a house you just listed and talk about features they love about the house.
• Have them come to an open house you’re hosting and post live from it as you give them a tour.
• Hop in the car with them and record a local tour of the area like you’d do with someone thinking about relocating to the area.
• Have them share some branded social media content — like promotional real estate memes or informative articles you posted — to get it in front of their audience. (Just make sure your content is branded with your name, company, and contact info! On that note, if you’re looking for tons of amazing content you can share with your branding on it, check out our Inner Circle membership!)
• Write your own how-to booklet, or e-book, and have them gush about how informative and helpful it is with information on how they can request or download a copy of it. (Or you can save yourself a ton of time and just join our Inner Circle where you’ll have access to 20 real estate booklets and guides that are already written and ready for you to just add your branding onto them!)

Alright, now it’s time for you to put these ideas into motion! Find yourself a local influencer (or two) and start looking like the agent local celebrities trust when it’s time to buy or sell a house!