7 Social Media Marketing Tips for Real Estate Agents

The world of real estate has been rapidly changing over the past 10 to 20 years. From newspaper ads and phonebook listings to websites and social media platforms, communication channels substantially improved, dictating new trends and business strategies. It is crucial to see the potential in the development of these technologies and let them work for your business. With that in mind, take these seven social media marketing tips for real estate agents as our contribution to your pursuit of professional growth.

Tip #1: Know your way around social media platforms

With the impact that social media has on today’s business world, many people wonder if direct marketing is dead and gone forever. Social media is rapidly overtaking every other form of communication, and you need to respond by tackling all the basic and advanced options of social media platforms. Invest your time and energy, and the results you will get in return will be tenfold.

Every platform offers a unique set of abilities and options to promote your business. If you do not familiarize yourself with those options and learn how to use them properly, you are missing a big piece of a very complicated puzzle.

Tip #2: Be active on more than one social media platform

This is more of a general rule, but it is crucial to mention. Many real estate agents like to play favorites when it comes to the tools they use for their business. While it is true that you should only focus on those strategies that bring the best results, there is also a reason why you should be active on more than one social media platform.

Every social media platform is a new pool of potential clients!

Keep in mind that people have their preferred social media apps they use for communication. For example, Mark likes Facebook. All of his friends are there, he’s been using it for a long time now, and that’s his preferred platform. However, Sandy is more into posting photos with beautiful filters, so she uses Instagram. If you want to reach both Mark and Sandy, you need access to both platforms.

Furthermore, every social media platform is useful in its own way:

• Instagram is a very efficient, user-friendly app for posting photos. It doesn’t swamp its users with many links and focuses on video and image promotional content.
• Facebook is one of the first social media apps and has a considerable number of users. It offers unique options for a business page, Facebook ad promotions, and it can link to different content through posts.
• LinkedIn allows you to connect with other real estate agents in the business and look for private companies that buy and sell properties.

These are just a few examples of how every social media platform plays a different role.

Tip #3: Posting photos is a good strategy to generate leads

An image is worth a thousand words. By posting photos, and even short videos that showcase the property, you tell your customers a story about their dream home.

You can either hire a professional photographer or take photos on your own. Just remember not to use too many flashy filters, or the customer might think you are trying to hide something. All images must look natural.

Tip #4: Respond to all messages in a timely manner

Customers need attention. When they send a message to their real estate agent, they always want an immediate response. If you are using multiple social media platforms and communicate with many customers at the same time, things can get confusing. You might delay answering to one customer while you tend to the other.

One of the most important social media marketing tips for real estate agents is to try and answer all the messages immediately. Even if you don’t have an answer at the moment, let the customer know you are aware of their question and that you will get back to them. Creating generic text messages for specific situations will save you a lot of time. Nevertheless, remember to add a personal touch to every message. It might require some work at the beginning, but if you put this on your daily agent checklist and honor the time of your clients, they will respect you and want to work with you. You might even get good recommendations!

Tip #5: Use hashtags

When posting, Tweeting, or publishing an ad, remember to use hashtags. Hashtags should be essential keywords that help you categorize your posts into useful groups. When clients click on a hashtag, they will get all the related posts about the same topic. Some good suggestions for hashtags are:

• location
• price range
• important property features
• type of property
• square footage range

This will immensely help your clients find what they are looking for. Additionally, it will speed up the entire process and help them focus only on features that interest them.

Tip #6: Citations as an effective real estate tool

Mentioning your name, company, phone number, and other business details on social media is a crucial element of social media marketing. Citations can be very beneficial for your business, as they allow your clients to learn more about the company and quickly get in touch with you if needed. Additionally, citations can help you grow in your local market and selected niche.

Tip #7: Do not use social media marketing to swamp your clients with offers, but to HELP them!

One huge reason why people are turning to social media when looking for a product or service is that they are not constantly bombarded with ads about products they don’t care about. They are looking for a more passive way, without sales agents being in their face, offering this and that. Remember that property buyers have many questions and fears, and you should be there to help them find the answers. A social media platform can be a database of useful guides that will help them better understand the process of purchasing a property and everything that comes with it.

7 social media marketing tips for real estate agents – delivered!

This quick list of seven social media marketing tips for real estate agents should help you understand the essentials of using social media platforms to sell real estate. The next step is getting into all the nooks and crannies of the platforms, using as many advanced techniques as possible, and helping your business run like a well-oiled machine!

Guest blog by Lisa Roberts