A new social media service for agents has launched, called Agent Media.
Its aim is to help agents who are baffled by the likes of Facebook and Twitter, and may be wondering why no one from Linked In, well, never links in again after that first can’t-refuse invitation which makes you feel that you are popular after all and may not have virtual BO.
But, we digress.
Ian Watson, formerly a business development manager for movewithus, is the founder and driving force behind Agent Media.
He said: “Social media is all about networking and engaging with your audience. It’s about exciting your existing and potential customers, informing, educating. It’s about interacting with your fan base whilst building trust.
“An easy target for ridicule, estate agents need to consistently work at their reputation.
“Social media is incredibly powerful in the right and wrong hands. With a robust strategy in place, social media plays an important part in maintaining online presence and building trust.
“At Agent Media, we believe that estate agents should be seeking clients for life and social media is a cost-effective tool that should be exploited to forge such relationships.
“Unlike many marketing companies, we understand the world of estate agency. Using our broad experience and expertise, we can develop online marketing strategies that increase business opportunities and save money on unnecessary and expensive traditional marketing.”
Comments
Hi Jonnie,
Thanks for your comments much appreciated.
I do not mind the comments positive or negative that is the only way you can improve so not a problem.
Just so everyone is aware the cost of setting up accounts is free provided an agent takes the landing page deal which is vital to any social media campaign.
I know what you mean about the youth of today they pick things up so much quicker. It is crazy my 5 year old nephew is a complete whizz on my ipad scary stuff really.
Thanks again for your comments think l went just over 140 characters! :-)
I can do it honestly just check out my twitter accounts :-)
Right off to see Gym!
Have a great evening.
Many Thanks
Ian Watson
Ian,
Good luck chap, I hope it works for you. Don’t listen to the doomongers mate, if you can get EA’s to part with £400 for you to set them up on Facebook then credit to you, I personally use a 14 year old for stuff like that, the same one that sorts my phone out and does my ipod stuff.
Any chance you can keep your replies to 140 characters of less though, in the spirit of social media it’d be good see if you can – being a social media specialist and all that.
Jonnie
Hello,
A very good monday morning to you all.
Glad to see some more comments coming in which is great negative & positive please.
As per previous comments we welcome this as we are always looking to improve our approach.
Just a reply to the very last comment -
In to regards to the content/copy of the website we are aware of this & it is being dealt with.
I appreciate your freebie on the content of our website and is noted so a big thank you for this.
We are now in the process of re-editing the copy on the website & will be changed accordingly.
Thanks again for your comments.
Have a great day.
Kind Regards
Ian Watson
I am puzzled. The person who wrote this ...
"CONTENT is the fundamental ingredient of any social media account, by engaging, by interacting, by informing, by entertaining will make any social media account successful. Content needs to be fresh and relevant using this simple strategy will produce more likes, more connections, more friends, more shares. By implementing these simple steps will make you ambassadors online this overtime will make your tree fruitful and will only grow and grow. Let Agent Media be your social networking gardeners."
... is their first language English? Have you been using cheap, offshore web site developers? Hmmm.
Here's a freebee.
Content is the fundamental ingredient of any social media account. To make your social media presence successful you need to inform and entertain using content people can interact and engage with. Content must be fresh and relevant. This simple strategy will produce more 'likes', connections, friends and shares. Implementing these simple steps will make you online ambassadors and help to ensure that, next time they move, people automatically think of you first.
Hello Agent Orange,
Good afternoon thanks very much for your comments.
When dealing with any complaints online you should take it offline as quickly as possible preferably on the phone or better still face to face if possible never try and deal with a complaint online as it will fail miserably.
Unfortunately people do air their veiws online so no getting away from this but when this happens provided you act in the right fashion all will be well & like l say in a previous comment they then tend to become a supporter/ambassador of the said company.
I have an online reputation guide to social media that explains in more detail on how to deal with this subject in the correct fashion please email me should you feel it would be of benefit to you.
email is ian.watson@agentmedia.co.uk
Hope this helps :-)
Have a great day. .
Many Thanks
Ian Watson
Ian said;
"But what you can do is to make people aware should they wish to recommend or complain online that there is a particular area they can go to.
This area will then be monitored and be dealt with quickly & efficiently with their voice/opinion being listened to & heard then dealt with in the correct fashion. "
I'd rather let them know if they have any issues to pick up the phone and talk to me.
If there's any misunderstanding between agent and client, why would either party want it aired in public?
If they want to send a praiseworthy testimonial after we've done business, I'd rather have something handwritten from them than a posting on a web forum.
If they want to complain, I'd rather they talked to me.
Good Morning Agent Orange,
Thanks again for your comment much appreciated please keep them coming.
Would like to reply to your last post -
The public will & can post negative or positive posts anywhere online so you are never going to overcome this that is the power of online & the world we live in today.
But what you can do is to make people aware should they wish to recommend or complain online that there is a particular area they can go to.
