We get this question a lot… “How do I grow my real estate social media to build a following and ultimately leads?”
We all know social media is powerful.
72% of people use social media consistently, according to Pew Research Center, and that includes your target market.
Real estate sellers and buyers… they’re all on social media, scrolling, browsing, commenting, and engaging.
The next question to consider is… “how do you get my visitors to engage with my business, with my content, and with my brand?”
To answer these questions, let’s take a look at some people who are making the most of their real estate social media accounts; what they’re posting, why they’re posting it, and how consistently they’re posting.
What should you post on social media?
When someone is wanting to start a habit of posting on social media, this is often one of their first questions.
Okay. I know that real estate social media is powerful and that I want to use it to grow my business… but what do I talk about?
Great question! After all, if you don’t have anything interesting to say, then no one is going to give you the time of day.
And that’s the first rule of posting on social media; each post must appeal to your target audience. It must entertain them, solve a problem, or catch their attention. If it doesn’t, people will just keep on scrolling.
Of course, easier said than done.
How to Grow Your Real Estate Social Media Following
Here are four ideas real estate investors and agents you can use right now…
Idea #1: Offer Referral Fees For Leads
Let’s take a look at a post from real estate investor and Carrot member, Max Maxwell — we did a full CarrotCast episode with him over here!
As you can see, Max got quite a lot of attention from this Facebook post. As of right now, the post has 94 reactions, 11 comments, and 15 shares.
But why?
What makes his post so tantalizing and irresistible to his audience?
Well, there’s really just one thing: cold hard cash.
He offers $500 commission to the next person who sends him a lead for a house to flip — of course people are going to pay attention!
If you’re an investor, try that on your own social media account and see what happens. You might be surprised at how many people are willing to help you out when you offer a little bit of cash.
Idea #2: Share Testimonials
This is one of the easiest ways to attract attention to your business and build a healthy brand image.
When you receive a testimonial from a client who worked with you, then share that puppy everywhere you can! I’d recommend sharing it on every social media channel you have access to.
Video is best, but written works, too.
Here’s an example from another Carrot member, MS HOME Buyers — which is run by Brent Moreno and Adam Johnson.
How simple!
Content marketing doesn’t get easier than that, folks. Shoot a quick video testimonial with your client if they’re comfortable with it and then share that on social media. If they’re not comfortable in front of the camera, do the same thing with a written testimonial.
If you do choose to use video, consider adding subtitles. 85% of videos on Facebook are watched without sound, meaning you won’t get much benefit without subtitles. You can use a service like Rev to caption your videos for you.
Related Content: Turn Your Videos Into SEO Content In Minutes with Carrot’s VideoPost service.
Idea #3: Provide Helpful Content
This should make up the bulk of your real estate social media posts. At the end of the day, your target audience wants help solving their real estate problems.
If your social media content genuinely helps them, then who do you think they’re going to come to when they want to buy or sell their home?
That’s right — you!
I’d recommend posting at least one piece of valuable content per day on your social media channels.
Here’s an example from Chief Real Estate Solutions — which is run by Adrian Nez.
And if you were to click on the link in his post, you would go straight to a blog post on his website.
Which is ideal! After all, if you send people to a different website, then they can’t opt-in to your email list or become a lead. The best place for them is your website.
But that creates a problem…
What content or blog articles are you supposed to send them to?
Do you even have blog content on your website?
Well, you should! When you create a new post on your website, that doesn’t just give you something to talk about on social media and give you an excuse to send people to your website, it also helps you rank in Google, which you can learn more about over here.
If you’re a Carrot member on the Content Pro or Advanced Marketer plan, then you’re already receiving blog posts every single month that you can post to your website with just a few clicks. If you’re not, then consider signing up and reaping all the benefits of content marketing on auto-pilot. :-)
Idea #4: Pitch Your Service
You don’t want to do this too often, because… well, your audience will get sick of seeing your pitches fast. But posting once a week or twice a week with a direct call-to-action for your service is a great way to collect leads and drive traffic to your website.
Here’s an example.
You can find different angles for pitching your service, too. One week, you might propose your service to people who are dealing with probate, another week you might propose it to people who are dealing with divorce.
That variety will make your direct-CTA content more palatable to your audience.
A Quick Note
While all the examples I used within this section are from Facebook, you can use all of the above strategies on any social media platform. You can post on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
But it is worth mentioning that most of our members report the highest degree of success on Facebook.
Also, consider using your personal profile instead of your business page on Facebook — your business page receives less reach because Facebook wants you to pay for ads in order to reach your audience.
No such restriction is on your personal profile, though. If you still want to use your business page, then consider boosting your posts to increase engagement and drive more traffic.
How often should you post on social media?
Okay. You now know what to post on social media. But how often should you post? What should your daily or weekly cadence be?
Well, the answer to that question depends on which social media platform you’re using.
According to Louise Meyers, you should post just once or twice per day on Facebook.
For Twitter — brace yourself — the optimal amount of times to post is about 15 times per day. But remember, this platform is for quick thoughts and musings. It’s like an ongoing conversation between you and your audience.
On Instagram, we’re looking at 1 to 2 times per day.
And on LinkedIn, consider once per week.
That should get you moving in the right direction. Create a cadence for how often you’re going to post each week and then stick to it.
You can even use a tool like Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule your social media posts. I prefer to write all of my posts on the same day and then just schedule them in that tool so I don’t have to think about it anymore throughout the week.
One post at a time, you’ll grow your social media account and increase your brand’s visibility.
Should you run real estate ads on social media?
So far, we’ve discussed growing your social media following and brand visibility organically — that is, without paying money to do so.
But is it a good idea to run ads and pay money to market your business on social media?
Absolutely!
In fact, many of our members generate leads and close deals using Facebook. We have an in-depth article over here that will help you do just that.
And if you don’t know what kind of ads to run, Facebook has added a feature which allows you to peak at the ads your competitors are running.
Just go to Page Transparency on the right side of the screen when you’re on a competitor’s business page. Click “See More.”
Then click on “Go to Ad Library”.
And voila! You can now look through the ads that your competitors are using. You can mimic their ads (don’t copy completely or that’s called plagiarism) or you can get ideas for a Facebook post.
However you do it, you should certainly consider running Facebook ads if you’re going to use a page (rather than your personal profile) to post about your business. As I mentioned earlier, pages automatically receive less attention because Facebook wants you to pay for ads. The easiest way to do that (if you don’t want to get into the nitty-gritty of targeting your ads) is just to “Boost” your post.
This is a quick and easy way to reach more people with your posts. Use the button and see how it goes.
Related Content: Facebook Real Estate Video Ads Secret Weapon – 3000-4000 Reach for $3 to $4 Per Day
Remember; Quality Over Quantity
In the end, focus your social media strategy — organic and paid — on posting quality content. Without good quality content, you won’t grow your social media following and people won’t pay attention. With good quality content, though, even if you post once a month, you’ll generate engagement and even leads for your business.
What is quality content?
Well, it’s whatever entertains, delights, or helps your target market. Maybe it makes them laugh, maybe it helps them solve a real problem, or maybe it just entertains them for a moment.
If the goal is to build trust and generate leads, then quality content is simply engaging your target market — it’s the first step on the road to building a meaningful relationship with the people who will help grow your business.
Do that and you’ll be far ahead of market competitors.
Conclusion
Real estate social media is powerful.
And now you know how to take advantage of that fact. You know what to post on social media and you know how often to post it.
Let us know how it goes and what real estate social media strategies work for you!
As always, we’re excited to be a part of your entrepreneurial journey. :-)
This article was packed with helpful information. Seriously! Thank you.