Social media marketing for realtors can increase their client base, promote listings, and grow their brand
There was a day when newspaper ads and bus bench signs were enough to make a thriving career in real estate. Those days are getting farther in the rearview as more and more people get their information and find listings on social media.
There’s no denying the power of social media and its influence on society’s purchasing decisions. Social media marketing for realtors can be used to promote your brand, company, and listings, and opens up a whole new world of potential buyers and clients.
However, it’s not as easy as posting a picture of the house you’re selling with a caption that says, “call me.” Having a plan to best navigate the real estate market on social media and knowing the metrics and tools involved is the best way to maximize your potential.
In this blog post from Wave Media, we’ll dive into what a social media marketing plan looks like for realtors and the tools and KPIs they should use to get the most out of their social media presence.
A Social Media Marketing Plan for Real Estate Brokers
While you certainly can’t just add a picture of a house for sale to social media and expect to get results, you’ll also need a social media marketing plan if you want to stand out from the competition. Many real estate brokers are already on social media, so if you want to rise above the rest, you’ll need a plan and you’ll need to stick to it!
Here are the six elements of a successful social media marketing plan for realtors.
1) Create Buyer Personas
You can start defining these personas at a very basic level (buyers + sellers) and then get as specific as you want: family size, commute preferences, favorite activities or interests, etc. The more specific you get, the easier it will be to come up with content that speaks to your ideal clients.
Let’s start with the basics… Both buyers and sellers have distinct preferences when it comes to buying and selling a property.
Buyers generally want to spend the least amount of money possible and have as little hassle as possible. They also prefer to buy a property that is ready to live in or needs minimal work done.
On the other hand, sellers are motivated by getting the best price for their homes and are often more interested in a longer sales process that allows them to screen buyers more carefully. They are also more likely to do some repairs or renovations before putting their home on the market.
2) Define Your Social Media Goals
You’ll want to create a goal using the SMART method. SMART goals help you stay motivated and on track by providing a framework for measuring your progress.
For example, To increase your GCI (gross commission income) from social media by $550,000, you need to set specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals.
Break down your target into achievable steps and measure your progress to stay on track.
3) Choose the Best Social Media Platforms for Real Estate
Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are the best social media platforms for real estate with TikTok quickly gaining ground!
Facebook is great for connecting with current and potential clients. Unless your clients are from a younger generation, Facebook is probably the best platform for realtors. It also has excellent business tools to post listings, book appointments, and communicate with clients.
Instagram can be used to share high-quality visuals of listings. Instagram is popular with the younger generations and anyone who enjoys pictures or videos rather than descriptions.
YouTube can be used to publish videos about properties. You can include a detailed description in the commentary or provide soothing background music, offer an in-depth look inside the home, and all with the convenience of not having to schedule walkthroughs.
4) Only Use High-Quality Content
You’ll want to create high-quality content on three levels: written, pictures, and video.
Written: Instead of just listings and advertisements, share about your brand, ask questions, engage with your audience, and share other clients’ stories about how they solved problems.
Pictures: Hire a professional photographer to capture the best images of your listings, share pictures of your staff and company, and use pictures as visual aides or for informational purposes. Drone photos go a long way, especially to show the surroundings, property lines, and nearby attractions.
Video: Many real estate agents are now using video to give people a virtual home tour. Find ways to stand out among the crowd. If everyone is doing trendy virtual home tours what are other ways you can showcase your brand via Video? YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram all support video sharing and are extremely convenient to use.
To get ahead of the competition, you need to create content that engages your audience personally, not just show them the properties you have for sale. If all your content is centered around selling listings then 90% of your audience will just tune you out unless they’re interested in buying or selling. Create most of your content to resonate with a wider audience so they don’t tune you out.
5) Find Your Target Audience for Advertising
With organic reach on social media declining, it’s more important than ever to take advantage of paid social media marketing.
Using the location, demographics, interests, and behavioral targeting options available on platforms like Facebook and YouTube, you can create stunning ads that will help you bring in more leads.
Additionally, be sure to use carousel ads to show multiple properties (or even multiple rooms of a single property) to capture attention.
And lastly, plan to up your ad budget during peak times — like when renters are most likely searching for their next home. Use testimonials and reviews to instill confidence in your services, and you’ll surely see a return on your investment.
6) Optimize
Measuring your progress on social media is key to understanding what’s working for your business and what needs to be tweaked.
Start by looking at your website traffic and seeing if there’s been an increase or decrease in visitors since you started using social media. Then check your engagement metrics on each platform, such as likes, shares, and comments. If you do not see the desired results, try switching up your tactics or targeting a different audience.
Continually measuring and tweaking your social media strategy is the best way to ensure you get the most out of these platforms for your business.
Social Media Marketing KPIs To Measure for Real Estate Brokers
The key performance indicators (KPIs) you want to track and measure for your real estate social media presence are:
Follower count
Web traffic
Contact form submissions
Engagement rates
Sales or inquiries
You’ll also want to know your return on investment (ROI) for what you spend on social media versus what you get back. Here are some other KPI metrics to track:
Cost per thousand impressions
Cost per lead
Cost per interaction or cost per click
These metrics will give you a great idea of how well your social media works for you and where you need to improve.
Social Media Marketing Tools for Real Estate Brokers
Real estate professionals can use many tools to take their social media to the next level. Here’s a list of just a few social media tools you can use:
Hootsuite: Plans, schedules, and manages all your social media posts across multiple platforms.
Magisto Editor: Creates professional-looking videos.
Pexels: Free stock images and videos.
IFTTT: Many integration apps and tools to tie your social media together.
Ahrefs: This will give you incredible insight into your competitor’s websites and which keywords you should try to rank for.
LionDesk: A great customer relationship management tool to keep track of your customers, social media posts, and more.
Wix: The easiest and most powerful website builder that we've ever used. Can't recommend it enough. The customer service is tremendous!
Canva: A free tool to create graphics and social media posts.
Adobe Creative Cloud Express: Create free animated or short videos from your pictures.
Iconosquare: Social media monitoring and analytics.
Google Analytics: This free tool can track all sorts of KPIs related to your website and social media.
Get a few tools to help you along your social media marketing journey. Start with the free tools and work your way up from there.
Final Thoughts
So why do you need social media marketing for realtors?
The 2021 Real Estate in a Digital Age report found that 97% of home buyers used the internet in their home search, and 51% of them found the home they purchased on the internet.
Additionally, 59% of home buyers frequently used mobile or tablet devices to acquire property information. This suggests that many buyers were millennials, making up to 32% of all home buyers.
This data suggests that if you are in real estate, you must use social media to promote your brand, company, and listings. The best way to do that is to have a social media marketing plan, track the best KPIs, and use the proper marketing tools to do the job as best you can.
The Wave Media Company provides social media marketing services, content creation, branding, and web design services for businesses or individuals who want to look their best on the internet. For more information about how we can help you or your company look your best online, click the link below.
Thanks for reading! :)