I've got some amazing experts on how do you interpret your DMs to recognize the real leads from the casual conversation. So today is going to be I Think a master class podcast. Social Media is for many agents this elusive Silver Bullet that they look for in their business. In terms of: I want to generate more and more leads I See these top producers generating leads in social media marketing? How do they do it? And I've got some experts we're going to weigh in today about what is a lead.

How do you get leads in social media through Instagram through YouTube through other platforms? But fundamentally, it's really about understanding what is the purpose of social media marketing. For starters, and I'll make this really short and sweet and we'll get onto the conversation. It's simply that social media marketing is designed to help you build Authority and credibility so that if somebody meets you and then they look you up, your Instagram profile is either going to back you up or it's going to unsell them from wanting to work with you. More than that, social media is a tool for staying in front of and building awareness and trust with the people who already know you.

leads, contacts, sphere of influence, your followers, the people your local. Marketplace And then finally, yes, Social media can be a tool for generating inbound organic leads, buyer leads, and seller leads. And that's what I've been, but he wants out of social media marketing. But here's the argument today.

It's not that obvious. It's not like somebody said, you got a new lead, most of the leads come in the shape and size of a DM and a DM is simply a message and so your ability to hear the real offer behind the message is going to be critical in terms of being able to convert that lead or even see that conversation as having the possibility of turning into a lead with intent to buy or sell real estate. So today is going to be I think a master class podcast. I've got some amazing experts on how do you interpret your DMs to recognize the real leads from the Casual conversations and I am joined by Katie day uh, leader and founder of the movie to Texas team in Houston Texas and Ken Posic who is the leader and founder of the Posit group in Orlando Florida.

Both are absolute social media Giants and Titans in our industry and they're swell people. I really enjoy their conversation. So Katie and Ken thank you so much for coming on the show today. I Appreciate it.

Thank you I think you're swell as well. Thank you thank you! That really does mean a lot I needed to hear that today. Thank you! Uh Katie We'll start with you real fast. For those who don't follow you, where are you most known and for what are you most known? Social media marketing wise? Definitely.

So I would say we are most known for Instagram on social media we do a little bit of YouTube but I can't really say that when I'm on a call with Mr Pozek here. Okay and then why I've got you on Instagram So walk me through. For lack of a better word, the sales funnel. How do you generate business on Instagram Yeah, Instagram is a little bit difficult because as you said, um, not everyone is going to raise their hand and say hey, this is a lovely house I would like to buy it or that's a that's a great listing I would like to purchase it and sell my home And so a lot of the messages we receive are people inquiring about what's happening with the market.

They're inquiring about um, you know things in Houston and real estate and it then results in a listing consultation or them saying that they're looking to purchase or rent or do something real estate related and what kind of content are you producing that's getting those conversations sparked. So we have a few content buckets. One of them is obviously marketing our listings and property videos and things like that. We do neighborhood spotlights, so local highlights of businesses in the area and then real estate kind of tips and information and and knowledge broker type stuff.

Okay and then they DM because they're curious or they want to know more about something and then we're going to circle back to what happens after they dmu what are some of your strategies and tactics to actually determine intent? I'll Circle back to that Ken Let's go to you for a second. Uh, how would you describe what you're most known for in terms of your social media marketing? Primacy In Orlando Florida I think I think we're fairly well known for uh for YouTube That's kind of like our our main thing last year. Of all the deals we did, we could track 39 of our business directly back to somebody reaching out to us from an email from from YouTube directly. and then it also made everything else easier.

And you know I've got more agent referrals and sphere and that kind of thing. But uh, YouTube Sir Our Jam social media marketing has so much potential. the opportunity is truly unprecedented, yet the algorithms are complex, the platforms are ever changing, and it can be confusing to know how do I play the game in a way that actually doesn't waste my time. It generates real business if you answered yes to that at that resonated with you.

then you get to check out our course cracking the social code as part of our marketing Pro training platform and it is a course designed to walk you through step by step, how to crush it and dominate on Facebook Instagram YouTube and Tech talk We'll screen share and show you how to set up the platforms on your phones, what kind of content you should make, and knowing the absolute ins and outs of all those platforms so you can truly generate some inbound leads your way and become a rock star on social. For more details, click the link in the caption so give us some context. How do those conversations spark from a YouTube standpoint? It's interesting because early on I would get like you know, especially when you're first starting you're like oh, I have a comment this is awesome and so you talk you know I would try to close them maybe a little too early. it was like you know, oh like you know I hate this area or I hate what you know I'm not really um tell me more about that house and I would try to like hey call me and like you know I would try to close them way too early and so now it was just what's been interesting.

