Social Media Marketing for Real Estate Agents: Strategies & Examples to Help Build Your Network
Gone are the days of tirelessly capturing a property with flat photos; it’s time to transform how you showcase your residential real estate listings so that they can stand out in a digitally-driven, socially-networked world.
The future of social media for real estate has arrived – and it’s Digital Pro.
Why real estate agents should use social media marketing
While the significance of social media marketing in the residential real estate landscape cannot be overstated, it’s worthwhile to remember a few key points (and numbers):
Reach potential home buyers, sellers, and renters where they are
A study by the Pew Research Center in 2021 revealed that around 72% of American adults use some form of social media. And according to the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) 2021 Real Estate in a Digital Age report, 99% of millennials and 90% of baby boomers begin their new home searches online.
Your peers already leverage social media
In fact, according to the same NAR report, 77% of realtors actively use social media for real estate in some way. When the National Association of Realtors asked realtors to elaborate in its 2022 Technology Survey, 89 percent of respondents said they use Facebook in their real estate business, 59 percent use Instagram, 53 percent use LinkedIn, and 26 percent use YouTube.
Take advantage of technology to set yourself apart
A 2020 NAR report revealed that 51% of buyers found virtual tours very useful during their home search. Furthermore, properties with 3D virtual tours receive 49% more qualified leads compared to those with only 2D imagery.
It’s not enough to simply set up social media accounts, residential real estate professionals need to incorporate solutions like Matterport’s Digital Pro package, which provides stunning 3D digital twins of their properties to catch people’s attention and enhance their overall homebuying experience.
7 best social media platforms to grow your real estate marketing strategy
Some of the most popular and effective platforms for realtors include:
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Twitter
YouTube
Pinterest
TikTok
Why don’t we take a whistle-stop tour and visit each one.
1. Facebook
With its vast user base and versatile features, Facebook is a powerful platform for digital marketing.
Audience: Facebook has a diverse user base with demographics spanning millennials, Gen X, and baby boomers.
Content types: Facebook supports a versatile range of formats such as images, videos, and long-form text posts. How to succeed: Create a business page if you haven’t already, and engage your audience. Start sharing new listings and market updates, post events for virtual tours and open houses, and make sure to engage with potential customers through comments and return messages promptly. And of course, your social media team should already be familiar with including hashtags and geotags to make your posts more discoverable on Instagram.
Example:
See the original post here.
Why it works/what could make it even better:
High-quality images and videos of property interiors and exteriors
Live videos for open houses and events
Articles and blog posts about the real estate market or home buying/selling process
2. Instagram
As a visually-focused platform, Instagram is perfect for showcasing your properties.
Audience: Instagram's user base skews younger, primarily millennials and Gen Z, so it’s a good bet for reaching first-time home buyers.
Content types: Instagram is visual, so it’s all about high-quality images and short videos.
How to succeed: The look and feel of your profile is everything. That means choosing a high-quality profile picture, writing a compelling bio, and sticking with a unique visual style and color scheme for your posts.
Example:
See the original post here.
Why it works/what could make it even better:
Stunning images of a property and amenities, possibly organized into carousel posts
Short video clips of behind-the-scenes staging, virtual tours, or market updates
Longer-form video content, such as home tours or educational episodes
3. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is an excellent platform for building professional relationships and networking.
Audience: LinkedIn is a networking platform at the end of the day, ideal for connecting with fellow real estate agents, brokers, developers, and investors.
Content types: LinkedIn supports text posts, images, videos, and articles that should focus on informative real-estate content and thought leadership.
How to succeed: It should go without saying, but make sure your LinkedIn is set up with a professional profile photo, along with details about your experience and accomplishments. Then there’s networking: join and participate in relevant LinkedIn groups to establish yourself as an expert in the field.
Example:
See the original post here.
Why it works/what could make it even better:
Informative articles about market trends, insights, and industry news
Video interviews with real estate industry experts, partners or clients
Company updates and milestones
4. Twitter
Twitter's fast-paced, real-time nature makes it unique among social media platforms.
Audience: Twitter’s users are interested in getting and sharing timely updates & news.
Content types: Twitter supports short text posts, images, and videos; just make sure you pay attention to character limits (which can also vary nowadays).
How to succeed: Be concise, yet engaging. Given the limited real estate (pun intended) you have for each tweet, stick with attention-grabbing text, hashtags, and visuals. And they don’t call it social for nothing; engage with your community, respond to tweets, and retweet what you enjoy.
Example:
See the original post here.
Why it works/what could make it even better:
Eye-catching images and brief descriptions
Real estate market updates, news, and trends
Quick tips and advice related to home buying, selling, or renting
5. YouTube
YouTube offers immense potential for video real estate marketing.
Audience: Often referred to as the world’s second-largest search engine after its owner (Google), YouTube gives you access to a broad user base of potential new home buyers.
Content types: Videos, videos and more videos, ranging from the entertaining to the informative
How to succeed: Create a dedicated channel for your brand that you’re active on, regularly uploading high-quality videos, and build a fanbase by asking viewers to like your videos and subscribe to your channel. That way, YouTube’s algorithm favors you in its search results (remember, second biggest search engine!)
