Chances are, you’re already using social media. And you most likely arrived at this post through a social channel. The question now though is whether or not you are effectively using social media in your real estate business.
From years of experimenting with the best social media strategies, we’ve created BoomTown’s Guide to Using Social Media in Real Estate. The guide below will help you to put your best social media foot forward and increase the quality of your social media responses.
The first and most crucial step in using social media in your Real Estate business is to identify your social strategy. Building a strategy for your business should begin with knowing your audience, yourself, your brand and your goals.
Your strategy may shift slightly over time, but at its core, should remain steady and completely in line with your overall business objectives.
Know Your Audience
Unless you are trying to launch a new business model targeting a new demographic, you need to take a look at your typical buyers and sellers. And in some cases, they may have preferences similar to your own. Are you frequently using Twitter in your personal life, or are you more of a Facebook user? Keeping your average customer top of mind when you are forming your strategy.
For example, if your audience skews older, they are more than likely going to be more frequent users of Facebook as opposed to Snapchat.
Through knowing your audience, you are not only well-armed to choose the social channel(s) best for your business, but you are also better equipped to use the targeting those channels have to offer. Using demographic and interest targeting for your advertising on social channels allows you to continue to effectively build your addressable audience.
Why is social marketing a no brainer? It provides the ability to address your current audience easily and frequently while also having the opportunity to acquire new audience members.
Know Yourself
That said, be honest with yourself when developing your social strategy. The worst thing you can do is build a social personality for your business and then leave it unattended.
“Set it and forget it” is a phrase you need to forget, in all elements of business, but that is especially true in regards to your social strategy.
If you do not have someone available to assist in posting to and managing your social account(s), take advantage of the scheduling opportunities offered within your channel(s) of choice.
Employ this Strategy Today: Scheduling Posts
Devoting a few hours each month to scheduling posts is a proven time saving strategy. Keep in mind, you’ll still want to mix in more time-sensitive posts every now and then, such as last minute events, news, market updates and occasionally listings. Scheduled posts are easily leveraged for sharing content on your website or events that are scheduled well in advance.
Know Your Brand
Your business’s social profiles need to be representative of your brand, not only in using your logo and brand colors (we recommend using a version of your logo for your profile image or avatar), but your brand should also be represented in the content you share and the voice you use.
Avoiding polarizing topics (such as politics or religion) seems like common sense, but it is important to keep in mind. Our recommendation is to be insightful about effects on your local community and market, but avoid anything on your page that you would avoid at a dinner party full of strangers.
Aside from the more polarizing topics, we encourage you to embrace your brand’s voice in your social strategy.
Be conversational in your social content, have fun with it, and get creative not only in what you are saying, but how you say it. Don’t be afraid to mix video into your posts and if you’re advertising, take advantage of different types of ads.
Need help with social advertising? Let us help!
Facebook in particular has a ton of options to choose from, but every social platform has its own. From Canvas to Carousel, you have user friendly options at your fingertips, just be sure that it fits YOUR brand.
And when in doubt, don’t try to force your business into a shoe that doesn’t fit.
Know Your Goal
At the end of the day, everything you do in your business should be done with a goal in mind. From high level goals, such as a target GCI or number of sides, down to the post you published last Wednesday, you need to know what you are looking to accomplish with your actions; otherwise you’re just spinning your wheels.
If you are looking to educate or share information, we recommend including insightful, market-specific comments about a news article you are sharing to highlight your industry and market knowledge.
No matter what you are sharing, always be sure to include a call to action.
Even if you are linking to a news source or community website, also share a link to your website to learn more about a particular topic, or to search homes in an area. If those options are not relevant, at least tell the user how they can reach you if they have questions. Don’t be afraid to use the private messaging functions in each platform; they are a great, non intrusive way to start a conversation and customer relationship.
How to Handle Negative Comments on Social Media [Video]
Track Your Social Media Efforts
Second to knowing what your goal is, you need to know if you’re getting there! Tracking your efforts through your social channels allows you to know which are paying off and which are not.
Whether through the channel’s built-in analytics and insights, links containing utm tracking codes to your website, call tracking numbers, or if you’re running paid advertising, you have a great amount opportunities to see what is working for your business.
If you are leveraging a channel’s paid advertising platform, be sure your ad objectives are in line with your goal. For example, if you are looking to secure conversions on your website, be sure you are using the pixel to optimize towards conversions and not simply clicks to the website.
The pixel will allow you not only to see how many conversions you have garnered as a result of the campaign or ad, but will also allow the platform’s algorithm to show your ads to those individuals more likely to perform that action – two birds, one stone!
Interact
Last, but certainly not least, make sure you are interacting with the commenters, interactors and even detractors on your posts and ads. Not everyone has something nice to say, but it is a best practice to still respond to their comment. In many instances you have the opportunity to turn a negative into a positive, but if not, simply hide the comment and go on about your day.
The purpose of instituting a social strategy, at its core, is to establish and grow your audience and digital community. Starting and continuing the conversation is pivotal to the success of your social strategy and will allow you to ultimately develop that relationship offline as well.
If you are just getting started in setting up your business specific social profiles or need a quick refresher, check out our Library for how-tos and best practices!
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