5 Tips for Real Estate Professionals on Social Media

You’re new to the real estate business, or it’s slowed down, and you can’t afford to hire a social media manager right now. What should you be doing in the meantime? Here are 5 tips that will help you maintain an effective social media presence.

Photo by Merakist on Unsplash

Choose Your Platforms Wisely

Be sure to have an understanding of the different social media platforms, how to use them effectively, and how to leverage them for your business. There are more than a hundred different platforms, but these are the 3 that all real estate professionals should be using:

• A Facebook business page is a must for all businesses and organizations. Think of it as a store front; a place for people to get information about your business, the latest news about your goings-on and how to reach you.
• An Instagram page is great for real estate professionals as it’s set up specifically for photos and short videos. Perfect for showcasing listings.
• A LinkedIn account is a place for professionals. It’s a resume come to life in social media format. Use this platform to connect with other professionals in the real estate industry.

Set a Goal

If you’ve taken any business course whatsoever, then you’re familiar with the acronym SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. When setting a goal, be sure that all 5 elements of SMART are clearly evident and explainable. For social media, it can be as simple as:

• creating a content calendar for consistency
• increasing your number of followers
• increasing the number of impressions on your posts

Whatever your social media goal is, keep it simple. Social media is at the starting point of the sales funnel. It helps to establish your authority and expertise. The bulk of the work you do to communicate with new clients, foster those relationships, and eventually lead to a sale are much further down the sales funnel. Don’t expect your social media presence to do the hard work for you. That’s why you need to spend as little time with social media as possible and hire a social media manager when your budget allows it.

Be Authentic

While it’s okay to repost what someone else has already posted, try to incorporate as many original posts as you can. Think about what kind of message you want to send to your followers. Most of them probably know you on a personal level, and it will be obvious to them when you don’t sound like you.

Establish A Brand Voice

If you haven’t already done so, be sure to establish a brand for your social media platforms. On the surface, this involves your logo, photos, fonts and colors. But it’s deeper than that. It includes your business’s values, brand voice, tone and personality. The goal here is to stand out amongst your competitors and build trust with your followers. One way to do that is to invoke an attitude or feeling through your content.

Nielson Norman Group, a research and consulting firm on user experience, has identified 4 primary tone-of-voice dimensions:

Funny vs. Serious

Formal vs. Casual

Respectful vs. Irreverent

Enthusiastic vs. Matter-of-fact

Focus on Content Marketing

Use the 80/20 rule when posting… 80% of your posts should be content marketing, and only 20% of your posts should be direct marketing, i.e., new listings, solds, etc. Content marketing is more effective than direct marketing and paid advertising. It’s a process whereby you are posting relevant and meaningful content on a consistent basis to establish an awareness of your brand.

10 examples of content marketing are:

1. Sharing information about community events
2. Celebrating holidays and other special occasions
3. Market updates
4. Contests and giveaways
5. Personal stories
6. How-to’s and DIY’s
7. Home-buying tips
8. Debunking myths about real estate
9. Breaking down the jargon
10. Collaborating with other professionals (loan officers, title companies, home repair companies, etc.)

Stay focused on what social media is at its core. It’s about making connections, establishing relationships and having a presence. Most people don’t log on to social media to be marketed to. If most or all of your posts are about you, your listings or your sales, you’re going to lose your followers’ interest. It’s okay to brag, but don’t make it the bulk of your social media posts.

Not everyone is buying or selling real estate today, this month, or even this year. Focus on the basics when using social media and remind yourself that it’s the starting point of the sales funnel.

And when the time is right, hire a social media manager to help you stay consistent, on brand and on message.