Its reach is large enough to spread good, and a necessary platform to defend your product against a sea of outraged TV fans.
That’s the beauty of social media: Everyone can find something that interests them, and anyone — or anything — can take off.
That’s also a curse for real estate professionals, who spend time creating content and writing posts — plus spending money on ads — trying to figure out how to best utilize various social media platforms and resonate with clients and prospects.
Unfortunately, there’s no perfect blueprint to becoming a social media sensation.
But there are simple, clear-cut ways using social media can help grow your real estate business.
Here are five of them:
1. Be Active
There’s no point to being on social media if you’re not going to use it.
As mentioned, social media is a powerful tool to grow your real estate business. But it definitely brings zero value if you just open an account and let it sit idle.
There are a variety of different ways you can attack social media as a business, including:
- Signing up for an account so it pops up in searches, but never using it and eventually forgetting about it.
- Using it sparingly, but not engaging with followers.
- Sharing interesting stories and posts while interacting with clients, prospects and followers every day.
Obviously, the last bullet is the best route to take if you want to see results.
Warning: There is a fine line, however. Being a power user is all well and good, but be mindful of how often you post.
Would you want to see several posts from one person immediately after you log into Facebook? Or be scrolling through Twitter and be bombarded with a dozen retweets from one account?
Social media is just like everything else: find a happy medium.
2. Engage
According to a Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate (BHGRE) survey “Why Social Media Isn’t Working For You and How to Fix It,” 61 percent of real estate agents said they’d like to use social media to connect with the community.
Social media is perfect for doing just that: More than 80 percent of U.S. adults aged 30-to-49 are active on Facebook, while Generation X (born 1961-81) spends almost seven hours a week on the site/app, according to a report by tracx.com.
Engaging on social media is the key to making businesses seem real to customers. It certainly adds a human element to a company when big corporations respond to a customer’s Tweet or Facebook comment.
Real estate agents have a built-in advantage because they (usually) are only one person, and the human element of their business is easy to see. Still, it’s important to interact with your friends, followers and connections.
Respond to questions and like and/or comment on others’ statuses. Share a newspaper article about the local high school sports team or community play.
The more you engage with your social connections, the more often your face is seen — by them, by your friends and by their connections — and the more likely you get a lead out of your social media engagement.
3. Build Your Brand
While social media is a great way to remind everyone there’s a person behind your headshot or latest listing, it’s also a fantastic way to promote that headshot and listing — after all, that’s why you’re there!
Post your listings so they get more views. Share the latest market trends of your area. Post interesting stories for sellers and buyers, and also remodeling and design tips for those who are comfortable in their current home.
Try to hit every possible type of person who may follow you so you become memorable and are top of mind when they reach the point of needing you.
And, don’t forget to share your expertise by sharing relevant real estate news and issues — the 2018 tax changes come to mind — so people can see you’re educated and up to date with your industry.
That said …
4. Be Yourself
Although the main reason to create professional social media accounts is to grow your business and get leads, it’s also important to share a bit of yourself.
The home buying and selling process is such a personal one — often the biggest financial transaction a person makes in their lifetime — that, as REALTORS® know, it helps if there’s a certain type of chemistry between the clients and their agents.
Finding common ground in small things, such as a similar taste in music, sports teams or life experiences, can help people easier build rapport and become more willing to work with you.
5. Prospect
It’s never been easier to find leads online.
Not only are social networks a go-to source for many to ask questions and find answers, but hashtags make it easy for you, as a real estate agent, to find people within your market.
While hashtags are prevalent throughout all social media platforms, Twitter’s search function, as detailed in this Inman piece, makes it the best social media platform for “cold calling.” Some examples: Search “(city) condo,” “(city) house” or “moving to (city)”
You’ll find plenty of ready-made prospects; all you have to do is reach out.
More Resources
Check out what else we’ve written about using social media in your business:
- How Real Estate Agents Can Connect, Engage & Create Leads on Twitter
- 4 Areas of Focus to Generate Real Estate Leads on Facebook
- How Real Estate Agents Can Benefit From LinkedIn
- How Real Estate Agents Can Benefit From Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube & Pinterest
Looking for tools that will help your real estate team succeed? Learn more about how ShowingTime products can help you ease your burden, save you time and enhance your business.