While many people have mixed feelings about social media for real estate, there’s no denying that it’s popular among the majority. In fact, the Pew Research Center found that 72% of adults in the US use social media. So if you don’t already use this marketing tool for business, you’re missing out on the ability to reach a huge range of potential buyers and sellers.
After all, the National Association of Realtors found that 77% of real estate agents use social media for real estate marketing, and 47% of them said this tactic offers them the highest quality leads. So if you’re not using social media for real estate leads yet, you definitely need to start if you want to appeal to as many people as possible. You can get started by checking out the top types of content to post on your social media pages.
New Listings
One of the top tips for using social media for marketing purposes is to consistently post updated content to keep readers engaged. This could mean posting a few times per day or once a week. Either way, professionals in some industries might struggle with this point because there’s not a lot of new information to post about. But in real estate, that’s not an issue, because you’re frequently getting new listings that you want to show off.
And social media makes this easy. For every house you’re trying to sell for a client, you can create a new post on social media with the home description, images of the house, and a link to the listing. This way, potential buyers can browse your social media pages and contact you if they like the listings you post.
You can even post videos to get viewers excited about the homes you’re selling. Virtual tours are big on social media these days, as buyers like to see inside the house before they decide if it’s worth their time to schedule an in-person tour or attend an open house. In fact, in one survey, 48% of buyers said they found virtual tours to be a very useful tool as they looked for their next home. So be sure to use social media for real estate listings and videos if you want to grab the attention of buyers!
Tips to Help Buyers
Another way to use social media for real estate marketing is to establish your pages as great resources that buyers can turn to on the home buying journey. You want to not only get the attention of buyers but also keep them coming back to your social media pages frequently as they start to trust your advice on real estate. After all, the more visits your pages get, the more visibility you’ll have among people who could end up either buying one of your listings or trusting you to sell their house.
This means you should strive to publish helpful content that buyers want to see. For example, you can post statistics on the local housing market to help buyers and sellers get an idea of what’s going on in the area. You can also post links to articles with advice on buying or selling, or even your own tips that you want to share to help people. Just make sure anything you post is free of real estate jargon so it’s easy to understand. It should also be eye-catching, with pictures, video, or bulleted lists being the easiest ways to accomplish this.
Local Information
Using social media for real estate marketing is a great way to keep readers informed about their local community—and doing so can benefit you in that you’ll look like an expert on the area! This will come in handy when someone wants to buy a home in one of the cities you work in. After all, most people want to work with a real estate agent who knows the area well enough to show them around and give them little-known tips on where to buy.
You can show your knowledge of the area by posting about local events that are happening around town. You can also spotlight local businesses, such as by posting about a different small business you recommend every week or simply sharing their posts to give them more visibility. This will not only show your readers that you know the area but also help local business owners, who might, in turn, recommend you to customers. So it’s a win/win!
Home Improvement Ideas
Make sure your real estate social media content includes tips on improving the home. After all, some of your audience will be current homeowners who may be thinking about ways to improve their homes before selling them. Others may be past clients who will appreciate ways to make their new home even better. And keeping them coming back to your social media pages will keep your name fresh in their mind, which is good when it’s time for them to recommend a real estate agent to their friends!
For this reason, some of the content you post should be articles from trusted sources about ways to fix up the interior or exterior of the house. Ideas on saving money on utility bills, decorating for the holidays, or spring cleaning may also appeal to your audience. And if you have your own original DIY ideas to share, feel free to create social media posts about them, or write blog posts for your website that you can share on Facebook or LinkedIn.
Contests and Giveaways
Another way to keep people coming back to your social media pages is by giving away freebies. This will get people excited to engage with you, as they’ll usually gladly post a reply on your page if there’s a chance they’ll get a free product or gift card in exchange.
For instance, you can host a contest in which you ask people for ideas on staging or decorating a room of a house. You might also ask about their favorite paint colors for interior walls, or request to see photos of their own decorations for an upcoming holiday.
At that point, you can pick a winner, who you can tag in a new post, creating some buzz around your brand and giving you more content for your social media pages. Giveaways and contests like this not only create engagement on social media for you but also build goodwill among your audience!
Real Estate Jokes and Memes
Finally, you can entertain your audience by posting memes that are relevant to the city you serve or the real estate industry as a whole. Everyone likes lighthearted or downright funny social media posts, so your brand will only benefit from sharing these.
Just make sure the memes or jokes you share are appropriate, not offensive, and are likely to resonate with your audience. This way, you can put a smile on someone’s face with very little effort, in which case they’ll associate you with positive, fun content.
How ProspectNow Can Help
If you need help getting more leads, whether through social media or other tactics, come to ProspectNow for assistance. We offer a range of tools that will help you buy and sell commercial and residential property, so contact us today!