What Estate Agents can learn from Starbucks on LinkedIn

LinkedIn, LinkedIn, LinkedIn. Some people love it, others loathe it, and others have a profile but don’t really have a clue what’s going on – much like Twitter in the early days.

You may have heard it referred to as the professional social network, and you may also have heard lots about how it’s great for recruitment and business to business marketing – but what about marketing directly to customers?

Business to business and business to customer audiences are made up of the same people

There is obviously value in distinguishing between the two, but often by separating them it feels like the distinction is made between B2B involving marketing to faceless brand entities, and B2C marketing focusing on people.

In reality both are marketing to people. And sometimes the people being marketed to sit in both categories. Business owners and professionals are people who have their own interests and hobbies outside of work, this means that LinkedIn is a great place for those selling consumer goods – especially high-end products and services aimed at the busy modern professional.

Organic reach on LinkedIn

We recently wrote about how the organic reach on Facebook has tanked, with an average of 6% of page followers seeing page posts. That’s 6 out of every 100 followers. As LinkedIn is a relatively new social network in comparison, statistics for the organic reach which can be achieved are much more positive.

Starbucks is a really good example of a brand who is leveraging this amazingly. (And what could be a simpler B2C transaction than frazzled professional buying a coffee?!)

They have over 2M followers on their LinkedIn business page, and if we look at their content, it’s a mixture of posts about their employees and inclusion, socially responsible schemes, and promotions for coffee drinkers! Every post is also really interesting, and likely to pique people’s interests. If someone reads an article on how Starbucks are ramping up their commitment to sustainability, they’ll remember it next time they have a choice between Starbucks, Costa, and Café Nero on their local high street.

Here are some examples of their posts:

How does this relate to estate agents?

No, it has nothing to do with the smell of freshly brewed coffee selling houses. Something we see a lot from agents on LinkedIn, is a constant targeting of investors with posts, forsaking all else and forgetting that they might be on the look out for investment opportunities, but they’re also real people with interests, hobbies, and families outside of work who live in houses.

If you can mix your content up to include:

Ways that your business is active in the community
Stories about members of staff who go above and beyond
Posts about your recruitment process
Articles about interning opportunities for people in the community
Occasionally very special properties which might have a great story or be in areas especially popular with commuters

You might not get yourself 2M followers overnight, but you’ll be showing your audience you’re thinking of them as human and not just as a money-making opportunity. Of course, you have to actually be doing these things in order to write about them, but that’s another blog post.

By taking a leaf out of Starbucks’ book, mixing up your content, and really thinking about your audience, you can stop them scrolling, make them smile, and give them good vibes about your brand.

Jane Gardner

I work all over the UK with various business owners, dedicating my creative and expert property knowledge from 35 years in the industry. I am a Level 4 ARLA Propertymark examiner, I sit on the board of Agents Giving Charity and I love everything property related! I can be contacted on 01923 627777 or by email to jane@social-angels.co.uk