Social media has become an indispensable tool for real estate professionals. It enables brokers and agents to connect with their clients on a regular basis in a scalable way. And social media is a place where they can find a majority of their customers; 77% of Americans have at least one social media profile and worldwide, social media users has reached 2.34 billion. Furthermore, 44% of all buyers searched online for properties before exploring other options. Social media can be used as a helpful tool for a real estate professional to learn from and follow trends. Here are a few tips and facts as to how different social media outlets can be used in real estate:
Approximately 69% of real estate professionals are using this multi-purpose platform. Not only can you share listing and company information, photos of locations, and video tours of properties, but you can also utilize the advertisement manager provided by Facebook. The advertisement manager allows you to select marketing objectives such as brand awareness, lead generation, engagement and more. You can also determine the demographics you want to focus on by choosing locations, age, gender, and language amongst others.
LinkedIn, which is the unofficial ‘professional’ social media platform, is being used by approximately 61% of real estate professionals. This platform is the ideal place to interact with others in the industry, gain referrals, and create strategic alliances as well as promoting yourself and your company. You can provide details on your experience and background, including a list of your professional skills like sales, negotiating and real estate transactions. By building a professional profile, you can help yourself enhance your reputation and credibility in the industry. LinkedIn will also notify you whenever one of your connections changes jobs – a great way to stay current with your online network!
YouTube
It may come as a surprise that only 30% of real estate professionals use YouTube in their marketing plan considering it is the second largest search engine in the world, behind google, which owns it. YouTube is such a big player in the online world that it drives traffic of 1 billion unique users each month. YouTube is a great way for you to showcase your listings and your knowledge of the market and industry. Without it, you could be missing out on potentially thousands of viewers each day, week or year. It is especially important to use this social media outlet because 51% of home shoppers utilize YouTube for video research on properties.
Instagram is a relatively new form of social media that has made an impact in a big way. Ever since Facebook purchased the outlet for $1 billion in 2012, the user count has continued to rise and now sits at approximately 800 million monthly users. At first thought, you may view Instagram as just a source to view pictures and videos, however, it can be used for so much more. A great feature on the platform is Instagram Live. This tool allows you to show live video in real time while viewers can ask questions and leave comments. Instagram Live can be incredibly useful for house viewings or behind the scenes looks of your office and the work you are doing. Another great feature of Instagram is the use of hashtags. Whenever a hashtag is left on a post, it automatically gets dropped into Instagram’s search engine. If a user searches a particular word or hashtag, it will show up on their feed with the contents you have posted. Only 14% of real estate professionals are using Instagram right now; those 14% are ahead of the game.
The use of social media is a necessity for anyone working in the real estate industry. It is an easy way to follow trends, connect with relevant groups, and learn from the competition. Social media, when used properly, will help a business grow.
