In our April episode of Monday Market Minute, Carrie McCormick from @properties talk about social media. Carrie shares 10 tips about social media to help you build a better presence. Next, D.J. shares his marketing tip for this month. Finally, D.J. shares a very specific tip about listing photos.
If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube!
Carrie can be reached at carrie@atproperties.com or by phone at 312.961.4612.
Please follow Carrie on Instagram by clicking here.
This episode is brought to you by Real Geeks.
Transcript
D.J. Paris 0:00
On today’s show, our guest in the last 12 months did 161 million in production all herself no team and today we’re going to focus on how she runs her social media account and how you can do the same. Stay tuned. This episode of Keeping it real is brought to you by real geeks. How many homes are you going to sell this year? Do you have the right tools? Is your website turning soft leads and interested buyers? Are you spending money on leads that aren’t converting? Well real geeks is your solution. Find out why agents across the country choose real geeks as their technology partner. Real geeks was created by an agent for agents. They pride themselves on delivering a sales and marketing solution so that you can easily generate more business. Their agent websites are fast and built for lead conversion with a smooth search experience for your visitors. Real geeks also includes an easy to use agents CRM. So once a lead signs up on your website, you can track their interest and have great follow up conversations. Real geeks is loaded with a ton of marketing tools to nurture your leads and increase brand awareness visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and find out why Realtors come to real geeks to generate more business again, visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and now on to our show
Welcome to keeping it real the largest podcast for real estate agents and my real estate agents. My name is DJ Paris I am your guide and host through the show and today is our monthly series called The Monday market minute with Carrie McCormick from Carrie McCormack Real Estate Group here in Chicago with at properties Christie’s International. Now Carrie is a top 1% producer here in the Chicagoland area with over 20 years of experience helping buyers, sellers and investors. In fact, the past 12 months out of 46,000 real estate agents here in the Chicagoland area Carrie is currently ranked number 13 in production and she is a true superstar and an expert in everything from first time homebuyers, veteran investors and luxury properties. She also works with a lot of developers and is often chosen to represent their high end developments. Please visit Carrie at her website, which is Carrie McCormick r e.com. And also follow her on Instagram at Carey McCormick real estate. Carrie, welcome once again to the show.
Carrie McCormick 2:35
Thank you. Thank you happy spring.
D.J. Paris 2:38
Happy Spring happy Passover. Happy Easter. I’m not sure what other holidays happened this past weekend. But there were those were the big ones. Yeah, it’s and it’s the sun’s coming out again, finally, although today. But yeah, let’s talk about what’s going on with you this month. I know you’re pretty busy.
Carrie McCormick 2:59
Actually, the markets extremely busy, as everybody knows, but I thought I would take a break from the boring market stats and low inventory and all that, you know, information that we keep hearing over and over again and talk about something fun, like social media, a lot of people ask me questions about Instagram and social media and what to do and how to do it. So I thought I would give everyone a little bit of some tips. And I think when we tell our stories on social media, people feel more connected to us. And when people are connected, it leads to conversion. So that’s what I want to talk about. So can I dive right in?
D.J. Paris 3:38
Let’s do it.
