Social media marketing is essential for every real estate agent because of its incredible reach potential and the ability to pinpoint a highly specific audience—for free! To be successful as a realtor, you need to understand how each real estate social network works and choose one or two to master. Let’s break down your choices by looking at each social network’s pros, cons, and unique features for realtors.
Key Takeaways:
- Social media algorithms can help agents target and attract their audience effectively
- Each real estate social network is used in unique ways and has a different type of audience, so consider where your audience is most active
- Facebook is the most-used social platform for realtors, but other platforms have made more of an impact on agents’ brands and lead generation
- You can repurpose content across multiple social networks, but not all content fits on every platform. You may have to tweak your content or simply not share it all on every platform.
| Online Rent Payment Software | Best for | What You Can Do | Learn More Below |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Targeting a variety of demographics | Reach multiple generations with text, photo, and video content | Facebook ↓ |
 | Visual content: both photos and videos | Connect with your audience and followers more personally | Instagram ↓ |
 | Building professional connections | Build a strong network of professionals | LinkedIn ↓ |
 | Long-form video content | Create long-form videos that showcase your expertise, personality, and brand | YouTube ↓ |
 | Positioning yourself as an expert | Attract and inspire potential leads and generate website traffic | Pinterest ↓ |
 | Showcasing your personality | Build a large following with unique, short-term video content | TikTok ↓ |
 | Audience interaction | Address and discuss time-sensitive news and events | X (Formerly Twitter) ↓ |
1. Facebook: Best for Reaching the Largest Age Ranges
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Pros | Cons |
How to use Facebook for real estate:
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Facebook has over 3.03 billion users worldwide, making it the most popular social platform in every industry. Plus, 92% of agents use Facebook for their businesses, making it the most-used social network for realtors. It’s also important to note that out of all the real estate social network examples, the audience on Facebook is the most likely to be buying, selling, or even investing in real estate.
Additional Features
- Meta advertising: If you have patience and resources, real estate Facebook ads are a great way to generate traffic for specific goals on all Meta platforms, like building an email list or advertising a listing.
- Friends list groups: Facebook allows users to separate people into different groups and specify which groups will see which posts.
- Easy to add call to action (CTA) buttons: Unlike other free real estate social networks, Facebook makes it easy to add links directly into posts with any kind of content.
- Facebook groups: Groups are a powerful tool that you can leverage to build your network, increase brand recognition, and generate leads.
- Facebook Messenger: This is the best way to create authentic one-on-one or small group connections with new leads on the platform. You can even advertise or use automation tools on Messenger.
- Facebook Marketplace: This is a great additional place to add listings because you can automatically share them to local groups.
2. Instagram: Best for Real Estate Agents With a Knack for Aesthetics
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Pros | Cons |
How to use Instagram for real estate:
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Instagram has over two billion active users, which is only surpassed by Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp. Its audience is also much younger than Facebook, with 62% of its users under 34. Because it’s a younger app, it has more unique ways to connect with your audience than Facebook, and it’s a platform that operates more in real-time than other real estate social networks and apps like Pinterest or YouTube. However, almost all content on Instagram is visual, so if you prefer text-based content, it might be challenging to master.
Example caption (Source: The Broke Agent)
Oklahoma realtor Instagram reel (Source: Instagram)
Additional Features
- Instagram stories: Stories are only available for 24 hours, which makes them more appealing and intriguing than feed posts or Instagram reels. Plus, you can create story highlights with evergreen content about your brand, successes, or educational content.
- Direct messaging: The direct messaging feature allows potential clients to contact you and respond to your stories or posts easily. This makes it easy for potential clients to build a relationship with you before they hire you as their agent.
- Add links to Instagram stories: Users can add links directly to your Instagram stories, making it easy to send traffic to your website, a listing page, or YouTube video.
- Instagram Live: Live videos allow you to interact with your Instagram audience in real-time and even collaborate with other agents.
- Instagram Threads: Threads is a relatively new app from Instagram that rivals Twitter. It’s connected to Instagram but is all text-based content. This is another great way to repurpose your content on a new social network.