This area will then be monitored and be dealt with quickly & efficiently with their voice/opinion being listened to & heard then dealt with in the correct fashion.
Should you need any help on online reputation or any other subject into regards Social Media then please do not hesitate to contact me & will glady offer support to you should you need it.
Hope this helps.
Have a great weekend.
Many Thanks
Ian Watson
So... that summaries as "The public will post comments about the company on Twitter/FB etc so the company should have a Twitter/FB presence to take those comments and respond"
How does that help if the customer posts somewhere else? The company can't have a presence on every forum, blog and bulletin board.......
Hello All,
Pleased we are getting some more comments coming through.
Firstly Dean many thanks for your comments really pleased you feel Agent Media UK would add value to an Estate Agents business completly agree anyone can do it but are they doing it right or maximizing the opportunity.
Provided companies stick to a plan then it will work well for them.
Hello Agent Orange thanks again for your input much appreciated.
My thoughts rightly or wrongly are this - if any company that has social media platforms for their business has to be wary if they do not provide good customer service on the basis that the said unhappy customer may well post anything on these platforms which possibly could be detrimental to anyones business if not dealt with in the right fashion
I appreciate anyone can do this now line in fact approx
40% of blogs are talking about companies in a good & bad fashion however with the power of twitter/facebook etc you have to very very becareful.
So l tend to believe any company that is using social media has without question have to think about their actions. So if a company was not practising good customer service and are on the likes of twitter/facebook they need to think twice.
Some large brands have learnt the hard way l am not going to name any company.
You have to make sure you have a complaint procedure for offline & online purposes again with the right structure this would not be detrimental to the said business.
Having said this companies that have a had a complaint or complaints on social media have turned it around very quickly and has actually used it to win more business.
The old cliche good / bad press could work in companies favour.
You will find the person that complains about a company but then gets a quick resolution to the problem then tends to go onto to be an ambassador of the said company.
Many people like to talk about a problem with a company and will let their friends/family know
"Guess what had a problem with such & such company but they then put their hands up and gave me this ...... l am now happy" this tends to happen.
So imperative you have that compaints procedure in place before you even set up any social media accounts.
I can think of 100s of reasons why to use Social Media and only an handful of reasons to seriously consider why not to get involved such as complaints/online reputation but as long as you are aware then l strongly believe this a medium not to be taken seriously.
The companies that cut corners are the ones that l would NOT recommend to use social media to enhance their busines because sooner or later it will back fire on them & lf they have not got that procedure in place then it
could well be a problem.
Rightly or wrongly business l believe is becoming more personable it is too easy now to research companies online to see reviews/recommendations or complaints.
I think this is a good thing especially within the Property Industry because unfortunatly they still have a not so good reputation it is a shame because majority are good it is just a few that let the side down these are the ones you probably would not find on twitter'facebook etc
Social Media is an amazing tool to use hopefully this only strenghthens the message that companies should ideally seek advce & support from digital marketing companies to make sure the strategy is in place.
As much as we all try and provide the very best customer service sometimes things go wrong no-body is perfect but provided you realize that the service could of been better and that it is dealt with quickly and efficiently in a conclusion that both parties are happy then not a problem.
So with this in mind l do believe that Social Media can definetly help towards good customer service.
If it was me l would have an area online for where people can complain atleast you then now where to look rather in searching the web for complaints on the said company.
Hope this helps should you wish to have a telephone conversation to discuss in more detail then l will more than happy to oblige to help you my telephone number is 0330 333 6699
Many Thanks
Ian Watson
Ian said "But it is about time we eradicated the companies that do not focus on customer service & go for the quick wins these companies are a dying breed comsumers want & demand so much more & rightly so! "
Aren't you talking about separate issues here? Whether or not a company embraces social media has nothing to do with whether or not they give good customer service. The presence of social media doesn't guarantee good customer service.
It's one thing to think "I know I can do this on my own", it's another thing to actually do it".
Bringing a young, dynamic, forward thinking company like Agent Media into your business is a sure fire way to boost you message and reputation in the every growing medium of social media.
Let's face it, the majority of us who think we'll do it, won't, so Agent Media is much needed to assist us all.
Good luck Ian
Hello All,
Lots of comments so firstly would like to say a bg thank you to taking time out to comment on the Agent Media UK article much appreciated.
Would like the opportunity to reply to your comments/suggestions.
Emma - Glad you like what we are doing we strongly believe with the internet speed improving the use of video is only increasing ten fold. Video is a great way of showcasing any property or any companies core values. You Tube as we all know is massive more & more people are watching videos. Video is the quickest & one of the best ways of sending any companies message out there efficiently & all over a few minutes we all know people are time poor.
Richard appreciate your views glad you feel that estate agents need help on social media it is working well so far. Pleased you believe what we are doing & very happy that you will spread the word very much appreciated thank you.
