The social media revolution has changed the way we interact with friends and family. It has also helped real estate agents to build their businesses by connecting them with a real estate social network of potential buyers and sellers.
In this blog post, you will learn about the best social media sites for real estate marketing in 2021. This will help you decide which social media platforms are best for your agency. You will also learn some marketing tips to increase real estate leads and generate more sales – all while having fun.
The benefits of social media for real estate agents
The National Association of Realtors has recently reported an increase in the number of realtors using social media. Social media allows real estate agents to reach a larger audience of potential clients and to create visual content that is perfect for real estate social sharing. There are also more ways than ever before to find leads online through social media influencers, partnerships with brands who cater specifically to the industry, and social listening programs like Hootsuite com social media monitoring tool.
Reaching targeted customers
Social media marketing can be used to reach a targeted audience of potential clients. By using social media platforms and creating visual content, real estate agents can market their business on social channels like Facebook or Twitter to generate leads for the company.
In addition, by sharing posts related to industry events such as open houses with an engaged social following, you’re able to reach a broader audience of potential clients than ever before. You can actually win over these potential customers by sharing an open house sign-in sheet through the social media network.
One unique perk is the access to data that will help build and develop your customer base. You can better understand their needs, making it easier for you to provide them with the service they need when you contact them. Using social media helps move leads from potential customers to actual customers.
With social media, you can find out what people in your target market are interested in and want to know about by researching the social channels that they use most often. The real estate industry is one of many industries where social media has been instrumental in building a customer base while also increasing profits for companies.
Cost-effective
A real estate agent can use real estate social network because it’s a more cost-effective way to advertise and generate leads. Social media is a powerful social tool for real estate agents because it’s an inexpensive way of generating social networking followers, getting social shares, and being able to create or distribute content to develop your customer base.
Even though the platform can be used as a marketing strategy when you’re starting with limited resources, social media should be used to engage and interact with real estate professionals who are already established in the industry. For example, one real estate hashtag has over 300,000 people who are following social media accounts. And it can be shared on multiple social media posts and landing pages for maximum effectiveness.
When you run a targeted Facebook ad, you are reaching a qualified and high intent audience. This is why when it comes to social media marketing, the results for Facebook ads will always be higher than those of traditional methods such as letter drops. You can also try out this guide from Upbeat for more on Facebook ads.
The result, in our experience, is that one single qualified and relevant buyer or seller via social media will make up for the social media investment.
Your ROI on social media ads varies depending on the platform and your target audience. The platform has the added benefit of being able to track performance in detail which allows you to accurately report cost, reach, interactions, and results just like any other business advertisement avenue.
It’s good for building brand awareness and trust
Social media and real estate go well together because social media is all about building trust and relationships. You can share your personal real estate experiences, which builds instant rapport with potential clients.
On social media, you can communicate directly with people who may be interested in buying or selling a property of their own.
One of the benefits of print media is that you can reach a wide audience. This audience may not be actively looking to buy or sell property, but once you put them on your mailing list they will remain there. The more touchpoints they have with your brand over time, the better off you are when they finally decide to move home and need assistance from an agent in selling their house.
Nevertheless, social media offers one of the best tools for real estate agents to attract and generate leads. Several sites offer a range of products designed to reach your passive audience with an algorithm-driven system that can target based on past sales and instructions, exciting them about your brand while also establishing it as authoritative and trustworthy.
According to an October 2019 report from Zenith, social media advertising has now overtaken print to become the third-largest advertising channel globally. The data indicate that social media ad spend will account for 13% of total global ad spend and rank as the third-largest advertising channel behind TV and paid search by the end of this year. This is unsurprising to us as we are digital real estate solutions specialists. Zenith’s report suggests that social networks may soon take third place in terms of advertising channels, and our unique success data seems to support this hypothesis.
Some of the best real estate agents have succeeded because they learned and trusted social media. Your customers are already there. Which makes it easy to connect with them and reach your social media followers.
Get in front of your competition
By using social medial to connect with your audience, you can get in front of your competition and stay there by interacting on a more personal level than ever before possible.
The modern social media landscape has grown exponentially, capturing the attention of millions. Real estate agents need to understand that while some companies rely solely on advertising their properties as a form of marketing, there are other avenues available that can take your brand awareness to new heights by adding a human touch and engaging with your audience.
Best social sites for real estate marketing in 2021
NAR study revealed that 98% of real estate agents picked Facebook as their preferred marketing site, both for lead generation and brand awareness. Here is a breakdown of the real estate social media sites every real estate agent needs to know.
