5 Ways to Create a Cool Summer Real Estate Strategy

Does your social media strategy consist of posting mostly listings and open houses? Are you ready to spice it up and offer your online community value and exciting content? Well, I have five ways you can spruce up your social media strategy this summer to take you from fizzle to sizzle! Let's get cooking!

Be the Local Expert

You are your area's local expert, and I know you know some neighborhoods and areas in your markets better than the back of your own hand. It's okay, admit it, toot your own horn here! But how do you turn that hard-earned knowledge into something tangible on social media? The answer? Neighborhood spotlights! Or even local spotlights! All you need to do is create a photo album of the local places that make that neighborhood a great place to live.

Showcase local parks, schools (with some good info about the school), fun local businesses and restaurants that are a walk or bike ride away, and even some of your past listings or buyers in that area. If a full photo album intimidates you, start small and post about your experience with a quirky, locally-owned coffee shop, for example. Even talking about great parks for kids or hiking trails near the neighborhoods you like to work is a great way to assert your knowledge!

Showcase Summertime Fun Times

If showcasing neighborhoods isn't your thing or you feel it may limit you somehow, show off your area at large. It's summertime, and communities are buzzing with fun, family-oriented activities. Follow your local city government on social media and start to share fun updates, like movies in the community pool, community fun runs, or even when a concert is coming to town! Use this opportunity to show your audience you are about more than just showcasing listings and real estate. Show you are a trusted and valued member of your community! Let your page's content shine for you with all of the wonderful events your area has to offer. Here are a few examples to help get you started:

Army of Assets

If you're trying to motivate sellers into listing with you this summer and fall, show off your army of assets! No, not your Kim Kardashian West assets—your preferred vendors, silly. If you have a lender, showcase his or her business on your social sites by tagging that person in a status update talking about what a joy it is to work with that person, and the good work he or she does for your clients. You could go the extra mile and even give a testimonial from a recent client who used that vendor, as well. Not only does this give you great exposure in the community, but it helps your industry partners, too.

You can even dedicate a certain day of the week in your content strategy to showcasing the army of folks that help you get the job done; call it Marvelous Mondays (or something catchier, if that doesn't float your boat) and use that time to highlight all the great professionals who help you complete transactions. From your lenders to staging professionals, contractors and inspectors, the list is endless. Promoting the value of working with you will resonate with your audience!

Helpful Content

I know some markets are tough out there right now, but there's no reason why your content can't be helpful and covertly start motivating folks to sell a few years down the line. How can this be done? Good content. Pair articles that inspire folks to keep their homes updated with articles about the value of an updated home.

You can also create an offer in Facebook that can go out to your online community for free home appraisals and give folks recommendations for what needs to be updated or even reimagined before listing a home. This helps you build rapport with folks, but also helps potential clients understand the sales cycle and what needs to be done to sell a home for top dollar. It's a win-win for everyone because potential clients get terrific benefits from working with you and you get to assert yourself as an expert to your online community as well as to real-world clients!

Carousel Ads

All of the above examples are for organic, non-ad based content. When you are ready to invest in paid advertising, carousel ads are a great place to start! What I like about them is that you can add multiple images and each image is clickable to a specific website page. Essentially, you can have five listings on one ad, with each linked to a detail page; how cool is that?

However, if you don't have any listings, you can build an ad to showcase your past listings and link each image to a landing page for folks to get in contact with you. Add some fun copy and your telephone may be ringing sooner than you think!

So there you have it, folks: five ways to reinvigorate your summer strategy to help propel you into the late summer and early fall! Until next time, stay cool, everybody!

To view the original article, visit the Homes.com blog.