Chris Stocker Inc

4 Ways Realtors Can Use Social Media to Sell More Homes

Chris Stocker

 

If you are a realtor, than your game is all about selling more homes. We live in 2015, going into 2016, so it is important to market like it is 2015. What does that mean? It means that more people are on Facebook and Twitter than anywhere else. That means while they are in the car also! The For Sale signs that are in the yards of your listings probably are not being seen as much. Why? Because not only is the passenger in the car looking down on their phone, so is the driver half of the time!

So, we have outline 4 ways that you as a realtor can use social media to sell more homes.

Content about the Area

No matter what industry you are in or what you sell, you are a content company. What does that mean? You sell homes, not content right? Wrong.

Content is the basis of gaining a sale. Let’s look at an example of why creating content about a specific area is going to help you sell more homes.

You have several listings in West Palm Beach, FL, so here are a few ideas that you can create content about:

These are just a few topics that you can create content around. Why does this help? You are providing value to people who may be searching for a home in your specific area and have a few questions. People are more willing to buy from people who provide value to them, not just a sales pitch.

It is perfectly acceptable to include a lead form or email signup form on your site where this content lives. In fact, that is the main purpose of this content.

Not only will creating content based on an area that you are selling homes help you sell those homes, it can lead to additional listing opportunities from people who see that you are creating this content and know you are going to sell their home for them.

Twitter Search

Using Twitter is another way to share great content with your potential buyers. In the first examples above, we were creating our own content and sharing it, but now, we can take content created by others and share that as well.

By using Twitter Search, you can find articles and other forms of content within a specific location to share. For example, in West Palm Beach, FL the local newspaper shares an article about the decrease in crime rates over the last 24 months, you may want to share that article because crime rate is a factor in the home buying process.

Just like you are using Twitter Search to find potential buyers, potential buyers are using Twitter Search to find a potential home to buy. When sharing your content, or other’s content, it is important to include relevant hashtags. For example, using #westpalmbeach in your tweet.

You can also use one of several tools to help schedule these tweets ahead of time, so that you do not need to be on Twitter at all times to post these. For example, if you have 5 new listings this week, you can schedule 5 tweets about each one throughout the next week at difference times.

Find out how to schedule tweets for an effective Twitter strategy.

Video Tours / Live Streaming

There are two different ways that you can use video to help you sell more houses. First, instead of just using images when doing a listing, why not take your smart phone or video camera and do a complete walk-through of the house and post the video with the listing? A picture is worth a thousand words, but a video could be worth thousands of dollars in commissions!

These videos do not need to be a very high production with special lighting and special effects. A simple smart phone camera can be used to record while you walk from room to room. If you want to make it even more effective, talk throughout the tour to explain the brand new travertine floors and the newly remodeled kitchen with the quartz countertops.

Another form of video usages that can be utilized and effective is live streaming. There are two main players in this area, Periscope and Meerkat. These allow you to use the camera on your phone to live stream video to users. How is this helpful may you ask? Let’s use an example of the real world.

You decide that you want to run an Open House for a new listing from 9-1 on a Saturday. I am a potential buyer and I see this open house sign, but unfortunately, I am on my way to drop kid number 1 off at soccer practice because kid number 2 needs to be at football practice. Meanwhile, kid number 3 has a lacrosse game from 10-11:30. After that game is over, I have to drive across town pick up kid number 1 and number 2 and get them lunch. I look at the time and the open house is now over, I missed it and missed out on the opportunity to see the house.

Now, if I drove past that open house sign, and I saw “Watch Open House on Periscope from 10-11” I now know that I can log onto Periscope and watch a tour of the open house live on my phone while I am waiting for kid number 3’s lacrosse game to end. I no longer missed out on the open house and since I became very interested in that property, I send you a message to schedule a private showing of the house and 24 hours later an offer is submitted and accepted.

Another home sold thanks to live streaming an open house.

Facebook Dark Post Ads

Facebook dark posts are something that are highly under-utilized because most people don’t know they exist. You may have ran Facebook ads before, but have you ran a dark post?

What is a Facebook dark post? Basically, a dark post is is a status update that you can create, but it doesn’t actually show up on your Facebook wall. Well, why is this good if it doesn’t show up on your wall? Because, you can target a specific demographic that you want the post to show up in their feed!

How does this work?

Remember that content that we spoke about above? Well, now is when we can really begin to use it. Let’s say we wrote an article about the best free playgrounds in West Palm Beach, FL. We can now create a Facebook dark post with a link to the article (which on our site, we will have an email newsletter signup so we can collect this person’s information). Now, we can also choose from hundreds of demographic choices to whom we will show it to.

For example, we may want to show the ad to the following persona:

Once we publish this ad, which we can do for as little as $5/day, this ad will only show to the people in this ad demographic. Once this post is seen by the mother’s that we have targeted, they are likely to share, like, comment, etc. on this post. That means that we will now reach a much larger audience and reach other people in this target demographic. We are now increasing our odds of having one of these people sign up for an email newsletter and also one of the people they share with being a person looking for a new home.

Another example to use Facebook dark posts is whenever a new listing is ready to go. Facebook allows you to target a specific zip code along with an annual income. If the home you are selling is a $500,000 home in 90210, then you can target people with an annual income to afford a home in that price range in that zip code.

That’s it! These 4 simple ways to use social media will ultimately help you sell more homes.

If you have any questions about how to implement any of these strategies, please reach out.