Example:
Why it works/what could make it even better:
Educational videos about home buying/selling or real estate investing
Behind-the-scenes footage or the day-in-the-life of a real estate professional (that shows you working hard for your clients!)
6. Pinterest
Pinterest users expect high-quality visuals and maybe even one or two beautiful infographics every now and again.
Audience: Pinterest is known to have a predominantly female user base interested in design, home improvement, and lifestyle content.
Content types: Anything visual from images to infographics, and more recently branching into short-form videos
How to succeed: Create visually appealing content for pins, and organize them into what’s called boards, each a collection of images under the same theme or idea - for instance, by property type.
Example:
Why it works/what could make it even better:
Stunning images/videos of property and amenities
Curated boards for specific property types, neighborhoods, or design ideas
Infographics detailing home-buying tips or real estate market trends
7. TikTok
TikTok is a short-form video platform that’s become very popular in recent years, especially among the younger crowd.
Audience: TikTok is a short-form video platform with a predominantly younger user base, including Gen Z and millennials, likely first-time homebuyers or on the cusp of being one.
Content types: Snack-sized videos (measured in seconds; not minutes) with entertaining visuals and catchy music.
How to succeed: Be creative and authentic. Don’t be afraid to show your personality especially if you’re humorous, and bonus points if you can work in trending challenges and hashtags.
Example:
See the original post here.
Why it works/what could make it even better:
Quick property tours or teasers
A dose of humor, by way of behind-the-scenes footage or day-in-the-life videos of a real estate agent
Lean into viral trends, challenges, or sounds
How to market real estate on social media
We’ve put together a realtor’s playbook for developing and executing an effective real estate social media marketing strategy.
Plan
Define your goals.
Begin by establishing clear and measurable objectives for your social media marketing. For example, are you looking to establish yourself as a resident expert and/or are you more interested in generating real-estate leads? Consider how social media figures into your overall online real estate marketing plan.
2. Identify the target audience for your properties.
Look at the properties you want to sell and determine who’s likely to buy.
3. Choose the appropriate social media platforms.
Pick social media channels where your audience is most active and engaged.
Design
Optimize the look and feel of your profiles.
Ensure your social media profiles have a professional appearance, starting with high-quality profile pictures and an informative bio.
2. Establish a consistent brand voice.
Create guidelines for a unique voice that helps your personality shine through across all platforms and interactions.
3. Focus on one social media platform at a time.
Hone in on a single platform and get into a groove with your audience before expanding into other platforms. What works for one can often act as a template for another.
4. Develop your social media content strategy.
Program a mix of entertaining, informative, and visually appealing content tailored to the formats most popular on any given platform. Make sure to showcase:
Active property listings
Property listing for homes that have recently sold
Market research and updates
Detailed 3D walkthroughs
Client testimonials & success stories
5. Create standout content and visuals.
Matterport's Digital Pro is the perfect companion for any real estate social media marketer. It's an affordable comprehensive package of visual assets that comes with a digital twin, high-quality photos, and a preview video so that you can create the scroll-stopping content that’s needed to capture the attention of more potential buyers on all your social media channels. In fact, a recent Matterport study found that 62% of buyers spent more time on listings with 3D tours, increasing to over 3 minutes spent on each listing when compared to less than a minute on listings with just 2D visuals.
Execute and optimize
Engage and build community.
Figure out a content calendar and posting rhythm; not so rare that you’re deemed inactive but not so much that you’re a nuisance on someone’s feed. Don’t forget to respond to questions, comments, and messages promptly. And engage your followers back by asking questions, conducting polls, and encouraging followers to make and share content too.
2. Invest in the right technology.
Lean on real estate marketing tools that can help you save time and work smart. For example:
Creating high-quality content
Combine Matterport's state-of-the-art hardware and cameras with their proprietary digital twin technology to make detailed, interactive 3D property models.
Scheduling social media posts
Social media tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, and Later can schedule and manage content across multiple platforms.
Analyzing performance
The same tools mentioned above also come with analytics features to track the performance of your social media marketing - otherwise, most social media platforms have embedded analytics anyway.
3. Make data-driven decisions before running ads
See what’s working with your organic content first, so that you can identify the most effective content and format for your ads.
Successful social media management for real estate requires a strategic approach, plus the right technology and content. We can’t wait to see (and follow) you on social media.
Introducing Matterport’s Digital Pro
Digital Pro is an affordable all-in-one property marketing solution that can help real estate agents stand out on social media to win listings, close deals, and make more income.
It includes a comprehensive package of assets for all your property’s social media marketing needs: a digital twin, 25 high-quality HDR photos, a 2D floor plan, and a preview video, all designed to showcase properties with exceptional quality and professionalism.
With Digital Pro, agents can easily create scroll-stopping visuals that capture the attention of potential buyers and sellers on social media. Just imagine immersive 3D tours and high-quality photos that can expand your reach to more qualified buyers, no matter where they’re located, and win the trust of your new clients with cutting-edge real estate marketing ideas.
