The exponential explosion of social media has shifted the way entire industries operate. There are unlimited benefits to reap from using social media as a real estate professional. Implementing these channels into each stage of their marketing initiatives from brand visibility to lead generation is at the core of top agents’ success rates.
It gives agents an opportunity to connect with existing clients and engage with potential clients every step of the way.
In addition, most home seekers are using online platforms to find their next home. Never before has it been easier for real estate agents to send compelling messages, create vivid listing descriptions, and improve engagement to reach a wider audience.
Here are some practical tips on how busy real estate agents can develop a successful social media strategy.
#1 – Define your brand
Your social brand should be the crossroad between your point of view and the values of your audience.
Divide your social media brand up into three parts and approach it from this perspective:
- Personal interests (hobbies, fitness, health, exciting news)
- Real Estate aesthetics or “eye candy” (beautiful real estate pictures, short videos of your home tours, photos of your recent sales)
- Share industry knowledge (advice, tips, data, statistics, market trends)
This type of content will help you reach potential clients, and demonstrate that you know the local market.
Your audience needs to see you as approachable. Sharing a few things about your current community will open up the lines of communication. Ask something simple like what their favourite local restaurant is. In this way, you display your involvement in the community, that you care, and that you are willing to maintain relationships during and after-sales.
Create content that invites the reader to interact with you by commenting and sharing posts on their feeds.
Don’t oversell your brand; this might repel the audience, and they will unsubscribe faster than you think.
#2 – Keep it active
It’s challenging to keep social media accounts up-to-date, especially if you are working as a full-time agent.
You might not have enough time in the day or feel that you don’t have any good ideas for content.
Try setting up a weekly schedule that dictates your posting and the content you will share during the day.
You could alternate between posting news from the community, trivia about real estate, fun facts about yourself, property tours, client success stories, and show houses.
Only post one of these topics per week to ensure that your followers don’t get bored.
#3 – Dive into automation
Even if you have figured out your content for the week, you might still find that you don’t have enough time.
You can’t slack when it comes to posting. Daily engagement with your audience is key to your success on social media. You must post every day!
People unfollow dormant accounts very quickly. You can download tools such as TweetDeck or HootSuite that will help with automating your Facebook and Twitter posts.
Set some time each week to plan your content.
#4 – Think about your strategy and engagement
Get clear on why you are using social media, as in, what is your objective?
It should be to build a client or a follower base and motivate your audience to connect with you.
You don’t necessarily have to have the biggest following or the most popular account but, you do need to understand your followers and how you are going to relate to them. Some sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have analytic tools available so that you can track your connections, followers, tweets, comments, views, and subscribers.
Your engagement should motivate followers to interact with your posts and share them on their profiles.
Make sure that you are posting content that your audience wants to see. Diverse and balanced content is key. If there are too many serious posts about marketing analytics, then balance it out with some personal content. Try posting a picture of your dog or a fun day out with your friends or colleagues.
Also, consider the different platforms you are using. What works on Twitter won’t work on Facebook or Instagram (and vice versa).
Never forget your audience and their expectations on each social media platform. Each platform and its audience have unique expectations. So execute accordingly.
Closing thoughts
Approaching social media might be daunting, especially if you don’t use it in your personal life, but it can save you a lot of time and money in your real estate marketing initiatives. There are plenty of free resources online to help you get going. Taking a mere 30 minutes a week to organize your social media content is all you need to boost your online marketing efforts.
Social media channels provide agents with immeasurable opportunities to set themselves up for success.
Use social media at every stage of your marketing strategy, for lead generation, sales, or building your brand, and watch your success rates skyrocket. Remember consistency is key. Commit to daily interaction with your followers and you will establish a solid reputation in your local region.
