Skye Nicholson-Smith, social media coordinator from
Streetseed is here today to talk about real estate and social media...the basics. Streetseed is an innovative real estate search platform, helping homeowners, buyers, sellers, renters, real estate agents, landlords and property managers find and share important information about homes for sale and rent. Skye take it away.....
In today’s day and age in which just about anything and anyone has their own Facebook or Twitter account and YouTube channel sometimes it’s important to stop and think: How can I optimize my social media presence? What is the purpose of my social media presence? Yes, Twitter and Facebook are great online marketing tools where you can get your message to a large number of people in a short amount of time, establish a brand, and among other benefits join at zero cost. But, like any tool, social media has to be used properly. For real estate agents and professionals social media is a great marketing and communications tool if used effectively.
The first rule of thumb to effectively market your personal, or company, brand with social media is to ensure you are not just having a one way conversation. To successfully market your brand interact with other real estate professionals and the general consumer base. Whether it’s to link to their blog, or to respond to or ask real estate related questions, it will create a sense of goodwill among professionals and for the general consumer base it will make sure your name is top of mind because you have interacted directly with them.
When posting on any social media site it is also important to create a balance. Of course as a real estate professional it is important that you meet your bottom line and share your latest listings or advertise open houses over social media but, there should also be a minority of your tweets and posts that have a personal touch to them. This could be an anecdote from your day but it could also be something that straddles the personal/professional line such as a Twitpic of you and your clients at the house you’ve just sold them.
One common mistake on Twitter and Facebook for real estate agents and professionals is not thinking before you tweet. Think about what the point of your tweet is, are you trying to increase sales? Get people to an open house? Increase referrals? Get people checking your website or blog? Share a personal story? It is essential to be aware of what you are trying to get people to do with the post. As well, always work to optimize your social media presence by using techniques like employing common real estate jargon and phrases, tags, and links to blogs and other relevant online content to improve search engine rankings. This is more technical than simply sending out a tweet linking to your listing but it is a great online marketing technique that can increase your real estate brand’s visibility.
Finally, take advantage of social media! Whether it’s on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or your blog use social media as a resource. Yes it is there for you get your message out and increase your professional presence but if you’re really get involved you will discover new sites to list your properties, other real estate professionals (home inspectors, mortgage brokers, movers, etc.) to connect and collaborate with and a better overall sense of what the real estate climate is beyond the basics. If you immerse yourself in potential and previous clients and fellow real estate agents and other professionals you will be sure to have a better understanding of the ever evolving world of real estate and what clients want, need, and lack. Being in tune with how local and national events affect your real estate market is essential to stay competitive in the market and being connected online with up to date real estate market trends and with social media.
Thanks Skye for this very informative post. Make sure to follow Streetseed on twitter
@streetseed, like them on
Facebook (I already did) and catch Skye on
Streetseed's blog.
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