Real estate is a heavily marketed and highly saturated industry. As real estate agents, we need to be part-time marketers on a daily basis. We need to market our listings to potential buyers as well as ourselves to be hired for the job.
Social media has shifted from an available marketing tool agents can use to a necessary pillar that one must adopt in order to ensure longevity in the real estate industry.
The focus now should be not whether or not you should use social media for your business (as the answer to that is a resounding yes!). The focus is on how to use social media to its highest potential and how to build a powerful online presence for your business.
Create a Social Media Calendar
Most Realtors use social media with an “on-accident” approach of posting listings, holidays, closed transactions, and photos with their clients. The problem with this approach is that your social presence isn’t consistent and it takes up too much of your time figuring out what to post next.
One strategy for success is to create a social media calendar that allocates a particular subject to each day of the week. For example, we post motivational quotes on Mondays, featured listings on Tuesdays, photos of various members of the team on Wednesdays, and so on.
Download the Canva and Canva Stories Apps
Don’t spend hours designing your posts and stories. Instead, download the free social media design apps Canva and Canva: IG Story and Video Collage. The apps are free and offer hundreds of thousands of pre-made templates where you can simply drop a photo and some text and you have a beautifully designed social media post.
Psst… Don’t forget to always include your brokerage name and/or logo in your posts to comply with commission rules.
Don’t Be Afraid to Showcase Your Personality & Hobbies
Social media is a less traditional marketing avenue over other routes such as print or web. When people log on to their social media, they expect to see photos of vacations, children, pets, and holiday gatherings. Somehow real estate agents are constantly overlooking this and trying to impose an overly professional and traditional approach to their accounts.
Your clients like to see your personal life, it makes them feel connected to you and it will enhance your reliability.
Psst… We recommend avoiding swimwear, alcohol, drugs and politics on your business pages.
Create a Brand Around Your Passion
People like to work with people who share similar interests as them. It allows for real estate agents the ability to connect with their clients on subjects outside of real estate and creates familiarity.
If you would like to take your social media presence to the next level, you should consider rebranding yourself to one main passion or hobby that you will be identified with and focusing your business around it.
For example, if you are passionate about football, consider branding your social media presence around football to generate potential leads from fellow football-lovers.
Use #Hashtags
If your concern is not having enough exposure or followers, then consider using multiple hashtags on your posts in order to gain new followers and “likes.” Download apps such as Hashtag Expert to find new hashtags that can increase your visibility.
Psst… Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post. If you post more than 30, all your hashtags will be inactive.
