With traditional open houses being cancelled for the time being, many realtors are turning to social media to help them show their listings, primarily, Facebook Live.
There are lots of benefits to using Facebook Live for showings, such as the ability to answer questions in real time, to provide a thorough, detailed walk-through, and allow you to reach a much larger audience than with traditional open houses.
However, often times those providing Virtual Open Houses for the first time are unprepared, and don’t plan for ways to fill the time. If you’ve ever been on TV for any reason, you’ll know that a minute is actually a very long time!
Here are some tips to help make your first Facebook Live showing more successful:
- Promote Your Event in Advance – you want to make sure you have an audience!
- Make a Plan – Prepare what you’re going to talk about. Make a list of talking points and what you want feature and plan your route through the house. Try and come up with ideas for each room and pay attention to the little details!
- Prep More Than You Think You’ll Need – Many people expect to receive questions, but you need to be prepared to fill the time if that doesn’t happen. Prepare more talking points than you think you’ll need.
- If You Have a Selfie Stick- Use it! – This will help show more of the home in the background, and will be much more flattering to you.
- Practice, Practice, Practice – Run through your presentation more than once. It will give you time to tweak what you want to talk about, ensure you don’t miss key points in certain rooms, give you confidence and help you sound more polished. This will definitely pay off and help captivate your viewers!
Everyone knows that this is a challenging and changing time, but they don’t have to be negative. With a little care, ingenuity and effort, you can continue to have great success adapting to this new and ever changing time.
Above all, remember to stay safe, keep practicing social distancing, and wash your hands!
For additional resources, check out this package from Royal LePage Canada to get you up and running.