Why not?
Many agents are taking advantage of the tools available to maximize exposure on property listings. There’s no reason every listing shouldn’t have its own property website. These days sites include: home tours, mapping, open house details, downloadable flyers, music, video and flash options, banners, Geo-coded addresses, street views, spokesperson voice overs and the list continues. The technology we have access to floors me at times.
First determine the tools you are most comfortable with and start working with them. Do you want websites, do you want classified ads, do you want videos, virtual tours, slide shows, etc. Then its important to develop a social media marketing strategy and start to implement the plan. The keys here are to step into your audiences shoes. Do you want someone sending you a home listing again and again and again? Of course you don’t, posting too often can be considered as spamming, so be considerate.
Use the social media sites to broadcast the unique features of your listing. Facebook, twitter and Linkedin are all great ways to get your property in front of a large audience quickly. This can also result in immediate showing activity. Perhaps, have your real estate firm create a Facebook page which showcases all your companies listings. Another great resource is the Marketplace on Facebook, which is similar to a classified ad. Real Estate Specialist members, can go to “Real Estate Specialist Marketer” page and download “See My Listings” free. This will allow your listings to be displayed on a tab on your wall.
Not a Twitter fan? You should seriously consider checking out twitter. I really struggled to get my mind around the concept so I bought a book and was off and running. The key to twitter is that it’s considered “microblogging”, meaning the content is typically smaller or shorter in length, and may consist of a fragmented sentence, images or an embedded video. I read that in order to get comfortable with Twitter, you should commit to post multiple times a day for no less than 6 weeks. If after the 6 weeks is over, and you’re not more comfortable with using it, then perhaps, it’s not for you. Strategies for generating activity on listings would be to post something interesting or unique about a listing, which of course is linked to the post. An example would be “this home was previously owned by Ronald Reagan” or “NFL quarterback, Tom Brady was once a guest”. (use a unique detail about the home, it’s proximity, history and compel your followers inquire, of course be truthful). Each Tweet (or post) should include a link to the property listing, where followers can go to check out the property. You will see amazing results by engaging in this manner.
If used properly, social media can be an amazing tool for keeping up with past and current clients. It’s a real-time medium for showcasing your professionalism with a personal touch. Give people insight into the person behind the profession, be real, be human and remember too much information can be UGLY, so think first.
