No matter your experience level, social media can be a game-changer for the real estate industry. Choosing the “right” social media platforms doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Here are the most effective platforms for real estate firms and Realtors alike.
For a real estate brokerage or developer, the aim of your social media strategy is likely to grow your team of Realtors, highlight properties, build brand awareness and share company news.
When it comes to selecting platforms, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook are excellent choices for firms that have the above goals in mind. Each platform offers unique content tools best suited to organizations, without the steep learning curve.
Before you begin your social media efforts, get clear on who will be managing social media marketing within your organization. The two common choices are hiring in-house or securing a marketing partner to execute social media for the business.
LinkedIn:
LinkedIn is the perfect place to share details about commercial projects, keep your business contacts up-to-date on company news and show that you have a pulse on the real estate market. You can also leverage LinkedIn to engage in social listening, recruit top Realtors and establish “thought leader” status for your brokerage’s executive team.
To ensure your LinkedIn company page content gets maximum reach, encourage your team to share relevant company posts via their own LinkedIn profiles and tag the company page as often as they can when sharing properties and more.
Twitter:
According to Statista, Twitter ranks as one of the leading social networks worldwide, with 328 million monthly active users. It is an excellent lead generation platform and can drive traffic to your website.
Twitter is also great for connecting with real estate media contacts, sharing company news and discovering other Realtors and real estate influencers. Its algorithms help you target leads and accounts with better content and engage with them using advanced search and hashtags.
Facebook:
Along with its enormous audience reach, Facebook offers tools that are ideal for real estate organizations to share value-driven content with ease.
Facebook Creator Studio makes it easy for your marketing team to create and schedule content in a few clicks without the need for additional scheduling software. Facebook is also the perfect platform for showcasing your firm’s properties in both photo and video format, while its advertising tools let you promote key listings, industry events, property tours and more.
Where a real estate organization may use social media to grow its team of agents and boost brand reach, individual Realtors might use it to attract clients, highlight listings and feature clients who have recently purchased their dream home. If you are a Realtor, you have an opportunity to leverage more visual and creative platforms to achieve these goals and more.
Video marketing on Instagram and TikTok:
Video content is dominating the social media landscape and will continue to do so. This is great news for Realtors, as there are multiple social media platforms designed with video content top of mind.
Instagram is perhaps the most high-impact social media platform for individual Realtors. Its visual nature and numerous video capabilities make it easy to share a wealth of content in digestible formats and without the need for fancy equipment.
Instagram Reels and Stories let you share short and snappy listing tours, video messages with news on upcoming open houses or events, behind-the scenes-moments and more. All you need is your phone!
If you are comfortable being on camera or doing voice-over, presenting house tours via video lets others connect with you and generates buzz around your listings.
Start with a strategy
In the social media world, posting quality content consistently is key to lasting success. No matter which platform(s) you choose, you don’t have to post every day. Choose a realistic and manageable posting schedule that works for you and only share truly valuable content, like listing info, house tours, client features and industry news. A few high-quality posts each week is a great place to start.
Have a solid social media strategy in place before you begin picking platforms or posting on your feed. This mitigates being overwhelmed, ensures your time and resources are being maximized efficiently and guarantees your content will be strong and value-driven.
With the right strategy, social media can improve organic reach, boost brand awareness, help Realtors build thought leadership and attract clients.
Tara Clark is the founder and CEO of Social T., a Vancouver-based social media agency with a decade of experience working with real estate organizations. Social T. provides strategy-focused social media services and has worked with the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, Bosa Properties, Hungerford Properties, Ivanhoe Cambridge and more.
