How to Ensure Social Media Success for Real Estate
Reach a Wider Audience with Targeted Public Relations
Social media is a powerful tool for almost all industries and professionals. Since real estate is so visual, it’s the perfect subject for social media posts and campaigns. Whether you are a realtor looking to boost your listings and services or a commercial real estate broker leasing spaces in a shopping center, there is a way to make social platforms work for you.
When posting about real estate the most useful social media platforms are Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Though, Twitter can be a little complicated for businesses, so it’s best to leave that for later when you have a more advanced media strategy. Other platforms to consider are Pinterest and Tumblr. These are useful for when you have a beautifully staged listing that other people would want to “save for later.” The trick is to ensure that your branding, website, and contact information are attached to the post so if someone loves your listing they can easily reach out.
Exclusive Insight into Industry Strategies and Trends
Visually Stunning Your Audience: Images & Strategy
First and foremost, the images you pick are going to drive the responses and engagement on all platforms. Social media is extremely visual, so the more aesthetic your photos and posts, the more responses, likes, saves, and eventually outreach and leads you will accumulate. Always make sure that your content is relevant to your followers.
As you may know, one of the reasons for staging a space is to help potential buyers picture themselves there. The same goes for the images you choose. You want the viewer to be enticed as well as imagine the space as their own. Also, don’t be afraid of videos! The multimedia aspect can give you an edge, as long as you have a steady hand.
Tips for residential real estate:
I’m sure you are familiar with the idea of selling a “home” instead of just a house. The more your images evoke the home aspect, the more people will want to engage. Try to capture and share the coziest corner of the space, the most surprising architectural feature, or the best room or view from the house.
Quality over quantity. While consistency is key on all platforms, you need to choose quality images that are strategic and aesthetically pleasing. You shouldn’t post just for the sake of posting. One of the best real estate Instagrams from our neighborhood is by Jillian Spokely (@southbaeagent). She brings personality, professional photos and interesting content to her social media. Spokely mixes her professional endeavors with creativity to engage her followers and make sales. Here are some of her posts for reference:
Residential real estate needs to call on the emotions of buyers more than commercial real estate, where you want to show how functional and potentially lucrative the space will be. For this reason, Pinterest can be a great choice for residential realtors who want to show off their fabulous listings. Pinterest is mostly perused by women from the ages of 20-70. Some people may “pin” your post as a dream home while others pin them to actually consider buying. While women may be the overwhelming demographic for this platform, it’s important to keep in mind that they may have male counterparts who are looking for real estate as well.
Tips for Commercial Real Estate:
While many of these tips hold true for any real estate, it’s important to think about the different audiences for CRE. Whether you are leasing offices and retail or showcasing an entire multifamily building, you need to keep in mind who you are targeting with your images.
Each category has specific needs and purposes: retailers want to see foot traffic and visibility; office space should be shown off as bright and professional; and of course, apartment complexes should appeal to the demographic of your tenants. A picture is worth a thousand words, and even though you can write in the caption, your photos should say what you want to get across.
Creativity can help CRE just as much as it helps residential. Because of this, you can keep things simple by simply choosing to show what morning coffee looks like in the office space. Take a video of the natural foot traffic passing the store front. Demonstrate what resident life looks like at the apartment. The Hoyt Organization recently curated the social media for an apartment building in Downtown Los Angeles. The Flat (@theflatapts) is the perfect example of highlighting what it’s like to be a resident, which in turn draws in new tenants.
This is part one of a three-part series on how to have social media success when promoting real estate. Check back for the next installment soon!
Founder and President at The Hoyt Organization
With over 25 years of experience, Leeza’s campaigns have garnered over 150 awards from top public relations organizations nationwide. Additionally, THO serves as the Los Angeles area partner of the Public Relations Global Network, granting clients access to over 50 global markets. The agency was also named to one of the top 200 firms in the country by Forbes magazine in 2021, and she has been named by Globest.com as a Woman of Influence and a Woman to Watch, among other designations.
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