How to Build Meaningful Connections Through Social Media
Today, simply creating a Facebook or Twitter account for your real estate initiative is not enough. While establishing a presence across social media is important, making lasting relationships is the key to long-term success. And as we know, meaningful relationships take time to develop.
In social media, it takes a commitment to sharing relevant content in a way that inspires your fans and followers to interact and take action to win over today’s homebuyers and sellers. It also requires consistent conversation to stay connected and top of mind. So how can you create quality content and fuel conversations that increase visibility, awareness, and ultimately build relationships with your brand?
Below are easy and effective ways to use social media to build meaningful connections.
1. Create Social Media Pages Worth Visiting
Are your social channels appealing? Have you created a space that’s inviting to both visitors and current followers?
Judge for yourself by answering a few quick questions:
- Does your profile picture and description project the quality, value and, promise of your brand?
- Are people liking, sharing, or commenting on your content?
- Are people clicking through on links you share? Viewing videos you post?
- Have past clients given testimonials?
- Are you sharing multiple forms of content including video, images, and text?
If you’ve answered “no” to one or more of these questions, your social media profile and content may need some attention. Your content should proactively address questions that you regularly receive from your clients, demonstrate your knowledge of the communities in which you specialize, showcase your point of view on current home design or real estate trends, and illustrate current and former clients’ satisfaction with your services. In addition, video and images typically drive more engagement than text-only content (with some exceptions), so be sure you’re including a healthy mix of these content types.
Social media is fluid. In order to maintain fan and follower attention, you need to constantly adjust to meet their needs and topics of interest. 
Add the above questions to your annual strategy planning and check in each year to be sure your social media pages are run the way you intend.
2. Be an Active Listener
Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are excellent catalysts for conversation. However, a conversation doesn’t truly become beneficial until both parties are involved.
Become an active listener in order to quickly respond and meet the needs of your fans and followers in real-time. Tools like Social Mention allow you to monitor the conversations happening in and around your brand and target neighborhoods. Use it to search your company name, local phrases like your city or community, and keyword search terms. You can also use Twitter Advanced Search to monitor your name or keyword phrases.
Your goal in monitoring social media conversations should be to proactively engage with the individual posting a relevant term or phrase within a timely manner.
An example might be, someone tweets “relocating to Austin.” Searching that term will bring up anyone who uses that phrase within their tweet. Monitor and respond with helpful (not spammy) tweets.
Once you begin this process of social media listening, you can use it for content planning purposes, as well. Write a blog post around a specific question or create a video tip responding to a need.
3. Be a Resource
Gaining a social media following will require that you not only share relevant content, but thoughts, ideas, and insight around your local market and industry.
As a real estate agent, understanding the needs of today’s home buyer and seller is critical. Below are a few tips to help you become the go-to resource within your local market.
- Unique photos of your listings with fun and engaging questions. For example, “Who wouldn’t want to come home after a long day and enjoy this beautiful backyard? We know we would!”
- Always add a call to action – what’s the next step you would like your audience on social media to take? Make it simple and encourage them them to ask questions, view a listing, or learn more about your company.
- Talk about an upcoming local or sponsored event, why you’re involved and why it matters to your social media fans and followers.
- Tell the stories of past and current clients. How did you help a homebuyer get into their dream home when no one else was able to? People love feel-good stories and stories humanize a business.
- Answer questions around the home buying or selling process and share updates on today’s market and its impact.
- Share insight around local zoning or other issues that directly impact potential clients. What does it mean and how could it affect buyers and sellers.
4. Get Visual
We live in a highly visual world. Studies have repeatedly shown that people respond positively to photos and videos far more than they do articles. Use this to your advantage.
Visual Content Post Ideas:
- Pictures of your closings – congratulations photos (pre-approved by buyers and sellers)
- Unique listing features – special rooms, features, or layouts
- Neighborhood views - unique or up-and-coming features of the hyper-local areas in which you are selling
5. Stay In The Conversation
Are you guilty of posting and then running off? If you’re using social media as a one-way conversation, you may not be utilizing the tool properly.
Social media is interactive. It’s a lively and timely space. But only when you stay in the conversation. While sharing valuable content is important, it won’t automatically create conversation.
Take the time to ask questions, listen to your fans and followers, and respond in a timely manner. You’re building relationships, and relationships take time. If you’re only posting market reports, but not taking the time to engage with your fans and followers, you will have little engagement back. Just as in the offline world, it’s considered poor etiquette within social media if you run into the room screaming about your company and never take the time to get to know anyone.
6. Track Your Success
Track, measure and adjust your strategy.
As a real estate agent, your responsibility is to generate sales and increase revenue. Put a plan in place that will let you easily create, manage, and follow a consistent social media strategy. It’s important to your success!
Looking to promote more of your real estate brand on Facebook? Read our blog post, Boosting a Post vs. Facebook Ads for Real Estate Pros.
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