- \n
- Branding<\/li>\n
- Grow a following of estate sale shoppers<\/li>\n
- Connect with influencers and referral sources for new leads<\/li>\n
- Rank your website on Search Engines<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These are a few of the top benefits one would achieve by marketing an estate sale company and advertising estate sales<\/a>.\u00a0 Ready to get started?<\/p>\n
![\"marketing](\"https:\/\/eso-wordpress.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/university\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/21151455\/marketing-estate-sale-companies-advertising-estate-sales.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMarketing Estate Sales Via Facebook<\/h2>\n
One of the most popular social media platforms in the estate sale industry.\u00a0 There are many benefits to having a professional Facebook Business Page<\/a> instead of just a personal Facebook profile.<\/p>\n
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- Create events or albums and boost them via paid ads to reach a wider audience beyond your page followers, this is only available on a business page, not on a personal profile.<\/li>\n
- Create a branded Facebook cover and profile picture.\u00a0 A great way for marketing estate sale companies locally.\u00a0 Become a recognizable local brand for estate sales.<\/li>\n
- Ask your audience to follow links to informative content on your site when it makes sense, thus helping your website rank on search engines.<\/li>\n
- Sell online? Ask them to follow a link to purchase.\u00a0 Not all social media marketing platforms allow you to place a link in a post, take full advantage of the features when you can.<\/li>\n
- After you list a sale on EstateSales.org<\/a>, quickly share it on your Facebook page or manually upload photographs and sale details to your page to get more shoppers to the front door.<\/li>\n
- Connect with Realtors, attorneys, funeral homes, and other lead sources. Send them messages introducing yourself and your services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Marketing estate sales doesn\u2019t always have to cost money, it can be as simple as taking the time to send a message to the right person.<\/p>\n
We asked Lisa Kroese with Expert Estate Sales in Tehachapi, CA<\/a> about her experience with Facebook.\u00a0 She’s been providing estate sales for the past 7 years and is quite active on Facebook.\u00a0 This is what she had to say:<\/p>\n
“We have accounts set up on all social media platforms, but I mostly focus on Facebook because managing all would be very time consuming, and we do get a lot of engagement on our Facebook page”<\/p>\n
She continued, “We recently held a sale outside of our area, using the targeted ads on our Facebook page helped us get a lot of people to our sale who don’t normally follow our Facebook”.<\/p>\n
I asked Lisa if she can imagine not having a social media presence?<\/p>\n
She said “I do know\u00a0people that still do estate sales without any online presence.\u00a0 They rely on newspaper ads, post card mailings, etc..\u00a0 But I can’t imagine it being as efficient as having social media as an option.”<\/p>\n
Facebook for the estate sale business benefits all 4 goals mentioned above.\u00a0 Branding, more shoppers, lead generation, and search engine ranking by getting more visits to your website.<\/p>\n
Individual Facebook posts themselves won’t rank on search engines, but your Facebook Business Page profile will when someone searches for your company.<\/p>\n
LinkedIn for the Estate Sale Business<\/h2>\n
Possibly the least used platform by estate sale business owners<\/a>, and the most important one to have for lead generation.\u00a0 Why?<\/p>\n
Although LinkedIn<\/a> easily allows a branded business page<\/a>\u00a0to be created, unlike Facebook, it\u2019s more beneficial to have a personal one for the owner of the estate sale company.<\/p>\n
When you meet a potential client to earn an estate sale contract<\/a> or a Realtor to send you new leads, they more than likely will Google your name. They\u2019ll want to see who you are if they\u2019re going to work with you or have you in their home.<\/p>\n
99% of the time, your personal LinkedIn profile is the first one to appear in Google Search.\u00a0 It\u2019s important to have your profile 100% updated with your experience, and history in the estate sale business.<\/p>\n
You’ll want to stay active on LinkedIn by connecting with other professionals in the industry.\u00a0\u00a0You can quickly send messages to them introducing yourself and your services.<\/p>\n
If they are existing connections that support your business and send you leads.\u00a0 LinkedIn gives you many ways to reach them and put your estate sale customer service techniques<\/a> to work via messages and notes.<\/p>\n
If they are on LinkedIn, why aren\u2019t you?<\/p>\n
Youtube for Marketing Estate Sales and Companies<\/h2>\n
Did you know that YouTube<\/a> is the second biggest search engine?\u00a0 Google owns YouTube, of course it is!<\/p>\n
We are fortunate being in the estate sale industry because we never really run out of content to share.<\/p>\n
Most businesses are eager to add YouTube to their estate sale business marketing plan, but don\u2019t really know what videos to make.\u00a0 You have the opportunity to dive right in to the benefits of a YouTube Channel with every estate sale you stage and schedule<\/a>.<\/p>\n
If you already have a Google account, use the same login to create a YouTube business branded channel.<\/p>\n
Make sure your branding (photos, cover page, etc) are consistent across all platforms, and your information is up to date.\u00a0 Name, address, website, etc\u2026<\/p>\n
Benefits to using YouTube for estate sales<\/h3>\n
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- Videos are much more engaging than an image when posted on Social Media.<\/li>\n
- Each video properly uploaded and described will rank on Google search as if it’s a web page (very powerful stuff).<\/li>\n
- Video marketing helps you build trust, highlights your expertise, capabilities, and build relationships.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
YouTube is also efficient and easy to use.\u00a0 You can quickly upload a video directly from your phone or iPad using the YouTube mobile app.\u00a0 Need some ideas on\u00a0what sorts of videos to produce? Take videos of your team staging an estate sale<\/a> to highlight your expertise.\u00a0 Share a video before, during or after the sale to build trust and engage your audience.<\/p>\n