Carrie McCormick 3:39
Okay, so I’ve got I think about upset, don’t count, but I think it’s about 10 tips that I’m going to share with everyone. And the first one is make sure that you’re let’s just talk about Instagram, right so well I guess any platform but Instagram in particular, make sure that your profile is optimized. Think of your profile as your resume people will decide to connect with you based just you know, very quick, you know, snap judgment on who you are based on your profile, make sure your picture is clear. Make sure what you do is clear. Make sure where you work, what you do your contact information. It’s all clear people don’t want to go hunting around and trying to find your information. So again, tip number one, make sure that your profile is optimized. Number two, use hashtags. A lot of people will do one or two or three hashtags. You have 30 hashtags to use. So make sure that you use hashtags that are relevant to whatever you’re posting. It’s an easy way to find ideal clients when you create content that matches the hashtag. I’ve seen some people put hashtag I don’t even know good example. Like Chicago Bulls, but the post has nothing to do with the Chicago Bulls. So again, just make sure that your hash tags are relevant to Whatever you’re posting, the next one, which is number three is use polls. If anyone knows how to do that, in your stories, polls are a great way. And I have to do more of this a great way to engage people out there by asking them their opinion, like example, which kitchen Do you prefer this one or this one, or if you have two or three or four different types of kitchens, outdoor space, you know, whatever it is, it’s great for engagement when you use polls, and people find it fun, and they find it easy. And the best thing is, sometimes people will go back to the poll, because if they chose kitchen number one, you know, the day will go by, and they’ll want to see how many people agreed with them. So it’s kind of self serving, but they come back to your page to see how well their choice did against other people. Number four, is use more video. People love to watch videos. And actually the platforms themselves, whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, they are rewarding you if you have video posts, and it’ll give you more organic reach. So make sure that you do more videos. I know everyone hates doing them. I hate doing them too. But you just have to do it and get them out there.
D.J. Paris 6:23
And you can you can easily do videos now where if you have a listing, or if you’re going to see a showing if you’re on the buy side, you know, you can show up ahead of time when the client isn’t there maybe and do a little walkthrough with your phone turned around. And you know, that’s I was just at a Zillow conference. And they were saying that this isn’t exactly apples to apples with what you just said. But they were saying that in their listings, because they have more data than anything. They understand consumer online behavior better than anybody. They said four homes that are listed, that have a virtual tour, a 3d virtual tour, that they’re that 63% of home shoppers expect a home virtual tour at a listing and they they won’t even look at listings that don’t have them 63% of their their shoppers blitz past listing, so So yeah, so this just the video craze is, it’s there.
Carrie McCormick 7:19
I’m just I just wrote down a note. That’s pretty impressive. So yes, I mean, even on that front, I think that’s super important. I think I’m I’m number five, correct me if I’m wrong, I think I’m And tip number five, which is tag the people that you’re working with, again, something I need to do a better job with. But when you’re with people, and you tag them, it, you’re seen by their connections, their friends, their followers. This helps you not only in your current network, but also through mutual connections. So again, we’re trying to reach more people get more connections, get more followers get more traction, definitely tag people that you’re with, and also tag where you are, you know, some people search by location. So if you’re in Lincoln Park, if you’re in Bucktown, if you’re in Winnetka, wherever you are, people want to see you know, again where you are. And then there they do hash tags based on locations too. So make sure you tag the location that you are. Number seven ish. When we tell us we say tell a story. Every home has a story, every every event in your life has a story. So when you tell a story on social media, people feel more connected to you. And again, connection leads to conversion. So share a story about your clients and how you help them buy or sell a home. Share the story of moving or share some sort of story about your business. Again, people love storytelling, and it leads to connection. Number eight, use stories. This is a fun one. As you know, it’s easy and quick for people to to view your stories. Sometimes I struggle a little bit too with what do you share every day. If you think about your day from morning to night, there’s something great that you can do a quick, quick snapshot of what’s going on maybe what’s behind the scenes that you’re at a photo shoot, you’re attending a final walkthrough you’re attending, something’s happening, so share something behind the scenes. Again, these stories are quick, quick tidbits of your day and people love to see that. Especially if it’s something funny. People always love to have humor right or dogs. Everyone loves the dogs, cats and dogs, cats and dogs. Number nine is highlight a local business. People love to hear what’s happening in the neighborhood. Love support, have a local business. And keep in mind if it’s a restaurant, a clothing store, your favorite flower place, whatever it is you tag them In your post, and guess what, they may start sharing that as well. So again, more exposure for you. And my last tip, which I absolutely 100% agree with, and I live and breathe by this one is Be your own brand ambassador. I’ve said this for years. And this is one of the reasons that I think that my social media took off, because it’s all organic. To me. It’s authentic to me, I try not to copy other people, when I say when I try not to. I mean, there’s some words like that, you know, they’re just standard words in our market, but you have to be your own brand ambassador. And the more authentic you are, the more engaged people will be with you. And you just have to take action on it, and the results will follow
D.J. Paris 10:54
you I think people really want to know what, especially on social media, they want to know what you stand for, they want to know and since realtors are their own brand, I was at a branding conference, I was telling Carrie earlier, when I was at the Zillow conference, my sister was speaking at a branding conference a few miles away I got to go watch her speak and I got to watch some leaders from different industries talking about marketing and branding trends. And they were saying that right now it’s imperative that brands have a some sort of larger mission outside of just whatever they’re providing to their customers is like what is the company stand for? What do they believe in what what is their commitment to giving back contributing outside of just you know, what what they make and produce? And so this is social media is a great opportunity I think for a for your your following to see not only am I you know, a real estate agent, here’s here’s how I service my clients but oh by the way, this is really important to me, whatever those those issues might be or organizations that you support so I’m I’m a big believer in yet be your own brand ambassador share, like every everything that you’re comfortable sharing about your life that you know really tells people who you are.
