For Social Media freelancers the real estate industry will be the source of some of your most lucrative clients. Social Media platforms hold enormous potential for Realtors to grow their business, sell and let more property and promote new listings. It's an industry that suits Social Media perfectly and for the Social Media Manager & Consultant there is a wealth of opportunity.
Here are the 5 most effective Social Media tactics that have given my Social Media Agency the best results for our clients in the property industry.
1. Property Search tool with a Facebook Page
This technique worked great for one of our real estate clients. It allows your FB page visitors to search your available properties right from the Facebook page. Now that Facebook uses Iframes for all its pages it is easier to to add more web functionality to a Facebook page. One of the most fundamental aspects of a Realtor's website is the property search tool so it makes sense to allow customers to use this tool without leaving Facebook.
The results for our client was a 24% rise in inquiries directly through Facebook and a 10% rise in phone and email inquiries on properties. It also caused a boost from 5 new likes per week to around 20. You will need a developer to handle this for you as there are currently no apps for this function available to FB pages.
2. Youtube T.V. Channel
Youtube Channels can be hugely powerful for the Real Estate industry if done professionally. This is the Youtube Channel of Coldwellbanker Real Estate. This channel has the Geo Location function. This means it uses you computer's IP address to pinpoint your location on the globe (don't worry - it asks permission first) then displays the most relevant videos in your channel. For example, if you're in Portland, Oregon and enter the Youtube page then the video of property in Portland will display at the top of the list as most relevant.
Most Realtors add video "Walk Around" or slide shows to show interiors of property. These videos are uploaded to Youtube. Not only will it improve online visibility and SEO of the company's website but there is also another great reason, which I'll explain in the next tip.
3. Youtube App for Facebook Page
Get a Youtube app for the Facebook page. Everything you upload to the Youtube Channel will automatically be fed to the Facebook Page making it easier for your Facebook page visitors to view more of your clients' properties.
The App I like to use is the Involver Youtube App. It's free for a start, but the real reason I like to use this App for real estate clients in particular is that it doesn't divert the viewer straight to Youtube to be bombarded by Realtors who have uploaded similar videos. It keeps the viewers on the current FB page allowing them to view more videos or engage in other ways on the page.
4. Geo Location Keyword Search
Perfect for realtors! Tools like Hootsuite have this fantastic feature. Its allows you to keyword search for potentially prime customers who are looking for property in a particular area. Here's an example of a daily search we did that found 2 customers for our Real Estate client in Cheshire, England.
We simply conducted a Geo Location search on the words "House" and "Knutsford" (an area of Cheshire) using the Hootsuite Tool and found 2 people telling us that they need a property in that area. We simply replied to their tweets and followed up the leads for the client.
5. Use Linkedin to find Clients
LinkedIn has many purposes for the Real Estate Social Media Manager. If you would like to find landlords, property developers, home builders, etc. in order to rent or sell those properties on their behalf, then the LinkedIn property groups are a perfect place to start.
For one of our clients who needed empty properties to rent to their growing waiting list of tenants, we began by setting up a LinkedIn profile for the Regional Director and posting interesting content and discussion topics in relevant groups like "UK Property Investors" "Student Property Group," etc. We then asked for people to get in touch if they have vacant property to let. We got the below message within the first 24 hours.
Barry and his partner turned out to have several properties, which my client now handles for them. Just a small sample of the potential of LinkedIn activity in the Real Estate business. If you are thinking about a career in Social Media then Get Pro Social has a helpful video resources.