Part of my core schtick at Top of Mind is to ask my prospects two critical questions about email marketing:
1) Why are so many companies leveraging email as their primary vehicle for communicating with clients and prospects?
Two reasons – email is cheap and email is easy.
2) Why are you getting 200+ emails in your inbox every day?
Exactly. Cheap and easy creates a low barrier to entry… and a low barrier to entry creates clutter. Clutter is a marketer’s worst enemy. Bad news folks – Facebook is cheap and easy too.
I’m very fortunate to have some groovy friends in the mortgage industry – and after my Facebook Webinar with Brian Brady, I made even more of them. Now I’m getting my new friends’ updates and:
75% of the time they’re telling me it’s time to refinance, locking loans or boring me with industry vernacular I don’t understand.
20% of the time they’re giving me a play by play on what they’re eating, what color tie they’re wearing or something else I really don’t care about
Okay, so now we’ve identified the problem. Next step is fixing it. Here are some best practices I’ve seen and a few I haven’t.
1) Keep an eye on your frequency. Here’s a general rule of thumb: the more compelling and fresh your status updates are, the more frequency you can get away with. I think the sweet spot is 3 updates a week so long as they can pass the next test…
2) Before updating your status, ask yourself if anyone really cares. How many of your 250 friends care that you’re getting ready for bed? For me, that’s the equivalent of tuning into MIX 96 FM and hearing “I’ll Tumble For Ya” by Culture Club. I’m flailing like a maniac for the next station even if it causes a 57-car pile up. If I hear enough Culture Club on MIX 96, they’re off my speed dial FOREVER. Same goes for my Facebook pals. Sorry, just keepin’ it real.
3) Have a strong take on something topical – politics, current events, sports, etc. You don’t have to tell your friends that you’re a mortgage pro 5 times a day for them to realize that you’re in the mortgage business. Show people that you have other interests and passions too. Engage them in dialogue. What you’re really going after here isn’t their next loan application or home listing, it’s top-of-mind status. The rest takes care of itself.
4) Ask your friends if they know a good whatchamacallit. Any whatchamacallit will do. Technophiles will jump at the chance to tell you why they bought a particular brand of HDTV. Soccer moms will be overjoyed to tell you who’s having the best easter egg hunt in town. People love to share, so give them a reason to share with you.
5) Mix it up by telling someone why today means something to you. Maybe it was a sporting or political event. Maybe it’s a date of personal significance. Who knows? I just know that I don’t see much of this type of content on Facebook.
Well, that about wraps up this article. I think I’m going to take a hot shower and hit the sack! Gotta get up early and seize the day! EEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!
Brian Brady says:
BINGO!
Brian is extraordinarily proud today
April 7, 2009 — 6:45 pm
Mark Madsen says:
I get so many new invites to groups, games and new web 2.0 power networks through facebook. Unfortunately, I barely look at my inbox on FB anymore because I know it is just going to be a bunch of spam.
I know that there are more productive ways than others to remind my friends and family that I’m still a loan officer. It could be as easy as installing a WordPress application that syncs through a FB page or group which could be tweaked a little to puke new blog content on everyone’s walls all day long.
However, I’m not going to fault anyone for working hard to network and promote themselves. This market is a little challenging, and people are doing whatever it takes to survive. If their friends don’t mind the constant shop talk, then who cares.
Either way Mark, I like your mix of things to do and say other than telling people that you’re in the process of being a real estate industry professional. Think about how funny it would be if all of our friends talked about their jobs on FB as much as real estate people do.
April 7, 2009 — 7:13 pm
Mark Madsen says:
Mark is typing a mortgage blog post and looking at low mortgage rates for a new client.
April 7, 2009 — 7:38 pm
Sean Purcell says:
Before updating your status, ask yourself if anyone really cares. How many of your 250 friends care that you’re getting ready for bed?
Besides, that’s what Twitter’s for…
April 7, 2009 — 8:30 pm
Mark Madsen says:
I’ve got a better one Sean –
How about when people update their FB status with….
“I just posted my mortgage rates on Twitter”
🙂
April 7, 2009 — 9:51 pm
Joshua Hanoud says:
My blog automatically updates twitter which automatically updates my facebook page and my blog…yeah…it’s true – I’m redundant.
April 7, 2009 — 10:19 pm
Geno Petro says:
I took one of those ‘What Crazy MF-er Are You?’ quizzes and the result came back: ‘Geno Petro.’
April 8, 2009 — 6:18 am
Brian Brady says:
“the result came back: ‘Geno Petro.’”
so did mine. Must be a 215 thing
April 8, 2009 — 7:53 am
jay seville says:
I block all those darn quizzes everybody som idiot friend of mine takes one and therefore I get bothered with the stupid results. Drives me crazy.
April 8, 2009 — 8:29 pm
Mark Green says:
Brian Brady blew it up yesterday by posting this on his update:
Brian Brady invites you to finish this sentence; housing prices in California will…
I had fun filling in the blank and so did 16 other people.
April 9, 2009 — 6:40 am
Chris Brown says:
Mark
Well written. I myself am still trying to pan out the best ways I can use facebook to connect with people in my marketplace. I have probably committed each sin more than once, so hopefully i haven;t caused your need for therapy [Madsen probably did that].
I have some great connections, however, that would have ever formed without facebook so I am convinced once i get it right – it will not only bring value to my family by helping buy baby shoes, but will – in the end – add value to the community I am apart of.
In otherwords, OMG, what is el probo w @Chris_Brown_ and y cant he get his act together, ROFLMAO
April 10, 2009 — 4:33 am
Laura Evans says:
Mark makes some great points about how to use Social Networking tools. I’m not in the Facebook game for marketing purposes, purely social for me. However if I were, I think my strategy for this powerful tool would be slightly different.
First, I would establish a goal. In your world, I presume it would be to build your sphere of influence to sell. So, if the majority of your FB “friends” are in your industry (isn’t LinkedIn a better tool for this?), you need to expand your group of friends. Start with your high school or college classmates and let it grow. You can’t be shy or too selective.
That brings me to my next point. I would also develop a Touchpoint Management Strategy. Meaning, I would classify my “friends” into different groups (you can do this on FB and I already do). Then, based on my classifications or sub groups, I would develop a monthly and annual plan of Touchpoint Opportunities. If you find yourself interacting more with a small group of “friends”, you need to reevaluate your strategy.
I think the points made like Keeping an Eye on Your Frequency and Before Updating your Status, Ask Yourself if Anyone Really Cares are important, but not the real power in the relationship-building model in sales. The point of FB as a sales tool is to check in with your contacts, not to assume they are checking in with you.
In addition, although I agree that current events (some) and sports are great conversational topics (I would avoid politics), the Number One conversational topic is family and children. Matter of fact, this is how I would prioritize conversational topics:
Family and children
Interest and hobbies
Sport teams
College or high school
Where they grew up or live
Vacations
Weekends
Pets
I presume that most of your clientele have families…just a thought. So, when you check in with your “friends”, you should always look at their photos and never let a status update about a child’s success go without at least a thumbs up “like”. Over time, you may even be able to get birthdays, anniversaries – those all important DATES that are the key to relationship-building sales. Heck, FB already has tools for remembering birthdays…you are halfway home!
I agree that your page can’t be stagnant and like the frequency outlined above. Just remember, sales is a two way street. Oh, and I like Boy George…sorry.
April 10, 2009 — 11:08 am