Real Estate Research Question

Buying a house is a pretty big investment for most people; so being able to connect with your Real Estate agent is crucial when someone is looking for someone to help the find a place to live. This is where being able to get someone to trust you enough to help them make such a crucial decision is key for this business. Many are doing more and more advertising and client base building through social media and virtual channels.

Using Social Media is a relatively new concept for the industry, as many Real Estate agents are very good at face-to-face sales and know how to engage their clients and build a relationship with them in person, but often struggle with doing the same thing in a virtual environment.

So what are the best social media platforms for Real Estate and how do you use them?

Facebook and Twitter seem to be the main social media sites being used for Real Estate marketing. These allow for both photos and links to be posted effectively.

When using these, the most important principles are

1.     Post about the neighborhood being advertised

Familiarizing people with the neighborhood will make them feel like they are at home when going to look at a house their. It also gives the audience a chance to see how nice the neighborhood is, and what living their would be like. It also shows ones knowledge of the area.

2.     Use Images

Images are good for catching peoples attention when they are scrolling through their feed, and people are more likely to stop and look at a pretty picture and read the caption, than just a big block of text.

3.     Show you care about your clients

Social media is a great way to build one’s reputation in an industry. By posting about what you are doing in an industry one can position themselves as an expert in the field likely to draw clients. This is also an opportunity to show oneself as someone who not just sells houses, but helps people find their home. Posting about helping someone closing on their first house or finding their family’s dream home is a good way to build a reputation as an agent who will help people find what they are looking for, and not just try to sell them what will make the company the most money.

4.     Post your listings

Social Media marketing should follow the 80/20 rule: 80 percent of the content one posts should be to connect to the customer through postings about lifestyle, customer interests, and other updates; 20 percent of the posts should be about the company and it’s product. This helps to keep the social media face of the company or agent social.

Sources 

"Social Media for Real Estate Agents: 21 Tips." Wishpond. 21 Aug. 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.

"Why Real Estate Agents Need Social Media - Social Media Content Creation & Lead Generation by Branding Personality." Social Media Content Creation Lead Generation by Branding Personality RSS. 22 July 2012. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.