I was doing some research for a Real Estate Agent, who is a client of mine and it was very apparent that Real Estate agents in Australia are yet to embrace Social Media completely.
There is a huge market out there ready for Real Estate agents to tap in on. So here are some of my top tips to leveraging this opportunity.
Get Yourself a Facebook Page
I highly recommend Real Estate agents having a Facebook page. As my Real Estate client told me, we all know that women make the decisions when it comes to buying a house so why not be on the network which has a high percentage of women. In fact the highest growing area on Facebook is women between 41 and 55, the perfect target market.
Why else is Facebook great? It is a lot more graphical than the other networks. You can post an image of your latest listings with details of the property. You can link it back to your website to increase traffic to your website.
Set Up Some Twitter Accounts
Whilst I do think Facebook is a much better advertising opportunity that Twitter, I do believe Real Estate agents should have a presence on here. I highly recommend the following:
- Set up an account for the agency
- Set up accounts for the individual agents
That way you can post out your latest listings from both, however people can talk with the agency or the agent directly.
Having an agent account is also good for the individual agents personal brand.
Note: It is best to have a Social Media policy for your agents when posting from their personal accounts. They are after all still representing your agency and you need to protect that, so having guidelines around this will help.
Don’t Forget About You Tube
You Tube has an amazing audience and in videos work extremely well when posting on your other Social Media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
When you list a property why not take a video of the property, do a very quick tour of the house and outline the properties best features. When you get back post your video onto You Tube and then share it out onto your various social media networks.
The thing I love about this idea is how interactive you can be selling the property.
Google Places Is Essential
Google Places is essential for ALL local based businesses. Google Places is a location based search result for Google, and these results show up in the map that you see in the right hand side of Google when your search results come up.
The maps pinpoints your office location and can also provide directions on how to get to your offices.
For example we searched for Real Estate agents in Wyong and this is what showed up. When you click on that map it will bring up all the local Real Estate agent listed for the area.
Educate
Use Social Media to share tips for your potential vendors and buyers. People don’t want to be sold to all the time, so make sure you provide handy tips that potential buyers and sellers would be interested in.
Articles like ‘Getting Your House Ready to Sell’ or “Tips on How to Negotiate on Your Next Property” are great examples. They are always things that people want to know more about and will position you as an expert in your field.
Use Email Marketing To Connect With Your Database
A database for any business is worth it’s weight in gold, but for a Real Estate company this is even more importating.
You should be emailing your database an email newsletter every week. This is a perfect opportunity for you to show off your latest listings, what you have sold, open house times and include an article to help your potential vendors and buyers.
You could also do this for your rental properties as well.
And don’t forget to include your Social Media links in the newsletter, so you can continue to build these channels.
Add Your Social Media Links To Your Signature
This is something every business should do, not just Real Estate agents. Once all your Social Media channels are set up be sure to include them in your email signature (this goes for all your staff in the agency) they are fantastic promotion and will really help to build your brand.