19 Nov Social Media Strategies Mature In Real Estate

Buidleronline.com has a wonderful article this month titled “The New Water Cooler”.  If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend you take the time to do so.  This is one of the most insightfully written pieces I have read on social media and its application to real estate.  The best excerpts in this article feature credible sources and quotes from some of the county’s biggest names in building, developing, and advertising.

The article attempts to sum up the state of real estate advertising in regards to the application of social media.  The best part is that every builder, marketer, and agent interviewed is finding ways to make social media work for them.  Whether it’s being in “listening mode” and attempting to gather resident insights or promotion for new homes or neighborhoods, real estate professionals are focusing a lot of their efforts towards social media.

My favorite part of this article touches on what social media can and can’t do.  For the longest time those resistant to social media didn’t see its value because they thought that it wasn’t capable of selling homes.  In a sense, they were right.  If a builder wants to sell homes exclusively through Facebook than they will find their efforts unsuccessful.  Social media is a channel for something other than sales.  They are the channels that bridges a consumer to a source for sales.  That could be a real estate agent, owner, or a builder’s website.  Social media is not and never will be a replacement for other advertising elements such as a corporate webpage.  The focus should be on incorporating sites such as Facebook and Twitter in ways that help us achieve our overall marketing objectives.  If anything, this article reinforces that idea through its multiple quotes.

Most professionals in the real estate industry understand the benefits and opportunities social media provides.  At the same time, we have reached a point where we are starting to understand its limitations as well.  It’s not about being a “cheap” way to advertise because truthfully, it takes time and dedication.  With a better understanding of its capabilities and its limitations, real estate experts are rolling out better social strategies every day.