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Are you a real estate agent relying on social media alone for lead generation? Wondering why, even though you’re posting daily, your pipeline is still dry and you don’t have clients? You’re not alone, and there’s a good reason for it.

Let me introduce myself first. My name is Cheesette Cowan and I am the CEO of Real Estate. I help realtors build a systematized, scalable, and eventually passive business that funds—not runs—their life. Today, I want to break down a critical misunderstanding that’s keeping many agents from achieving success.

The Big Social Media Misconception

Let’s start by talking about the big thing: social media lead generation. As a team leader coaching agents, I always hear “one of the ways I’m going to find clients is social media.” So people do a lot of posting.

Posting on social media is not lead generation. Let me repeat that. Posting on social media is not lead generation. It’s just posting.

Lead generation is direct. It’s succinct in the sense that you have to be able to engage people. When I’m lead generating, the purpose is to gather information. Posting on social media doesn’t allow you to gather information.

What Actually Happens When You Post

Here’s what happens when you post: You attract people, people follow you, they may inquire, but you never get their information. The reason why agents who say “I’m going to lead generate on social media” usually take a long time to get their businesses off the ground is because they’re not exchanging information.

Unless you’re building a contact or database list with names, phone numbers, and emails of people you can actually talk to, you’re not lead generating.

So what happens? A lot of people will post for three months straight and never see a single client. But then they look at somebody like a Ken Posek who is killing it on YouTube and finding all kinds of leads.

What Successful Agents Actually Do

What you have to understand is that most people who appear to be “posting on social media” actually have a lead generation strategy that involves social media. The strategy is to get people from social media into their private funnel, into their personal content, so they can get the information needed to actually lead generate.

That’s why I see agents who have been in the business for six months, posting consistently, and still struggling. I might like your post, just like I like every other realtor’s post. But when do I actually engage with you and let you know who I am and what I’m looking for? That’s the missing piece.

Creating A Real Social Media Strategy

When you put in a place for followers to interact with you, everything changes. I don’t just post on social media. I post on social media and everything I have is bringing you into my funnels, into my personal content.

I tell people I’m inviting you into my house. Once you’re in my house, I’m asking questions like:

• What’s your name?
• What’s your phone number?
• Why do you want to buy a house?
• When do you want to sell a house?

This is what lead generation is. It’s not just putting stuff out there. It’s putting stuff out there and then interacting with people and getting the information you need to serve them.

Why Traditional Lead Generation Still Works

The reason why realtors favor traditional lead generation is because it guarantees conversations with real people. The challenge with social media is often it doesn’t guarantee conversations with real people. People are seeing you, but are they having conversations with you?

Now, part of your social media strategy can be to inbox people. That’s part of a strategy, but it has to be in a defined plan. We cannot just go out here and do anything and think it’s going to work.

The Database Is Your Bank

Social media is a systematic part of one of my lead generation strategies. I have three other ones because I understand that business is going to come from all different directions. But everybody I do business with, regardless of where they come from, goes in my database.

Why? Because the database is my bank. That’s the bank account that I deposit everything into. And when I’m ready to make a withdrawal, that’s when I make the withdrawal.

Being The CEO Of Your Real Estate Business

What I want you to understand is that you are a business owner. Social media is a tool. It’s not a system. You need a lead generation system that includes social media as a tool, but the social media posting itself is not a system.

You have to systematize your business in order to be able to grow it, scale it, and get to a passive point in business. Because remember, as the CEO of real estate, as the CEO of your business, the goal is to have a business that funds—not runs—your life.

I’m not posting on social media all day, every day. I’m building a business and using social media to attract people who are organic to me. Once I attract those people, I’m pulling them out and bringing them into my database system so I can prepare them for conversion.

Take Your Next Steps

If you want to know and learn more, I invite you to purchase my Database to Databank class. This class will change your life. It will show you how to undergird a lead generation strategy that has social media as a tool within that system. Learn more here!

Looking to develop a plan for your real estate business? 1:1 Strategy session with me is just for you! I’ll help you create a plan for what to do on social media so you’re not just posting and hoping for results, and much more. Instead, you’ll have a systematic approach to lead generation that includes social media as a lever. Book your session now: theceoofrealestate.com/real-estate-business-strategy-session

Remember, you can only grow to the level of your learning. You should constantly be learning to grow your business to the next level in 2025!