Published: 06/07/2021 By Paul Bauer - Marketing & Communications Manager
In this technology-driven era, it is a given these days that a company must be on social media and the same can be said for estate agents, too.
Even though this may sound daunting, it’s certainly not the case! Social media can be an enjoyable, exciting, and an effective way to engage with potential customers that can help generate more leads for your company. Considering this, here are some simple yet impressive ways to help your estate agency to utilise social media marketing in the best way possible.
1. Create A Human Connection
First and foremost, think ‘human connection’. A term always thrown about when it comes to social media marketing, but for a very important reason.
According to The Negotiator, “social media is about engaging with your followers as people rather than targets for your next campaign”. This pretty much means seeing people for people! The journey for finding a property is full of different emotions, whether that’s excitement or stress, it can be a difficult journey for sure. By understanding this, you can centre your social posts to reflect the help and assurance you can provide people with for this journey and seeing them as people, not targets for your next campaign.
So, how can you engage with people on a personal level despite everything being on a screen? Social posts for estate agents may include talking about company culture, staff shout outs, charity work your staff have undertaken and the connections your estate agency has with local businesses in your area.
Fundamentally, it’s about showing who your estate agency is, what it stands for and connecting with people on a much more intrinsic level. Quite simply, don’t overthink it; posts should be natural and should reflect your agency’s brand and identity.
2. Tell A Story
Storytelling should be a part of any social media campaign; it helps draw people in and to connect with them on a deeper, more emotional level helping create that human connection.
To help build that connection with your audience, you may want to describe the fascinating history of a property, any quirky features it may have, the neighbourhood and what it is like to live there. Once you have established your story, make sure to also align beautiful photos of the property. You may even want to include some short videos which will further help the story telling process. By crafting this compelling story, you will emotionally connect with your customers and spark their interest in the property.
The next question you may be thinking is, which platform is best to tell a story?
Instagram is by far an excellent option as it is already a very visual platform, but Facebook and Twitter are also great options, too. However, make sure you have your call to action in the post so that customers can find out more information about their potential dream home and to ensure further lead generations. And wherever possible, always lead the viewers back to your own website where you can capture those leads effectively.
3. Post Relevant Content On Fewer Channels
You may feel the pressure to be on every single social media channel, but it does not necessarily mean it is best to be on them all!
It’s far more effective to be on a select few, perhaps Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, but to post regular and relevant content to these platforms. You’ll end up having a much more active social media presence and a larger follower count rather than succumbing to the pressure of being on many platforms with potentially less relevant content and fewer followers.
In terms of relevant content then, think to yourself: “why I am posting this?” Think clearly as to why this post will be beneficial - will it boost your brand presence, or will it lead to more traffic to the site? It’s better to post less often but with more purpose. With that being said, make sure you post frequently to build an active social media presence and also drive traffic to your website, too.
4. A Happy, Healthy Social Media Mix
Make sure to mix it up a bit! Have some fun! It’s important to have a variety of different social media posts to keep your customers engaged and not to post the same content every day. One day you may be responding to industry news and insights, another day a staff shout out. Either way, create a feed of social posts that include a variety of topics to keep your customers hooked and wanting more.
Also, consider being as visual as possible whether that is using photography, videography, animated infographics or simply using gifs on Twitter.
Arguably, visuals are much more captivating and can be an effective asset to a social feed. You may want to use GIFs in response to industry news perhaps (show some personality!), have some fun with boomerangs on Instagram or upload video testimonials to Facebook. Overall, create a feed that is captivating and animated with many different elements to it.
5. Use Video!
As just stated, it is important to be visual on social media and video is by far one of the easiest ways for estate agents to engage with customers. It‘s arguably one of the most exciting and upcoming forms of media and offers many opportunities. They have also been proven to generate more leads as according to Animoto, 93% of marketers gained a new customer thanks to a video on social media!
So, the next thing we need to consider is, what kind of videos and platforms should your estate agency use? Here’s a quick list answering these very questions:
- Live videos. Instagram Live and Facebook Live are superb platforms to use. You can showcase the amazing properties you have on offer in real time as well as respond to any questions and queries by customers watching you. You can also use them as the chance to do a Q&A session which will help you to understand your customers better, to build a community and for customers to see you as a leader! Again, this helps form that human connection and to build a strong relationship with potential clients.
- Video testimonials. Video testimonials of previous customers are vital, and these can be across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. They help potential customers to understand the previous journey’s customers have had with your agency, to help them to gain your trust and decide whether they should pick you as their number one choice. As mentioned previously, storytelling is critical and so video testimonials are a great way to tell a story as well creating that human connection.
- Tips and tricks. Short videos of tips and tricks discussing the property finding process by employees can be posted across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. This will help create that human connection and as The Negotiator states, it will ensure you do not just see people on social media as the next target for your campaign. The videos will let people know that you are a knowledgeable leader and that you truly want the best experience for your customers.
- Use subtitles. Often when a person is on social media, they may just be on the train or standing outside the bus stop. That is why it is so crucial to use subtitles in your videos so that you grasp your user’s attention and stand out amongst the many videos they may see on their feeds whilst scrolling.
6. Set Goals
Whilst all of this may seem very exciting, remember to set goals as part of your social media management. This is so that you stay focused and keep to the task at hand.
Set a timeline for when you would like your goal to be completed by; for example, in three months’ time, you aim to have gained 100 followers on Instagram. Another example may be to post one social post on Facebook every three days for three months; this could be more effective and realistic as you will not feel the pressure to post every day and the content posted will be more relevant.
Once your timeline is up, make sure to review what has gone right and what has gone wrong. This will help your social media strategies to grow and evolve, and you will not end up making the same mistake twice! But most importantly, you can see how far you have come and the great progress you have made.
Overall, social media is a truly effective way to build a brand presence and to help generate more leads for your estate agency. The opportunities are limitless, ever evolving and a lot of fun too!
Have a question about this blog? Or perhaps your property agency is looking to generate more quality inbound leads? The Webdadi team is on hand to help – just hit the link below to contact us today.
