21 May

What Is the Connection between Real Estate and Facebook?

real-estate-social-media-2Social media is the most powerful tool of social communication ever devised. More than two billion people worldwide share photos, messages, videos and personal experiences through social media. Business-people can no longer ignore the power of social media over their businesses. Failing to take advantage of technological wonder would mean losing a huge market to competitors in the same industry. Real estate marketers are a perfect example of business-people who should take advantage of social media. This is especially true when it comes to Facebook, which has more than one billion monthly users. This means that Facebook has more users than the total number of people living in North America.

The Cover Image on Facebook

social_media_realestateThere are deep connections between real estate and Facebook. The cover image on Facebook is one of the clear connections that exist between the two phenomena. A real estate guru should know how to market his or her real estate property using this cover image. He or she can use a picturesque image of real estate property that captures the imagination of his or her Facebook followers. The cover image can also help you to create a professional image for your business. People will look at it and immediately judge your level of professionalism. You should always use a good cover image so that the number of inquiries from followers of your page keeps on increasing.

The Use of Videos

Online Real EstatePeople spend hours on end chatting with their friends on Facebook or reading through their News Feed. You can capture their attention by uploading videos to your Facebook page. Their first instinct would be to click on these videos before scrolling through the rest of their News Feed. More people will watch these videos if you keep them short and interesting. You should also make sure that there is visual and audio clarity in the videos. Remember, videos generate more leads for you because they are more personalized and believable as compared to images and pamphlets.

Low Cost Marketing

Real estate marketing is expensive and at times, it can be ineffective. Reaching the required client base is becoming harder by the day because we live individualized lives. People no longer have time to view real estate properties but they have money to buy these same properties. You can now reach these people through Facebook Ads. These ads can cost less than ads on traditional marketing platforms yet they reach more people. Facebook Ads also reach a targeted group of people. These could be a group of people at a certain age and/or at a certain level of income.

As you can now see, there is a clear connection between real estate and Facebook. You should take advantage of this connection by integrating Facebook into your current marketing strategies. For example, you can introduce a Facebook icon on your website or indicate your Facebook page on pamphlets you normally distribute to potential clients. You should also consider hire a professional firm to enhance the connection between real estate and Facebook in your company. This firm would allow you to focus on your core business activities as it develops your Facebook page.

14 May

Why Twitter is a Must-Have for your Real Estate Business

twitter-real-estate-2You have probably heard that you need to be on social networking platforms for your real estate business to do well. Maybe you think it is just a fuss, and you have signed up on several sites just for the sake of signing up. Do not ignore the power of Real Estate and Twitter. It can give you a worth ROI.

Some Twitter Stats

  • twitter-real-estateRegistered users (active): 645,750,000
  • Tweets per minute: They are driven by major events. For instance, during the VMA performance by Miley Cyrus, there were 300,000 per minute, and 231, 500 during superbowl
  • New members (daily): 135,000

Incredible! To succeed in your real estate business, you must go beyond mere existence on Twitter. Here is how to effectively merge Real Estate and Twitter:

1. Create a strong first impression

One of the things that people on Twitter will use to determine whether you are worth following is your logo, description and background picture. If they are relevant and attractive, they are going to follow you.

2. Create different Twitter accounts

This may seem like a lot of work, but is a smart strategy. Your personal account should be different from your listings and business accounts. This ensures that you are tweeting only what’s relevant to a specific target audience.

3. Manage your accounts

You will need to manage the several accounts, and this is where apps like Hootsuite come in. Hootsuite alerts you when some interesting information has been found, and allows you tweet on all the accounts, at the same time. It narrows down to the specific information you need depending on the settings that you have put on the dashboard.

4. Fresh, relevant and interesting content

One of the surest ways of ensure success in Real Estate and Twitter is micro-blogging. It involves posting very current news that could be up-to-the-minute. In real estate for instance, you could post current inventory levels, if more homes that week went under contact, drops in price, county proposal votes. The bottom line is that it should be interesting to your readers. Moreover, it portrays your company as an authority in the niche. You can also post local market real estate reports.

5. Link to your website

Twitter has short URLs that allow you to link it to your website or blog. When you add content on the site, just add the headline, and the URL will be shrunk to fit the 140 character space on tweets. Linking your twitter accounts to your website ensures more traffic to your website too, which could result in more leads.

6.Inform your clients

After putting up the structures of Real Estate and Twitter, it is now time to inform your existing clients. You can send them emails, asking them to follow you on twitter. When dealing with new clients or even potential ones, remind them to follow you too.

7. Some general rules

Always respond to comments, favorite your followers’ interesting tweets, know what’s trending, follow experts in your niche, and never forget the power of the #hashtag#. Creating events will also get more people tweeting.

Well, this may seem like a very easy way. It takes time and patience to get to see a worth ROI from Real Estate and Twitter. Just put in the work. It will pay off some day.

© SAAVEDRA Canadian Real Estate Marketing