Social media marketing is a critical piece of building a successful real estate business. There are so many social media platforms that knowing which platforms to use is a challenge.
Without a social media strategy, marketing can become a time and money suck that leaves you with nothing to show for your efforts. It’s exponentially worse when you’re talking about social media for real estate. There’s an art and a science to social media marketing for real estate agents, and the first step – deciding where to concentrate your efforts – can go a long way toward being set up for success.
How to Choose Social Media Sites for Real Estate Marketing?
Real estate agents often fall into the trap of trying to use as many social media channels as possible. Not only does managing this many channels lead to burnout, but it also means that your attention is divided. When managing so many channels, you cannot grow your audience.
The most important thing to consider when choosing which social media to use to promote your profession is to first look where you are most confident. Harness the tools you already know to connect with your audience through that network.
If you want to branch out and look to use a new social media to promote yourself, consider these following points before choosing which social media to use. Look for a platform with:
- A large audience in the right age range
- An engaged set of users where you work
- A pool of users that want what you’re selling
- The ability to target those potential clients and gather quality leads
You’ll hear a lot of talk about platforms that provide opportunities for visibility and engagement, but name recognition doesn’t pay the bills by itself. A lead generation component is key to getting a return on your social media investment, so if a site doesn’t provide a good option for lead gathering – or it doesn’t have an audience that will submit leads – it’s a bust.
So, what are the social media sites for real estate agents with the best chance of success? We ranked popular social media platforms with the most potential for lead generation from 1 (best) to 5 (worst).
Facebook isn’t new or exciting, but it has big data, a large pool of users, and the ability to target your advertising precisely. Additionally, with the new update to its brand name–now Meta– with a focus on VR and the metaverse, there will be ample opportunities for marketing and targeted ads.
That makes Facebook an enormous winner as your home base for real estate social media marketing. Not only are there numerous ways to generate organic leads through groups and pages, but paid advertising is easy to use and adjusted for highly specific audiences.
Here are some facts that prove Facebook is where your potential clients are:
- 72% of U.S. adults use Facebook on a daily basis
- Facebook accounts for more than half of all U.S. social media usage
- Over 68% of U.S. Facebook users are between the ages of 25 and 65
- 82% of U.S. college graduates are on Facebook; 75% of users with an income above $75k
Ads can be heavily targeted, provide great opportunities for lead magnets, and effective when used the right way.
Facebook is a great place to keep tabs on past clients, accrue satisfied reviews, and encourage referrals – all avenues for future business that are cheaper and more successful than cold lead generation.
Instagram is such a visual platform that it lends itself well to an industry like real estate. It shares a large user base and sophisticated advertising apparatus with its big brother, Facebook.
Because of these factors, it’s worth maintaining a presence – and, certainly, an advertising budget – on Instagram. Because it is closely affiliated with Facebook, you can run both accounts without too much additional time strain. The business platform makes it easy to publish posts and reply to messages and comments from one place.
If your ideal client base skews young, then it’s worth investing more of your time. As of October 2020, the largest single age group on Insta was 25 to 34 (32% of all users). Plus, data shows that 59% of adult Insta users do engage on the daily; 80% engage at least once a week.
However, it’ll never be the powerhouse social network for real estate agents that Facebook is. Another 37% of users are between 13 and 25, and only 40% of U.S. adults report using Instagram.
LinkedIn is best thought of as a marketing tool if your clients lean commercial or if you deal with real estate investors. It’s a good place to establish your expertise and engage in some thought leadership to attract your ideal clientele.
For residential real estate agents, LinkedIn provides less direct ways to gain new business and it may not be worth your time. This is where you’ll grow a professional network as a source of mutual referrals, new ideas, and collaboration.
Keep in touch with other agents you meet on LinkedIn to swap marketing and lead nurturing strategies that have worked for you.
Virtually schmooze with local real estate professionals that don’t represent competition: home inspectors, appraisers, mortgage brokers, moving and relocation companies, and others. When you find a professional you like to work with, forming a referral relationship can bring you both more business. Keep your time here focused, though. It can be easy to convince yourself you’re building your brand when all you’re really doing is shouting into the void.
Tik Tok’s gotten a lot of buzz, and it’s certainly a platform that encourages creativity. Though the platform started off as a place for young people to share fun videos, there is an ever-growing professional presence on Tik Tok.
This platform is definitely a great option to connect with others through fun and creative videos. If you are a real estate coach, want to connect with other agents, look to learn fun tips and tricks of the trade, or love showing off your gorgeous properties, this is a great platform to make a presence on.
Here is our list of the top real estate TikTok accounts to watch.
The problem with Twitter isn’t that it’s lacking in the right users; more than half of Twitter users are between 25 and 49. The problem is that Twitter is not set up to form long-lasting connections.
People are mostly talking about the latest eye-catching news and trends. It is difficult to funnel leads and develop relationships on this platform. If you use Twitter on a personal basis, you can keep an eye out for opportunities to promote your real estate business. It can also be a place to keep your ear to the ground for economic and market trends.
New Social Media Platforms to Watch Out for in 2022
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Clubhouse: Think of Clubhouse as a mixture between podcasting and social media. Clubhouse leverages synchronous, audio-only connectivity between an audience and speakers. Real estate agents can utilize Clubhouse to provide information and resources to leads or clients while receiving feedback in real time.
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Twitter Spaces: Similar to Clubhouse, Twitter Spaces is a new way to have live audio conversations on Twitter. For real estate agents, Twitter Spaces offers an opportunity for you to showcase your knowledge and skills to your audience and increase your trust and credibility in your niche or market.
Your Social Media Marketing Has Only Begun
Once you’ve chosen your social media platforms for real estate marketing and set up your accounts, that’s when the real work begins. Be sure to read up on best practices for real estate marketing on the VanEd Blog.
Written and Published by: VanEd
