Real Estate Agents have the luxury of using social channels to market their business online in a customized way. Before you begin, you must ask yourself what is it that you do, define your target audience, and how you plan on communicating with them. Once you have done these things, here are some tips for doing Social Media as a Real Estate agent.
Build relationships with Potential Clients. If you are going to be selling someone a house, they have to trust you. Buying a home is not an impulse buy like cosmetics or flowers. It is most likely the biggest purchase of one’s life. This type of purchase is a very logical purchase and anyone in Real Estate knows how long it takes to make a decision about buying a home. However, it’s also an emotional purchase. The homebuyer wants you, as the agent, to hold their hand and guide them through the process. Make it a goal to establish this concept through your Social Media channels.
How to build relationships:
- Post daily, engaging and informative content. Examples are industry related articles, tips on home buying, photos of current listings, market information etc.
- Be available for conversation. If someone comments on a post that you have shared, make sure to respond to them and answer any of their questions. Let your audience know that you care.
- Interact with other users. Keep an eye on your followers and if they post Real Estate related content, let them know what you think. Provide additional input and information that will benefit them and establish yourself as a professional on the topic.
Network with other professionals. One of the most beneficial efforts that a business owner can make to market their business is to connect with other business owners. Not just any business owners; you want to connect with people that provide different products or services to the same prospects and target audience.
Who Real Estate agents should network with:
- Escrow officers
- Construction companies
- Local Real Estate groups
- Lenders
- Other realtors
- Investors
- Mortgage Brokers
Note: Feel free to add to the list, these are just a few suggestions.
How to network on Social Media:
- Make the connection. Like their pages, subscribe to their blogs, follow their Twitter, connect with them on LinkedIn and join their groups.
- Share their listings and stories. Remember, you are trying to reach the same audience. You want your followers to benefit from visiting your channels and leave with new information. By sharing another agents listing, you are showing your audience that it’s not all about you and your listings. Also, sharing is a great way to be noticed by a desired network connection.
- Interact with their channels. Pay attention to what they are sharing and be active in your likes, comments, repins, and retweets. This will establish a good relationship with them and raise your social reach, which means more exposure to your potential clients.
Be an online resource. Studies show that Social Media shortens the sales cycle by 40%. If people know that they can find all they need to know about Real Estate when they go to your channels, they will continue to follow you and that relationship will grow.
How to be a Real Estate resource on Social Media:
- Share your listings. Let your audience know what is going on with your listings and clients. However, make sure not to go overboard with this. You never want to seem boastful or sell too much, but you do want your audience to know about the houses you have available.
- Talk about personal experiences. If something went wrong for a client, be a real person and share it with your audience. Help them to learn from the mistakes and how to handle specific real estate oriented situations.
- Share Real Estate news. Always be aware of the latest news in Real Estate and pass the updates along to your audience on your channels.
- Blog. Blogging is a good way to establish your image as a Real Estate agent, drive traffic to your website and become the ultimate Real Estate resource. I highly recommend sharing your blog posts as content on your social channels.
Think of your Social Media channels as the houses you show to potential buyers – you want them to be clean, presentable, and full of resources to enrich the lives of others!
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