Building a Social Media Presence For Real Estate

Social media can seem like a distraction – do you really have time to manage content on multiple accounts, publishing half a dozen posts per day across several platforms? Social-media success requires up-to-the-minute engagement and a commitment to creating original content – but with some strategic planning and content deployment, you’ll be on your way to crafting a larger-than-life social media presence in no time!

Here at Square 1 group, we specialize in web design solutions for real estate professionals. Kick back with your drink of choice and get ready to see how to build your social media presence!

Spread Out, Get Comfy
Your company probably has a Facebook page already, but a lot of businesses make the mistake of sticking to just one social media platform. The Blue Behemoth is a fantastic central hub for marketing and advertising content – we’ll delve into its possibilities below – but you should also be active on sites like YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr. Users do show loyalty to one social media platform or another, so companies that stick to just one venue are losing out on valuable leads.

For example, see how to use Pinterest for your real estate business. Pinterest can be an amazing traffic source for real estate agents who regularly blog.

Minor Adjustments Required
Multiple platforms won’t necessarily multiply your workload. Successful social media is all about cross-posting – publishing the same content, adjusted for formatting and emphasis, across several platforms. Let’s say you create a post for the blog on your company’s website. Tweet a link to the post, then search related hashtags so that you can re-tweet the link in response to comments from other industry professionals and social-marketing thought influencers.

Post a short blurb and photo on your Facebook profile and any other social media accounts you have. If you get in the habit of cross-posting, you’ll have no trouble keeping up with the demands of a multi-platform social media presence.

Up-cycle
You can also re-use social-media content in email marketing and other digital media materials, or even create an e-book “anthology.” Think of your social media archives as a “bank” of modular content on a range of relevant topics.

The cross-posting principle goes both ways – whenever you create a PowerPoint or video presentation for a conference, use the content you’ve made to produce a slideshow or an info-graphic – or both! – and post them to your blog and social-media accounts.

You should also have social media sharing buttons on every web page and marketing email. Mastering the top real estate social media channels will increase your odds of success.

Links, Links Everywhere
Create a sidebar archive for your website’s blog – date, topic, and author are three standard categories. Whenever possible, tailor blog posts into serial formats – “DIY Staging Tips, Part 1;” “Refinancing Your Home, Part 3,” and include links to every post in the series at the end of the post. You should also get into the habit of embedding links into your post – hyperlink from key terms or include links to additional material between paragraph breaks.

In addition to boosting readership for archived blog posts, this standard practice will help to improve SEO rankings by increasing the number of “relevant links” and “key terms” on your website overall.

Constant Comment
Social media is ubiquitous because it is social – and this principle is important to social media marketing success. Whenever you get a comment on a blog post or social media link, respond to it right away. If you spark a conversation, use commenters feedback to write a follow-up post.

You can also nudge readers to leave comments with a simple call to action: “Leave your social-media tips in comments!” Facebook Live, Facebook’s new integrated live video streaming feature, allows viewers to leave comments as you stream, which makes it a great format for dialogue.

Picture Perfected
Visual content is viral content – more likely to capture reader interest, and more likely to be shared across platforms. Look for ways you can include photos, videos, and graphics. You can also create social media updates using photo albums from events and conventions, or short video interviews with team members. Infographics are a great way to package challenging concepts related to your industry.

If you’re looking to road-test professional content-provision or graphic-design services, a series of infographics might be a good place to start. Canva is a great site to use to make awesome graphics for your posts.

Swipe with Pride
We’re not talking about plagiarism – if you’ve followed the tips above, you should have plenty of original content of your own! Social media is shared media, and that means that you can re-post and share content from other creators. Share and retweet posts on social-media platforms, and re-blog excerpts of text posts with your own commentary.

The original poster will be grateful for the attention, and they may respond by commenting or linking to your content in return. Their readers will follow the discussion to your blog, and you’ll gain a whole new set of leads.

Find Your People
Whatever you sell, chances are your industry has a group of loyal fans and critics who congregate online. They’re a natural fit for your social-media content, and you can turn them into social media collaborators by engaging them directly. If you encounter an aficionado who regularly provides detailed, insightful commentary on blogs and message boards, ask them if they’d like to guest post on your site.

If you can find a circle of blogs run by fans and repeat customers, ask them if they’d like to test samples of your merchandise and write posts with their feedback. Some of the best places to gain more traction for your blog are the best social media groups for Realtors. Groups allow your reach to be extended significantly!

Coming to You Live
You can also use social media to help customers feel connected to happenings at your brick-and-mortar stores. Liv stream store events like openings and neighborhood festivals, film at a conference or industry convention, or go “behind the scenes” with your production line or sales team.

You can also give visitors a feel for your neighborhood with tours of famous locations or short segments on fun local happenings like farmer’s markets, street fairs, and annual parades. Be creative – and remember, the goal here is to create a sense of familiarity and fun, not to make a sales pitch.

Team Players
Another way to balance the social-media workload is to divide some of the labor among your team. Ask your employees to help participate in producing social-media content. You can create an interview series profiling team members or a rota for writing blog entries for your website.

Ask team members if there are any social-media accounts or sites they frequent, and if they have any suggestions for innovative content. A diverse range of voices will add variety to your social-media feeds, and give visitors to your social media accounts a better sense of the personalities driving your company.

Follow the Leaders
Whatever business you’re in, your industry will have its share of prominent figures and innovators. They’ll have social media accounts, and likely a significant amount of traffic. Search these people out and follow them. Whenever possible, comment on their published content and link to it on your social-media accounts.

You’ll draw their traffic to your site, demonstrate expertise in your field, and create a public record of insightful commentary on issues relevant to your industry. Keep in mind these thought leaders know how to use social media for real estate already. Watch what they do and try to mimic their success!

You may attract the attention of these higher-level industry professionals, which could result in valuable back-links and solid professional opportunities. In addition to experts in your field, see if you can find marketing and digital media professionals to follow. Their social-media accounts amount to a daily master class in marketing strategies, and they’ll also have richly cross-pollinated social-media feeds.

Put Yourself Out There
Guest posting is a highly effective strategy for maximizing your social media clout. You’ll gain a bigger platform, and your host site will gain valuable original content.

Guest posting opportunities are legion – you can sign up for a service that will search out guest posting slots that fit your company’s business profile or look around for online industry publications. Another option is alumni and professional association websites, which are often in the market for regular guest bloggers.

Sites like LinkedIn have also recently begun to publish articles on business issues by professional guest writers. Every guest post you publish is valuable exposure for your company. Incorporate back-links, archive links, and social media links into each post to maximize the SEO benefit to your site.

Establishing yourself on social media can seem complicated – and it’s true that social media engagement requires strategic planning across several platforms. But with this comprehensive guide, you should be on your way to crafting a vibrant social media presence for your company in no time!

About the Author: Square 1 Group is a boutique digital marketing firm based in Los Angeles, California. Our real estate experience combines with our digital marketing expertise to provide an outstanding knowledge base for real estate agents looking to expand their business online. We pride ourselves on crafting beautiful websites for a multi-screened world, and we’re happy to assist you in building a strong social media presence.