Carrie McCormick 12:10
Right and I agree with that I was also at a branding conference different one but one thing that they were talking about the new generation, or the younger generation is being you know, luxury is less of a status symbol meaning you know, people used to wear Gucci belts, I shouldn’t say used to people would wear, you know Gucci, Gucci, Gucci, this or Chanel or you know, a ton of stuff and you know, whatever it was that that was their status symbol, but luxury is becoming less of a status symbol. And millennials and the Gen Zers influences a change of values towards like sustainable sustainability. It’s hard to understand well being diversity and inclusion and all of that stuff. So that’s kind of this new era, I think of luxury is going to be just about more of well being and being authentic. And like you said, it’s it’s, it’s a whole new change that I think’s gonna happen, and I love it.
D.J. Paris 13:09
Yeah, I agree. And that really dovetails nicely into a couple of suggestions I have on the marketing side, as a quick little tip for our listeners and viewers. Number one, Carrie, you had said this is one of your tips, which was highlight local business. So we’re talking about real estate being hyperlocal. Right. And being that agents typically service a specific geographic area, you know, this is a great opportunity for you to support via social media, some of these businesses that that you believe in, so I was at a little cafe near where I live, actually, you’ll know at Foxtrot Amil they have a bunch of them here in Chicago, they’re these little kind of like half kind of grocery fun groceries and then they have also food that they make, and I was picking up some breakfast tacos that they make, which are breakfast burritos, rather, and they’re really cool, but I think there’s a lot of people that don’t know they make those and they’re, they’re really fun and nice. And so if I were a producing agent, I would have contacted Foxtrot when I was making that order and said Hey, is it okay if I shoot a little you know 32nd video when I come to pick up thing highlighting how much I love your your products and then I’ll I’ll tag you guys in the post as Carrie was saying by tagging other people in the post or other brands oftentimes their followers will see that but you can also of course tell the people in the shop or the store oh by the way I’m going to put this post out just keep your eye out for and maybe I can email it to you guys in case you miss it and then they might want to read reshare it of course with their followers but but that’s just a huge way to to get your social media channel exposed maybe to someone else’s followers and other brands businesses. shoot a little video about how great you know someone’s breakfast burritos are do it in the store. You don’t have to make you know a big deal about it but you can do a quick little Little highlight reel or story, do that, shoot it out and see what see how many more people followers you get. And then I just have one other tip, this is a really specific tip that I just, I just didn’t know this Carrie, I’m curious if you knew this, and you probably do, but I didn’t. So I was at the Zillow conference, and they had this one statistic that was really just kind of jumped out at me. It’s so funny. They, all they do is just, you know, look at so many different variables for data and they try to figure out what consumers want, they have, they have determined that if they if if in a listing photo in the photos for a listing, if the bedroom, if the bed of the shots of the bed, rather, and I’m sort of stumbling over this, if I’m just trying to get really specific, if the shots of the bed, the camera shots of the bed, if they show white sheets, white pillowcases, and a white comforter. And this is it’s they know that consumers are 23% more likely to schedule a showing versus a printed pattern, like a floral pattern, even like a dark color, even if it’s a single color, anything that’s not white, there, they see a decline in the number of appointments that are scheduled. So it’s a silly little thing that I mean, it’s almost 25, almost 25% More showings. So if I were an agent, I would go out and buy a bunch of comforters of different sizes, all white, maybe some do vase with some white, you know, white sheets, or at least a white duvet with some white pillowcases. And I would just have that, you know, in my garage or wherever I could store that. And whenever I have a listing, I would, you know, again, it’s not going to always make sense to do that. But it certainly can make sense. A lot of times, instead of having the client go out and buy all new stuff, or I guess you could probably color it with Photoshop or something if you really wanted to in the photos, if it’s a different color, you guys, you can make it white. But I think it’d be just a good idea to buy a couple do vase and bring them along with you to do at the
Carrie McCormick 17:10
shade that was for the primary suite or just all bedrooms,
D.J. Paris 17:13
you know, they didn’t they, I’m assuming its primary. I don’t know about all bedrooms, they just kind of blitz through it. So I can find out and get back to talk about it.
