Social media should be an integral element of any real estate agent’s marketing strategy. It’s one of the easiest ways to connect with buyers and offers cost-effective reach, targeted advertising, and instant engagement.
However, social media is always changing – and to succeed, professional real estate agents have to adjust their strategy periodically.
Now is the best time to prepare your real estate brand’s social media strategy for 2021. While you can analyze and optimize as you go, it’s critical to have an overarching plan.
Here are five social media strategies for real estate agents to boost your follower counts and engagement in 2021.
1. Consistent High-Quality Visuals
If you haven’t done so already, commit to regularly posting high-quality visuals.
These include photos of properties, but also high-res video and 3D tour elements. Plus, drone photography of the surrounding of homes you’re advertising has become incredibly popular.
Another idea is regularly posting real estate infographics. These provide useful information to homeowners and potential buyers – from explaining closing costs to giving advice on hiring a contractor.
Make sure you create content your audience actually wants to see. For example, make videos a mix of house tours, customer testimonials, community walk-throughs, how-tos, and general information.
In any case, investing in photography and videography is worth it.
2. Socially and Environmentally Conscious Content
Between Fridays for Future and Black Lives Matter, socially and environmentally conscious content has become a pillar of successful social media marketing. Rightly so: 52% of customers have no respect for businesses that keep silent on important issues.
Figuring out tactful, inclusive ways to take a stance on topics from global warming to feminism is essential for creating your real estate brand’s 2021 social media strategy.
3. People-Centric Social Media Strategies
Stay human; build engagement.
Social media is an excellent place to grow trust and show potential buyers he human aspect behind your real estate brand. You can show character, interact with your audience, and highlight testimonials from buyers and sellers. People-centric social media marketing is an incredibly effective way for your real estate business to build trust.
Be your authentic self. Ask followers questions to boost engagement. Don’t just post glossy, magazine-perfect property pictures, but also personal behind-the-scene shots. Give shout-outs to people who left positive reviews. Tell your clients’ stories.
All these are excellent ways to make your real estate social media marketing more human.
4. Diversification of Channels
Keep up with the platforms your target audience frequents. Average platform demographics change as users migrate between networks.
There were shakeups in 2020: TikTok swept through Gen Z and Millennial audiences, and Instagram rolled out Reels in August.
Real estate businesses can capitalize on the latter especially. Instagram already has over 1 billion users, over 115 million of them in the US. The majority come from high-income demographics between 25 and 40. Reason enough to harness Reels’ 30-second video format for real estate marketing.
5. Live Content
2020 has seen the rise of live video content on social media – a trend that is likely to continue in 2021. Live streams boast the highest engagement levels of all content types on social media.
It’s easy to see why – nothing else offers the same level of direct, real-time interaction. In the age of social distancing, this interaction gratifies your audience’s deep need for human connection.
For real estate, live content can range from real-time property walk-throughs over interviews to Q&A sessions. You can also get creative with homeowners looking to sell, who can give potential buyers an inside scoop on their properties and neighborhoods.
Conclusion
Social media will remain a key marketing channel for real estate agents in 2021. By laying out your overall strategy well in advance and taking the latest trends into account, you’ll be able to grow your audience, build engagement, and boost your business success.
