Social Networking Not Working?

Social networking means different things to different people. In real estate, it can be the way that agents and brands stay connected to companies, or something that consumes a lot of time, effort, and money without producing any results. It is probably a little bit of both.

Social networking does not really seem to be working in terms of being an effective marketing tactic. Most brands have languishing pages that are not being curated and mended on a regular basis. Even social media profiles that are being professionally maintained do not seem to be generating great results.

We have landed on one thing that works for brokers. Step back and listen more. Listen to conversations on social media and join discussions in a supportive way. Flatter people you know by sharing the content that they are posting. Moreover, let consumers share content on your site to their Facebook page.

Simply stated, don't self publish unless you have some important announcement to make that has meaning to everyone you expect to reach. Publishing market stats is fine, but don't publish new listings to your wall. Letting consumers publish information from your website is done by adding share buttons to every page of your site.

Something that you may not have thought about is a Pinterest button. We have noted that Facebook is the clear leader for consumer sharing. Pinterest is second, followed by Twitter in a distant third position.

Another tip is to be sure to invite your agents to put their social media links on their agent profile pages. Many consumers seem to trust those pages more than agent biographies when doing agent selection research.

Spring is a great time to update those social media profiles – and agent profile pages, too. With a little bit of work, you can maximize your social network.