Why social media is necessary for real estate agents and how to establish a strong social presence.
In 2020, there were an estimated 3.96 billion people on social media, up almost 11% from 2019 and a whopping 92.76% from 2015. In the United States alone, there are an estimated 223 million social media users who rely on social for everything from keeping up with their friends and families, finding new groups to get involved with, and searching for the best professionals to do business with.
If you are not using social media as a realtor, you are missing out on connecting with your target market, establishing yourself as an expert in the industry, and growing your real estate business.
Why You Need a Social Media Presence as a Realtor
If you’ve not yet established a social media presence as a real estate agent — or if you have a page on Facebook, Instagram, or another platform but rarely use it — you are missing one of the most effective ways to achieve success. Here are some of the most important reasons why you need a strong social media presence as an agent:
You need to stay relevant and up to date.
In this day and age, most of those who are searching for professionals to work with will first learn more about candidates by looking at their social media pages. If you don’t have a presence, or if you do not post to your social media pages regularly, the message you are sending to potential clients is that you aren’t current with the times and likely are not up to date on the quickly changing world of real estate.
You need to appear professional.
An agent without a strong social media presence is in danger of appearing unprofessional to those who are seeking to buy or sell a home.
You can use it to develop a lead generation system.
While it would be ideal if you could get all the clients you needed through referrals or networking, most agents need a system to generate the names and contact information of those who might be interested in working with them. The most effective lead generation systems rely on strong social media presences of agents.
Your competition is on social media.
77% of realtors actively use social media to promote their business in some way. If you aren’t on social, you will lose clients to other realtors who effectively leverage their presence.
99% of millennials and 90% of baby boomers begin their home search online.
Gone are the days when those interested in buying a home find open houses in the newspaper or reach out to realtors to get listings. Today, the vast majority of those interested in homes begin their search online, and social media pages rank high on the list of where they look. If you aren’t promoting your listings on social, they aren’t getting the attention they need to sell.
You can develop a reputation as a local celebrity and influencer.
Everyone wants to work with the best when it comes to buying or selling a home. When you effectively use social media, you can establish yourself as an expert in the industry and become the hot realtor everyone wants to do business with.
The Components of a Successful Social Media Presence
Now that you know why you need a social media presence, the next step is creating and maintaining your presence to grow your business. Here are the components of a successful social presence:
The right choice of platforms.
Most agents will be most successful using Facebook and Instagram, mostly due to their high number of users and the ability to create ad campaigns on these platforms.
Frequent posting.
To show your followers you are available and active in the industry and your community, you will need to post to your pages frequently. Daily posting is encouraged, and some agents increase this to several posts a day on their chosen platforms.
Consistency in brand messaging.
You need to be consistent with your message and your brand across platforms. For example, if you work with luxury clients, you don’t want to post about how to stage your home on a shoestring budget.
Ad campaigns.
Using Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns is an effective way to reach your ideal clients and gain new business.
Share helpful information.
The majority of your social media posts should concentrate on giving value to your followers rather than being salesy. Share useful articles, give tips, or post infographics to keep your followers engaged with your brand.
Share some of yourself.
As a realtor, your brand is you. Make sure you show your unique personality and help your followers get to know you by posting behind-the-scenes photos or sharing interesting details about your background or current lifestyle.
How to Build Your Social Media Presence as a Realtor
Building an effective social media presence as a realtor takes time, effort, and knowledge. Many agents try to handle all the work themselves and find that it takes away from what they do best: helping their clients buy and sell real estate. Other agents will delegate the work to an assistant, a move that can backfire if the assistant becomes busy with other duties or does not know best practices when it comes to social media marketing.
Though it’s always a good idea for agents to at least create some of the posts themselves so their personality comes through and they can stay in touch with their followers, most agents will benefit from working with an expert. You can tap a professional real estate marketing firm like Luxury Presence to handle social media ad campaigns and other tasks that are time-intensive and require specialized knowledge, freeing you up to focus on giving your clients the best service in the industry.
Ready to get started? Reach out to one of our social media experts today.
