It seems like everybody is offering advice on real estate social media marketing these days. Beware though: Not all advice is created equally. Sure, “post great pictures” is definitely good advice, but if you really want to build your brand and get leads on social media, you’re going to need more… well, everything.
That’s why we talked to some of the most successful real estate agents in the country to see how actual real estate agents are crushing it on social media today.
Check out our list of the best real estate social media marketing tips from actual agents:
1. Focus on Variety & Be Your Authentic Self on Instagram
2. Get a Boost From the Pros to Supercharge Your Social Media Marketing
Lily Stern, Digital Marketing Specialist, The Close @theclosedotcom
3. Focus on Authenticity, Engagement & Thought Leadership
Erica Langendorff, Marketing Manager at Warburg Realty @WarburgRealty
4. Learn the Difference Between Your Current Audience & What Strangers Might Like
James Rozanski, Head of Marketing at REAL New York @real_newyork
5. Get a Professional Logo Before You Try to Build Your Brand on Social
Miranda Paquet, Marketing & Operations Manager, The Close
6. Post a 50/50 Mixture of Business & Personal Stories—Think Aspirational & Celebratory
Jonathan London, Director Estates Division, Aaron Kirman Partners, Compass @jonathanlondonla
7. Ask Your Followers Questions to Build Engagement
8. Don’t Worry About Being Perfect
Nick Meyer, EQ1 Real Estate (A Leverage Global Partners Member) @itsnickmeyer
9. Give Your Zillow Reviewers a Shoutout on Social
Chris Linsell, Real Estate Analyst & Coach, The Close
10. Document Your Local Events & Invite Colleagues to Curate Your Stories for a Day
11. Focus on Stories & Tag Other Real Estate Agents
Edward Hutchinson, Compass @hutchintonjohnstone or @housesgram
12. Don’t Be Afraid to Let Your Personality Shine Through
Jennie Priel, Aaron Kirman Group at Compass @jenniepriel
13. Tell Your Client’s Stories
Sheryl Lynn Johnson, Aviara Real Estate (A Leverage Global Partners Member), @sheryllynn
14. Give Your Audience a Video Tour of Local Open Houses Once a Week
Tony Bruno, Aaron Kirman Partners, Compass @antoniobruno.re
15. Don’t Forget About YouTube
16. Learn the 5 Secrets of Writing Great Titles (& Why They Work)
The Close Coaching Team
Whether you’re creating videos for YouTube, stories for Instagram, or blog posts to drive social traffic back to your site, you need to master the art of writing great headlines. If you don’t, you could have the best content in the world but no one is going to see it. First because many social media platforms rank content based on keywords, and second, because most social media platforms rank content based on click-through rates or engagement.
That means that if your title isn’t great, fewer people will be able to find your content, fewer people will engage with it, and the algorithms that run social media platforms will show your content to your audience less often.
Here are five quick tips to writing great titles for your social content:
1. Create FOMO and a sense of urgency with your titles
2. Keep your titles short and sweet (60 characters or less)
3. Use alliteration when possible
4. Be specific: use numbers whenever possible
5. Use brackets or parentheses (they help build curiosity)
17. Measure Your Results & Test Constantly
The Close Coaching Team
There’s a saying in the fitness community that applies to real estate agents trying to succeed on social media perfectly: “That which gets measured, gets improved.” It’s a very simple formula that most agents ditch in favor of a shotgun approach on social media.
Social media platforms like YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and even Pinterest offer professional-level analytics that let you figure out which content your audience actually responds to, and the best time and format for posting it. You can even try A/B testing the same content twice. Make a post on one subject with a blog post and another with a video, and see which performs better.
18. Post Bite-size Summaries of Studies & Other Market Data
The Close Coaching Team
Since your goal on social media is to position yourself as the go-to real estate expert for your audience, posting in-depth studies or other market data can be a great way to show off just how carefully you follow the market.