- Broadcast channels: Broadcast channels are invite-only, so you must have a following for this option. However, they are a new way to invite your followers into a more exclusive community by subscribing to your content.
3. LinkedIn: Best for Making Professional Connections
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Pros | Cons |
How to use LinkedIn for real estate:
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According to the National Association of Realtors, 52% of realtors use LinkedIn for their businesses, surpassed only by Facebook and Instagram. It is one of the best social media platforms for real estate agents because there is less competition from other realtors and because over half of its user base is between 25-34—a likely age to buy and sell houses. LinkedIn users generally have a higher income than the average users of other, younger social media platforms, making them ideal clients.
However, consistency is especially important on LinkedIn. It’s a great platform for making connections and building engagement, but the algorithm will limit your visibility if you don’t share content consistently. Think about doing our 30-day content creation challenge to boost your LinkedIn strategy.
Additional Features
- Connections: Since the platform is built around making connections, it’s easier (and expected) to reach new people on LinkedIn than any other social network for real estate. It’s ideal for building your network with potential referral partners.
- LinkedIn groups: Similar to Facebook groups, this feature allows groups of people with similar interests to connect more easily and share content. Joining groups where your ideal clients are active is a great way to build authority and position yourself as an expert.
- Advertising: If your ideal audience is professionals, investors, or commercial real estate professionals, advertising on LinkedIn generates a 33% increase in brand recognition and higher conversions.
4. YouTube: Best for Video Content
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Pros | Cons |
How to use YouTube for real estate:
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YouTube isn’t always considered one of the best social media platforms for real estate; only 26% of realtors use it to generate leads. However, combined with a solid social media strategy, it can be incredibly powerful and generate high-quality leads who are excited to work with you. Google owns YouTube, so if you optimize your content for a search engine, you can get in front of an audience that is actively searching for your help.
Additional Features
- YouTube Live and Premier: Share a new YouTube video in a live format to interact directly with your subscribers.
- Add CTAs: YouTube makes it easy to add outside links to your videos through YouTube cards, end screens, and the video description.
- Playlists: Organize your content to appeal to specific types of users and make it easy to build an authoritative presence.
- YouTube Shorts: These are TikTok-style videos that can be repurposed to and from TikTok or Instagram Reels.
- Community tab: This tab is a feed of text- or photo-based content where you can create polls and interact with subscribers.
5. Pinterest: Best for Generating Traffic & Brand Recognition
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Pros | Cons |
How to use Pinterest for real estate:
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Pinterest has 518 million monthly active users, typically looking for new ideas or inspiration. Although it isn’t one of the most common apps for realtors, it can be a great place to build brand awareness by sharing images of houses and educational content with your logo and branding. Plus, Pinterest is a search engine that can help you appear in more Google searches. Ensure you understand how to find and use real estate keywords to increase the chances that your pins or boards will appear on Pinterest and Google searches.
Additional Features
- Themed boards: Create boards for different categories, like kitchen decor, curb appeal, or cozy bedroom ideas. Pinterest users are looking for inspiration, and an agent who inspires them is someone they want to work with.
- Group boards: Create or join group boards to increase the visibility of your pins. You can also create group boards with referral partners or clients to gather inspiration and ideas.
- Secret boards: Even though your goal is to generate traffic to your Pinterest profile and your website, Pinterest allows you to create secret boards. This is great for saving ideas for yourself or for sharing a board with clients without making it public.
6. TikTok: Best for Showcasing Your Personality
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Pros | Cons |
How to use TikTok for real estate:
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Many realtors think TikTok is just for teenagers, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, 49.7% of its users are between 25 and 44 years old. As an avid TikTok user, I know many realtors and investors who have built a large following (from hundreds of thousands to millions of followers), primarily from TikTok, like Heider Real Estate and Trent Miller.
TikTok is ideal if you like to be creative with videos, memes, and music. For example, Trent Miller consistently goes viral with “speed tours.” On the other hand, North Valley Group is a brokerage with a huge following (1.8 Million!) from creating content that isn’t even real estate-related. Many realtors repost their TikTok content on YouTube or promote their YouTube videos on TikTok with great success since the platforms are both video-based. TikTok may not seem like one of the best social media platforms for real estate agents, but it can build your brand recognition like almost no other online marketing method.
