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Social Media Marketing for Real Estate Agents and Brokers

Peter Brooke
Peter Brooke
business.com Member
Sep 15, 2016

Tired of hearing other real estate agents gush about how successful their last social media campaign was when yours is falling flat?

Does it seem like the more time you spend sending out social marketing posts, the less attention they receive from your past and future real estate clients?

Time to perform a social media marketing overhaul! If your social media marketing strategies are not gaining your real estate agency the notice you were hoping for, it may be time to change the way you’re marketing.

We’ve got some real estate social media marketing tips that will help you keep engagement high with past and potential clients. remember you when it is time for their next home purchase. These tips will help you power up your social media marketing efforts so your real estate agency can start getting the notice and leads that it deserves.

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Tip #1. Stop Flooding Your Followers With Meaningless Posts

People turn to social media to be entertained and intrigued. Simply posting for the sake of reaching a certain number of posts per day isn’t going to keep your followers engaged; it’s going to get you ignored.

The trick to successfully using social media marketing for real estate is to stick to the 80/20 rule when creating your posts. That means that 80 percent of your posts should be about lifestyle tips and other areas of your clients’ social interests, and 20 percent should be about your real estate agency and what you can offer.

This tip should be easy to follow because as a real estate professional, you already know so much about the neighborhoods and events that hold your clients’ interest. From tips on the best restaurants to the latest home decorating styles, local foodie classes, and community happenings, you’ll be able to keep clients engaged because you’re talking about their home base.

Tip #2. Invest in Facebook Ads to Generate More Real Estate Leads

There are two ways for real estate professionals to gain attention through social media: through organic and paid social media marketing efforts. You gain organic marketing reach through the strength of your posts, by making the information you post so interesting and helpful that real estate clients want to share it with their social circles. Facebook, Twitter, and the other social media channels have changed the way posts are distributed and made it much harder for real estate agents to reach a wide pool of contacts through organic reach. 

That’s where paid social marketing comes into play. The key to successful lead generation through social media is to make sure your information reaches home buyers and sellers when they are ready to make a sale, and Facebook Ads are the perfect way to do that. Facebook Ads allow you to target prospective clients according to demographics, topics of interest, and so much more to make sure that your ad is seen by the right person.

Instead of simply creating a post and hoping one of your Facebook followers who see it is interested in buying or selling a home, the precise targeting that is built into Facebook Ads allows you to reach real estate clients at the exact time that they are beginning the home search process.

Related Article: Home Is Where the Cash Is: Building Your Real Estate Business from the Ground Up

Tip #3. Focus on the Social Channels That Your Real Estate Clients Follow

Some realtors try to keep up with too many social media channels in an effort to reach everyone, and they end up with poor quality postings that don’t attract anyone. Each social media marketing channel has a specific focus and user type. LinkedIn, for instance, is quite popular with business professionals but it’s not going to connect you with people searching to buy a home.

Real estate agents and brokers should concentrate on winning with the top social media marketing strategies: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. These four social media marketing channels will give you the greatest reach to connect with property buyers and sellers without running you ragged trying to keep up postings on social sites that will not further your real estate marketing efforts.

Tip #4. Adjust Your Posts to Fit Each Social Media Marketing Channel’s Style and Tone

It’s definitely not true that one size fits all when it comes to real estate social media marketing. If you try to cut corners by using the same post and same headline for all your real estate social media marketing strategies, you’re going to end up chasing a lot of potential clients away.

Savvy real estate marketers make sure they match the content of their posts to the interests of each individual social marketing platform’s audience.

  • Facebook: Try home decorating tips, style guidelines, and how to lists. Games, quizzes, and contests are popular real estate posts on Facebook
  • Twitter: Statistics and links to real estate information fit well with the microblogging format. Use hashtags to extend your marketing reach.
  • Instagram: Showcase community lifestyles and include short property features tagged with the Photo Map feature so viewers know where they can find the homes you feature
  • YouTube: Create a dedicated channel with neighborhood tours and engaging videos of your listings

Tip #5. Incorporate Video to Make Your Social Media Marketing Efforts More Successful

Social media marketing and video are a match made in heaven. With a little work, you can use a single gorgeous video of the breathtaking view of a beach sunset from one of your waterfront listings to enhance all your real estate social marketing strategies.

Feature three to 10-second bursts on your Twitter and Facebook posts, use a longer 60-second cut on your Instagram page and showcase the full glorious recording on your dedicated YouTube channel. Taken together, that’s an incredible amount of social media marketing power from a single real estate video!

For a real marketing boost, try using Facebook Live Video to publicize your next Open House. Take your Facebook followers through a live walk-through of the property then have a Q&A session to answer any questions from interested viewers. It’s a great example of how with a little innovation, you can use real estate social media marketing strategies to make even your offline marketing efforts shine.

Related Article: Consider It Sold: How the Real Estate Industry Is Crushing Content Marketing

If you put in the effort, these real estate social media marketing tips will help you keep engagement high and ensure your past clients remember you when it is time for their next home purchase.  Keep working on your social media marketing strategies and you’ll eventually find the right mix of social and marketing to get your real estate agency the notice and leads that it deserves.

Image Credit: NanoStockk / Getty Images
Peter Brooke
Peter Brooke
business.com Member
Peter is Founder and CEO of Blue Interactive Agency, a full service digital marketing agency. With a passion for online marketing, Peter enjoys analyzing digital strategies and offering his unique view on how effective they are. Having a track record of successfully commercializing digital properties, Peter is always looking for the next challenge to help a company succeed online. In his spare time, Peter maintains a personal blog which focuses on his gastronome adventures.