Real Estate agents using content and minding their social networks can stand out, bringing attention to themselves in ways that more traditional marketing tactics are not designed to accomplish. One of the largest hurdles brokers and agents must clear is understanding that social media content demands a different genre and approach to content than profile photos and listings.
On one hand, creating content that is generically helpful to consumers using the Web to get smart about their next transaction, and using social platforms for distribution of the content, makes a broker or agent discoverable by consumers who don’t already know them. This is the first part of the challenge for not just real estate professionals, but for all local businesses who have traditionally thought about marketing in terms of what they have for sale, product and service advantages, and calls to action.
As an adjunct strategy, real estate professionals have the opportunity to further define and localize their expertise by using content that broadcasts their day-to-day activity in their local market, often nothing more than highlighting typical in-market activities that until now, never presented themselves as valuable marketing content. Chris Brogan does a good job of illustrating this in his post If I Were A Realtor :
If I were a realtor looking to use social media for my business:
I’d write a blog about the location where I was selling. I’d take tons of pictures and post them on the blog. I’d shoot walking tour videos all the time with a Flip camera and post them. I’d shoot interview videos with people from my community. I’d host meetups and tweetups for local residents, inviting people who are house hunting. I’d find various niche communities (developers, stonemasons, parents) and start community platforms for them on Ning. I’d empower as many local businesses onto the Net as I could, and help them get successful. I’d encourage as many people in my community to join Twitter as possible, and I’d bundle them into a list. I’d consider setting up hyperlocal news and events sites, or at least empower/support their construction. I probably wouldn’t put pictures of me in a tie (or a dress) and write about the rates. I probably wouldn’t pitch you dozens of times in a row. I probably wouldn’t just rehash links to listings.
It is this combination of real estate professionals becoming discoverable by publishing and distributing content that consumers are looking for in their self education process and also sharing their own activities to tightly weave themselves together with the local community and housing market in a thoughtful and active way that creates powerful social footprints that drive more listings and transactions.
BrokerSherpa lends all this expertise to its clients and streamlines the process to save time for the busy real estate professional. There are broker or office programs as well as individual agent campaign options. Give us a call or contact us by clicking here and sending us an email and we will put social media to work for you for a low monthly fee.
