It can be seriously daunting to figure out how to use social media for real estate, and the best ways to market yourself and the best platforms to do so – especially when you’re trying to market yourself, your listings, and your services as it pertains to real estate. Every platform has it’s pros and cons for different industries, and today we’re going to dive into which ones are the best for realtors and the real estate business. 

First, let’s talk about why you should even be on social media as a realtor or real estate team: You can easily interact with new clients, showcase your listings with high-quality photos and describe the property all in one place. It also helps to show what sort of price range and areas you deal with best, allowing potential buyers to filter out if you’re the best fit for them or not. Additionally, it can really establish your credibility as a realtor – you can utilize highlights to promote past closings and happy new homeowners! So now, how do you know if you should be on Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, etc? 

 

Instagram 

Instagram is great for almost anything because of how visual it is, unlike Linkedin or Facebook. Instagram can become your social media portfolio of new and past deals, and like every other social platform, it allows for easy access to engage with clients and help generate leads. But don’t let it stop at just promoting your properties- use it to develop your brand as a realtor, or your team’s brand. 

Run Instagram contests for small (or big) prizes, highlight top performing agents/team members, or just fun stuff like (home) office dogs. For one, it’ll make you or your team seem more approachable and friendly, and help encourage potential leads to reach out to you. 

We love seeing realtors especially work with stories on this app, even more so now while we’re in quarantine and the ability to actually tour space is unavailable to most. IGTV, IGlive, and highlights offer amazing opportunities to show unique areas of properties, do property tours, behind the scenes at the office, or updates on upcoming properties. People are starting to prefer more and more video and “fleeting” content as opposed to pictures, or having multiple pictures at that.

Instagram also has one of the highest audiences – about 700 million active users. The age range of most people on this app is between tweens and 30-40-year-olds – if this is your target age, Instagram might be a great place to hang out and start using. 

 

Facebook 

Facebook is great if you’re targeting millennials or anyone really above the age of 35. While it might not be a visually appealing space for your listings, one thing that’s great about it is the post options available when putting up a listing. Your audience can book appointments, see the listing price, call, email, go to a website, and interact all in one post. The convenience here is a winner for most. 

Facebook ads are also a very powerful realtor tool because you can directly target a specific demographic that would be interested in buying from the area(s) you specialize in. 

 

Linkedin

While LinkedIn wouldn’t be our first choice in listing properties, it is great for networking with other realtors in your areas, seeing workshops or seminars being held, or recruiting for your team. It’s also a good space for your own team to network with each other and post about work-related issues, experiences, or talk. 

Another point you should consider before choosing a platform is the demographic you’re trying to reach. We went over this briefly in the above sections, but just in case you skimmed, here it is again. Facebook and Linkedin will have older audiences, generally more professionals, 9-5 employees, and industry experts. Snapchat and Tiktok will have younger audiences and are mostly video-based platforms. Instagram is the unicorn of them all because you can generate leads AND reach multiple age ranges. 

Make sure to consider the type of buyer – does your experience exist in working with mostly experienced property owners, or first time home buyers? Those who are on a tight budget, or those who can afford luxury experiences and spaces? Knowing who your buyer is will help you in filling out your profiles across the board, including what you should be showing and what questions you can answer on Q&A’s and things like that. 

 

So once you’ve picked a platform – what do you do now? 

Curate the best pictures for each listing you’re posting. They must have good lighting and be shot from angles that flatter the property. Also, if you’re dealing with multiple areas or different types of properties, we’d suggest having individual highlights for each one in order to help consumers view and flip through them, like a catalog. Each post that offers a listing should also have a few quick selling points about the property that grab a potential client and make them want to read more. Too many might make them disinterested, and too little could do the same. 

You should also post on a consistent level. Have a plan about posting, what you’ll be posting, when(at least once a day, if not more), how often, what contests you’ll be running, if any, etc. Engage with those who engage or like your content, because that will help your content to be shown to more people on the Instagram feed, as well as promote yourself as a realtor/team who is interested in the opinions, questions, or comments of those on their pages. We love working with realtors and helping grow their presence online because it’s an industry we find fun! If you have any questions or want to reach out to us to collaborate on how to use social media for real estate, feel free to head to our contact us page and fill out the form, and we’ll be in touch soon!

 

Written by Kyla Patton and Lauren Bordelon