As a real estate agent, you know how important it is to build your brand through a solid social media presence. Since signing up is free, it’s also an inexpensive way to market your services to people looking to buy or sell.
When using social media to help grow your client list, you’ll want to know the pros and cons of each to maximize the time you spend on the apps so they work for you and not against you.
Instagram is one of the most popular apps around, and it just keeps growing. Being able to share visual content is an excellent help for REALTORS® because you can aim your content toward buyers looking to find a beautiful new property or show sellers how good you can make their current homes look.
Pros:
- Instagram offers a diverse audience that is easy to reach organically and helps you reach more clients authentically and genuinely.
- The site is SEO-friendly, so you can target your posts to reach your perfect client persona using hashtags and other SEO tools directly through your posts and stories.
- Being able to add links to stories can grow your business by providing potential clients with more than a simple snapshot of what you can do. Linkable stories give you the ability to share content alongside your website, a new listing, or any other online links you want to share with a broader audience.
- With the business messaging features, people interested in using your services can contact you directly through the app.
Cons:
- The ever-changing algorithm can end up pushing your posts to the bottom of the pile, making it harder to reach your target audience and grow your client list.
- There are so many real estate agents on Instagram that the market on the platform needs to be more saturated. This makes it harder to stand out amongst the crowd.
- You can’t link directly in posts, so it’s harder to engage an audience with a specific link for longer than the 24-hour story period.
Facebook was arguably the first social media platform that could be used for both social and business endeavours. It’s more old-school and tends to target older generations. Still, with the introduction of Meta Business Suite, it’s becoming a high-level contender for real estate agents wanting to use the platform to grow their businesses.
Pros:
- Most Facebook users are over the age of 25, with almost half over 45. These age groups are the most likely to be looking to either enter the real estate market or make changes to their property investments. It offers a prime audience for real estate agents.
- You have fewer limitations when it comes to content, so you can create photos, videos, and linked posts all in one place. This allows you to share tips, tricks, how-to’s, and video walk-throughs of properties all in one place.
- Using Meta Business Suite helps to manage content across Facebook and Instagram together to keep track of how your content is performing. This can be used to see what content works for you and where you may need a little help when attracting new clients.
- The messaging feature allows potential clients to contact you directly through Facebook, making the process easier.
Cons:
- It doesn’t provide the same engagement levels as other apps, so fewer people will have access to all the great real estate information you have to offer.
- Your page isn’t fully brandable, sticking closely to the templated Facebook page appearance. Because of this, you will not be able to customize your page in a way that stands out from other REALTORS® on the site.
- The SEO limitations make it harder to reach a wide audience, limiting your ability to make connections with a large number of new people.
TikTok
TikTok is one of the biggest apps out there right now for sharing video content. Users can create their own page full of videos in their chosen niches. For REALTORS®, TikTok can be used to create engaging content regarding the market, current properties for sale, and other shareable information through informative and fun video reels.
Pros:
- Since TikTok is blowing up, It’s easier to reach a wider audience and get more views on your videos.
- Your content, although limited to video, can be personalized to suit your needs so you can share walk-throughs of newly available properties or testimonials from happy clients.
- The app provides in-depth analytics to help track your performance to see where you stand amongst other REALTORS® using the app.
- There is a high potential to go viral, which will put your name in front of more potential clients.
- The search feature makes it easy to find other REALTORS®, view their content, and see how the competition stacks up to you.
Cons:
- The algorithm is challenging to decode, so it may not be useful when trying to reach a wider audience.
- It takes up more of your time because REALTORS® will have to be posting content consistently to stay relevant on the app.
- There is no place to add links in the captions of your videos, so you will not be able to direct people to your website to make stronger connections.
Youtube
Youtube is often a REALTORS® best friend. The social platform offers video capabilities beyond what is available on any other site. It can be used in a variety of ways, such as new property walk-throughs, how-to’s, and tips and tricks.
Pros:
- Provides you with a wider audience reach because of the SEO capabilities, ensuring that you show up more prominently in search engines
- You can link more than one asset in your videos, giving people a chance to explore what you have to offer when it comes to buying or selling
- There is minimal competition compared to other sites because the number of real estate agents on YouTube is far less than it is on other social media platforms.
- You can create longer-form videos that can be shared across other social media platforms, such as Facebook. That way, any virtual property showings can be shared in their full glory, as opposed to a short one-minute clip.
- It acts as a search engine and a library, so all your content can be organized into playlists and remain available to clients for months or even years after you posted it.
Cons:
- Not as many people use Youtube, making it more difficult to make connections with potential clients using only Youtube videos and content
- Creating viable and engaging Youtube videos is more complex than those created for Instagram or TikTok. Because of that, it will take up more time and may cost more upfront than other social media sites.
- The amount of time it takes to create content may require you to hire a real estate photographer or videographer to edit and film videos so that it stands out on the site.
Whether you’re a social media pro or just starting out, there’s always something new you can learn about using these apps to help grow your real estate business. If you don’t know where to start or your efforts aren’t providing you with the results you desire, contact us today! We can help you get your socials up to par.