Whether you are new to real estate or new to social media marketing, the two can have a very mutually beneficial relationship. But if you don’t follow some best practices, things could either fall flat for you or they could go horribly wrong. Here are some basics and some tips to help you leverage real estate social media marketing tools to your advantage.
Why Use Them? People Interested in Real Estate Use Social Media
Your customers, your competitor’s customers, industry resources, and potential clients are all using social media tools. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or some other tool, people use it and if you take advantage of that you could attract them to your website where you can open the potential of a business relationship.
Real Estate Professionals Can Leverage Social Marketing Tools in Many Ways
There are a number of ways you can use social media to boost your online profile. You can use it to establish yourself as an authority in your geographical area or a specific niche, you can use it to get referrals, and you can use it to network with other professionals, as well as leverage it to help you continually enhance your own industry knowledge and reputation.
Tips for Real Estate Social Media Marketing Success:
1. Get acquainted with social media tools before jumping in. This will help you avoid faux pas that could be potentially harmful to your online profile.
2. Check out what your competitors are doing on social media tools. This can be insightful.
3. Be sure to answer questions people pose online. If someone asks a question on Facebook or Twitter and you don’t answer, not only are you losing an opportunity with that person but others who follow you / find you online will see your lack of response. The same goes for critiquing. If someone gives you a poor or lackluster review on social media, take it as an opportunity to right a wrong.
4. Write a blog about real estate in your area and link it to your Facebook and Twitter profiles. When you post a new article or update, share it with your followers.
5. Use social networking tools to find out about your industry. You can follow industry pages or sites on these tools and subscribe to relevant hash tags and use it to cut down research time.
6. Diversify your real estate social media marketing efforts. Try a few tools to see how well they work for you instead of relying on just one. There are social marketing aggregator tools that can help you save on posting time.
7. Always strive to be helpful and respectful. Social media marketing tools can be great for business but are not your personal soap box. If you use them that way, it could harm your professional image.