The only problem is that a lot of studies or data put out today are complicated and open to interpretation. Don’t just settle for a journalist’s hot take. Instead, come up with your own conclusions from the data and share them with your audience.
19. Learn the Best Times to Post on Different Social Media Platforms
The Close Coaching Team
Even if you have the best content in your city to post on social media, it won’t do you any good unless your audience actually sees it. This is why learning the best times to post on different social media platforms is so important. Here’s a quick cheat sheet:
20. Write Scripts for Your Videos & Rehearse Them
The Close Coaching Team
While many agents think they’re great at improvising, the cold hard truth is that few really are. Improvisation is a skill like any other and takes time, effort, and practice to get better at. That’s why writing a script—even a rough script—and then practicing it will quickly improve your videos. You don’t have to read it word for word, but coming up with a structure and a few key phrases to repeat will make your videos easier for your audience to understand and hopefully interact with.
21. Use Humor, But Make Sure It’s Appropriate
The Close Coaching Team
Since most people use social media as an escape from their lives, humor almost always does well on any platform. Posting memes, funny videos, or trending jokes will show your audience that you’re not only a hyperlocal expert, but someone they might want to have a beer with.
Just avoid topics that are controversial, overly negative, or too racy for prime time TV. If you want to start making your own memes, the Kapwing app is your best bet. You can also retweet comedians or influencers—just remember to keep it PG-13.
22. Invest in a Decent Microphone
The Close Coaching Team
One of the biggest mistakes agents new to social media make is to invest in a great camera, only to use the low-quality, built-in microphone. While this might not seem like a big deal, it can make or break your videos on social media. People are watching your videos because they want to hear what you have to say, not to see how you look. For longer videos, low-quality microphones lead to ear fatigue quickly, which will make people tune out early.
The difference in sound quality between the built-in microphone in your phone or camera and even a $59 dedicated microphone like the Rode Video Micro is night and day.
23. Avoid Politics
The Close Coaching Team
Even though real estate agents are rarely shy about their opinions, sharing your political views on social media is almost always a mistake. First, because you run a very real risk of alienating half of your audience (or more), and second, if you don’t have your facts right, you run a very real risk of coming across as naive to people with a more nuanced understanding of political issues.
While posting your political opinions may be cathartic, social media algorithms reward engagement, which means they reward fighting. Even if everyone in your audience agrees with you, fighting with people on social media can make you look negative, petty, or even mean.
Over to You
Have a clever real estate social media marketing tip that brings the leads to the yard? Let us know in the comments!
Thank you for sharing so much insight on various aspects in new aged marketing and branding! I often read your articles for tips and advice on how to become more aware and insightful as a beginner.
Hey Miriam, thanks for the compliment and we hope you’re able to use some of our advice to make some $$$ this year! Best of luck.
I am having sooo many issues trying to start with marketing.
I keep asking the marketing person and he is just not helpful at all.
Help
Hey Sulema, would love to, but this is a little like asking “how do I speak French”? What specifically are you having trouble with? You might want to start with branding, then work from there.
Hi, I like some suggestions and advise . I am in the real estate industry. I am independent licensed real estate agent . I want create my own website, looking for branded name . Please help .
Much appreciated!
Propertybase is pretty great. Placester or incom if you’re on a budget.
I’m just now finishing school to get my real estate license. I plan to work as an independent contractor. Can I have my own custom logo for business cards, letterheads, etc? Or do I have to have the agency’s logo? Covid hit my husband and I hard, and I don’t want to spend money on a personal logo, business cards, and stationary if I’m going to have to use the agency’s logo. I’m in Georgia if that helps!
Hi Amanda, the short answer is yes, but depending on what state you are working in you may have to follow disclosure guidelines. That means you cannot use creative titles for yourself without putting “licensed real estate salesperson” somewhere on your marketing materials. This is the case in New York, so make sure to ask your broker what the disclosure regulations are in your state.