Carrie McCormick 17:23
I think it’s I think it’s definitely probably the primary but it that’s very interesting. And now I’m just thinking back to some of my listings that sold extremely quickly. And guess what, they all have white bedding.
D.J. Paris 17:36
And I wonder too about white walls. I’m going to reach out to my Zillow friends. And I wonder if white walls do a similar thing as well. Maybe in the primary? Again, I don’t know. But gosh, I mean, that’s a really interesting stat that you can just literally bring it especially to like if you’re at a listing presentation, and everyone’s got the same marketing materials and you know, you’re in competition with three other agents and you’re all great agents, and, you know, all of your stats look great. And, you know, little things like that might just make a bit of a difference. But 23% increase in showings based on white bedding is that just bloom. I mean, I have all white bedding and all white walls. Just because I’m lazy and that’s that’s how it came. And I was like, that’s what I want. And apparently that’s that’s, that’s that’s the way to do it these days. So
Carrie McCormick 18:24
yeah, that find out what they say I love all the stats, you know, yeah, so interesting.
D.J. Paris 18:29
So while the white trending while the white trend is very invoke, this is a great opportunity to bring some additional value to your listings. And you know sub separate a little bit so anyway, I think I think those are some great tips all throughout this this episode. So I think this is a good opportunity for us to to just keep it short and sweet this time. So everyone who is listening though, if you have clients that are you know want to work with a top Chicago agent, maybe you’re in a different state and you have people moving to Chicago Carrie works with you know, all sorts of clients, especially referrals from other agents and other areas. Or if you yourself are looking to buy or sell a property here in the Chicagoland area. Or just looking for advice about maybe maybe you’re in a different area but you’d like you know a top Realtors sort of perspective on your situation. Definitely reach out to Carrie she’s she’s a great, amazing resource and is happy to chat with you Carrie, what’s the best way somebody who might want to work with you or speak with you can get in touch?
Carrie McCormick 19:32
Yeah, so always call me 312-961-4612 You can email me Carrie it’s ca RR ie at@properties.com or connect with me on Instagram. It’s Carrie McCormick real estate.
D.J. Paris 19:49
Yeah, that’s great everyone Visit our website to carry McCormick our e.com Please follow her as she said on Instagram at Carey McCormick real estate and everyone who’s listening of course Thank you for continuing to listen and support our show, please tell a friend and CO one other realtor that could benefit from hearing this great episode with Carrie about social media and send them a link to our website, which is keeping it real pod.com Or just have them pull up a podcast app search for keeping it real and hit the subscribe button. And also, if everyone could leave us a review of the show in whatever podcast app you might be listening to, whether it’s Apple podcasts, formerly known as iTunes or Spotify, Google Play stitcher or Pandora wherever. Let us know what you think of the show, give us leave us a review that helps us continue to improve and also gets us in front of more people based on the number of reviews we get. So we appreciate that. As always, Carrie, thank you so much for being on our show for years and years now providing so much value to our audience and our audience. Again, thank you for sticking all the way to the end, and we will see everybody on the next episode. Bye everybody.
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