Real Estate Social Media Marketing: Expert Strategies

Does Your Real Estate Business Need Social Media?

The question of whether a real estate business needs a social media strategy is becoming increasingly relevant. The shift towards online platforms has transformed how businesses connect with their audience, and real estate is no exception. 

There are several reasons why a real estate agent should use social media marketing:

• Increased visibility: Social media platforms offer a vast audience for showcasing properties, services, and brand identity. This increased visibility can help attract potential buyers, sellers, and renters.
• Targeted advertising: Social media platforms provide sophisticated tools for targeting advertisements to specific demographics, locations, and interests, allowing real estate businesses to reach their ideal clients more effectively.
• Engagement and relationship building: Social media facilitates direct communication and engagement with clients and prospects, helping to build trust and relationships over time. This can be particularly valuable in the real estate industry, where trust and personal connections are crucial for generating leads.
• Market insights: Social media can provide valuable insights into market trends, client preferences, and competitive strategies through direct feedback and social listening tools. This information can inform business strategies and marketing efforts.
• Brand building: Through consistent social media posts and engagement, every real estate professional can use social media to build and differentiate their brand identity. This can include highlighting unique selling propositions, sharing success stories, and demonstrating industry expertise.
• Cost-effective marketing: When making a budget analysis, compared to traditional advertising mediums, social media real estate marketing can be a more cost-effective way to market properties and services, especially for smaller businesses or individual agents. 
• SEO benefits: Active social media accounts and shared content can improve search engine optimization (SEO), making it easier for potential clients to find your business online.
• Virtual tours and showings: Social media channels allow for creative marketing strategies, such as live virtual tours of properties, which can reach a wide audience without the limitations of physical location.

9 Real Estate Social Media Marketing Strategies You Should Know

To stand out and effectively reach your target audience, it’s crucial to employ a variety of strategic approaches. Whether you’re a seasoned professional looking to refine your online presence or a newcomer eager to make your mark, understanding the right strategies is key to success. 

Below, we present 9 essential real estate social media marketing strategies that you should use:

1. Know your target audience
2. Create a different strategy for all social media platforms
3. Upload original photos and videos
4. Boast your testimonials
5. Engage with your followers
6. Follow geo-targeted SEO strategies
7. Generate your own leads
8. Maintain branding across platforms
9. Offload certain areas of social media marketing

1. Know Your Target Audience

Understanding and targeting your specific audience is a cornerstone of an effective social media strategy, especially for real estate agents. 

Instead of casting a wide net and hoping to catch anyone, focusing your efforts on qualified buyers can significantly improve your conversion rates, strengthen your social media presence, and optimize your advertising. 

Here’s how you can better understand and define your target audience as a real estate business:

• Define your ideal client profile: Start by creating a detailed profile of your ideal client. Consider demographics, interests, buying behaviors, and motivations. Are they first-time homebuyers, luxury property seekers, or families looking to upgrade? This clarity will guide your social media strategy.
• Analyze your existing clients: Look into your roster of successful transactions and identify common traits among your clients. Understanding the characteristics of those who have already been through the selling process with you can help refine your target audience.
• Use social media insights: SocialBee provides multi-channel social media analytics (audience demographics, content performance analytics, page growth insights, etc.), simplifying strategy and decision-making with time-saving features and customizable reports.

Find out your social media audience demographics with SocialBee.

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2. Create a Different Strategy for All Social Media Platforms

Developing distinct strategies for each social media platform is essential to avoid content fatigue and keep your audience engaged.

Employ these four tips to optimize your social media presence:

• Tailor content to each platform: Adjust your content format and messaging to suit the unique features and audience preferences of each platform. For example, use Instagram for high-quality property photos and short Stories, LinkedIn for sharing your real estate knowledge and professional achievements, and Facebook for community engagement and local business collaborations.
• Understand platform algorithms: All popular social media platforms are programmed differently. Dive into how each platform’s algorithm works to maximize visibility. Engage regularly, use relevant hashtags, and post at optimal times to ensure your content reaches your intended audience.
• Repurpose content smartly: When repurposing content across platforms, customize it to fit the platform’s context and audience. An infographic on market trends can be turned into a detailed blog post for LinkedIn, a series of Instagram Stories, or a discussion topic on Facebook.
• Monitor and adapt: Keep an eye on engagement metrics (i.e. likes, comments, shares, saves, etc.) to see what works best for each platform. Be ready to tweak your strategy based on real-time feedback and emerging trends.

