Best Social Media Platforms for Real Estate
Villa Domy, Bali - Image courtesy of Lucy Lago Studio
From real estate investors and developers to community developers and hotel owners, everyone is on social media. Social networking, when done right, is a great way to develop your real estate business and promote your real estate properties.
There are several popular social media platforms that can help you attract buyers, renters, and investors. But you don’t need to decide which one is the best. In fact, the best real estate digital marketing plan will take advantage of many, if not all, of them. In this short article, we’ll take a look at the more popular social media platforms and give you a quick overview of how you can use them to market your real estate properties.
Why is social media important in real estate?
Social media platforms are designed to funnel messages to users most likely to find those messages appealing. This makes social media especially appealing to markets like real estate. Social media allows you to target your message to a qualified and high-intent audience. Furthermore, social media is meant to attract users notably through visual stimulation (photos and videos) which suits real estate perfectly.
For example, in a recent study, real estate agents reported that their social media presence was responsible for their growth - at a rate nearly twice that of buying leads. And this trend shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.
60 Degree House, concept & image courtesy of Sipal Wafai Architecture
The Best Social Media Platforms for Real Estate
Real estate professionals need a place to connect – with potential clients, investors, and each other. Social media platforms provide precisely such a place, though some are better suited than others. Let’s have a look.
Facebook allows individuals and businesses to create a central profile page. This is where users can go to get to know the business, find out about upcoming projects and promotions as well as allowing them to easily contact the business with their questions or share their feedback.
Facebook also allows you to create niche communities (Facebook Groups) centred around a common interest. This can prove to be especially useful in generating leads. For example, if you have a rental property in an area known for its rock climbing, finding or creating a Facebook group about rock climbing will give you instant access to a community that shares a passion your property is likely to attract.
A comprehensive Facebook social media marketing campaign consists of 4 parts:
Business Page - where prospective clients and investors can find out about you, stay updated about your activity, and contact with you
Facebook Marketplace - where you can list your properties for prospective renters or buyers
Facebook Groups - where you can generate leads on prospective renters, buyers, and investors
Facebook Ads - boost your business page or individual posts through a targeted ad campaign
YouTube
One of the best social media platforms for real estate is unquestionably YouTube. The world’s largest video hosting platform is ideal for showing off your properties, especially since YouTube videos consistently rank high in search engine results.
In contrast to other media for real estate, YouTube welcomes video content of all lengths. While videos of around two minutes in length stand a greater chance of going viral, in the retail and travel sector, longer videos (up to ten minutes and beyond) can do just as well.
When using YouTube to generate real estate leads consider:
Virtual tours of your property
Buyer and renter testimonials
Tours of the location which either feature your property in passing or include a link to the property in the video description
With the ongoing improvement in rendering art resolution, even 3D rendered videos can bring your project to life on YouTube before you’ve broken ground. Check out this stunning 3D rendered video of a villa project in Mallorca as an example.
Instagram is one of the best social media platforms for real estate for a variety of reasons, most notably its emphasis on visual storytelling, its growing popularity, and its ease of use.
Instagram boasts a growing user base that currently stands at well over a billion monthly users worldwide (115 million and growing in the US). The platform has been designed to link relatively seamlessly with your other social media accounts, and they continue to add new features to their platform.
A comprehensive Instagram social media marketing campaign consists of far more than simply posting pictures of your property:
Instagram Stories - posts that disappear from the platform after 24 hours and create a sense of immediacy that, statistics show, users seem to gravitate towards
Instagram Boomerangs - a series of photos that the platform strings together to create a short video
Instagram Reels - a new addition to the platform consisting of 15-second video clips strung together
This social media platform could be described as “Facebook for business professionals.” LinkedIn is more of B2B platform than B2C, so it is less likely to generate leads directly, yet having a current LinkedIn account is a must for expressing the expertise and credibility of your business or brand.
You can use it to:
Share tips and trends about the market
Celebrate your achievements and credentials
Connect with other business professionals in and around your field
Take a look at how Escapade Living use LinkedIn to educate and engage their audience, keeping them updated on construction progress with timelapse videos and high res photography. They also show interviews with project team members and continuously focus on the passion behind their project.
While Twitter alone doesn’t constitute one of the best social media platforms for real estate, a comprehensive social media strategy to boost brand recognition and credibility should take advantage of all social media channels available.
Users typically use this platform to either stay up to date or to express and share their opinions. This is why Twitter Polls are often more effective than simple promotional posts.
Use hashtags to reach your targeted viewer
Keep your posts either newsworthy or opinion based (or both) e.g. share a stat about mortgage rates or a trend in the market
Solicit a reaction by asking a question or stating a strong opinion
Share tweets posted by your targeted viewers to illicit targeted followers
Pew Research shows that Pinterest is the 4th most used social media channel in the US (after YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram), meaning it’s a platform to be reckoned with.
Since Pinterest is a visual platform consisting of boards (a series of pictures based on a given theme), it can be very valuable to real estate marketing professionals for promoting their properties by capturing and conveying the inspiration behind the project. This is an ideal platform with which to partner up with your interior design or architecture teams, showcasing all of the thought and passion that has gone into the project during the creative stages. From tile styles to door handles, pools to food inspiration, Pinterest is a great way to bring the details of your project to life.
Tik Tok
Roughly a third of Tik Tok users are between the ages of 10 and 19 which is why it has garnered the reputation of being a social media platform for the young. However, nearly another third of Tik Tok users are between the ages of 20 and 50, so it’s worth considering having a social media presence on this platform as well.
One advantage of Tik Tok is that because it is a relatively new platform (compared to Facebook or Instagram), there is far less competition here in terms of real estate social media campaigns.
The same virtual tour you post on YouTube might not work as well on Tik Tok since TikTok favours short-form video content (generally under one minute) with the emphasis placed on fun and creativity. On this social media platform, you can let your hair down, have fun, and make an appeal to the young and/or young at heart.
Stone House, Vietnam - concept & image courtesy of MM++Architects
We Can Help You with Real Estate Social Media Marketing
Using social media platforms for real estate promotion is a must in today’s environment. While which platform is the best social media platform for real estate will depend largely on what your objectives are and the type of person you are targeting, it’s safe to say that a successful social media marketing campaign will use many different platforms congruently.
If it all sounds a bit overwhelming, don’t worry - you don’t have to go it alone. Visit the Proven Partners Social Media Marketing page, and contact us today to start taking advantage of the many opportunities waiting for you on social media.