How to Create Engaging Social Media Content for Real Estate Pros

In the fast-paced world of real estate, maintaining an engaging social media presence can be the key to building relationships, generating leads, and closing deals. With the right strategy, social media can help you showcase properties, demonstrate your expertise, and connect with potential clients. Here’s a comprehensive guide to creating engaging social media content that can set you apart in the competitive real estate market.

1. Know Your Audience

Understanding your target audience is crucial. Are you targeting first-time homebuyers, luxury property seekers, or commercial real estate investors? Tailor your content to address their specific needs, preferences, and pain points. Use analytics tools to gather insights about your audience demographics, behaviors, and engagement patterns.

2. Showcase Stunning Visuals

Real estate is inherently visual. High-quality photos and videos are essential for capturing attention and showcasing properties. I’ve tested posting very informative posts, but somehow, the luxury home walkthroughs still will outperform A LOT of the time. Consider these tips:

• Professional Photography: Invest in professional photography to highlight the best features of your listings.
• Video Tours: Create virtual tours and walkthroughs to give potential buyers an immersive experience.
• Drone Footage: Use drone footage for a bird’s-eye view of larger properties or unique landscapes.

3. Tell a Story

People connect with stories, not just listings. We are all humans, so one of the age old truths is the fact that we tend to remember stories longer than simple information. By telling a story, you engrain yourself into people’s minds and not only that, people will tend to watch your videos longer. Share the stories behind the properties you’re selling:

• History and Heritage: Highlight historical facts or unique stories about the property.
• Client Testimonials: Share success stories and testimonials from satisfied clients.
• Community Highlights: Showcase the neighborhood, local attractions, and amenities.

4. Use Engaging Formats

I love testing new formats and ways to engage people on social media. Sometimes that’s what you need to do! Test Test Test! Videos are outperforming regular photos these days, but there are still a variety of other formats you can try until you find what works best for your content creation strategy. Diversify your content formats to keep your audience engaged:

• Carousel Posts: Use multiple images or videos in a single post to tell a more complete story.
• Live Streams: Host live Q&A sessions, virtual open houses, or behind-the-scenes tours.
• Stories: Use Instagram and Facebook Stories for quick, engaging updates.

5. Educational Content

We are moving into an age of the educating creator. We all love hearing new information we feel like we can share with other people because we think they don’t know what we know. You know how that feels? It feels great! So sharing insightful information on your local market can be a game changer. Position yourself as a trusted advisor by sharing educational content:

• Market Updates: Provide regular updates on market trends, statistics, and forecasts.
• Tips and Guides: Share home buying/selling tips, DIY home improvement ideas, and staging advice.
• Explainer Videos: Create videos explaining complex real estate terms or processes.

6. Leverage User-Generated Content

First, what is UGC? This is content created by people rather than a brand or business. Simply put, it’s a review, video, post, or whatever, but by a customer or client. Seeing the testimonials on my website are an example of UGC. Encourage your clients to share their experiences and tag your business:

• Client Photos: Repost photos shared by clients who have purchased homes from you.
• Reviews and Testimonials: Share positive reviews and testimonials on your social media channels.
• Contests and Challenges: Run contests that encourage followers to share their own content.

7. Engage with Your Audience

Social media is all about communication and connecting with others in the virtual space. We can hide behind a computer all day, but ultimately, it’s all about being social with other people and making some sort of connection. Social media is a two-way street. Engage with your audience to build relationships:

• Respond to Comments: Answer questions, respond to comments, and thank followers for their feedback.
• Polls and Surveys: Use polls and surveys to gather opinions and insights from your audience.
• Direct Messages: Use direct messages for personalized communication with potential clients.

8. Utilize Hashtags and Geotags

As old as hashtags may seem, they’re still relevant and used by many of the social media algorithms to help decipher what to show and what not to show. If you want someone to find you, you’ll want to use these aspects to make it easier. Increase your content’s discoverability by using relevant hashtags and geotags:

• Local Hashtags: Use hashtags specific to your city or neighborhood to reach local buyers.
• Real Estate Hashtags: Include popular real estate hashtags to tap into broader conversations.
• Geotagging: Tag your posts with the location of the property to attract local interest.

9. Consistent Posting Schedule

I struggle with this point more than ANY of the other ones. The thing that helped me the most was using a social media planner, like the one offered by NH Marketing, especially because this tool will post for you. Any other social media scheduler will do and it will save tons of time, but most importantly it’ll help you stay consistent. This is a big thing that algorithms look for with accounts it decides to share more, or not to share, and that’s how often you post. Maintain a consistent posting schedule to keep your audience engaged:

• Content Calendar: Plan your posts in advance using a content calendar.
• Regular Updates: Post regularly to stay top-of-mind with your audience.
• Peak Times: Schedule posts during peak times when your audience is most active.

10. Analyze and Optimize

Many social media calendars and planners will also share analytics with you. If not, the professional accounts for social media platforms will also share analytics on your account performance. Regularly analyze your social media performance and optimize your strategy:

• Analytics Tools: Use tools like Facebook Insights, Instagram Analytics, and Google Analytics to track performance.
• A/B Testing: Experiment with different types of content to see what resonates best with your audience.
• Feedback: Solicit feedback from your followers to understand what they want to see more of.

Conclusion

Creating engaging social media content requires a strategic approach and a deep understanding of your audience. By showcasing stunning visuals, telling compelling stories, and consistently engaging with your followers, you can build a strong online presence that drives leads and conversions. Remember, the key to success is to be authentic, provide value, and stay connected with your audience. Happy posting!