Well, are you on Facebook? How many Instagram followers do you have? Have you tweeted in the last 48 hours? Are you on Popsicle yet? Everyone who is anyone is on Popsicle!
You've heard that all of this "activity" is needed to have an effective real estate marketing system. However, the number one way that people find a real estate agent is by talking to their friends, family, and acquaintances. In other words, it is real-life, word-of-mouth marketing that is effective, not marketing to your online "friends." Therefore, any real estate marketing system needs to have a referral marketing strategy at its core. No real estate marketing system can compete with a prospect's BFF raving about how great her real estate agent is and recommending her to anyone and everyone.
What can you do in your business that will have people raving so that they tell everyone in their circle of influence about you? Here is a harsh reality check: an annual Christmas card is not going to cut it. It is just going to make its way into the circular file cabinet (i.e., trash can) once the first of the year rolls around. What can you do that will make people want to show off to their friends? How can you get tongues wagging and people picking up the phone to brag?
Next, let's talk about the referral killer. You have found awesome ways to get people to refer. However, these excited prospects go to your website or go to meet with you in person and are hit with the morning-after letdown. People have heard about you, and they are excited. Then, they are a little turned off or just may turn away all together. They are turned off by a less than professional appearance. There is this mismatch in their brain because you can't possibly be the person they have been hearing all the great things about. It is like the MTV show Catfish but for real estate professionals.