5 Social Media Strategies for Real Estate
Creating compelling content for social media – and a plan for sharing and managing that content – is an affordable and essential part of your marketing strategy. From sharing your latest blog post to keeping your fans and followers up to date on the market, it’s important to tailor your posts to the most popular platforms.
The reach of social media worldwide is staggering, with numbers that represent enormous potential for real estate marketing. According to the latest social media user statistics:
- Facebook has more than 2.91 billion active users each month
- Instagram has a potential advertising reach of more than 1.478 billion users
- Twitter’s potential advertising reach is more than 436 million
- TikTok has more than 1 billion monthly active users
Social media strategies for real estate can encompass stylistic elements, timing, frequency and a host of other factors. However, the most important part of developing your social media plan is a commitment to consistency, whether you’re maintaining multiple accounts or just one.
Why should real estate agents care about social media marketing?
From a new agent listing to branded content to influencer marketing, social media offers a great way to create and distribute attention-getting information, photos, video and more. Whether you’re more interested in talking about the latest market statistics in your local area or being the star of lifestyle-oriented visual content, social media gives you a place to reach out and connect with far more people than you ever could with in-person networking.
A breakdown of strategies for each social media platform:
Each social media platform has its own style and it's worth taking a deep dive into the ins and outs of their capabilities. To get you started, here’s an overview of the various social media platforms and how you can put them to work for your real estate marketing plan.
For many real estate professionals, Facebook is the go-to social media platform, offering a place to build a local following while also staying up on the latest happenings with their sphere of influence. If you’re posting on Facebook, here are some things to consider:
- Make sure that your public-facing page is managed with care, reflecting the kind of professionalism you want to be known for. If you use one page for both your personal and professional content, consider security and confidentiality when posting about yourself or your family.
- Add a marketing release to your listing or buyer representation agreement package and make sure that it’s signed before you post photos of your clients. Be careful not to post information that could be used to identify their location or that would reflect poorly on an agent listing, whether it’s yours or not.
- Don’t just share random information on your Facebook page. Show how you provide service to clients by getting out into the community, interacting with local business owners, previewing properties, or providing virtual open houses for your latest listings.
Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace has become a popular rental platform, generating leads for real estate rental agents and landlords. In order to make your listing pop, be sure to include a well-written description and professional photography for your rental listings. In addition, be sure to connect with the leads you generate in the Marketplace so that you can continue to reach out to them and make them part of your sphere of influence.
With Twitter, you’ll want to keep track of your analytics to find out when folks are most engaged in your area. In most places, the best time to post on Twitter is still 12-1 p.m. local time, since users may be scrolling through on their lunch hour. Play around with other times as well, including:
- Early morning (6-7 a.m.) when users are first looking at their phone
- Morning commute (8-9 a.m.) when users are on the subway or commuter trains
- Afternoon commute (5-6 p.m.) when commuters are going home for the day
- Late evening (10 p.m. to 12 a.m.) for pre-sleep scrollers
Pre-scheduling tweets throughout the day and evening can help you get a good sense of when your community is most active. In addition, it allows you to time-block your marketing efforts on Twitter so that you can get it all done at once.
TikTok
Content on TikTok should generally be fun, quick and engaging in keeping with the platform’s most popular posts. If you run a full video on YouTube for your latest listing, consider running short clips on TikTok focusing on individual elements like a gorgeous closet, spectacular view, or even a unique architectural or design detail.
Humor and trends are important elements for TikTok videos. Play along with fun trends while putting your own unique real estate-related spin on them. Feature your city or your neighborhood to get the attention of a local audience.
Instagram users are sophisticated, so the content you share there should be more curated and professional-looking than it might be on other platforms. While you might share a funny meme on Facebook, Instagram content should look more polished and be unique to your business.
If you’re still focusing on posts, you’re missing out on much of what Instagram can do for you and your real estate marketing. Make sure to keep your IG Stories updated several times each week and always share your posts there as well. Reels are becoming ever more popular, allowing you to share short videos filled with information, humor and your own personal style. Don't forget hashtags either, especially because Instagram users can now follow their favorite hashtags. One important note is to make sure you don't go overboard with hashtags—only use about 10 hashtags max and make sure they're relevant.
RentSpree offers you plenty of options for managing all of those new leads you’ll get from social media and placing them in the properties you represent. From the RentSpree rental client manager (RCM), you can organize your contacts and their information so that you can consistently nurture them throughout the sales pipeline. Optimize your agent profile then share it on your social media profiles so potential clients can always stay in touch.
