20 Tactics to Optimize Every Social Media Post (part 1)

Here is the first half of 20 tactics to help you become a social media master. This list first appeared on the Tom Ferry Show podcast with Jason Pantana.

1. Hashtags: Hashtags apply mostly to Instagram and Twitter, although they can be helpful on YouTube as well. Use them on every post (up to 30 on Insta). It will help show you how many clients are reached. Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags. Hashtags should fit into each of these categories:

Trending hashtags: What’s hot right now. Use these If they are relevant to your post. If they’re not, using them might hurt more than help
Locational: These obviously play a huge role in real estate when identifying your town and your specific neighborhood(s) or market you work
Descriptive: What’s in the image and/or post?
Interest-based: What type of interests are related to your image and/or post?
Intent-based: What is your intended audience seeking to achieve?

2. Video: “Anything that can be video, will be video.” It’s really that simple. Basically, in everything you do, ask yourself, “Should this be a video instead?” When the answer is yes, shoot a video.

3. Subtitles: 85 percent of social media videos are consumed with the sound turned off. If you don’t have subtitles on your videos, you’d better hope they know how to read lips. ALWAYS add subtitles on your social media videos!

4. Thumbnails: When people are scrolling through their phones, you’re competing for attention against every other post in their feed. Therefore, you need some way to grab their attention and get them to stop and devote time to your content. Create an engaging thumbnail image with text that’s large enough to read on your phone.

5. Alt Text: When posting on Instagram, you can add “Alt Text” (look in the advanced settings) that will help get your posts to show up in search engine results. If you add Alt Text with your name and/or your marketplace on all your images, you’ll eventually begin to show up as image results for people searching for the terms you use regularly.

6. Trailers & Cover Images: Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn essentially give every user a big, beautiful “billboard” at the top of your profile page that’s called your “Cover Photo.” Use that space effectively! Because it can be an image OR a video, and when it’s a video, it will auto-play when someone lands on your page. Take advantage of that opportunity with a brand video explaining who you are and how you’re different.

7. Playlists: When people are watching one of your videos on YouTube, Facebook or IGTV, you don’t want them to stop after just that individual video. Playlists offer you the opportunity to organize your content into a topic-based series that might be applicable such as “How to Buy a House for the First Time.” Your market updates, new listings, neighborhood home tours, interviews with community members, client feedback, etc. In addition to the obvious benefit of getting people to watch more of your content, getting them to watch for longer periods of time will also signal to YouTube and the various platforms that your video is more valuable.

8. Location Tags: If you farm a certain area, then you should be using that location consistently in your Instagram posts. That way, when people search for that area in location tags, you’re going to show up in tons of images and come across as the local expert. Generally, a city or town name works great, but don’t be too broad. If there are specific neighborhoods or sections of town that are more appropriate for you than the town name, use those!

9. Video Run Time: Generally, Facebook prefers shorter content in the one- to two-minute range. They say that’s the “sweet spot” for maximizing engagement, which is what Facebook wants: Likes, comments, shares, etc. On a platform like YouTube, however, people are actually there for the information and seeking it out themselves. So your videos can be longer and more explanatory, between 6 and 13 minutes.

10. Going Live!: Facebook Live. Instagram Live. YouTube Live. Twitter Live. There are a lot of options today to pick up your phone and broadcast yourself to the world within seconds. It has been recently reported that live video has 4x the watch rate of standard, pre-recorded video content. Make sure “Going live” is a crucial element of your social media strategy.