now. having done this for four or five years is like I just try to build relationship with people over years sometimes and it's funny because I'll look through our pending list of of names and it's like oh man, I've been commenting and dming or really more commenting back and forth on YouTube with this guy for the past two years and so it's I Remember the conversations of him asking, well how far away is that from Disney or how far away is that from the airport or how is that Builder compared to this other kind of Builder and the the buying signs are all there, but it's it's really more. I'm just trying to build a relationship and provide so much value in the comments without having to say make sure you call me because they're already watching my content, they're already engaging like they're most likely going to call me when the time comes as long as I do my job and so is that the transition. It starts in the comments on YouTube and then at some point when they're really ready to take action, they reach out through some other channel.

Yeah, we have a specific email address set up only for YouTube So my inside sales staff they know like if it came from this email address it's a YouTube lead and so in every one of my videos I'm saying hey, if you're interested in buying or selling anywhere in Orlando my team and I we love to be your real estate real estate resource of choice, email me info positgroup.com and then it's also in the description. It's also in our about page but that email is is everywhere only on YouTube. So I know for a fact that if someone said hey, we're moving to the area we like Ken's content or or not if it just says hey, we're moving to the area or we need to sell but it came to the email address that I know it came from YouTube Yeah now so both of you are making knowledge broker content. Uh Katie yours is all for Houston Living can yours is all for Orlando living uh Ken I didn't ask you but I would ask you to share with the group like 20 30 seconds.

What's the essence of your content like on your Channel Uh so we do the bucket program as well. so it's a lot of like moving to living in kind of stuff. So moving to Orlando living in Orlando and then I have a whole other section. What? I call coming soon to Orlando So we're talking about the new developments, the new jobs that are coming, the new, anything that might change somebody who's living here and um, and we kind of oscillate between those two back and forth.

all right. So you're driving calls to action that are soft in your videos. Hey, we want to be a resource for you for all things moving to or living in Orlando And so you're constantly priming your viewers and Watchers that you can help them when the time right is right. You can help them when the time is right.

They're commenting and asking questions and you're engaging. Uh, you're not trying to like force a sale or say hey, you should go look at this. We could go show this house today. you're being, you know, rather.

uh, for lack of a better word, you're having finesse in terms of how you handle those conversations. Katie I'd love you to jump in, talk to us about how is that the same or different than what you experience on Instagram Well, so I think one of the biggest differentiators is that YouTube you can't really have a private conversation. you know they have to take it to Instagram or they have to take it to email or call you right because they they're making comments on your video and they're not going to. Generally, they're not going to go into all of their details of their search.

that'll normally be an email or a call or a DM or whatever it may be. And so you you do at some point want to take them off the platform right? And my thing on Instagram is I Want to keep them on the platform for as long as possible and so that's where the DMS generally will stay on Instagram for a while, right? I'll have someone comment or ask me a question about the housing market or what's happening in a specific suburb of Houston and we'll DM back and forth. And as Ken said I don't immediately want to say well, thanks so much for the comment about the housing market. Let me come over and list your home or let me come over and tell you about you know the housing market I keep it on platform and I have that conversation and that back and forth and then at a certain point when they show more intent then that'll go towards a home buying consultation.

that'll go towards a home equity review or you know, something of that of that sort depending on what type of lead they are. Where do you think for this for both of you, Where do you think agents in many cases who are looking to make social media a viable lead gen channel for themselves? Where are they missing the mark? I Think that Ken said it earlier about building the relationship and and providing value I think is the most important and most agents are highlighting themselves and aren't looking at their local market or aren't looking at things that a consumer would want to see. they're just they're just you know, kind of using them as their own highlight reel in my opinion. Kim What would you say? Yeah, I think it's creating content for you like me and or other agents instead of creating content for the consumer which is I'm trying to get as close to the consumer as possible to weed out any other referral fees or any other kind of uh, platform fees like I want them to come to me but I do that provide by providing value and I think secondarily is just not understanding the platform.