PRO TIP: Start your 14-day SocialBee trial today and put these strategies into practice with ease. Now you can tailor, schedule, and republish your posts for different platforms from one place.

Plus, SocialBee helps you figure out the best times to post by analyzing which of your posts get the most engagement, taking the guesswork out of your content planning.

3. Upload Original Photos and Videos

To distinguish your real estate listings and captivate future clients, it’s crucial to step away from using seller-provided photos that other realtors and agents might also be utilizing. Such photos can make your listings appear generic and lackluster, potentially leading savvy home buyers to bypass you directly for the property owner.

Here is an example of an original property video from Zillow:

Source

Here’s a more actionable approach to ensure your real estate listings stand out:

• Invest in high-quality photos: Use a professional camera or hire a photographer to take original, high-resolution images of the properties. High-quality photos are more appealing and can significantly impact a buyer’s first impression.
• Showcase unique features: Focus on capturing and highlighting unique aspects of the property that others might overlook. This could include architectural details, quality of materials, or even the property’s ambiance at different times of the day.
• Utilize various angles: Experiment with different angles and perspectives to give potential buyers a comprehensive view of the property. This approach can reveal the space’s true potential and layout.
• Create engaging videos: Beyond photos, create walkthrough videos to offer an immersive experience. Videos can help future clients feel more connected to the space and envision themselves living there.
• Promote local community and events: Incorporate photos and videos that showcase the local community and events. This not only highlights the property but also the lifestyle and amenities that the area offers, making your listings more attractive.

To achieve these recommendations efficiently, leveraging tools like Canva can be incredibly beneficial. Canva’s user-friendly design platform enables you to create high-quality visuals and videos, perfect for showcasing real estate listings. 

Access Canva directly from SocialBee and speed up your content creation process.

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This integration not only saves time but also ensures your listings are visually captivating and stand out across social media channels, attracting more potential buyers and setting your properties apart in the competitive real estate market.

4. Boast Your Testimonials

According to the 2023 Member Profile by the National Association of Realtors, referrals accounted for 24% of the average Realtor’s business in 2022.

Therefore, it is essential to embed client testimonials into your online platforms. It’s one of the most effective ways to establish reputability, build a strong brand, and earn your prospects’ trust. In this way, you are ablte to highlight the positive experiences your past clients had with your brand.

A prime example is Terry Carter from The Terry Carter Team, who has successfully leveraged Instagram to showcase his client testimonials.

Source

Here are some creative ways to showcase your real estate social proof on social media:

• Video testimonials: Create engaging video testimonials where past clients share their positive experiences. Videos are highly engaging and can be shared across multiple platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
• Story highlights: Use Instagram Stories to share testimonials, and save them as Highlights on your profile. This keeps positive feedback front and center for anyone visiting your page.
• Quote graphics: Design attractive graphics featuring quotes from your clients. Use your brand colors and fonts to maintain consistency and enhance brand recognition.
• Before and after stories: Share stories that highlight the transformation experienced by your clients before and after working with you. Use photos, texts, and videos to tell a compelling story.
• Client interviews: Host short interviews or Q&A sessions with past clients. These can be done live on platforms like Instagram or Facebook to engage viewers in real-time.
• Testimonial carousel posts: Create carousel posts on Instagram or Facebook that feature multiple testimonials. This allows followers to swipe through and read several positive experiences.
• Interactive content: Encourage interaction by creating polls or questions where past clients can vote or share their feedback about your service. This not only shows testimonials but also engages your audience.
• Featured client of the month: Highlight a client each month, showcasing their story and experience with your service. This personal touch adds a human element to your brand.
• Incorporate testimonials in ads: When running social media ads, include client testimonials in the ad content. This increases trust and can improve conversion rates.

5. Engage With Your Followers

Building relationships with your followers is crucial for generating more leads and attracting new clients. 

Engage actively by answering their questions, responding to comments, expressing gratitude for positive feedback, and tactfully addressing negative remarks. Understandably, navigating through negative comments can be mentally taxing. Yet, it’s important to remember that not addressing them can inadvertently validate the criticisms leveled against your brand.

Consider leveraging tools such as SocialBee’s Engage module, which can revolutionize social media management for real estate professionals. Utilizing SocialBee’s social inbox enables agents to effectively track and engage with comments, direct messages, and mentions all from a single dashboard. 

Stay on top of your real estate social media game by actively engaging with your audience.

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This social inbox allows for a more structured and prompt communication with your audience, ensuring that every interaction contributes positively to building your brand and nurturing client relationships.