Digital media is an essential part of marketing to the next generation of buyers. According to NAR, 22 to 30 years (younger millennials) and buyers 31 to 40 years (older millennials) continue to make up the largest share of home buyers at 37%. These buyers are sophisticated and most certainly use digital and social media in their current home search.
There’s no greater platform than social media to grow your audience and connect with new and existing clients looking for properties in the markets you serve.
From the very start, we’ve understood the value of having a robust online presence. When we were first starting out, we invested a lot of time and money into a custom website for our brand. Over a decade later, and especially since the pandemic, so much more is needed than a high-functioning website to be a top agent. We’ve outlined three important ways we recommend using digital media for agents to maximize their network grow business.
Evaluate your content
With more buyers searching for homes online and viewing tours from Instagram and YouTube, developing content specifically for your social media is essential. We are constantly creating media that is thoughtful, inspiring, informative and tailored to our specific clientele.
It’s crucial to audit your social media activity to know your audience and understand their preferences. For example, we’ve noticed that many of our highest-performing posts are of listing tours and short video segments with advice and stories from the field. It’s interesting to note that Instagram is the fastest-growing platform for driving purchases with video.
Apps such as Rival IQ and Social Insider are fantastic tools to audit and manage your engagement with your online audience. See what is resonating most with your followers and create a social media strategy that will continue to keep your audience engaged and growing.
Once you’ve determined which posts are working, run Facebook and YouTube ads for your videos to drive traffic to your listing website. We find this especially helpful for initial momentum when a new website and listing go live.
Get innovative
While it can be nerve-wracking to put yourself out there, it’s essential to push outside of your comfort zone. Of course, individual posts about listings are beneficial for followers looking for properties, but the same content every day can become monotonous. Instead of simply posting photos about listings, go live with a story or open house tour.
Live tours and videos of listings should be a priority for an agent’s marketing strategy. When promoting open house or upcoming Instagram live videos, post ahead a countdown clock on your page to generate excitement and anticipation
Additionally, listing copy must be very specific. We’ve been experimenting with ways to draw more attention. In this recent post we got creative using emojis and clearly spelled out the unique highlights in a post. As a result, this post brought in a vast audience who had specific questions about amenities, space and design that went directly to our direct messages (DMs).
Think bigger. Have you considered launching a podcast or YouTube series? Think about ways you can extend your expertise into new mediums.
Be yourself
Many of our audience members want to know what we’re up to during the weekend or what’s going on with our families. Make sure you leave room on your platform for personal posts, whether they’re about celebrating your child’s birthday or an anniversary with your spouse. Sharing personal anecdotes will ensure your followers feel like they know you and have things in common.
In addition to being yourself, show off your expertise and talents. We often put together live Q&A sessions with our audience to gain feedback and share market knowledge, trends and insights. Take a look at the comments and answer any outstanding questions.
Answer people’s questions on social media and prove yourself a valuable resource. Showing prospects your expertise will help to highlight your strengths as an agent and drive engagement on your accounts.
It can also be invaluable to enlist a local economist or another leading housing expert to join an Instagram Live to further expand your credibility and educate your followers on what is happening in today’s market. We’re only as good as our larger network and tapping into other minds shows your strength as an agent and a business leader. Finding online panels to participate in is also an excellent way to show off your real estate expertise.
From sharing personal stories to engaging with your audience and creating content on a new platform, consider these tools to help your sphere of influence continue to grow and ultimately pave the way for new business opportunities.
James Harris and David Parnes are both stars of “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles” and agents with The Agency.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of RealTrends’ editorial department and its owners.
To contact the author of this story:
James Harris at james@theagencyre.com
David Parnes at dparnes@theagnecyre.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tracey Velt at tvelt@realtrends.com
