As active as Tom Ferry is on Instagram, there’s no way he could do it all while running the #1 real estate coaching business in the nation.
Enter Courtney Gracia.
Courtney has been Tom’s social media manager for the last four years, taking care of both the strategy and posting for his personal accounts. On this episode of the Over Ask Podcast, we pick her brain so we can learn more about Tom…we mean social media strategies.
How do you portray Tom?
It’s hard to believe, but when Courtney first saw the job application, she didn’t even know who Tom was. Now, she works to become him – at least online.
The main goal for Tom’s social is to create brand awareness. Tom is unique from many CEOs in that he is extremely involved. He answers his DMs (Courtney ensures he doesn’t miss anything), posts some stories, and does a lot of Q&A. Because he interacts with so many people online, Courtney needs to portray Tom as closely as she can.
Courtney dove into this task by reading all his books, blogs, and articles, watching his speeches and podcasts, and studying his social media accounts. She picked up on all his idiosyncrasies, from his tone of voice, to grammar edits, to how he ends sentences with a space before the period.
What do you recommend for scheduling tools?
With both Tom and Courtney active on his social media accounts, she has learned to work around him, which requires constant communication.
She uses a scheduling tool for Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube, but prefers to post manually on Instagram. And it’s not because schedule tools hurt engagement – that’s just a rumor. When she does use a scheduling tool, she recommends two:
- Sprout Social for in-depth reports and analytics.
- Gain App for a clean approval process.
What’s working for Tom?
All of Tom’s behind-the-scenes videos that show his family life and his personality off stage. People see Tom as this huge presence, so they love to see a more organic side of him.
- The @ name. Make sure you include your name in your handle, or at the very least, in your bio.
- Not participating in trends. Reels are a thing right now, and you should be utilizing them. Find current trends and figure out how to put a real estate spin on them.
(Our recent guest, Paige Steckling, is a pro using trending sounds in Reels!). - Not posting consistently. Posting once a week (or less) will kill your engagement. Aim to post every day. Create a schedule that you can stick to, such as Motivation Monday, Q&A Tuesday, and so on. This is true for your stories as well as your feed.
What should agents be doing on social media?
The main thing is you are trying to connect with someone on a personal level, so behind the scenes type of content works for everyone.
If you are looking to increase your following and engagement, consistently post Reels. Courtney grew her dog’s social media account to 10,000 followers in six months by posting three reels a day. Now that account has over 15,000 followers and brand deals.
What’s it like working for Tom?
We all imagine Tom must be an incredible boss – and Courtney agrees. Not only does he make the work fun, but he is constantly giving to the people on his team, encouraging them to pursue their interests and sharing his expertise along the way.
For more of Courtney’s tips, including a pro stories tip we hadn’t heard of, watch the full episode.
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