How to get more from social media marketing for real estate
More and more real estate professionals are embracing online marketing and one of the most used channels is social media marketing.
Social media not only gives you access to a huge potential audience but also enables you to gather insights on your posts e.g. how many people did you reach? which content is the most popular and what time of day is the best time for you to post?
Whether you’re new to social media or just looking for ways to optimize your social media strategy, we explore three ways you can make your social work harder for you.
1. Choose the right social media channels
The sheer number of social platform options can be overwhelming – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and TikTok – and who knows what other new platforms are just around the corner!
Within the context of social media, real estate can be best categorized as ‘lifestyle’ and for a B2C audience, both Facebook and Instagram are probably where the majority of your potential prospects in the 25-60 age range are.
Of course, you can decide to jump into other social platforms, but generating and managing engaging social content takes time and energy. If you don’t have enough hours in the day to consistently produce quality content for multiple channels, focus on just 1 or 2 and avoid spreading yourself too thin.
2. Tell stories
As a real estate agent, you don’t just sell property – you offer an experience – and no doubt have countless property stories to share.
To grow and engage a social audience, you need to offer the information your audience wants – not just links to your current listings.
Content ideas you can consider include:
- Insights into the buying and selling process like what’s involved in preparing a house for sale, or how can you reduce the stress of the auction process.
- Useful information about homeownership such as how to add value to your home on a budget, or how to help your pet settle into their new home.
- Local insights for potential buyers and investors. Do property walkarounds on video and talk about the local area, the friendly neighbourhood or the best local café to grab a coffee on the commute to work.
- Client profiles including why they selected you, what they enjoyed most about working with you and the result you achieved for them
- Poll your social audience on lifestyle topics and share the results
By telling stories, you’ll give your audience a reason to read, engage and share your posts which will grow your following and help position you as the local expert.
3. Explore Facebook groups
A Facebook page and a Facebook group have different purposes.
A page is primarily one-way communication i.e. you sharing content with your followers.
A group is designed to foster discussion with ‘user-generated content, meaning any group member can post and start a discussion.
By joining relevant local groups, you’ll have the opportunity to answer relevant questions asked by members as they arise, and you can share your own page content with a wider audience to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise.
One golden rule to remember with groups is they all have their own unique set of member rules. Ensure you read these and adhere to the rules to avoid the risk of being banned.
4. Instagram hashtags
While you can use hashtags across multiple social media sites, hashtags are more actively used to find content on Instagram and Twitter.
Users can opt to follow hashtags and many do so they can quickly and easily find the content they are interested in.
A quick google search will help you identify the most popular hashtags on Instagram and you can use up to 30 hashtags per post, so don’t be afraid to use all 30 and increase the reach of your posts!
The advantage social media has over other digital platforms is it gives free access to a huge audience. If you choose your social channels wisely, share useful and interesting information and experiment with a hashtag strategy, you’ll be rewarded with a highly engaged captive audience.
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