The Power of Social Media For Real Estate Business

The real estate landscape is changing and how realtors attract customers and market their listings is very different now with the advance of social media.

Given the large number of realtors and agents around Washington, D.C. here are  some tips, advices, and experiences by other firms in the country I collected and summarizing them here for those of you in the space but lacking the use of social media. Take your time and read through them. You will be amazed the ROI you will be getting from it in such short period of time.

Ultimately, it’s you, the individual agent and not the company that will be intimately involved with the transaction and be there supporting her clients

Sharing Listings, Tours, and Showings

In the real estate world, listings, open houses and tours are the main stepping stones towards making a sale, and the digital world has made those steps much easier.

WellcomeMat, the largest community of real estate professionals, brokerages and filmmakers using full-motion real estate video tours to market themselves and properties, has made producing and sharing video property tours easier, as well. With a community of 18,000 real estate professionals, WellcomeMat serves real estate agencies, brokerages and firms of all sizes, and also partners with and powers video for some of the nations top real estate brokerages including Halstead, Weichert and Prudential Douglas Elliman.

The service offers over 3,000 local production teams for those who don’t have videographers on staff, and also allows for easy integration with your website and YouTube channel. Users can also take advantage of automated link distribution into Facebook, Twitter and Craigslist, and the advanced reporting tools offered.

After generating a lead, there are many options for scheduling, but one of the newest and easiest-to-use services is Tungle.me, a service that promises to mitigate, double bookings, time zone mishaps, or email ping pong.

Attracting Buyers and Sellers

The core goal of real estate pros utilizing social media is to attract sellers looking to list their homes or buyers looking to purchase homes. Naturally, the 1.0 version of social media for real estate is setting up pages on social networks that fit your company’s content and audience.

Corcoran Group, the largest residential real estate firm in New York City, is a fitting example of how real estate agencies are going above and beyond to make themselves available for buyers and sellers. Corcoran differentiates itself by simply being available and open. The “Do More” tab on their Facebook page says it all — you can find them on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Foursquare , and Gowalla, among other sites. And if you need more, you can download their iPhone app, where you can find nearby homes for sale or rent and open houses. The app also promotes their Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages. If you dig a little deeper, you can also find Corcoran on Tumblr , Blip.tv and Vimeo. Simply put, Corcoran has found a way to be everywhere for its clients. This is the first step to converting fans and followers into buyers and sellers.


Connecting with Other Real Estate Professionals

In order to improve upon their skills and network in the industry, real estate professionals are using social networks specific to their industry. Some of these networks include ActiveRain and The Flipping Pad.

Although it is in beta testing, Architizer is the largest crowd-sourced database of architecture online, with over 10,000 finished and proposed projects posted from fans, owners and architects that are easily searchable. The site provides a networking space for real estate developers and architects, where developers can search for architects and architects can upload their projects. This type of social network is allowing developers to get a better grasp of the talent options on the market, while also giving architects a better chance at being discovered.

More well-known social networks, including Meetup, Flickr and LinkedIn are provided spaces for real estates pros to connect and learn from one another. Some examples of active Meetup groups include Chicago Real Estate Group and New Jersey Real Estate Social Network. Both Meetups are ranked highly and have received favorable feedback from attendees. For example, Loan Officer Lorna Roberts, said that the New Jersey Real Estate Social Network Meetup, is an “excellent way to network and learn more about what is affecting the community and businesses.”

Other group settings on social networks, such as the National Association of REALTORS on LinkedIn, or the Photography for Real Estate group on Flickr, are great places to connect with specialized professionals in the real estate industry.

Lending Expert Advice

While an occasional listing may be appreciated by your social media community, many experts advocate engaging your audience with industry knowledge and an expert perspective, rather than alienating users with useless information. Because there are so many factors that must align to make a listing pertinent to a single customer, such as pricing, location and size, there is a high probability that most listings do not pertain to most people in a given social media audience.

There are many sites with specialized sections for real estate professionals to lend their expertise, such as Trulia Voices and Zillow Advice. Both sites are frequented by prospective home buyers, on the search for answer about topics ranging from pricing and relocating to financing and closing. A typical question on either site will yield quite a few answers from agents or brokers specializing in a specific geographic region or area of real estate. This type of interaction with folks on the market is a great way to build a credible reputation and build brand recognition for future consideration.

YouTube also presents a valid platform for sharing real estate tips. For example, Keller Williams Realty International, a real estate franchise company, maintains a YouTube channel full of videos on monthly real estate reports, real estate advice and current company events. Keller Williams boasts nearly 400,000 video views, 100,000 channel views and 2,000 subscribers. Those are numbers worth celebrating.