Posting vs. Marketing Your Home: What SLO County Sellers Should Know

Posting vs. Marketing Your Home: What SLO County Sellers Should Know

“We’ll post your home on social media.”

If you're interviewing agents to sell your home, there's a good chance you'll hear that.

My next question would be pretty simple.

Then what?

Putting your listing on a Facebook page or Instagram account can be part of the marketing plan. I do it too.

But putting up a post and running a targeted advertising campaign are two different things.

For a homeowner who doesn't work in digital marketing, that distinction isn't always obvious. It matters because “social media marketing” can mean very different things depending on the agent sitting across the table.

So before you hire someone to sell your SLO County home, ask them to explain what they mean.

Posting a Listing Is Easy

An agent takes the listing photos, writes some copy, publishes the property on Facebook or Instagram, and waits to see who notices it.

That's posting.

There's nothing inherently wrong with doing it.

People follow local real estate pages. Friends share listings. Someone may recognize the neighborhood or send the property to a family member who's been talking about moving.

I want those opportunities too.

I don't want that to be the entire plan.

The problem is relying on a social media post as though publishing it means the property has now been actively marketed to the people most likely to care about it.

Those aren't necessarily the same thing.

A Targeted Campaign Starts Before the Ad Goes Live

When I'm thinking about digital advertising for a listing, I'm not starting with Facebook.

I'm starting with the home.

Who are we trying to reach?

Where might those people currently live?

What type of buyer is likely to appreciate this particular property?

What feature could make someone who wasn't searching this exact neighborhood stop long enough to look at the home?

Those questions change depending on the property.

An acreage property outside Paso Robles shouldn't automatically have the same marketing plan as an in-town home in Atascadero.

A fixer has a different buyer than a turnkey home.

A property that may appeal to buyers relocating from outside SLO County presents another set of possibilities.

The advertising needs to follow the property, not the other way around.

Who Are We Trying to Reach?

This is where the conversation gets more interesting.

When a home hits the MLS, we're reaching people who are already participating in the home search in some form. That's important.

But what about someone who hasn't started searching yet?

Maybe they've talked about wanting more land.

Maybe they've considered moving to North County but haven't narrowed down a neighborhood.

Or perhaps they're living outside San Luis Obispo County and don't have a saved search set up for your particular area.

Those people aren't necessarily sitting on a real estate website waiting for your home to appear.

Digital advertising gives us another way to put the property in front of potential buyers.

That doesn't mean every person who sees an ad is a buyer.

Of course they aren't.

The purpose is to widen the opportunity for the right people to see the property.

The Property Should Shape the Message

There's another piece sellers sometimes overlook.

Getting your home in front of people isn't enough.

We need to give them a reason to care.

Say I'm marketing a rural property with acreage.

The person interested in that home may be paying attention to usable land, privacy, outbuildings, views, space for animals, or distance from town.

Now compare that with a home close to Downtown Paso Robles.

That buyer may care more about being able to walk into town, the surrounding neighborhood, restaurants, parks, or having less property to maintain.

Those homes shouldn't be advertised with interchangeable copy.

They don't solve the same problem for the buyer.

This is why I want to understand the likely buyer before deciding what the marketing should say.

Why I've Invested in Digital Marketing

I've invested more than $30,000 in digital marketing coaching and spent years developing this skill.

There was a reason for that.

I didn't want “social media” to be a bullet point in my listing presentation that sounded good but didn't mean much after the paperwork was signed.

If I'm going to tell a seller that digital marketing is part of what I do, I want to understand the difference between publishing content and building an advertising campaign.

There's skill involved.

There are decisions behind the audience, creative, message, and campaign itself.

And those decisions should come back to the same question:

What makes sense for this home?

Social Media Doesn't Replace the Fundamentals

Digital advertising isn't a substitute for getting the basics right.

Your home still needs to be prepared appropriately.

Professional photography matters.

Pricing and positioning matter.

The MLS matters.

How the property shows matters.

And once offers arrive, negotiation certainly matters.

I look at digital advertising as another part of that larger marketing plan.

A great ad isn't going to fix a home that's poorly positioned.

And putting a home on the MLS doesn't mean we've exhausted every reasonable way to get it seen.

The pieces need to work together.

What Should You Ask When Interviewing a Listing Agent?

Instead of asking an agent, “Do you use social media?” try changing the question.

Ask:

“How will you use social media to market my home?”

Then let them explain it.

You don't need a technical answer filled with advertising terminology.

In fact, I'd be cautious if you leave the conversation more confused than when it started.

You should be able to understand the plan for your own property.

Who are they trying to reach?

What are they going to say about the home?

Are they publishing posts or paying to distribute advertising?

How does the strategy change based on your property and likely buyer?

Those answers tell you much more than a yes or no answer about social media.

Your Home Shouldn't Be a Checkbox

Most homeowners don't sell property often.

When you do, you're trusting someone with an asset that may represent years of equity, mortgage payments, improvements, and memories.

It's reasonable to want to know what the marketing plan involves.

And it's reasonable to ask for specifics.

I don't think sellers need an agent who can tell them every digital marketing term they've learned.

They need an agent who can look at their property, understand who may want it, and explain how they're going to work to get it in front of those people.

So when an agent says, “We'll put your home on social media,” keep the conversation going.

Ask what happens next.

Amber Johnson, Founder
Pillar Real Estate
805.835.3425
[email protected]
1345 Park St. Paso Robles, CA 93446
DRE# 01925434