Facebook comes is the most preferred site for marketing real estate business nesses. Facebook allows you to target your social media audience with interests relevant to your business, which has a higher conversion rate than other social sites like LinkedIn and Twitter.
Facebook can also help real estate agents build their personal brand through the consistent content posting that is already on the site including photos of listings they have sold or are currently selling as well as testimonials from clients.
There are many ways to optimize your posts so they will get more visibility in people’s news feeds such as using hashtags, location tags, adding friends who live near prospective properties and even uploading videos. This strategy of optimizing social stories increases engagement rates by up to 23%.
The average post gets around 60% more likes if there is a photo included but keep in mind that social media is a constant stream and not just about one post.
In these social media tips for a real realtor, we have picked Facebook as the top site because of these features that can help realty agents:
- Social media pages to promote listings and businesses.
- Marketing insights for real estate professionals.
- Lead generation services that connect the agent’s social channels with their website landing page. This is a great way to turn social followers into leads, which in return equals sales.
Millennials, Gen X and Gen Y professionals are the social media generation. They have dominated Facebook and Linked In and other sites. These social networks offer a wealth of information on how members feel about their jobs, what they’re looking for in employers, and more importantly how to get them to your company.
LinkedIn is one social network that offers great opportunities for real estate marketing. With this professional platform, you can share content with other professionals and build relationships through introductions from others or by asking people if they would be interested in connecting.
The key here is consistency-share valuable posts (such as blog articles), contribute often using both questions and responses, ask connections for introductions to possible clients when appropriate–and use LinkedIn features as groups focused around specific interests such as marketing strategies and current events so you know which conversations will interest your connections most.
There is no better platform for posting images than Instagram. Photographers love social media because it allows them to share their work.
However, you should be careful when posting on Instagram that your pictures are not copyrighted content (or a screenshot of someone else’s social post) without the appropriate attribution and permissions! You can tell if an image is in copyright by checking for watermarks or invisible embedded information.
You may also want to consider using hashtags-words related to what you’re talking about at least one word before or after your thoughts–when attaching images so people searching those keywords will find you as well.
The good news about Instagram is that it allows realtors to post videos and more than one photo at a time. Facebook, on the other hand, allows only photos or links to your social media account for posting purposes.
Another great thing about Instagram is that it’s free! You can use this social media platform even if you don’t have any budget for social marketing campaigns like some real estate agents might not be able to do with companies such as Hootsuite. Numerous tools allow users to schedule posts in advance so they’re active when most people may be online-such as late-night hours during weekdays or early morning hours during weekends.
Twitter is another social media platform that real estate agents can use to reach out to their audience and generate leads. In the age of smartphones, most people have this app installed on them and are likely very active on it as well.
It’s also a great way for other industry professionals or those in related fields like architects or mortgage brokers to discuss topics such as best neighborhoods with one another-or even offer advice about going through the home buying process itself. Twitter allows you not only to post updates but attach photos or a video so your followers know exactly what you’re talking about (and potentially see their own homes). The downfall is actually how short posts must be according to its guidelines-meaning fewer words means more work trying to convey an idea quickly before someone scrolls away.
Pinterest is a social media site that allows users to post and share images of their favorite things. When mentioning real estate on Pinterest, you can do a couple of different things-post pictures of your own listings or related content like homes for sale in the area as well as any relevant articles about buying/selling/renting property.
This social networking tool helps users manage the relationship between friends, family members, and work colleagues. When social media is used for real estate agents, it can be a great way to keep in touch with clients/customers and more easily schedule meetings or showings. (This network also has an app)
It’s perfect for when you have opportunities like open houses coming up and want to get the word out! It’s worth noting that social media sites are monitored by Google which means any posts made there will affect your SERPS rankings.
It allows local real estate business marketers to create content for their customers. You build trust with them by reacting to their comments and reviews, helping you improve service delivery.
Tips on how realtors can use social sites effectively
Give your audience great content
It is crucial to share relevant, informative, and engaging social posts with your audience. Set social media goals for yourself, such as increasing followers or likes on a Facebook page. This will develop loyalty to you in the social sphere which could result in more business opportunities.
The social sites that the search engine Google monitors are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube. This means any posts made there will affect your SERPS rankings. It allows local real estate business marketers to create content for their customers which helps them build trust with them by reacting to their comments and reviews on these social networking platforms–this improves service delivery.