Donald love your comments sounds like you know your stuff & fully understand Social Media. We both know if Social Media is used correctly it is a very very powerful marketing tool & will only strenghthen companies brand & increase their bottom line while helping with longevity of their business. Also strongly believe companies using Social Media really have to be on their game because otherwise it can be detrimental to their business. But it is about time we eradicated the companies that do not focus on customer service & go for the quick wins these companies are a dying breed comsumers want & demand so much more & rightly so!
Social Media really helps those companies that pride themselves on good business practise.
Hello Agent Orange really appreciate you commenting, l have now given a copywriter the task of re-editing the website as completly agree first impressions count. This will be completed shortly promise.
We pride ourselves on improving the look/feel/products & services of Agent Media so welcome any comments that may well enhance our offering.
We believe customer service is everything, get that right and everything else will fall into place.
Please please keep the comments coming negative & positive.
Have a great weekend. :-)
Many Thanks
Ian Watson
Ian, can I suggest before you go any further that you take a long, hard look at your own website and give a good old proof-read.
It's littered with bad punctuation, grammatical and spelling errors, and if you think that gives a good first impression ..............................
to anyone who thinks that social media management is about sitting on facebook and twitter all day without a thought in their head are the one who need mental examination. It is like saying that to drive a car all you have to do is sit in the seat and push the pedals and off you go.
Social media is now worth over $54 billion worldwide in terms of a marketing structure and touch point. Yes there is some obvious poor attempts, but there are a lot of talented people working hard to help business - mainly small businesses - get an equal footing with major corps. SM has little entry barriers to market, allows 360 feedback and an invaluable tool to gather real customer feedback and feeling.
Estate agents have bore the brunt of abuse becayse they are so slow to react to customer wishes, but here Ian is showing them a way to get more in tune with their customers.
Would it not be nice to recieve a tweet or FB message telling you a flat has just come on the market and you can have first dibs at looking at it is you are quick? If not, trying flat hunting in London, then you will see.
Keep up the good work Ian, and forget the petty minded fools who think that SM is just about telling people you 'just seen a cat stuck in a washing machine lol!' and stay true to your ideas. Best of luck in it all.
Donald.
Ian, agree ignore them.
I follow lots of estate agents on Twitter/facebook and to be honest alot need help iwth Social media. It is the future and will make agents money, like Rightmove etc so paying for an expert in Social Media is a good idea, lots of company's employ people just to work on social media.
Good Luck Ian, I will certianly spread the word for you.
Richard
Ian ignore any negative muppets, good luck. When you get slagged as much as rightmove you know you have made it.
Good to see a company like Agent Media being born - Great to see a company delivering what estate agents need but more importantly what buyers and sellers want - l think video is a great way of showcasing property.
Hello All,
Firstly many thanks for Estate Agent Today in releasing the piece on my behalf & a thank you for the comments so far some negative some positive.
I know you can never please everyone & fully understand that not everyone is going to be interested in our services so l am realistic. :-)
Would like the opportunity to reply to the comments so far - unfortunatly the PR did not mention that l was also an estate agent for 7 years so feel as though l know alittle about what estate agents do on a daily basis l was also fortunate enough to have approx 3 years in digital marketing. With this combined experience l felt there was a need for Agent Media (rightly or wrongly) but can't complain so far. :-)
Nick in reply to your comment the 400 odd pounds is not just to set up social media platforms so happy to provide you a full list of services & prices should you wish too.
Mr Wardy would love to show you some examples of non fan & fan facebook pages that have already been designed please feel free to email me and l shall gladly send you some examples.(contactus@agentmedia.co.uk)
Hello Jimmy l appreciate you may feel that people do not need help on social media some do not but l would have to say the majority do. I have spent 4 years visiting estate agents on a business development & training role with this research l strongly believe many need that help & support ofwhich l am happy to provide.
Anyone can set up social media accounts but not anyone can make their social media campaigns fruitful.
Social Media in the right hands with the right strategy will only overtime strenghten estate agents offering.
Social Media is one massive subject & takes time to build up.
There are some estate agents today that l know that have over 30,000 views on their facebook page a week that is impressive hope you agree.
But this does not happen overnight having social media accounts is almost like setting up a whole brand new business it takes time & effort to build up.
I have seen many estate agents facebook pages that just fail miserably for a number of reasons which is such a shame it only takes a simple plan/strategy that will make it a success but again not overnight.
I know Agent Media can add value to estate agents business through the means of using the latest technologies.
I hope this really helps you give some more background information of what Agent Media is all about.
Please keep the comments coming in negative or positive are welcome.
Should you have any questions then please feel free to email me personally on ian.watson@agentmedia.co.uk
Thanks very much for taking the time to read this comment & others.
Have a great day! :-)
Many Thanks
Ian Watson
Anyone who needs help with twitter needs serious mental help. May I recommend social services?
£400 odd quid to have someone set a Facebook and Twitter account up for you?? Am I missing something here??
#nothanks
Can we have an example of Mr Watsons work? maybe a link to an agents fan page or twitter feed he has set up for them?
"Ian Watson, formerly a business development manager for movewithus" - understands the world of estate agency, lol.