A letting agent turned industry mentor who has amassed thousands of online followers and almost 500,000 YouTube views has shared her advice on creating digital content.

Sally Lawson has been harnessing the power of social media for a number of years and, now more agents are beginning to realise the benefits of an online presence, is helping others discover what works for them.

“Years ago when I first started exploring how I could use social media to boost my business, there weren’t many letting agents doing the same. Now, most realise they need some form of digital presence – but it can be overwhelming to know which platforms to use and how to begin sharing content.

All business owners have had to market themselves in order to get the company off the ground and keep growing. They’ll have established a brand, who their target audience is, and how to talk to that audience in a way that gets a positive response.

Transferring this to the online world requires creating content, and that in itself requires some decisions. Are you going to focus on images, video, audio, blogs, or infographics? Will you send out short stories and reels, or launch longer lives? And which platforms will you use?

Start off small

There’s absolutely no need to set up an account on every single social media platform going and begin sharing multiple types of content on each. In fact, this scattergun approach is highly unlikely to work because you’re spreading your time and resources too thinly – meaning you’re not giving proper consideration and attention to becoming really good at one element of digital content sharing before moving on to the next.

There are plenty of agents out there who’ve chosen to specialise in one platform – whether that’s Clubhouse, Tiktok or YouTube – and they’re making a great name for themselves with this approach.

Then there are others who use multiple channels but concentrate on one type of post – infographics, or videos for example.

First off, you’ll want to find out where your potential customers are, and explore the different channels to decide which fit well with your brand and style.

Starting off small gives you the opportunity to discover what works well for you, become fantastic at it, then plan what your next move is – whether that’s expanding your range of content, or launching on a new platform.

Organic v Paid

Beginning by driving traffic to your page organically (finding you through searches, suggestions and shares) helps you get a feel for the content, tone and format which gets the best response from your intended audience.

You can then consider if you want to add paid traffic into the mix, by running adverts. If you get your offer, headline, image and conversion mechanism spot on then it can be a fantastic way of driving potential customers to your content and getting you seen by many more people.

Reach further

There are a few ways you can ensure your digital content reaches more potential customers – tagging specific people or companies in posts not only ensures they read it, but also increases the chances they will share it to their network.

Hashtags are a fantastic way to get content in front of new audiences, although do think about their placement to avoid detracting from the post itself.

And saving your stories to highlights that sit at the top of your page draws attention to them – and keeps them there permanently rather than them disappearing after 24 hours.

Go for it

Ultimately, you’ll find what works for you as long as you and your team approach digital content with enthusiasm, consistency, and a willingness to experiment until you find what connects with your audience.

When landlords find you through social media, they get to know you and your business before working with you, which is a great way to ensure your values and beliefs align.

So, whether you become an Instagram influencer or set Tiktok trends – make sure digital content is a key part of your business growth strategy.

About Sally:

Former ARLA president Sally Lawson set up her first letting agency aged just 18, now more than 30 years on, she’s created the Concentric Lettings franchise, given speeches on stages across the world, and has turned her attention to supporting other agents through her mentoring and training company Agent Rainmaker. Visit www.arxmastery.co.uk for details of their next virtual event. 

Visit the Agent Rainmaker landing page on Kerfuffle for more information and to see their reviews