There are several industries and businesses that live and die by their social media presence. Restaurants immediately come to mind. And right there with food is real estate. To me, real estate is one of the top industries for social media, especially Instagram. And that’s why real estate professionals want to know more about social media marketing. Here is a simple guide to real estate social media marketing to help get you started.
What Is Real Estate Social Media Marketing?
Real estate social media marketing is exactly what it sounds like. It’s using free social media platforms to market yourself and your properties. Facebook and Instagram take center stage when it comes to real estate social media marketing, but I would argue that YouTube and Pinterest aren’t far behind. And when used correctly, TikTok is now firmly in the mix as well.
If you are just diving into social media marketing, I would advise starting with a single platform. You can get comfortable and then go from there.
What Social Media Platform Should I Use?
The first thing you need to consider when jumping into real estate social media marketing is your audience. Where do your target buyers and sellers spend their time online? If you’re looking for first-time home buyers, you likely want to focus your attention on Instagram. If you’re looking for a slightly older demographic, then Facebook is the place to be.
The second thing to consider is what type of content you have at your disposal. Do you have high-quality video and photographs? Those play on any platform but do incredibly well on Instagram and Pinterest. If you’re heavy on video, you should look at YouTube. Not only is YouTube a social media platform, but it is also one of the top search engines in the world (and it’s owned by Google).
Real Estate Social Media Marketing Content Creation
Photography
The answer to this question comes back to your audience. Who are you trying to reach? You should definitely gather high-quality photographs to use on social media. Create a library and share images over time. This should include standard real estate photography and pictures of you working behind the scenes, what you’re doing to get a leg up on the competition, etc. Images are good for any audience.
Videos
If you really want to make a mark with real estate social media marketing, you need to create video content. Consumers watch more and more videos by the day. Plus, social media algorithms look at videos more positively (the longer people are on their platform, the more advertising money they make). Create property listing videos, and think about hosting them to build your personal brand. There are many different types of real estate videos, and all have a distinct benefit for you and your business. This is the golden nugget: video is the key to success on social media.
Graphic Design
And finally, good graphic design is important. You can turn to a prfoessional for graphic design content or simply create it yourself on Canva. If you don’t know about Canva — you’re welcome. It makes graphic design easy, fun, and affordable.
Establish Your Brand Guidelines
This sounds like a high-level tip, but it’s straightforward. Think about your favorite brand. You can recognize their content, ads, and marketing material without seeing the logo. Nike is the perfect example. No, you’re not Nike. But you are you and have your real estate and personal brand.
It is massively important to establish your brand colors, fonts, and voice before diving into real estate social media marketing. Social media isn’t about splattering your content in front of people and hoping it will stick. There needs to be a cohesive strategy and that all starts with your brand guidelines. When people see your content, you want them to know it came from you.
Real Estate Social Media Marketing Strategy
You can go as deep as you want with real estate social media marketing strategies. Real estate marketing is a beast that everyone is trying to tame for their benefit. But before you dive into the pit, I advise taking a simple strategy to start.
How Often Should I Post On Social Media?
My advice is to post on social media 2-3 times per week. No offense, but no one wants to hear from you every day of the week. Create a content calendar and have planned posts. But also be flexible to post in the moment. If you happen upon something and you think it will strike a chord with your audience, then post away. I think that’s one of the best pieces of advice — and I’ll call this golden nugget number 2 — be real on social media. Authenticity wins every time.
What Should I Post on Social Media?
Post what you have access to. Posts without attached content will fall flat. That means you need to have photographs, videos, and graphic design handy. If you’re saying that you don’t have access to any of that — you’re not trying hard enough. We all have a phone in our pocket, and most phones these days have a camera. Therefore, you have access to photographs and videos. You just need to capture them. And Canva has a free version. So again, you have access to graphic design.
Should I Pay For Ads/Promoting Posts?
Yes. Social media platforms have so much information on us that you can choose a very specific audience for your ads. BUT, and there is a reason I wrote that in all caps, you need to establish your brand guideline and real estate social media marketing strategy first. Anyone who is in business knows you can’t just throw money into advertising without a plan. Otherwise, you’re just flushing money down the toilet.
If I haven’t said this enough — I’ll say it one more time — you need to know your target audience. The more you can narrow down your audience, the more successful you will be with real estate social media marketing ads.
Engage Your Audience On Social Media
This is golden nugget number 3: engage your audience on social media. Yes, it takes time. But it’s worth it to respond to your audience. The more engagement you get on your post, the more social media algorithms see them as valuable, and the more eyeballs your content gets in front of.
Honestly, you should be honored and flattered that people want to engage on social media. They find you and your content relevant enough to respond to it. Return the favor and respond to them. I know common courtesy and social media don’t always go hand in hand. But they should for you.
Don’t Overthink Real Estate Social Media Marketing
Do you need to have a real estate social media marketing strategy? Yes. Does that take time and effort? Yes. But I also want to make sure that you’re not overthinking your approach to real estate social media marketing. Does that mean post at random? No. But it does mean don’t be afraid to fail. When you fail, you learn.
As a video production and content creation professional, I have created posts that I thought were going to explode on social media only to have them fall dead silent. And then there are times when I think to myself, “Should I really post this?” And that’s the post that explodes. Don’t overthink it — just do it.
Get In The Social Media Game
And it really comes down to that (just like I said about AI). If you haven’t started, it’s time to jump into the real estate social media marketing game. The longer you wait, the longer you fall behind. If you’ve already started real estate social media marketing and you’re here right now, it’s time to up your game. Take the time to do this. It’s that important.
If you really don’t have the time or you’re stuck in a rut, that’s what we’re here for at Moarly Creative. We are a Seattle-based video production and content creation company. We tackle real estate videos, photography, and graphic design, and we are also social media managers. We’ll help you define your audience, build your brand guidelines, create a real estate social media marketing strategy, and even execute that strategy for you.
Contact us for your content creation and real estate social media marketing needs. And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. And check us out on YouTube and Vimeo.
We can take you and your real estate business to the next level through social media.