So um I think it was Maybe you and I had a conversation on a coaching call was like um, the whole DM culture of Instagram versus Tick Tock versus YouTube and it's like you're on Tick Tock you might be consuming a ton of Tick Tock but you're not dming people really? On Tick Tock you're just swiping whereas on Instagram it's a DM culture like and so the amount of people that find me on YouTube and then visit me and and like you said earlier, like they they said, hey, this guy's actually legit on Instagram I'm gonna follow them and then have conversations with me on Instagram it's a lot we have every single day leads coming to us that way and so we're going deeper in the comments. So I think yeah, understanding who, who's who, are you shooting content for and then understanding the platforms and I'll piggyback. So Ken you made a comment earlier that at the end of your videos or somewhere throughout your videos, you casually remind your viewer we can help you. We want to be a resource all that kind of stuff.

However, I think it's important to know that we're talking about YouTube videos and you're creating longer form content? Uh, just for the viewer watching. Can your videos range typically between 7 and 13 minutes is what I've observed where you have the ability to go a little bit deeper because we know that YouTube's a search engine and we know that people who find your videos are dominant. Like the dominant means of finding your videos is through search, so they already have a question in mind. They see they were seeking it out.

In search they found and watched your videos. That reveals a higher measure of intent. However, I would argue that on Instagram I see this mistake far too often. which is Agents saying if you're looking to sell your house, contact me at 555-5555 and I want to know from your Vantage points in a setting like Instagram where it's a scroll based platform with the conversations happening in the DMS Tick Tock is exclusively for the most part scroll based.

Uh, Facebook and Linkedin are comment based but Instagram has the comments in the DMS but it is a scroll platform whereas YouTube is a search based platform. Where am I going with this? I'm bringing it back right now. Is there Is there a recommendation in terms of what makes sense with being too called to action focused in your Instagram videos? Katie I want your van your take on that I Don't love the call to action of the if you're looking to buy or sell DM me now have that very very rarely. probably one in every 20 to 50 videos like it's it's not.

It's not common at all. Um, you know my my call to action is normally some sort of called a conversation or called a comment right? And so if I'm talking about some sort of news that's happening in Houston that it would be You know what Are your thoughts on this? Have you encountered this? You know that type of comment as opposed to here are some news in Houston and if you're looking to buy or sell because of this news, then call me that that just wouldn't wouldn't land very well I Love that can who is your content attracting into your sales funnel? So originally it was all people moving to Orlando that was it and so it was all like listening tours and moving to videos. and then I realized I wasn't getting any seller leads like at all. like 95 of our YouTube probably even more than that.

Now darn near 100 were buyers and so when I started switching to the the local base content the news based content. all of a sudden our subscriber base started changing. Our viewers started changing and so I do these lives every Thursday night at seven and one of the first things I always say is like hey and it's really to help the algorithm more than anything but I'm like hey let us know down below where are you guys watching from today and it used to be 100 of it was outside of Orlando now it's 50 50. and so we're starting to get more seller leads.

We're starting to get more Hey I Bought with my cousin three years ago but I've been following you on YouTube ever since Now we want to work with you and so it's been a really cool kind of kind of switch for us. I Love that! Katie How about you? what are you experiencing? So on Instagram about 15 of my base is in Houston and then the rest is outside of of Texas or outside of Houston which that's a really high percentage for an Instagram account to have Houston in a local based Market Um that's a conversation perhaps for another time. I'm guessing you're making local locally relevant content that through the algorithm attracts that local interest. Yeah so the the local business spotlights that we do.

now that there's a collaboration feature we collab the local business um and so that has been helpful. You know to to increase our our reach here locally. and then you know a lot of the the green screen type videos and things like that are all you know Local Houston What's Happening Here type content. So um rather than taking you know a national news article we're taking you know Houston Business Journal Houston Chronicle and the different local Publications Here are you getting a mix Katie from in terms of leads from agent to agent, local buyers, local sellers referrals.

