5 hot tips for using
social media in the real estate industry
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By Megan Bernstein05.27.13 | 0 Comments and 125 Reactions
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tip @techmeme
The property industry is
tougher than ever and estate agents need to find new ways to engage with
potential buyers. Gone are the days where flashy bus stop ads or newspaper
inserts will do the trick. Buyers are tech savvy and in order to stay in the
game, as agents you need to be too.
Like any activity, a successful
strategy requires planning. Here are five tips that estate agents and members
of the real estate industry can use to better their social media strategies.
1. Consistency is key
The big thing about social
media is that you need to post constantly. You can’t expect to achieve results
with ad hoc posts that are poorly thought out. You need to make sure you are
posting, and engaging, everyday as well as responding timeously.
In the real estate and property
industry this is even more pertinent as this is your chance to engage with
potential buyers. In order for them to want to buy your properties they need to
know they are on the market, so make sure you are constantly postings new
releases.
2. Develop a content
strategy
No plan can be successful if
there aren’t clear outcomes and goals — the same goes for social media and by
creating a content plan you are able to plan how you want your conversation on
the various platforms to unfold.
You can’t just post any
content. You need to ask ‘what type of content would be most relevant for my
brand, for my audience and where am I going to get that content?’
Things like ‘Tips for first
time buyers’ or ‘What to look for when buying a new property’ will be relevant
to your audience so you need to work useful, insightful information into your
content strategy.
You can do this by creating a
content grid or editorial calendar where you can map out topics you plan to
post about over the next 30-60 days. If you don’t want to have to create all of
this content yourself you can also curate it. Content can be curated by using
Google Alerts or by creating specific lists on Twitter for specific types of
content you’d like to re-tweet or re-post.
3. Location, location,
location
Buying a house is very personal
and so you need to appeal to that side of your buyer.
When planning your content
strategy make sure to include things that only locals will know — like the best
pizza place or coffee spot. Buying or selling a home is so much more than a
house. It’s the local parks, the school districts, neighborhood watch, walking
groups and so much more.
Your audience and potential
clients love this kind of hyper-local information. By showing your
understanding of how important of these factors are, and by providing this kind
of information is one way that you can really set yourself apart.
4. Expand your network
To be successful in social
media you need to be aware of conversations happening in your social circles
about real estate or the property market and then be equipped to jump in.
You need to remember that
conversations with, between and amongst potential clients are not isolated to
one social media platform, and as such you can’t allow your focus to be
limited.
Conversations about real estate
are happening on Facebook, LinkedIn or Facebook groups, personal chatter on
blogs, and throughout Twitter and so it’s evident that it isn’t enough to just
post to your own social channels. Perhaps you can start your own discussions or
groups and then invite colleagues, clients and prospects to be part of the
conversation and add to it. This can be especially powerful when the
conversation is pretty tough.
You need to be aware of the
conversations that you are not part of. The conversations are there whether you
are there or not so make the decision to be part of the conversation, as
opposed to ignoring it.
Don’t forget about real life
touch points – use your printed marketing material to encourage existing,
potential and new clients to start engaging with you online.
5. Measure your success
To be able to improve you need
to understand what you are doing that is working, and what you are doing that
isn’t. You need to make sure you are constantly looking at all your online
platform analytics to be able to identify which Facebook posts or tweets get
the highest number of clicks or engagement, how much of your web traffic is
coming from social networks, and what content is most shared.
Once you gain insight into this
you can then realign your strategy so as optimize this content.
Scott Larson
Reverse Mortgage
Specialist
(408) 315-2503 direct
(408) 872-4002 fax
The Information Age
offers much to mankind, and I would like to think we will rise to the
challenges it represents. But it is vital to remember that
information – in the sense of raw data – is not knowledge, that knowledge is
not wisdom, that wisdom is not foresight. But information is the first
essential step to all these. -unknown
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