Social Media has Become an Essential Part of Any Real Estate Business
There’s no doubt that, for better or for worse, the explosion in popularity of social media has fundamentally transformed the way that human beings communicate with each other and conduct business, and the real estate industry is no exception to this rule. As such, a strong social media presence is absolutely necessary for any real estate enterprise in the modern era, and given the high level of competition, it can be difficult to figure out how to leverage social media to stand out from the crowd. As such, it is instructive to understand the various ways in which social media impacts the real estate market, as this serves as a guide for determining how best to manage social media accounts. No matter where you are in the world, your customers almost certainly use social media avidly, even when they are looking to buy homes or other properties. As such, this article will outline some of the key factors that separate a successful social media campaign from a failed one when it comes to real estate.
Of course, one of the most important elements of a successful real estate business is marketing, and in the modern era social media provides perhaps the best vehicle for getting the word out about your real estate business. As homebuyers are more likely than ever to use the Internet to find their next home, it’s important to leverage this medium as a marketing opportunity. In a crowded and competitive business environment, it’s important to publish frequent social media posts, which combine quality content that is likely to engage readers with information about your brand to spread the word about your professional services. An essential component of this strategy is understanding your audience and tailoring your content to this target group; fortunately, most if not all major social media platforms provide businesses with analytical tools that offer insights about how your audience is engaging with your content, which you can use as a base for determining what direction to take your social media presence.
Additionally, social media is well known for its ability to help individuals network, both in a personal and a professional capacity. Indeed, social media companies thrive by taking advantage of the natural human desire to connect with other people by leveraging technology to optimize and streamline this process. As such, you should view the social media component of your business not only as a marketing tool but as the foundation of your professional network. Platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn can be used not only to generate new leads, but to re-engage former customers by reaching out directly to them. Networking is also useful in the sense that it allows business owners to monitor the behaviors of their competitors, cluing them in to business trends and news and helping them to keep up with the competition.
As time passes, a generation of digital natives, who use social media as one of their primary means of communication, will become the prime home buying demographic.
Of course, any successful social media campaign will be incorporated deeply into one’s business model, but it shouldn’t be the only vehicle for outreach and marketing. Indeed, traditional marketing strategies like online advertisements can be combined with social media to optimize a business’s marketing efforts. Short videos can be shared on the web both directly in the form of ads like YouTube “pre-rolls” and posted on multiple social media accounts simultaneously, and there exist many useful software tools to streamline this process. One of the benefits of advertising via social media is that social media posts don’t require a substantial financial investment in the form of paying another company for advertising space; however, this traditional method of advertising is useful for reaching out to people who otherwise would not have learned about your business.
Finally, social media can be used to drive traffic to your website, thus increasing the likelihood of winning clients. Quality social media posts will be shared organically by their audience, and assuming these posts direct viewers towards your website, viral posts can offer a tremendous benefit. This is why ensuring that social media posts maintain a high quality is essential, as accounts that churn out low-quality content are likely to be ignored and regarded as spam, at worst turning off potential clients. Another way to ensure that posts are more likely to be shared is by incorporating SEO friendly terminology, ensuring that posts show up more readily in search engine results.
As time passes, a generation of digital natives, who use social media as one of their primary means of communication, will become the prime home buying demographic. As such, it is becoming increasingly essential to master this form of communication with potential clients and competitors. Doing so could be the key to success in a rapidly evolving information landscape.
Tyler Olhorst is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. You can reach him at inquiries@thenationaldigest.com.