Stop making social media content for leads. Do this instead

If you want social media to produce real business, Josh Ries writes, stop treating it like a lead vending machine. Make content for those who already know you, because that’s where the easiest conversions live.

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This sounds backward, but you should not be creating social media content to get more real estate leads.

I know that goes against what most agents have been told. Post consistently, add hooks, run trends, go viral, fill the top of the funnel. We did that, too. A while back, we were cranking out content with one goal, bring in new people who had never heard of us and push them into our lead generation ecosystem.

It worked on paper. We got reach. We got leads. We got conversations.

What we did not get were easy conversions.

Those people were hard to close because they did not know us. They did not trust us. They were not emotionally connected to our brand, our process or our reputation. So every lead felt like starting over, and every follow-up felt like work.

That is when we made the shift that changed everything.

Instead of creating content for strangers, we started creating content for people who were already in our database. We asked a different question: Who do we already have, and what do they need to hear right now?

Why your database is your most profitable lead source

Your sphere, your database, your past clients, your SOI, whatever you want to call it, this is the most profitable source of business in real estate. Not because it is the most exciting, but because it is the cheapest to nurture and the easiest to convert.

They already know you. They already have context. They already have some level of trust, even if they are not ready to transact today. That means you do not need a giant pitch. You need consistent relevance.

When you create content specifically for people who already know you, you are not trying to win trust from scratch. You are reinforcing trust that already exists, and that is a completely different game.

The content shift that makes this work

Here is what changed in our process. We stopped asking, how do we get more new leads from the internet.

We started asking: What questions are people in our database asking right now, and what problems are they facing that we can solve with a simple video.

That could be a past client who is curious about their equity. It could be a friend who keeps hearing rate headlines and is confused. It could be a neighbor who is watching homes sit longer and does not know what it means. It could be a buyer lead from six months ago who went quiet because they felt overwhelmed.

When you make content for those people, you become useful again. You become top of mind again. And because they already know you, your content lands faster.

How to use social media the way it was designed

The best part is that you do not lose the top of the funnel by doing this. Social media platforms are built to distribute content to people it resonates with. If your database finds it useful, the algorithm will usually find strangers who find it useful too.

The difference is that you are not trying to create content for strangers first. You are creating content for your people first, then letting the platform do what it does.

This also fixes the biggest mistake agents make with social content: They treat it like a billboard instead of a relationship tool. A billboard is meant to attract strangers. A relationship tool is meant to keep you present in the lives of people who already have a reason to choose you.

What this looks like in real life

If you have a database of 500 people, you do not need a million views. You need repeated touch points with the same people over time.

You post a short video answering a common question. Then you send it directly to 10 people in your database to whom it applies. Not as a pitch, but as a helpful, quick message. That creates conversations that feel natural, because you are not selling, you are serving.

Over time, that compounds. The people in your database start to associate you with clarity. They forward your content. They reply with questions. They remember you when a coworker mentions moving. They think of you when their cousin says they need an agent.

That is real lead generation, and it is far more profitable than chasing cold strangers every day.

The real shift is who you are creating for

If you want social media to produce real business, stop treating it like a lead vending machine.

Make content for the people who already know you, because that is where the easiest conversions live. Then let the algorithms do their job and distribute that same clarity to new people who need it.

Build for your database first. The leads will follow.

Josh Ries is a real estate broker and a lead generation consultant. You can connect with him on TikTok and Instagram.

Topics: lead generation | new agent | referrals | social media Show Comments Hide Comments Sign up for Inman’s Morning Headlines What you need to know to start your day with all the latest industry developments Sign me up By submitting your email address, you agree to receive marketing emails from Inman. Success! Thank you for subscribing to Morning Headlines. Read Next real estate positioning