Is it a mix? Are you getting like a heavy dose of one of those groupings in terms of where the actual lead gen is coming from on Instagram I would say all of the above you know you mentioned earlier past clients and sphere as well. So I think it definitely keeps us top of mind with past lines and sphere. We get a lot of agent agent referrals that are direct DMS on Instagram and then you know obviously buyers and sellers as well. But what I've noticed is a lot of times buyers or sellers will submit an inquiry on our website or they'll call or email and then when I go to the appointment they tell me hey, I've been following you on Instagram or when I talk to them before the appointment I have been following you on Instagram and you know, blah blah whatever or at the appointment itself they'll say hey on Instagram you posted this video and it's a video from like six or 12 months ago and I'm like that was forever ago, you know and they were kind of taking notes and watching, right? Yeah, and there's that memory like what Ken mentioned of I Remember these comments I Remember this conversation they've been.

Yeah, they've been going through the motions for some time now as their intent has been maturing and now they're willing to kind of come out of the woodwork and reveal themselves with their questions. When you get leads, let's say it's in your DMs Is it obvious or is it not always obvious I would say for Instagram it's not always obvious. Um, we have a listing that we is closing this week and they commented on one of the posts and you know on my weekly market update and said I'd love information on my neighborhood right? and so I sent the information over to them I told them that if they wanted a more specific market value I would need to visit the property or talk talk to them more to understand exactly what was in their property and what they had done since they purchased. and about a week later she DM me again and was like I'd actually like to meet in person to to get a value and then at that point that turned into a viable listing.

but even when I was going to the listing appointment I wasn't sure if it was going to be a listing or not right because I was still dming her to get her phone number right I had the address but I didn't have the phone number yet and so that's one of those things that you never want to look too salesy and ask for the number on that first DM right? I Want to keep them on the platform I want to keep them in the DMS because that's where you know they were comfortable contacting me. Um, but then once you know it's a viable opportunity where they're you know, wanting to meet in person or um, you know, wanting to to tour homes or something like that. Obviously we would get their their phone number and all of their contact info, how much time are each of you spending in comments and DMS on maybe a daily basis? Uh to probably too much. Um, I was like I'm gonna let Ken go first on this one.

no like thinking back through like when, um, especially on on YouTube I have the notifications turned on and I I comment pretty darn quick because I know that if I let them stack up, I'll have hundreds and I'll never never do it. Uh, on Instagram I probably spend I don't know 90 minutes an hour, uh on Instagram a day and usually it's mostly responding to DMS and so um, as we were kind of preparing for this call, like thinking back through how many like screenshots I've sent from my Instagram over to my inside sales staff over the past month, it's probably been 15 to 18 leads from Instagram that originated from all different places some people originated on Instagram other people originated on YouTube and going back through those conversations many times they're they followed me, they've been just like it's not. They a lot of them never even asked me a real estate question, they've just been responding to my stories. It's been like oh, that's awesome I Love that show I love that that ride I love that restaurant and then like you know, I'm conversating like just having conversations like they're a normal person not that they're like a lead and then all of a sudden they're like hey, we're in town this weekend and we want to buy a house huh? and it's and also oh great, what's the best way to get a hold of you I'll have my staff reach out, they tell me I screenshot it I send it to the inside sales and they book the appointment.

So um, that's that's kind of what ours looks like. Okay, so you're spending time every day I Heard you say I may have heard it wrong. 90 minutes an hour and I was like that's impressive How does it do that in 19 minutes? 60 to 90 minutes is what? I I got it I figured I was just teasing you uh Katie what's what's your daily time in DMS look like I would say probably about the same. Okay, probably around 60 to 90 minutes.

I I Generally will hop on in the morning before I post right and answer all of my DMs respond to comments like comments and do all that to kind of prime the algorithm right. Then I'll make my post spend a little bit more time on platform and then at certain points throughout the day I'll hop on again. You know to to make sure that my DMs are cleared. make sure the comments are responded to.

um, you know. So probably 60 to 90 minutes of active. Uh, you know, time on social but this is active conversations. This is social media prospecting at its finest.

This is having conversations and it seems both of you are doing the same thing. You are creating a lot of content. It's value packed content, but you are consistently jabbing for people to reply to you, hey, what do you think about this? Let us know in the comments: hey, what about this Hey, what about that? You were consistently in your content priming to get the DMS in the comments whether they come in one way or the other, and then you're spending time having those conversations. What do you think the the average or the aspiring agent who's looking to build their platform on Instagram or YouTube needs to be aware of and thinking about right now.

