No wonder it doesn't work...

This past week I had the opportunity to meet with a friend of mine in the real estate business.  I won't share his/her name because this isn't going to be a favorable story - except for you the reader.

We met for coffee to find out what he/she was doing with social media in their real estate business.  Supposedly they have been doing quite a few things so I was anxious to meet and see what it was and how well it was working - possibly get another "social media success story" as well.  That wasn't the case...

As it turns out, I was correct in that they were using a variety of social media "tools" and "doing" social media.  Unfortunately, they were not getting any results from their efforts and were not amassing the "followers" they were looking for.  Upon further interrogation and investigation it became quite evident why this was happening.  It is such a common problem I decided it would be worthy of a posting.

In a nutshell, he/she was using social media tools to deliver traditional media messages.  This meant they were "broadcasting" and "pushing" more information out to their audience only using the social media tools to execute this process.  That NEVER WORKS.  And they were trying to have the latest market information and were having a tough time competing with bigger players in getting the latest and greatest.  This is NOT what social media is all about.

I explained that his followers don't want more market information - there are tons of websites out there happy to provide such content.  What they wanted from him were his "stories" about living in the area for his/her entire life and all the interesting things they have seen that no one else has - now I was making my point.  If he/she wanted to get followers, give them something no one else could give them - their stories.  Not more facts.  Not more data.  Just more interesting stories about growing up in the area, what has changed, who were/are the players, etc. etc. etc.  He/she got the point.  I can't wait to see if they can make the leap from "PUSH" to "PULL" marketing.  Stay tuned...