Hashtags – use them effectively to attract social media users
Add hashtags to your posts on social network sites, such as Facebook and Instagram. Search for a hashtag that matches the content of your post, or create one yourself.
This will allow other people who are interested in what you’re posting to find it more easily and follow links back to your social page. Social networking platforms with larger audiences like Twitter can help real estate agents expand their reach and connect with new prospects looking for property listings or home financing options near them.
Real estate social media ideas: Start two-way conversations
A whopping 94% of millennials that are in the process of purchasing a home have chosen to look online. This allows real estate agents to connect with them via social media if they know what it is that their audience wants.
This creates a temptation for a real estate agent to promote their real estate business. After all, they are here already, right?
Not really. Your in-face-to-face promotion may have limited appeal to home buyers. Professional realtors don’t just dwell on posting promotional content. Instead, they use social sites to build stronger bonds with their clients.
Choose your site wisely
Social sites can be a great boost for real estate agents to market their business. But that starts by choosing something that works for you for them.
Real estate professionals new to the realm of social media might feel pressured to be everywhere. Already pressed for time, they get themselves into trouble by maintaining a presence on a dozen different platforms.
When real estate agents are on social media, they can be distracted by too many interesting topics and lose track of what’s important to them. It is hard for these agents to attract followers because it is so confusing.
This isn’t to say social media should be avoided, but more that no one platform will work for everyone and every business. Find something appropriate for their target audience so they can reap the most benefits from social sites without wasting time on ineffective marketing strategies.
Start slow, with the understanding that there are tons of options. Take social media marketing one step at a time. This is not just about social media for real estate agents, but for clients as well.
There are tons of real estate social networks to choose from but start with the ones you know your target audience is on. For example, if they’re primarily interested in socializing and meeting new people, then focus more on platforms like Facebook or Twitter instead of LinkedIn or Pinterest. You can always branch out after that.
Be consistent in your posts
Don’t post about tips for buying your new home one day and then never touch on the topic again. Engaging with your audience is important to grow it, but you can’t do that if they don’t know what social networks you are active in or how often/ when posts will be published.
Your goal should be to create enough content to connect with your audience than just marketing. You can link your posts to several landing pages to bring them home.
Even as you post frequently, it matters what you post in your real estate marketing efforts. Consider this:
Time-sensitive/promotional posts
Consider posts about new listings, open houses, or events. This is a great way to attract people who are looking for your services and products.
Educational/informative posts that provide value
Create a post with links to the latest real estate trends in your area (blog content will do). Something is interesting on social media every day. Make sure you’re following up blog articles with social updates so interested readers can continue their research. You could also share your own insightful perspective by providing answers to “What questions would you like my answer?” Be creative and use engaging images too.
Engaging contests
Consider running monthly social media photo contests from time to time where you ask real estate agents to post social photos that show how they use social media in their business. You can also have readers submit questions for a “social media trivia” contest
Entertaining
In social media, you need to be engaging and entertaining. You don’t have as much time to get your message across in 140 characters so try some of these tips:
Things to Avoid when using social sites for real estate marketing
- Posting social media content that is not relevant to the audience
- Sharing too many videos and images. It’s best to use a balance of both with each post so you have some text posts in between social shareable ones
- Not having any social profiles for your real estate company on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or other sites where potential customers might visit them first
- Using social media as a one-way communication tool: If you’re only posting without interacting with followers then they will stop following you. This means fewer people seeing what your business has going on! Engage those who follow by asking questions and showing appreciation when they reply or like something you posted. Even if it sounds silly – thank someone for following
- Not being social: Many agents do not use social media at all. If you’re one of them, then it’s time to start because real estate is ALL about social and social media! You can’t be successful without it
- Having a business page instead of using your personal profile or only posting on company pages means that some leads may miss the opportunity with your agency and might go to the wrong place for help when they need it most. Make sure you have accounts set up for both so people see what you offer in addition to each other.
- Posting too much: Your followers might get tired if you post multiple times per day – especially if there isn’t anything new going on.
Conclusion
Social media marketing has become an important tool for real estate agents. It’s not just about Facebook posts and Instagram pictures anymore, as social media is increasingly becoming a place to find potential leads via Twitter chats and LinkedIn groups. The key to successful social media marketing? Be social! Use the platforms your customers are already on to reach them where they spend their time online. If you have any questions or need help setting up your plan for success, please let us know.
