Social media is now considered a critical component of nearly every organization’s internet marketing strategy. This is particularly true in B2C industries where companies succeed based on visibility, relevancy, and engagement.
While real estate professionals once relied heavily on print advertisements, physical signage, and word of mouth, the industry’s marketing efforts are now largely defined by how well they utilize the internet and various social media platforms. The issue you must consider is whether or not you’re getting the most from the tools you have at your disposal. When used properly, social media can serve as a multi-purpose tool that helps you build a brand, network, and reach a larger market.
Using What You’ve Got
One excuse that many professionals make regarding social media is they don’t know where to start. They claim there are too many platforms and they don’t have time to learn about them. These are usually half-hearted attempts to ignore making a change, but what these individuals don’t know is they are actually rather simple. There are five basic platforms you’ll want to use, and each is surprisingly intuitive. Here’s what you’ll use them for:
- Facebook. As the staple social media site, this will be your hub. Here’s where you want to start building a community and interacting with followers. The most important things you can do on Facebook are to keep updated contact information and post regularly.
- Twitter. This is a great place to send out quick messages and advertise new listings. Twitter is an excellent source of traffic generation and can help you engage a completely new demographic.
- Instagram. Many industries struggle to find Instagram useful. Thankfully, real estate is not among them. Use Instagram to post pictures of properties and market your listings.
- Pinterest. You can use Pinterest in the same way that you use Instagram; it’s a great place to curate images and content from across the web. You can delegate specific boards to categories like architecture, design, dream homes, and local listings.
- YouTube. Videos are extremely powerful and have the greatest likelihood of going viral on the internet. While YouTube will likely be the most time-intensive platform of the five, it could also provide the highest return. It’s best use is as a virtual showing tool.
Tips to Get You Started
You could spend weeks, even months studying social media and researching how to get the most out of specific platforms, but the best thing you can do is start. It’s a learning process and the sooner you begin implementing new elements, the faster you’ll notice a return. Here are a few helpful tips to get you started:
- Be consistent. It’s a basic marketing principle, but you must remember to focus on producing a consistent message. From the images and avatars you implement to the tone of voice you use throughout your content, keep everything consistent. Consumers thrive on security and naturally trust businesses they feel comfortable with.
- Listen up. The problem businesses have when using social media is they forget to listen. They consistently push out good, quality content, but rarely take the time to answer questions or engage their followers. One of the best things you can do is listen to your followers and learn from them.
- Focus on visibility. Thin social media profiles can be worse than no representation at all. Do your best to stay active and build an active community. One good way to let clients know you exist on social media is by adding social buttons to your website, much like Fox & Roach, Realtors does at the top of their site.
- Follow the 30-60-10 rule. The 30-60-10 rule states that 30 percent of what you share should be original content you’ve created, 60 percent should be useful industry content that you’ve curated, and 10 percent should be self-promotional content with direct calls-to-action.
- Invest locally. Always remember that real estate is local. Unless you deal with a lot of out of town investors, 99 percent of your clientele is going to be local. That means the content you produce and conversations you engage in should be community-driven. Talk about a new restaurant down the street or the hometown baseball team; you want people to associate you with the community.
Get Started Today
Thankfully, social media requires very little upfront cost – if any. You can sign up for these five major platforms, free of charge, and get started today. While there is certainly much to learn, begin with the basics and take things slowly. Remember these helpful tips and discover what you’ve been missing.
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