Additional Features
- Playlists: Create playlists with different categories, like buyer information, seller tips, home tours, success stories, or testimonials.
- Pinned videos: All TikTok accounts can pin up to three videos at the top of your profile. You can create an introduction video or listing video that stays at the top of your profile even months after you create it.
- Engagement tools: TikTok uniquely includes many different ways to engage with other users and followers, like video replies to comments, pinning comments, stitching videos, and even reposting videos on your profile.
- Easy sharing: TikTok makes it easy to share videos on other platforms with direct share buttons for Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, Instagram stories, Facebook, email, or text.
7. X (formerly known as Twitter): Best for Audience Interaction
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Pros | Cons |
How to use X for real estate:
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Twitter has 245 million monthly users—the lowest number on our list of real estate social network reviews. Plus, only 19% of realtors use X for their businesses. It isn’t the most common or popular social network in the industry, but that means you won’t have a ton of local competition. Plus, X has some unique benefits, like its text-based content. Unlike other platforms, it’s easier to simply write a sentence or two on the go and post it—no need for photo or video editing. Of course, you should still have a social media strategy, but X can be a great tool for realtors to make local connections.
Real estate agent post (Source: @smartbroker)
Example of real estate agent profile (Source: @tracegoble1)
Additional Features
- Communities: X Communities are similar to Facebook groups; you can join a community to share and engage about specific topics with a specific audience.
- Content with links: Twitter is one of the few social networks for realtors where you can post a link directly in your posts—this makes it great for generating traffic.
Benefits of Real Estate Social Media
It’s common knowledge that social media is a powerful marketing tool. In fact, 57% of realtors use social media on a daily basis to promote their businesses and connect with leads and clients. The most obvious benefits of using a real estate social network are reach and visibility; there are billions of users on each platform, so it’s the most accessible strategy to reach a large number of potential clients in your ideal area.
A few other benefits of social media for realtors include the following:
- Flexibility and creativity: Each social network is unique, so you can choose the platform that best fits your audience and your creativity, whether it’s humor, infographics, writing, or photography.
- Detailed targeting: You can take advantage of social media algorithms by using hashtags, geotagging, and keywords to automatically attract a local, targeted audience without having to find them individually.
- Brand recognition: Sharing content on social media puts you in front of potential leads and makes people feel like they already know you. Instead of having to build a large number of individual relationships from scratch, you can build trust from social media content.
- Networking: Social media is like a networking event available 24/7—you can easily find and connect with potential leads and other business owners.
- Generating leads: By using links, calls-to-action, and engaging with people individually, you can get high-quality leads from social networks. In fact, 54% of agents said that social media gives them the best quality leads.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the best social network for real estate?
What is a real estate social network?
Which platform is best for real estate?
There isn’t a clear answer to which social media platform is best for all real estate agents. The best social network for your business depends on your brand, your audience, and your skills and willingness to be active online. Facebook is the most-used social platform for realtors, but I might say that TikTok is the platform that grows realtors’ brands the fastest. Each platform has different pros and cons, so make sure you consider how each of them will fit your business.
Methodology: How I Chose the Best Real Estate Social Network
Here at The Close, we are a team of real estate experts who combine our experience buying, selling, investing, and marketing to give you the most accurate and helpful information. We have a detailed methodology and are always on the reader’s side, writing reviews that help agents and brokers make good decisions from the reliable information and perspective we provide.
We looked at a variety of information about each social network for realtors, but we focused especially on this criteria:
- Age and audience demographics of each network
- Interactive features for relationship building
- Platforms conducive to real estate content
- Lead generation tools
- Types of content each platform accepts (i.e., photo, text, short-term or long-term video, links)
Your Take
There are multiple social networks that can help realtors build a following, brand recognition, and generate leads. We’ve looked into the benefits of social media as a whole and the pros, cons, and unique features of the seven most common, most popular, and most effective real estate social networks. Use this information to choose one or two platforms to master as you grow your business.
