The social media landscape has changed dramatically since 2012, but the content strategy of many real estate agents has remained the same.
Our customer research involves looking at a number of brokerage social feeds for each specific project, and we've noticed a few things worth mentioning: Rather than continuing to do it with the same strategy, there's an opportunity to make a change: 1) incorporate social channels into a strategy that serves your overall marketing and recruiting efforts, or 2) provide at least some relief to a marketing team that's probably burned out from too much administrative work (i.e., workload is shrinking).
As I said, I want to make generalizations here based on research across dozens of brokerages of all sizes. Please understand that I'm not talking about individual agents or teams, who continue to demonstrate how effective social content can be for business and brand building.
What I want to say is this:
They generally have low follower numbers and even lower engagement on posts, even for market-leading companies. They use their social channels to distribute content like press releases, blog posts, and listics, but they don’t create content with the intent to engage (discussions/replies, polls, shares, etc.) or keep readers on the platform (some great insights here on “zero click content”). They use their channels to promote their favorite local businesses, but only in a centralized way (i.e., how about unique, original photos of these businesses and business owners? How about a reel for them?). They share market data in the form of charts and graphs that the average person can’t read, nor is they in a mental state to absorb that amount of information in a split second scroll. They repeat the same strategies and tactics across all platforms. Channels that ask for this don’t provide any insight into the personality or uniqueness of their companies. (For example, take a behind-the-scenes post of the best-selling properties in your office this month. Show us what goes into marketing these beautiful properties. Show your value in a human way.) From the outside, you may be engaging in check-box marketing (no strategy, no point of differentiation, no brand building) and exhausting your marketing department in the process. Some of you are using several channels beautifully when it comes to properties. We would love to see more of that. But often you're not tagging the property agent. This is a huge missed opportunity to show them some love and provide them with content that they can easily share on their own channels.
First, stop everything and come up with a strategy. What do you want from social media? Is it like a hidden recruiting tool? Great. Be tactical with your purpose and cut down on consumer how-to posts.
Next, research the latest platform algorithms. Algorithms are constantly changing. No one can know exactly how an algorithm will display your content, but it's good to understand what it likes and what it doesn't like. (Here's a great article on Twitter, and here's another on Instagram and Facebook.)
Start by picking a channel and understanding both the technical rules and social conventions of that channel. For example, Instagram is a great channel for brokerages because it's primarily visual, and brokerage listings have a lot of great visual content. But you need to know the rules of the algorithm and understand what content works and what is a literal waste of time for your team.
Follow people outside of the real estate industry to understand what works on the platform. Take the time to try out what they do (recap posts, reintroduction posts, Q&A, longer discussions, BTS, etc.).
Spend as much time thinking about how to grow your following as you do creating content. Without followers, no one will see your content, so why burden your employees with dead-end work?
Depending on your strategy, you may find that it's really only your listings that need to be posted on platforms like Instagram, while company news and agent announcements can be posted elsewhere, like LinkedIn. The reality is that social media is no longer a one-size-fits-all activity. It's no longer a place to simply “post” or “blast out” something.
The social media playbook for real estate agents needs a new chapter and a thorough edit. No one said it would be easy, but it’s definitely time for it.