REALTORS and Social Media: Latest RPR Survey Reveals Trends

CHICAGO (April 23, 2019) – Realtors Property Resource, a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Association of REALTORS, is pleased to announce the results of its 2019 REALTOR® Social and Digital Media Report. The report includes findings from a survey of over 650 REALTORS concerning how they use social and digital media to market themselves and build their businesses.

Of 651 REALTORS surveyed, almost 74% indicated that awareness is the main reason they look to social media to boost their marketing tactics. An overwhelming majority of respondents, nearly 65%, plan to commit more time to social and digital media. And just over 62% have more of their marketing budget earmarked towards social media for the coming year.

"Social and digital media should play a huge role in any agent's marketing efforts," says Reggie Nicolay, RPR Vice President of Marketing. "Raising awareness of yourself and your services via channels such as Facebook, Instagram and email are the new normal in real estate marketing. It really comes down to fishing where the fish are, and the sea is full of social media users."

Facebook and Instagram are the most popular social outlets for REALTORS®. Interestingly, Instagram edged out LinkedIn, which was 2017's second most used platform. Property listings are the most popular form of social media posts for real estate professionals, with local events and buying tips coming in second and third. When it comes to the type of content and format that REALTORS® are posting, photos are the number one choice, followed up by video and other content links.

When it comes to digital media, email is far and away the big winner, with over 78% of REALTORS® saying the use it as their digital marketing tool of choice. Texting, videos and eNewsletters rounded out the other top digital media deliverables.

Additional 2019 REALTOR®Social and Digital Media Report key findings include:

• Over 60 percent of respondents said they will commit more time to social and digital media in the coming year
• 57 percent of REALTORS® spend 1-4 hours per week on their social media presence
• Almost 58 percent of REALTORS® spend 1-4 hours per week on their digital marketing efforts

To read the complete study results, view the PDF.