Leveraging Social Media Is a Skill That More Real Estate Professionals Need to Learn Neel Dhingra launched Forward Academy with the intention of teaching mortgage and real estate professionals how to build a powerful personal brand

Real estate is not the easiest field to be in, especially after over 20 years in the industry. In 2010, Neel Dhingra was earning six figures a year and would continue to build his network and his income for the next ten years, but he still wanted more. In 2018, when Dhingra began searching for new ways to conduct marketing in his work, he noticed a void in how realtors and mortgage professionals were marketing themselves, particularly through social media. After several years of experimenting and learning, he grew his business and social brand exponentially. That's when he decided to launch Forward Academy with the intentions of teaching mortgage and real estate professionals how to build a powerful personal brand. Dhingra has several tips for mortgage and real estate professionals looking to build a profitable social media brand.

Content Creates Conversations

Many real estate professionals feel that creating content is a waste of time, Dhingra teaches the opposite. Content creation allows relationships to grow or be created while you are not actively working. This strategy allows for interaction which leads to conversations, which leads to sales. In order for your content to create conversations, you have to create with the consumer in mind. Forward Academy emphasizes the importance of creating videos for your audience, not yourself. If you can focus on the consumer and how they will receive your content, it can help improve their relationship with you and ultimately lead to sales. The bottom line is that content should be focused on helping the customer avoid mistakes, make money, or save money, and video content can help promote these ideas.

Content Connects To Clients

As a professional, your content is a bit different than an entertainer or influencer. Yes, you still want to show your personality and be engaging, but your overall goal is different. "Focusing on educating your audience is crucial to building rapport and increasing the chances of them working with you in the future." Whether this information is shared through social media or even in person, Dhingra recognizes that education is important to building trust. But he clarified, it should be done in an engaging way. "Don't just bombard your client with stats and facts, make sure that it's something that they can understand and addresses a problem that they may have. Content is for your audience not for you." As a result of creating this kind of content, you are able to create your own audience of people who trust you which will turn into high quality leads for your business.

Create Your Own Content

There is always the temptation to automate your business. Automated leads, automated signings, emails, etc.: the list goes on. We are at a point where a good portion of the real estate transaction can be automated. While there are definitely many benefits to this, it is also something to be careful of. "There are several reasons for not outsourcing your content creation. The first is simple. You want to make sure that you are presenting your own unique personality. People will connect to you, not the content." The second reason he continued is more an overall theme for business, not just content creation. "Building a diverse set of skills helps you to better understand how things work and how to connect to an audience. You can always outsource later, but when you skip that phase, you are really hurting yourself."