Videos uploaded to YouTube can automatically be shared on Google+.\u00a0 \u201cHmmm, what\u2019s that\u201d?<\/p>\n
Google+ for Estate Sale Companies<\/h2>\n
Even if you\u2019ve heard of Google+<\/a>, you\u2019re probably thinking \u201cWhat\u2019s the point of investing my time and money in another social media platform?\u201d<\/p>\n
If you want to get more business, you would be crazy to pass up the opportunity of putting your company name in front of qualified leads, right?<\/p>\n
Unlike Facebook, and other social media platforms, Google+ has benefits that go beyond the social aspect.<\/p>\n
Today, 68% of searches are conducted on Google, so if I told you Google+ as a social media platform can help your business rank higher in their search results, would it be worth your time and efforts?<\/p>\n
Unlike other social media platforms, you don\u2019t need to worry about how many likes or followers you get, and don\u2019t let the low engagement discourage you.<\/p>\n
Everything you post on your Google+ for Business page<\/a> is immediately indexed by Google, this means the content you post can rank in search results even if you don\u2019t have a website or you have one that doesn\u2019t rank.<\/p>\n
Whether a lot of people follow you, engage with your posts or not, Google owns it, ranks it, and they love it when businesses play in their sandbox.<\/p>\n
You can easily manage all Google products with one login.\u00a0 Once you enter the Google+ world, you can enjoy a wide range of opportunities, hangouts, estate sale communities<\/a> (sort of like a Facebook group), YouTube, Google Business Listing, Google Search, Gmail, Google Maps and so much more.<\/p>\n
Google products can be confusing if you\u2019re not experienced, but there are many online tutorials to help you, or you can email our Founder, Mike Judkins<\/a> and he will refer you to an experienced estate sale marketing consultant.<\/p>\n
At EstateSales.org<\/a>, we not only want you to have the best tools available, but we want to see your business grow, you can rely on our team for support or direction when you need it.<\/p>\n
Is Twitter Good for Marketing Estate Sales?<\/h2>\n
So far, we\u2019ve covered the 3 most essential social media platforms for estate sale companies.\u00a0 Twitter<\/a>\u00a0is a bit different and we must dive in to see if it\u2019s really beneficial for your local market.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sorry to tell you it doesn\u2019t do much for local presence!\u00a0 So, if you\u2019re investing all your time and efforts into the Twitter social media platform, I\u2019d rank it at #4 unless you sell products online or your company is a National brand, and here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n
Statistics show the age distribution of Twitter users in the United States: As of 2016 the largest percentage of users were between 25 and 34 years old.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, Twitter has benefits such as sharing content that links back to your website or for users to purchase items online.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re a National estate sale brand, it\u2019s also a great way to reach a wider audience across the country and create brand awareness.<\/p>\n
But, if you are a small to medium size estate sale company<\/a> that wants to have a local presence, and dominate the local market, not saying ignore it, but dive into Twitter after you\u2019ve mastered the first 3 social media platforms mentioned above.<\/p>\n
If you sell items online, and ship across the country, Twitter is great and it should be included in your social media marketing strategy.<\/p>\n
Instagram<\/h2>\n
I always tell estate sale companies, if you\u2019ve mastered all the ones I mentioned above, and have extra time on your hands (lots of time), go for it!<\/p>\n
Instagram is a visual platform, it cuts through the clutter and lets your product photos speak for themselves.<\/p>\n
Visual content is engaging, and it\u2019s a great platform if you sell estate sale items online<\/a>.\u00a0 People on Instagram are very engaged.\u00a0 You will get many followers, and likes from people all over the world.<\/p>\n
Unlike Facebook and other platforms, users can see your posts whether they follow you or not based on the #hashtag keywords used when you post.<\/p>\n
You can easily link your Instagram account to your Facebook Business Page.\u00a0 This will allow you to turn your Instagram into a business account that will give users the ability to visit your website, call or email you directly from your profile.<\/p>\n
Instagram does not allow you to place a link in the posts, unless you\u2019re running paid ads, or (as of the time of this writing) gain over 10,000 followers.\u00a0 Videos shared can only be 60 seconds long, so there is not much benefit in getting website or blog clicks specific to post content unless you plan to fork out some advertising dollars or use some savvy marketing tactics.<\/p>\n
If you plan to use Instagram, be ready to post great photographs of estate sale items<\/a> throughout the house, and some text to highlight it.\u00a0 Geotag the location by choosing the city where photos were taken, and get ready to go #Hashtag nutty! (up to 30 hashtags per post).<\/p>\n
Additional tips for using Instagram effectively have been shared on our Estate Sale Company Network<\/a>, a private Facebook group to join if you want to network, share and learn from others in the industry.<\/p>\n
Instagram has some benefits when advertising estate sales, but doesn\u2019t provide as many benefit variations as the other platforms mentioned above.<\/p>\n
Advertising Estate Sale Companies<\/h2>\n
Marketing and Advertising work together but are different.\u00a0 Ask experts what the difference between the two is and you\u2019ll get 20 different answers.<\/p>\n
For the sake of this article which focuses on growing your business, let\u2019s not mix the two together.\u00a0 Think of it this way. \u201cMarketing is engaging, informative, and entertaining and advertising is when you pay for promotional ads or clicks\u201d.<\/p>\n
All social media marketing platforms mentioned above allow you to have a wider reach if you pay for ads.\u00a0 Knowing when and how to use them is key to the success of advertising your estate sale business and minimizes the waste of advertising dollars.<\/p>\n
- Connect with Realtors, attorneys, funeral homes, and other lead sources. Send them messages introducing yourself and your services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n