Change the Way you do Real Estate with Social Media
Social media networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn have truly changed the way we do business across the world, including real estate. When it comes to everything from shopping to buying a house, many people first turn to the internet before spending time in the field. Therefore, if you want to attract buyers (especially of the most recent generations) then social media networking is essential.
The Key to Social Media Networking
Now that you know the importance of utilizing social media networking for everything from selling and buying foreclosures to advertising distressed properties, it is time to understand how utilize these websites to promote your properties and services.
First and foremost you must build relationships. As you can tell with websites like Facebook, you have to have “friends” in order to share your information effectively. Therefore, the first step is building a network on the social media networking website(s) of your choice.
After building a network, you then need to ensure that you are providing high quality information that your network finds beneficial. For example, what information can you share about how to buy foreclosures or foreclosure investing? What real estate resources are available that you think would benefit buyers and sellers? Sharing this information with original content (aka from your own perspective and not merely copied from other sources) will greatly enhance your success.
The Importance of Knowing your Audience
Another reason for the move to social media networking involves adapting our sales and marketing pitches to target your new audience—younger generations. The most recent generations desire to obtain information with ease; however, they also desire quality. Those between the ages of 23 and 35 are more than likely looking to purchase a new home in the near future. Therefore, adapt your marketing pitches to meet the needs and desires of the newer generations if you wish to remain effective.
If you try to rely on your usual marketing methods such as commercials (which are outdated with the invention of DVR, Hulu, and on-demand) and newspaper/real estate magazine advertisements then you will fail to attract the new buyers. Instead, get involved online and promote your website, blog, properties, and services with social media networking.
Social Media Networking and Professional Development
Along with utilizing these social media websites to attract buyers to your residential foreclosures websites and blogs, you can also tap into social media websites for professional development initiatives.
In the end, social media networking is already part of the way we do business across the world and will continue to play a key role in real estate throughout the future. Therefore, if you have not moved your business to social media networking, then now is the time to do so—change the way you do business and attract more customers. For real estate professionals, social media is now a must for success.
Drew Meyers
Posted at 17:07h, 17 OctoberMy thought on this post is that it needs specifics strategies of what works/what doesn’t based on your own experiences — or there’s not much value here. We don’t need more “you need to use social media” posts on the web. We need more tried and true methods of success.
John…I’m kinda tough on authors here. But realize it’s because I want to ensure the content on this site remains high.
Ben Fisher
Posted at 21:25h, 17 OctoberI agree, I am a HUGE skeptic of social media marketing for generating real estate business. Yes some do it successfully, a great example is a recent post on Inman Next about this, but for the time put into this I just don’t see the ROI there whatsoever. I can think of much better things to do with your time to generate results moreso than using mediums like this.
Drew Meyers
Posted at 09:41h, 18 Octoberwant to know where the real value in social media is?
I’ll write that post on Zillow Blog soon..I’m halfway done
Ben Fisher
Posted at 09:54h, 18 OctoberLook forward to it Drew. If you can send me an email when you post.
Chris @ GreaterAustinHomes
Posted at 19:57h, 20 OctoberI’ve “tried” using social media in my real estate business… and never got anything out of it. I still post new homes etc. to my business page on facebook which then shoots it over to Twitter etc… but that’s about the extent of it.
Real Estate Brokers
Posted at 06:04h, 21 OctoberAs a real estate broker, it is imperative that you make the most of the
social media revolution and what it can do for your bottom line. RealTown and ActiveRain are both specialized real estate networking tools available free, time is your only real investment.
Drew Meyers
Posted at 08:49h, 21 Octoberbut you have to ask yourself..are those platforms the best ROI? is that the best long term strategy to put all your content on someone else’s domain?
Jgraff100
Posted at 18:18h, 23 OctoberSorry to disagree with you posters, but I’m getting about 50% of my biz from my blog and website (the other 50% is past clients/referrals). Yes, I’m doing Facebook, Twitter, Trulia, LinkedIn too.