In real estate, the word “sphere” gets tossed around a lot. But we don’t all use it the same way.
This is what real estate tech expert and speaker Jeff Lobb discussed with participants of the Inman Webinar, “Don’t Fear Your Sphere: Automate Your Marketing Without Abdicating Your Voice.” If you missed it, visit Inman for a full replay.
For some agents, a sphere is a big list of anyone the agent has come into contact with, from book clubs to community events. For others, their sphere is a tightly controlled, carefully curated collection of people who are truly in their corner — their super fans.
Tips to build your sphere
If you’re a newly minted real estate agent, you might open your database and hear crickets. But there are many ways to build up your network of contacts. In fact, the participants on the webinar pitched in with so many suggestions, we created the Sphere Builder Idea List — a free downloadable tool to help you find pockets of people that will help you build your brand.
Download the Sphere Builder Idea list here
New agents aren’t alone in needing sphere assistance. Sometimes, veteran agents are so focused on the close and moving on to new leads, they forget to cultivate those relationships, not making time for the community outreach than can so strongly impact their business.
Your clients are online, but they’re also asking around
One interesting point of conversation was around the combination of online research and offline, asking when it comes to referrals for real estate. Millennials in particular are doing a lot of legwork on their own through online research, but then turn to the friends and family IRL (in real life) for a recommended agent.
That’s where your sphere comes in. When that home shopper — millennial or otherwise — asks for a referral, your name should be top of mind.
But as Jeff pointed out, people in your sphere don’t know they’re in you’re sphere. You need to gently remind them that you are person they should think of the moment that anyone says “real estate.”
Automate, but don’t abdicate
Staying top of mind with the people in your network takes time and resources — two things that few agents have in abundance. So in order to touch your database with enough frequency and value to keep you in front of your sphere, you need to automate certain activities. That means setting up campaigns that run without you having to do much at all. Email. Social. Direct mail.
But here’s the catch: if you set it and forget it, it becomes forgettable.
Automated content can be impersonal. So you need to create content for your sphere that doesn’t feel automated. Here are quick tips to help you put messages out to your network that are authentic to you, but applied with a system to help you save time and money.
Here’s where Adwerx comes in. Adwerx ads for your sphere let you show your personal brand ad to people on your designated list. People you have a relationship with will see that ad on the web sites they’re already browsing, in their Facebook feed and in mobile apps.
And personalizing this automated channel is easy. Here are some examples of how other agents are using Adwerx ads for their sphere:
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