Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
For better or worse, the real estate market has largely moved online. In fact, nearly three out of every four buyers used the internet for their house searches in 2017 alone. A good realtor, therefore, needs to leverage this fact and become an expert in marketing themselves in an online environment. One of the most effective ways to do so is through social media.
Navigating the world of social media can be a challenge. There are a number of different platforms out there, each with their own specific user demographics, and different types of digital marketing work well for each of these different sites. The good news, though, is that you don't have to end up pulling your hair out while crafting marketing campaigns for your chosen social media platform. Here's how you can master social media for your own real estate business.
First things first: you don't have to spread yourself thin when it comes to social media. The more platforms you run campaigns on, the more time, effort, and even money you could end up sinking into these campaigns. If you're just starting out, consider choosing one or possibly two platforms. The most common ones include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube, all of which have specific strengths and weaknesses that can be used to your advantage when it comes to marketing properties and your realtor business.
Facebook, for example, is an excellent all-around choice because of its robust marketing tools and its ubiquitous nature. Facebook is also a good choice for presenting a professional image, as is LinkedIn. However, if you're targeting a specific demographic such as Millennials, a better choice may be Instagram, which is much more popular with younger adults. Instagram and other social media sites like Twitter are better if you're interested in showing the more personal side of yourself as a realtor, and YouTube and Instagram are ideal for showcasing video and images respectively.
When it comes to social media marketing, it's the "social" aspect that needs to take center stage. The old 80/20 adage rings true: split your social media posts so that 80% of it consists of customer-focused content and 20% on content related directly to your business. This will build authority and trust with your audience, as it helps to distinguish you from a realtor who just wants to attract new business.
Adding value to your followers is all about providing content that educates and entertains. Content of this type can take nearly any form; you can post videos of property walk-throughs or drone footage on YouTube, write blog posts about home redecorating tips to share on Facebook, infographics filled with interesting statistics on Instagram, draw attention to events in your local community where you do most of your business, or any combination of these.
Finally -- or perhaps most importantly -- it's important to keep your social media marketing campaigns organized. While you can certainly do so the old-fashioned way with a spreadsheet program or even a notebook and pen, there are easier ways to accomplish this. In fact, the more complex your social media campaigns, the more you need a modern system to keep your efforts organized.
Social media management software is one ideal way to do so, as these software programs can help you craft and schedule, track social engagement, and provide analytics to see what types of content are most successful. Better yet, most of these programs are either free to use or very affordable, making them a perfectly affordable addition to any realtor's social media marketing budget.
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