Is Real Estate Social Media Done Differently?

Is Real Estate Social Media Done Differently?

“These days. Most of us have the attention span of a meth-addicted squirrel.” 
― Kristen Lamb, Rise of the Machines–Human Authors in a Digital World

What is this post about again? 

Oh yeah, Real Estate Social Media!

Is Real Estate social media any different than just regular old social media?  Yes and No.  Anytime you use Social Media for business you need to use a slightly different set of rules.

How Real Estate Social Media is being Used:

According to the data pulled from over 500 real estate clients and other small business users, Postling compiled this data.

• 84% of Real Estate Professionals are using Social Media
  • 79% use Facebook
  • 48% use Twitter
  • 29% use Linkedin
  • 15% use WordPress
  • 12% use Youtube
  • 5% use Blogger
  • 4% use Flickr
  • 2% use Tumbler

• Only 55% of Real Estate Agents feel “Comfortable” with Social Media
  • 26% “Somewhat Comfortable”
  • 10% “Uncomfortable”
  • 9% “Don’t Use”

Again, only 12% of real estate agents have a Youtube account.

•  13% more Real Estate Agents have a Facebook account than average Small Businesses
• 13% more Small Businesses have Twitter accounts that Real Estate Agents

I have to say that most Real Estate Agents I have met have no interest in Twitter.

How to use Twitter For Business.

I don’t think that the average Real Estate Agent can manage all of these accounts… so if you are not interested in Twitter, don’t!

The data also presents that searching for real estate is moving towards mobile and looking at listings on mobile devices.

• Users look at 20k homes an hour on Realtor.com
• 45% of those Users viewed a home they saw online
• 29% contacted an agent located on that search
• 21% Drove by the home

This tells me it is pretty important to:

• Have your web presence mobile friendly
• Have listings on your social media platforms (Images, Videos, IDX)
• Have profiles created on the most popular mobile searching applications (Realtor.com, Trulia, Zillow)

Real Estate Social Media Infographic 

(Infographic courtesy of: Mashable)

Real Estate Social Media Strategy

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” ― Sherrilyn Kenyon

I think it is just fine that most agents are Not using All of the Social Media channels.

“If you are not able to do your Real Estate Social Media platform passionately and consistently, don’t do them.”

Pinterest is not listed on this Infographic.  I think it is a good platform for real estate professionals and one you should look into.  It is all about pictures.  Real Estate Marketing is all about pictures.

Google + is not listed either.  As I tell all my clients, “Where do you want your clients to find you online?  Google.  Then we should probably set up on Google.”

I would suggest that you:

• Have a WordPress Website that you post images and videos to on a regular basis
• A Youtube channel to host your Real Estate Videos and help drive traffic
• A Pinterest account to host your real estate pictures and help drive traffic
  • Be sure to share “Professional Real Estate Images“
• A Facebook Account to keep track of your Sphere of Influence and stay top of mind with your A, B, and C  level contacts
  • I personally would not waste a bunch of time on a Facebook Page.
• A Google + Page to get your name “on the map”, the local Google Map that is.

If you can manage more than that…  Awesome!

If you would like a little extra help with figuring out Social Media:

Free Social Media eBooks and Guides

Good Luck with your Real Estate Social Media.  I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions below.