The secret is out: A strong recovery from the housing crisis means a burgeoning supply of realtors all trying to grab a piece of the market. What does that mean for real estate agents?
You guessed it- more competition.
Social media for realtors will play an increasing role in their market share opportunities. In the past four years alone, online searches for real estate have jumped 253%. And while realtors consistently acknowledge how important it is to maintain a killer online presence, they often put social media on the back burner.
Hey, tech-savvy realtor of 2019: Don’t be one of them! It is most definitely not the time to forsake digital presence if you plan on growing your business.
Before we get into real estate social media strategy, let’s address the question on everyone’s minds…
How Important is Social Media in Real Estate?
Judge’s verdict? Very important. The numbers speak for themselves.
Social Media and Real Estate Statistics
94% of millennials and 84% baby boomers use online sites to search for homes.
Another study tells us that searches for “buying a home” on Youtube are up to 118,000 quarterly.
As for mobile, 45% of mobile real estate searches are done using apps to request more information, and 39% of Twitter users keep up with news via the platform, making it a great place for listings and growth.
How are realtors responding to these requests? Not so well.
Sprout indexes indicate that only a mere 11% of inquiries were responded to by realtors via social media. Not only that, but the real estate industry ranked number 4 in the top 10 annoying industries on social media (insert slow clap here).
The point here is that your clients are real people who crave connection and learning. They want an honest and authentic personality that helps them succeed, starting by answering their inquiries via social media.
Key takeaway- nobody puts social media in the corner. Here’s how realtors should handle social media in 2019!
The Top Real Estate Social Media Strategies for 2019
In this section, you’ll find effective strategies and practical tools to improve your real estate social media this year.
1. Create a Clear Brand Identity in Every Post
Creating a coherent brand identity allows followers to learn to expect consistency from you, thus increasing your credibility online. That means consistency in the following areas:
Your voice (authoritative, light and funny, sarcastic, fresh)
Your aesthetics (branding, logo, photos, and graphics)
Your offering (useful information, humor, fun facts, beautiful photography)
Your activity (how often you post, how often you respond, how often you tag & connect)
To tackle these four areas of brand identity, try the following:
Voice
You can use your voice to garner followers. Humor is a great strategy to get attention online. Using relevant memes and videos is a great way to increase sharing. Self-deprecating humor also allows users to see a more human side to your brand.
On the other hand, your voice might be more young and tech-savvy. If so, make sure to use words like “cutting-edge” and “technology trends”. Also, make sure to include the techy aspects of your brand in your posts (such as agency or escrow apps that make mobile a breeze).
Aesthetics
Make sure your graphics have similar themes (such as bright and colorful or warm and sultry). Followers will begin to expect and associate your brand with these colors.
Pro Tip: For increased interaction, include colorful graphics with posts.
What You Offer
Maybe you offer fun real estate industry facts, or amazing photography, or cheeky “property crush of the week” posts. Whatever it is, grab a niche and stick with it. Users are more likely to follow you if they see consistency in your post offerings.
Activity
Make sure you know the optimal time to post on social media for your industry and stick to it religiously! This will greatly increase your engagement and give your followers a sense of security that you haven’t forgotten about them.
Now that you’ve established a strong identity, let’s talk about content…
2. Use Videos for 4X the Reach
Your social media efforts will go much further with videos. Whereas 20% of people will read the text on a page, 80% will watch a video.
Too often realtors believe the outdated myth that making social media videos is cumbersome, so they stay away from it. However, there are a plethora of user-friendly video-making toolsthat do not require any original footage or graphics on your part, including Powtoon (free basic features) and Animaker ($12/month basic features).
Instead of making a lackluster written post, you can use the exact same copy in a video format and reach 4X the number of people.
But that’s not all videos can do…
3. Create Strategic Videos to Achieve a Competitive Advantage
Videos can help your clients understand your product, which is one of the principal reasons you should be using social media in the first place.
HubSpot tells us that 97% of marketers agree that videos help increase user understanding of their product/service, and 76% say it helps increase sales.
Here are ways you should strategically integrate video into your social media strategy in 2019:
Informative Videos: Use videos across all platforms to inform users about your product/service or processes of the real estate experience. The Corcoran Group has an awesome video of their CEO answering questions acquired from a Twitter poll about the state of the housing market (interaction+education=social media wins!).
Facebook Cover Video: Grab user’s attention quickly and stand out from the crowd with cover videos. Check out Live Urban.
Facebook/Instagram Live: Show followers how you run through open houses, give tips, or even do Q&A’s with homebuyers.
360 Degree Videos: Be transparent by showing 360 views of neighborhoods, balconies, floor plans, etc.
Pro Tip: To keep clients loyal and engaged, include videos of their home-buying experience or “One Year Post-Sale” videos to show that you care about their home-buying decisions. You’ll also drive-home customer satisfaction rates. People loved to be featured on social media!
4. Join Relevant Groups to Increase Your Visibility
By connecting to groups, influencers, and agencies that represent your brand identity, you are not only getting an idea of what you’re up against but are simultaneously increasing your brand awareness and search engine visibility.
This is because search engines create semantic connections to your brand by evaluating which groups you are in and which hashtags you actively use.
Make sure to complete your social media due diligence by doing the following:
Follow influencers/agents and relevant hashtags for your niche on Instagram
Join real estate groups on Facebook
Follow prominent real estate thought-leaders on Twitter
Subscribe to like-minded real estate channels on Youtube
Follow businesses/agencies and join real estate groups on LinkedIn
Remember: It doesn’t work if you don’t interact with them! Actively participate in these groups by reaching out to members, tagging them in your posts and asking for their opinions, or posting attention-grabbing industry news on a daily or weekly basis. You will see your following grow organically.
Pro Tip: Set up Twitter keyword searches to alert you when people are going to buy or sell a home in your area. Here are the best free tools to monitor hashtags.
Ready to Get Real Results from Social Media in 2019?
Here are the strategies to increase your social media engagement:
Create a clear brand identity
Use videos to reach 4X the number of viewers
Integrate strategic videos into your marketing
Affiliate with relevant groups
Looking for other ways to improve your real estate business in 2019? Check out the rest of our blog or see how you can make the escrow process more seamless and transparent in your own real-estate business.