Improve your Real Estate Social Media Strategy in 7 Days

 
Social Media • October 5, 2023
 
The good news: Most home buyers still need the help of a real estate agent to buy a home. The not so good news: Unless you’re selling a home to your grandma, everyone starts online. Gone are the days when yard signs attracted potential buyers to your open house. That means that you need a website that converts. Plus, you need a great real estate social media strategy that generates leads. Want more good news? Setting up a winning social media strategy to help you sell is fast and painless. All you need to know is where to start and what to do.   That’s why this article will show you:
  • How to choose the 5 best real estate social media networks for your agency.
  • 7 tips that can help you improve your real estate social media strategy in 7 days.
  • How to use real estate social media management to track your success.
 

The 5 Best Real Estate Social Media Platforms for Your Agency

Here’s a shocking statistic – over 74% of buyers from all generations used the Internet to search for a home in 2017. Of buyers 37 and younger, 56% found their homes online. That’s also true for 51% of buyers between the ages of 38 and 52. The first step in the buying process is to look online. As a result, 63% of buyers walk through a home they’ve viewed online. The bottom line? You need a solid online and social media presence if you want to stay relevant in today’s real estate market. But where should you start? You’re probably too busy selling houses. You don’t have time to tweet all day and upload professional photos of your properties to Instagram. That’s why it’s important to take baby steps when you’re just starting. Ask yourself the following questions:
  • How many platforms do I have the time and money to manage?
  • Where is my audience and which platforms would best serve them?
  • How often can I make real estate social media posts?
  • How will I integrate different channels and my website?
  • Do I need tools to help me with scheduling, posting, and tracking?
  • How will I track my success and adjust my social media strategy?
Let’s say you only have time to manage and run one social media profile. In that case, go for Facebook. The platform is the most flexible in terms of use. You can engage with your audience with a variety of content, track your success, and advertise. Targeting Millennials? They now make up the majority of home buyers at 36%. Perhaps you should be on Instagram. Here are the top five social media marketing platforms to consider for real estate social media:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
You don’t have to choose them all. Decide where you want to be and what you have time to manage. You can always expand later and find new platforms to conquer (e.g. Quora).

Facebook Social Media for Realtors

First, Facebook is the best social media platform for keeping important information in one place. Think of it as an alternative to your website. Make sure your contact information is consistent with your website and Google My Business Page. And make sure that it is easy for clients or buyers to contact you. Why? Buyers still purchase their homes through agents. In fact, 87% of all buyers purchased through an agent in 2017. That figure jumps to 90% of Millennials. You want to make sure that your Facebook page makes it easy for buyers to contact agents. Setting up a Facebook Business page allows you to add a Call to Action (CTA) button like the “Contact Us” button in the example. CTA buttons can help clients book agents, turning your Facebook page into a lead generator. Next, you’ll want to make sure that your cover image is adding value to your page. Facebook has now made it possible for you to include video and 360-degree images as cover photos. Your cover image is the first thing that visitors see, so you want to make a good impression. In the example below, Focus Real Estate has added a dedicated hashtag (#focuseffect) to their cover image. Dedicated campaign hashtags help you track your real estate social media marketing efforts. You can filter out your posts to see how many people are using your hashtag, who is using it, and how they’re using it. When you track dedicated hashtags, you can also see:
  • Reach
  • Sentiment
  • Demographic
  • Data
  • Influencers
  • Estimated Ad Spend
  • Related Keywords
And the list is not exhaustive. Using a social media management tool is a great way to make sure you’re efforts are successful. When it comes to images, the more professional the photo the better. You should consider hiring a professional photographer. Let’s say this is not a possibility. The next best thing is to make sure that you are at least posting images that you have taken yourself. Don’t be tempted to use stock images. People want to see actual homes online before looking at them in real life. Note the people in the example. Having people pose in your images helps home buyers imagine themselves living in the home you’re selling. The same is true of real estate social media video content. Besides drone footage and virtual tours, consider staging a home with actors to activate viewers’ imaginations. Finally, you’ll want to consider what features to add to your profile. Allowing clients to post testimonials or reviews is a great way to build trust. When choosing an agent, home buyers want someone who is honest and trustworthy above all else. A quick side note – notice that the copy for the CTA is different than what Poppy Realty chose. Whether you choose “Contact Us” or “Call Now,” make sure your copy reflects the resulting action. Consider using “Book an Agent” to make the experience as seamless as possible. In the sidebar, Colorado Realtors have chosen to include:
  • Events
  • Homes for Sale
  • Reviews
  • Videos
  • Agent Profiles
  • Featured Listings
  • Community
  • What’s Your Home Worth?
Most of the above are obvious. “Homes for Sale” are listings. “Reviews” are reviews. But what about general real estate social media content? What should you post in your main feed? When creating content for real estate social media posts you’ll want to follow the 80/20 rule. You’ll see this piece of advice everywhere. The idea is that 80% of your posts should focus on customers and 20% on your business. What does that mean? First, look at the “What’s Your Home Worth?” feature on Colorado Realtor’s profile. It’s one of the less obvious pages. Here’s what you see when you click on the tab: Here, users can calculate the value of their property based on their address. It’s useful, informative, and interactive. Now, no the feature is not a real estate social media post. Yet, it exemplifies the type of information found in customer-centric content. Here are some real estate social media post examples for your main feed:

Posts for Customers

RIGHT Real estate buying and selling tips for those with no experience. Here’s an example of an infographic that Poppy Realty published. The content shows when different age groups can expect to buy a home: WRONG Stock images of properties with pushy sales copy. In the worst case scenario, at least tell your audience that you’re using a stock photo:

Posts About Your Business

RIGHT Progress that has been made on an ongoing construction project. When you’re a larger company that builds homes, creating commercial real estate social media posts that update clients on projects is a great idea: WRONG Advertisements that your followers might have missed. When you’re one of the big players you may have millions of listings. In that case, such a post makes sense. Otherwise, don’t turn your real estate social media posts into advertisements: Other content that is great for real estate social media posts:
  • Posts about what is happening in and around the community.
  • Showcases of local businesses and neighborhoods.
  • Contests and giveaways – great for engagement.
  • Video walkthroughs of new homes or neighborhoods.
Pro Tip: Make sure that you set up your Facebook profile as a Facebook Business page. That’s because personal profiles don’t allow for features such as a CTA button. You also can’t add extras in the left-hand sidebar – e.g., testimonials or events.

Twitter Social Media for Realtors

Twitter can be a bit more personal than Facebook. With Twitter, real estate agents can create personal profiles and use them for work and lead generation. Facebook ends with the company’s profile, but Twitter can extend to individual professional profiles. Here are some reasons why agents may want to manage their own Twitter real estate social media posts:
  • To establish themselves as thought leaders.
  • To stay in touch with their personal clients.
  • To send out necessary, frequent updates about their properties.
  • To build trust with clients by sharing more personal tweets.