In terms of boy, the leads aren't always leads, they're starting point conversations. How should I approach this If I'm building my content Empire on social I think it's a long play I Think that like so it's you're not going to post a video today and get a lead tomorrow. If very rarely is that going to happen, you're building like social media is the ultimate leverage tool And so if you want to build a huge Community you can do that online and cultivate it and it's going to take time. And I think anytime you go into something like this.

whether it's old school Direct Mail Farming or expired, all of these things take time to really get good at it and actually cultivate a return. So for you, it's just if you're starting off, plan on this being your life for the next career and if you focus in on it that way and you're just really consistent with being genuine online, I think you'll win. Okay I love it Katie What would you add to that I would agree with what Ken said um I always hate going second because I'm like that's kind of what I was gonna say. but um I think that it's yeah.

I think that it's important to focus in on who your client Avatar is right and I think you know For a lot of us that have started on social, it's been kind of trial and error. and as Ken said, you know they were doing specific content on YouTube And then they realized a lot of their you know uh, subscribers on YouTube were buyers. and so how do they tweak their content for it to be more seller based? And so now they have a specific formula for that, right? And so for me, all of my content on Instagram is consumer facing content. If you are buying or selling in Houston right? If you are living in Houston what are the local spots that you should go to? What are those things you know that would be important to if you're living here? What are the things that are impacting if you're living here and so getting super specific on who your client Avatar is and speaking to them as opposed to trying to to speak to everyone.

And then when they're actually dming you're having conversations with you have having genuine conversations where you're not going for the sale immediately and I think because both of you are spending so much time daily having conversations, you become aware of the patterns you know I've said before. Uh, an agent who goes door knocking every day for a year is going to have a way higher Jedi skill set to sense the force so to speak. they're going to be able to sense and hear the Tells when they talk to somebody that this is a person who is in Market they're looking to make a move they're looking to buy or sell Katie I know I'm speaking your language with Jedi talk here right? Ken was like kind of was like over here you know and I'm just face, palm, heart eyes. Yeah, whatever.

Anyways, if you put somebody out door knocking for their first time ever, they're not going to have an ear as a tune to understanding what people's questions are and what that question leads to next. Yeah, but when I look at what both of you are doing, both of you are making value pack knowledge, value-packed knowledge broker content that is priming people to reach out to you to inquire to ask questions, getting them accustomed to talking to you. and then you are in your DMs and in your comments every day. Uh, Katie I'm curious on Instagram are you using your phone or using Creator Studio Where are you active In terms of managing comments and DMs I use my phone most of the time I find that sometimes when you're using Creator or the computer just Instagram.com in the browser comments: sometimes don't go into the little chain or DMS don't reply properly so I'll use both.

you know, um, but generally on my phone. Okay, do you get a lot of folks I'm curious because you have a Creator profile? Correct I Do yes. See To get a lot of folks going into your requests and you have to accept the request every single time. Is that because it's a creator? Yeah, Okay, like that.

Yes, Yes, Um. I I have to check my requests inbox multiple times a day just to make sure I'm not missing DMS because I've had that happen of like an agent agent referral or an inquiry and I didn't see it for you know, 24 hours and by the time I get back to them, the the lead has gone elsewhere or the agent has placed a referral elsewhere because I didn't respond fast enough. So now it's something. I Do check pretty frequently.

Yeah, so I use I use personalized the Creator Studio which is a Meta product to manage all comments and DMS because I can also assign permissions to my admin to have access to certain levels. so I don't miss potential I can flag something and have a whole little built-in like CRM inside of meta. Can are you using the app? Are you doing uh YouTube Studio for managing comments Uh I use YouTube Studio app like everything's on my phone. Yeah, okay okay.

awesome. All right. so moral of the story and then I'll ask for some closing thoughts on this is you can generate leads through social media marketing. It's not going to be a light switch that happens immediately Ken something I Remember you said to me years ago we were having a phone call and you said if you give me a list I can work it It was just a comment you brought up to me once you were talking about an email list but that is a marketing skill set that you have where if you give me a list I can work it and it seems like every day this becomes your career, your life.

