Best Social Media Practices for Real Estate Agents
So you want to learn how to get results from social media for your real estate business?
Maybe even become an expert — with a ton of followers?
It can be difficult to know what to post on social media to captivate prospects.
Or, where to find great leads.
You see other real estate agents crushing it on social media.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could rock social media — and boost your business?
With a few helpful tips and tricks on how to use social media and specific platforms, you’ll be well on your way to mastering social media marketing for Realtors.
Ready to get started? Here’s how to use social media as a real estate agent.
Best Practices for Real Estate Social Media
Before diving into what to post on each platform, here are a few general best practices for using social media.
Post Regularly
Posting consistently is key to the success of any social media for real estate agents. If you post sporadically, prospective clients have little reason to follow you. And, posting occasionally makes it difficult to build authority and get noticed by prospects because your posts will rarely (if ever) show up in their feeds.
With everything you have to do each day, it can be hard to remember to post daily or even a few times a week. An easy way to remember to post regularly is by developing a content calendar a month or even a quarter in advance.
A content calendar simply outlines what you’ll post when, so you don’t have to think up a new topic every time you post. Instead, you can plan out topics at the beginning of the month. That way, you have a schedule that tells you what and when to post — making it easy to be consistent with social media.
Be Real and Unique
Along with posting regularly, you should be authentic on social media. People want to follow real people — not impossibly perfect Realtors.
And, prospects want to follow unique people on social media. If you post exactly what every other Realtor does in your area, prospects won’t be as interested in following you. Why would they when there are 100 other accounts just like yours? So, you need to post insights, stories, and polls that have a different take than those from other real estate agents.
To be authentic and unique, you need to figure out what sets you apart from other realtors. For example, if you do more research than other Realtors, you should post in-depth market analysis, neighborhood insights, and other research-driven content. So, prospects will follow you to learn about the market in a way they can’t from other real estate agents.
Finding your uniqueness and making that central to your social media can help your efforts be more effective.
Share Helpful Content
Another important real estate social media best practice is post helpful content. On social media, prospects don’t want to be constantly sold to. There is a difference between selling and marketing, so make sure your social media content is not a blatant sales pitch.
Instead, prospects want to learn something from you. They want tips and tricks that will help them buy or sell houses better. So, your posts should focus on things like what new home buyers should know, the top family neighborhoods, or the best fall activities to do in your area.
An easy way to share helpful content is to curate news stories, blog articles, or other social media posts. That way, you don’t have to spend the time creating great content yourself — while still being able to post engaging content that attracts more prospects.
How to Use the Most Popular Platforms
There are seemingly endless social media platforms to choose from. All with different rules to maximize your marketing results.
Not to worry! This guide will help you learn how to post on the most popular social media channels for real estate agents — Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Read on to find out how to get the most from each platform.
Facebook has 2.45 billion unique users each month. It’s the most popular social media platform with 69% of Americans using it. This means you can reach a ton of prospective clients if you have a great Facebook strategy.
And, Facebook isn’t just popular with younger generations. 68% of 50–64-year-olds and 46% of those 65 and older also have a Facebook. So, if you work with older clients, Facebook is a great social media platform to connect with them.
Set Up Your Facebook Business Page
To get the most out of Facebook, you need to set up a Facebook business page. This business page lets you post, showcase reviews, communicate with prospects, book appointments, and more — all in the same place.
It’s important to completely fill out your Facebook business page. That way, prospects can find all the information they need to choose you as their real estate agent. Adding a compelling business description, a few pictures, and your accomplishments are some important parts of your page you should complete.
Once you have your business page set up, it’s time to start posting. You can post things like listing updates, community events, relevant news stories, and more.
Use Videos
Adding videos can help you boost the effectiveness of your posts. 66% of people prefer to learn about a product or service through a short video. And, 86% of people want to see more videos from their favorite businesses.
While videos are gaining popularity, many real estate agents don’t take advantage of this on social media. So, if you create a video about yourself, recapping important market changes, or seller tips (to name a few), you can stand out from other agents.
Join Groups
Another way to get the most out of Facebook is to join Facebook groups. One type of group to join is a group for buyers or sellers. In these groups, you can connect with potential homebuyers or sellers , answer their questions, and position yourself as an industry expert.
You can also join other local real estate agents for the latest tips and trick within your market.
With 1 billion unique users a month, Instagram can help you reach a large audience. Instagram is most popular with younger generations: 75% of 18–24-year-olds, 57% of those 25–30 years old, and 47% of those aged 30–49 use Instagram. So, this is a great place to target first time home buyers.
Posting Videos and Images
Instagram is a visual platform, with pictures or videos featured prominently. Descriptions are still present but not the focal point of posts. This makes Instagram a great place to post stunning property pictures or videos to entice potential buyers or sellers.
And, you can use hashtags on your posts to reach the right people. You can use hashtags for location, type of post (like a listing), or even a style of home (like Victorian) to make sure your posts are seen by your ideal prospect.
Instagram Business
To maximize your Instagram results, we recommend using a business account. With a business account, you have access to Instagram Insights. These insights help you know what content performs the best, what time you should post, and who interacts with your posts. This data can help you create the most effective posts to boost your real estate business.
Instagram Stories
A popular feature of Instagram is Instagram Stories. 500 million people use Instagram stories daily — making it a great way to reach more people. An Instagram story is a photo or short video that is only available for 24 hours before disappearing. Posting a story daily helps you stay top of mind.
For an Instagram story, you can post a poll, community events, market updates, and more. And, these stories are a great place to showcase your unique personality — with fun polls or entertaining videos.
Engage with influencers
Instagram is known as the influencer platform. Influencers have huge followings and can be a household name. When you engage with these influencers, you get in front of a ton more people — many of these people could decide to use you for their next real estate transactions.
330 million people use Twitter each month. While not as popular as Facebook or Instagram, you can still connect with a lot of prospects through Twitter in 280 characters or less per tweet.
Like Instagram, this platform skews towards a younger crowd so it’s a great place to target first time home buyers.
Timely Tweets
You don’t need to post that often to get marketing results from Twitter. You should aim to post a minimum of once a day on twitter.
Due to the short lifespan of tweets, timely news and events work well for tweets. So, you can tweet about neighborhood events, local or national news, or relevant tips for prospects (like seasonal projects).
Engaging with Prospects and Influencers
Beyond simply tweeting your own or others’ content, Twitter is all about engagement. The goal of using Twitter is to start conversations with prospects through comments, sharing their tweets, or mentioning them in your tweets. By starting conversations with prospects, you can learn more about them and position yourself as the go-to expert.
Another way to engage with prospects is by using polls or asking questions. You can poll your followers on what they’d like to learn more about, which house style they prefer, or any number of things. This helps you gather information on prospects to tailor your tweets for maximum impact.
Boost Engagement with Images
Much like Facebook posts, tweets with images or videos get more engagement. Tweets with images get 200% more engagement than those without. So, whatever you tweet, make sure you include a relevant image to help your tweet reach more prospects.
Wrapping It Up
Social media is a powerful tool to build your brand, generate leads, and have a full pipeline. But, with so many different platforms each with different rules, it can be challenging to know where to start with social media marketing for your real estate business.
But, social media doesn’t have to be hard! If you post regularly, have an authentic and unique perspective, and share helpful content, you can rock your social media. Following these real estate social media best practices can help you see more results from your marketing.
Looking for another way to get more clients? Consider using Ribbon — with cash and standard offers that can help you stand out to prospects. Learn more about how Ribbon can help your real estate business today.