Social media is a significant lead generator for real estate brands, yet many real estate professionals fail to maximize their efficiency in this space.

In an agent survey conducted by Real Estate Express in 2018, 54 percent of real estate agents said they need help with their social accounts. Managing social media was the No. 1 challenge they said they face when it comes to evolving their marketing strategy.

By tweaking your content strategy and optimizing your social media posts, you can achieve great results for your real estate brand. Here are three strategies that will help you step up your social media marketing this year.

Strategy 1: Use Social to Serve Your Community
Think of your social channels as a chance to help your community, not push your business. You can do this by becoming a hub for your neighborhood, city or target market. Share and discuss local news on your page that has a positive tone. Providing this value to your community can help you become a source people can turn to for information, building trust at the same time.

Josh Kahn, a real estate agent in Eureka, Mo., took this approach and is now the go-to online presence for Eureka news, giving him a large audience with whom he can build rapport. His team generates more leads from social media than they can work with.

Approach this strategy by exploring what type of content will provide value to your community. Start to think like a journalist. You’ll need to uncover information to share from several different places: community newsletters, neighborhood newspapers, town hall meetings and private social media groups.

Strategy 2: Join the Conversation
Another approach to developing your social presence is to join the conversation, rather than start it. Within your social media circles, there are likely several, if not hundreds of, communities where your potential clients are already talking, including private Facebook groups and neighborhood or city news social pages.

Once you locate where the conversations are taking place, you can insert yourself into the conversation. For example, within a local private parenting Facebook group, you may find several parents talking about the best neighborhoods for new families in your area. This is your chance to be present and talk about key neighborhoods.

You can also join the conversation of any past clients whom you’re friends with on social media. Be sure to like their posts and occasionally comment so they keep you top-of-mind.

Strategy 3: Use Hashtags to Facilitate Engagement and Discovery
Hashtags categorize content on social media and make it more discoverable. Anyone who clicks on a hashtag or searches for it will see results complete with all the posts tagged with it.

Hashtags bring engagement to your content, but even more so, they facilitate discovery on social media. Using the right hashtags for your content is an excellent way for homeowners and prospective buyers to find you—and it’s an even better way for you to discover potential buyers and opportunities for your business.

Measure Results and Stick to It for the Long Haul
Real estate professionals who know the impact of their marketing dollars get better results because they can measure success in real-time and fine-tune their strategy immediately. Don’t be too quick to throw in the towel when it comes to social, as learning what will work isn’t an overnight process. Even when you implement a proven strategy, it takes time for it to work. Establish short-term and long-term goals so that you’ll be motivated to stay the course. 

Real Estate Express is one of the nation’s premier online real estate schools, providing pre- and post-licensing courses, continuing education courses and professional development to hundreds of thousands of real estate agents across the country. Real Estate Express, along with its sister schools McKissock Learning, Superior School of Real Estate, Allied Schools, The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing and Hondros Education Group, helps real estate professionals achieve sustainable success throughout each stage of their real estate career. Learn more at RealEstateExpress.com.