Social media is critical in regaining that lost touch point our real estate agents controlled with prospective buyers in person before the Internet forced us to change our approach.

Years after social media initially shook up our lives, real estate marketers are still struggling to justify the tremendous amount of time and dedication required to implement a successful social media strategy.  Social media is critical in regaining that lost touch point real estate agents controlled with prospective buyers in person before the Internet forced us to change our approach.

Although several goals can be accomplished through social media (customer service, competitor research, gauging user sentiment, identifying customer needs, etc.), increasing sales is often the most elusive and challenging goals to achieve.  Top problems include attracting the right audience and tracking social media leads through a sales funnel with analytics.  Without the ability to attract and track prospects there is no way to tell if your social media strategy is successful, lackluster, or worse.

1)    Too few followers.  After creating your social media profiles and uploading some quality content, how do you attract prospects to it?  Many real estate marketers forget that social media profiles must be marketed just like any other service you offer.  SEO, PPC ads, emails to your database, and icons on your direct mail pieces, billboards, and TV spots are all good ways to advertise your social media efforts.

2)    All the wrong followers.  You’re providing quality content, but it’s so general that you’re attracting followers from all over the world.  Casting a net that’s too large isn’t a terrible problem, but it will water down your conversion rates.  Target your content to reach a specific audience by including topics that trending in your geographic location.

3)    What to say?  The success of your social media strategy will depend on your ability to share information that is useful, interesting, or entertaining to your audience on some level.  This is where real estate has its perks in being a location-based business; local community events and news are always a great place to look for inspiration.  You can add information about your promotions and property features, but don’t blanket your followers with ads or they won’t stick around very long.  Think about unique insights that you can provide, remember that your followers will be in different stages of their buying process within the sales funnel, and choose your topics based on their questions and needs.

Social media is not a marketing channel that operates independently of all other channels, and with the right marketing software you will be able to see the impact your social media channels have on both your traditional, internet-based marketing campaigns, and overall sales results.  Social media is as much a part of the marketing process as it is a part of the sales process.  For more information on using powerful sales and marketing technology for real estate, visit our website.