Grow Your Business with Social Media

By Toronto Real Estate Board

Sure, everyone has heard how important it is to have an online presence and yet many people underestimate just how crucial it is to stand out on the Web, and this is no different for professionals like REALTORS®.

A strong digital presence could help capture the attention of potential clients who are already researching their real estate options online. It could also maximize one’s ability to reach new clients while continuing to tap into your existing pipeline.

Despite the growing need to do so, many professionals may not take the plunge into the world of social media because they believe they don’t have the time or the technical knowledge. Are you in this camp? Don’t worry! Anyone can create a dynamic online marketing strategy that could improve his or her business.

Designing a Strategy

Successful social media strategies share some common traits: they identify goals, engage in social conversations, and have strategies that measure success. Everyone’s goals will be different. You may want to gain 500 Twitter followers a month or grow your lead generation by 60 percent – whatever your goal, you’ll need to determine what type of content will get you there.

The first thing to remember when considering what to post is that in the world of social media, social trumps media. When designing your strategy, you need to think like a customer so you can post the type of content that would be of the most interest to them. You may want to engage in some social listening – take a look at the social media accounts of prospective clients. What are they talking about? Learn how to speak their language and respond to their concerns.

Another key strategy in social media content generation is to share content related to your wider industry the vast majority of the time. This type of content should have real value to your clientele and could feature real estate industry news, neighbourhood information, or moving tips. Don’t forget to make it personal by sharing some appropriate personal stories. This kind of content humanizes your brand and builds trust – a key ingredient in any client relationship.

Evaluating Your Results 

Measuring your strategy’s success will help you determine your progress towards those goals you defined earlier.

To do it, you’ll need to look at the numbers: how much blog traffic are you receiving? How many retweets on Twitter, and how many likes and engagements on Facebook? You can design a ranking system for yourself, or you can go pro and use a site like Google Analytics or HootSuite to help you evaluate the strength of your digital presence.

The point is, you’ll need to be constantly testing, evaluating and changing your strategy to remain current and competitive in today’s ultra-hot digital space.

Helpful Tip

For tips on posting to specific social media channels such as Facebook or Twitter, we recommend checking out various online resources.

Has a social strategy worked for you? Let us know in the comments!