Top 8 tips on how to use Social Media to Generate Real Estate Leads
In a digital age, the Internet is the first place people look when looking to make purchases in goods and services. This trend is as true for real estate as it is for any other business. Nearly half of all potential home buyers will start their search online rather than using newspapers or other forms of legacy media. This percentage goes up even further when we look at millennials, who now make up 66% of first-time buyers. Among this group, 99% will begin their search for a new home online. Given this fact, leveraging social media for real estate lead generation is absolutely essential. Many relators will have the most basic online presence, a website and a Facebook page. This on it’s own will not be enough to generate quality leads that convert. You need to focus on providing value and engaging with your audience. Social media provides you with the opportunity to reach out to your potential customers and show them that you are able to make their lives easier and better and are not just looking to make a quick sale. Below we provide you with the top eight tips to make the most of social media and to generate leads that convert into sales.
1. Provide Value (content)
One of the most important aspects of leveraging social media for lead generation is to provide your potential customers with value. Merely advertising your company or a particular product is not going to cut through the noise. Social media is about competing for people’s attention. You need to provide quality content that answers questions and concerns your clients may have. Content can come in many forms, blog posts, images and video all need to be utilised to get the attention of your desired audience. You need to focus on what makes you stand out from the competition if your content is the same as all your competitors then potential clients will have no reason to work with you over someone else. Content cannot always be a direct sales pitch or brand awareness. It has to provide value in itself without asking for anything in return. This builds trust and a positive connotation with your company, meaning that when you do make a sales pitch it is more likely to be acted upon.
2. Focus on Engagement
Facebook is the largest social media network out there; it has over 2 billion members. Recent changes to the site’s algorithm mean that organic reach is determined not by how often you post but by how much engagement, in the form of likes, shares and comments, your posts get. You need to show a commitment and willingness to help your potential clients. All comments and direct messages need to be responded to in a timely manner. A 2017 survey found that only 11% of relators replied to messages on social media. Creating posts on social media and then ignoring them is worse than not having any presence on social media at all and creates a negative impression. Engagement needs to go beyond just replying to those who have directly contacted you. To stand out you should join groups on sites such as Facebook and Linkedin and be active in responding to general queries that customers might have. You can go the extra mile in this and create Facebook groups attached to your business page where you can have discussions with your clients.