you are in the comments in the DMS working that list putting it's the flywheel of more and more conversations that lead to actual hand raisers of buyers Sellers and so forth. Um, but we recognize you have to make content. It's not going to be instantaneous. You're going to produce content that drives the conversation and then commit to every day having the conversation to give people the level of comfort whereby that you're approachable and they can ask you or reveal their intent and not even the last takeaway I had today was sometimes they're intent Katie You mentioned this Uh, they talked about wanting some kind of a what does it look like in my neighborhood and you realize this could be a potential seller and you had the wherewithal to ask the right series of questions that revealed that intent and I think too many agents you know.

they post a listing video and somebody's DM says cool listing and they're like thanks and that's it and they don't continue the conversation. which means they're losing the leads that are coming into their DMS or the possibilities. Hopefully that thought is coherent to everybody listening right now. But what would you add to this dialogue of being a Content marketer who's making content that's driving conversations to cultivate leads through messages.

When you have someone that that raises their hand or comments or DMS or whatever it may be, asking as many questions as possible is the most important thing. and so that's generally what you know in that. like staying, staying in that Curiosity space right that we that we talk about that we hear about and so that's something too that when you're prospecting, say you're cold calling. That's generally what you want to do as well, right? And so when you think about this as just another form of prospecting, asking as many questions as possible I think is the most important thing.

see I Would think that for most people who are getting an influx of DMS they're looking to resolve open Loops answer questions and be done with it. but you're saying the opposite. You're saying no, no answer in such a way that gets more conversation flowing. Correct? Yeah, which I mean I obviously I would love to respond once, get contact info and be able to send it off to to be added into the CRM right? It's kind of saying like as soon as he has the contact information like here you know it goes to the team and and you know I would love for that to be on on Dm2 right? Like thanks for your comment and now give me your name and phone number and email right? But that's you know, just not how normal conversation works and so sometimes you know that's where.

um Jason as you said like Creator Studio or flagging responses or or you know making them unread again so that you have to go back to it are things to to kind of keep them top of mind. it's good. I love that. Ken How about you any closing thoughts on this conversation? Yeah I think um yeah I love the idea of just going deeper in conversation with somebody and not trying to have commission breath.

you know too early on I think the other thing is like there's there's a lot of like automation talk going on right now and people always are saying like you still upload your own YouTube videos. Well yeah like I'm It's kind of as a skill that I've I've honed that. I I do enjoy. but like I'm not going to give my biggest asset away to somebody that's bringing in hundreds hundreds of leads a month because I want to save an hour of time and so I think that if you look at building relationship online like yeah, you can automate and you can have somebody when it responds, it sends them back an auto PDF and there's all those kind of things.

but if you want to have a business to where you're talking to 20 to 30 people that are actually reaching out to you because they care about what you do like, what better way is there to then be in your DMs and cultivate those relationships and so I would just say you know, maybe not automate too fast and I just I wanna I Wanna add something to Ken's com comment on the audience? no no I'm sorry it's all done I'm just kidding please? Fine. I had the best tip ever and it's fine. Um, so as far as automations on Instagram I think that there is a place to be able to say hey DM me this keyword for this PDF right? or DM me this for that And then you can cultivate an email list and you can cultivate things from that but the the responder of every single time someone DMS you I tell you hey, thanks for the message you can text me at this number, you can visit my website at this or email me here should be removed from every single real estate agent's Instagram So if you have that and people are dming you in conversation and you close your app, it's going to resend that message over and over and over again. And so I completely agree with Ken on the automation.

You should not be over automating your social. It should be personal. It should be you responding. But you know there are great ways to add in.

You know, keyword texts and different stuff like that to be able to create. You know that top of funnel? uh, sales funnel so that's brilliant. Insight So it's simple, make really good content that drives conversation and then block time every day to have the conversations. And those conversations lead to appointments and appointments lead to sales.

This is Content Marketing 101 201 and all the way up to 401 levels. I'd Be curious. For those who are watching or listening right now, what is your funnel? What is your process for Content Marketing? What kinds of messages? And DMS are you getting that you have found like oh, when somebody says this, that's The Sweet Spot That means they want this and you have found a viable business strategy based upon what they're commenting and how they're reacting to your content. Uh, this has been awesome Katie and Ken Uh, where can they connect with each of you and then we'll wrap for me? Instagram Move me to Texas M-o-v-e-m-e-t-o-t-x okay uh Ken at Ken Posic on Instagram Okay Awesome! You guys are the best To everybody watching and listening.

Thank you so much! Until next week! This is this week and marketing.