Strong client relationships and word-of-mouth marketing have long been recognized as keys to success and growth in the real estate industry. In fact, much of the initial appeal of social media was that it could reinforce and complement time spent networking face-to-face with existing and potential clients.
The Impact of Social Media in Real Estate, a whitepaper by Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate and Lumentus Social, reflects the dynamic between social media and networking through relationship-building. When survey participants were asked what they would like to use social media for, the top-ranked purpose was “connecting me to the community” (61 percent).
This finding suggests that real estate professionals not only value the relationships they have with their community members, but also highly value them as existing and potential clients.
The following are top ways real estate professionals use social media to maximize their client connection opportunities and combine networking with marketing:
- Thought Leadership and Brand Awareness – Inform community members of real estate professionals’ industry knowledge and the latest business news, insights and trends. They can also demonstrate their involvement in, and commitment to, local activities and philanthropic programs, thus providing touchstones of shared interests with current and potential clients.
- Client Service – Connect in real-time with clients. Real estate professionals skilled in using social outlets to provide fast, attentive client service find themselves at the forefront when strengthening online relationships, gaining trust with current and potential clients, and helping to extend those relationships offline.
- Empowerment – Share news and timely information with interested clients and potential clients. Information can range from the latest listings and industry insights to office news and proud accomplishments. Additionally, an inside look into a real estate professional’s day can create an intimacy for connections and foster camaraderie. Remember, as you share this content, to remain relevant and to only share information your followers will find useful and interesting.
- Recruitment – Tap into the ability to showcase employment opportunities, identify potential hires, recruit, and offer an inside look into the organization’s culture. These efforts also usher in new levels of efficiency and effectiveness when building teams and reaching out to other professionals for partnership opportunities.
With social media, networking and marketing go hand-in-hand, and both are key components in establishing a successful digital brand.
Optimizing the opportunities of network marketing requires a league of supporters for your social media profile and/or page. However, many social media users for business fail to reach even 500 followers, which is the determined threshold for “Power Users,” as defined in the full whitepaper (which can be downloaded below), with a sizeable 51 percent of survey participants falling below that total. In addition, optimizing requires high levels of follower engagement.
A number of real estate professionals are investing the time needed to fully benefit from network marketing and achieve digital success. Here are the steps they are taking:
Read the full list of strategies about these key real estate social media whitepaper insights in the Clean Slate blog post here. You can also download the full whitepaper here.
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