3 Reasons Why Social Media is Crucial for Real Estate Professionals
As an industry, real estate is flourishing in Central Florida. A recent Zillow study predicts that Orlando’s home-price growth will outpace the country’s 4.6 percent mortgage growth this year, with many neighboring cities following suit. With 3 Florida cities on Forbes’ list of the top 10 cities Americans are moving to, real estate professionals can’t clone themselves enough times to meet every opportunity. Keeping this in mind, if your inbox isn’t full of inquiries, there’s something you’re missing.
Social Media and Real Estate: The Perfect Pairing
According to RealGeeks, a real estate professional who’s not active on Facebook and other social media platforms is missing out on one of the biggest marketing opportunities of our time. And they’re right: as of June 2015, Facebook surpassed Google as a lead source for realtors. That’s huge - and the numbers keep increasing. Still not convinced? Here are 3 reasons why social media is crucial for anyone and everyone in real estate:
- Easy reputation building. Every social platform, from Twitter to LinkedIn, gives users an opportunity to demonstrate their industry expertise and connect with people who are searching for answers. Each time you share an article about the state of the housing market or post pictures of an exciting new listing, you’re offering solutions to potential buyers and sellers who are eager to learn more. Better still, Facebook, Google+, and similar platforms allow your clients to share their ratings and reviews. If you maintain 4.5 stars or above and regularly update your pages, you’re sitting pretty and primed to gain new clients.
- Instant networking and communication. Social media is also the perfect way to reach out to others within your industry, whether they’re members of your firm or working for a competitor. Networking is obviously a keystone of the real estate profession, allowing you to align yourself with other successful realtors and giving you the chance to keep up on their successes (and failures). Bonus: Facebook’s “Pages to Watch” feature allows you to compare your page activity with your selected competitors. No harm in taking a peek at the opposition’s performance to create your own windfalls!
- Precision advertisement targeting. Not only are social media advertisements generally less expensive than traditional methods like TV and newspaper ads, they also offer you targeting options beyond your wildest dreams. Once you’ve solidified your ideal clients, you can reach out to them directly and show them what you’ve got. This is where real estate agents do their best work; you can show your ads to people in specific zip codes, professions, income brackets and much more. This way, the responses you receive are much more likely to come through for you.
A Word of Caution
One major reason why real estate professionals shy away from social media is a fear of public backlash. As you’ve probably seen, even major companies are no strangers to social media gaffes, and if left uncorrected, the public is likely to have a field day with the smallest of mistakes. But these mistakes are easily avoided if you really take the time to understand your audience, which you as a real estate professional should already have a firm handle on. Know what your potential clients want and need to hear, and you’re off to a great start.
Of course, as a realtor on the go, you may feel like you have no time to manage social media on top of your showings and appointments. To help make your life easier, Elephant Ear offers comprehensive social media marketing and management packages for real estate professionals. Now is the perfect time to invest in social media marketing for real estate. For your free quote, call us today at 321-537-2649.