Real Estate Marketing: 4 Tips to Stand Out on Social Media

As a real estate professional, you already know how important it is to advertise your services to attract (more) clients and close those sales. Luckily enough, there are many ways in which you can set yourself apart from other real estate agents, and using social media is definitely one of them!

Over 3 billion people around the world are logging onto different social media accounts every day. That's over 40 percent of the globe's population! So, there's no point in telling you that social platforms have a huge potential for generating leads and that you should invest time in using them to promote your business.

Here are a few easy tips on how to tackle everything:

Expand Your Social Coverage

There are many social websites out there! You yourself surely already have several accounts created here and there. But when it comes to building a strong online presence, you should not only consider promoting your real estate services on several social platforms at a time but also take into account certain best practices for using each of them.

The websites you could start with are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and if you see fit, you could expand your brand name even further on YouTube, Instagram etc.

Facebook is great for setting up your own business page. Think of a Facebook Page like an add-on to your website, on which you not only promote your business and everything it implies, but also truly engage in conversations with potential clients. On a Facebook page, you can also organize different events and run ads to better target clients.

Creating a Twitter account can help take things to a more personal level. Here you can share short updates regarding your activity and engage with your followers. The more frequently you post, the better!

A profile on LinkedIn, on the other hand, will help you establish yourself as an expert in the industry. You shouldn't concentrate on promoting your listings on this social platform, but rather showcase your experience and know-how so that you can stand out as a trustworthy, approachable professional.

Tune Up Your Social Profiles

Before posting and starting conversations on social media, you need to put everything in place. Just as you take the time to make your website appealing, you should also put some effort into making your social media profiles look good. Social websites make this task quite easy and intuitive, providing assistance through step-by-step demos and details for each individual item that requires your attention.

On Facebook, for instance, the most important thing you need to do is fill out the fields in the Page Info section and include some winning profile and cover visuals. Twitter will require a short, catchy bio describing you and your work, along with some representative profile and header photos as well. Your LinkedIn business profile will take up the bulk of the work and effort, though. Here you should invest more time in showcasing your background (experience, education etc.) as well as your skills and accomplishments in order to stand out as a true expert in the field of real estate. As you may already know, a professional headshot is a must here.

When tuning up your social profiles, always have your potential clients in mind. Will they want to engage with somebody who has blurry images on their profile and little or no info about themselves? Moreover, will they ask for that person's services when they want to buy or sell a home? The first step to making yourself a trustworthy and reliable source on social media is to fill out your profiles with all the necessary information!

Share Relevant Info

Once your profiles are complete, you're ready to start marketing yourself and your services through them. You do this, of course, by sharing information that not only helps your business but also caters to your audience's needs and wants.

One good rule of thumb when promoting real estate on social media is "refrain from only sharing listings." According to Statista.com, most people spend their time on social websites in order to socialize and stay up to date with news and current events. Although only 29 percent of them are also interested in looking for specific things to buy, the need to purchase builds up in time. That's why it's best to diversify the content that you share on social platforms and keep users engaged at all times, so when they do decide to buy something, they will instantly think of you.

Facebook and Twitter offer quite a few options in terms of posting. Here you can publish:

• real estate market news and events;
• housing insights;
• advice for home buyers and home sellers;
• funny happenings from your day-to-day activity in and out of the office;
• details about your listings and open houses;
• interesting things that other real estate parties have posted.

LinkedIn is more business-oriented, so here you'll have to make do with:

• market info;
• new certifications you've obtained;
• personal insights on real estate matters etc.

Engage with Potential Clients

As its name already suggests, social media is all about being social! So aside from doing everything we mentioned above, don't forget to engage with people on these platforms. Use the "Like" button, share and comment on what users have posted, and try to be responsive when others turn to you.

The more open you are to conversations on social media, the more reliable and trustworthy you come across and the faster you'll build a solid online presence. And once you've got that, it will become easier and easier to attract potential clients!

To view the original article, visit the Point2 blog.