Real estate social media marketing: which channels should real estate agents use in priority?

The content of this article is based on our webinar in collaboration with Chrystelle Charlier, CEO of Flexvision and marketing expert.

In 2023, it is almost impossible to think of a real estate digital marketing strategy that wouldn’t include social media marketing. Realtors and real estate businesses worth their salt usually build their marketing plans around different key topics such as SEO strategy (search engine optimisation), content marketing, email marketing, paid marketing and social media marketing. Not only can social media platforms help you build brand awareness, but they can also help accelerate your lead generation efforts by bringing many potential customers to your website. Ready? Let’s learn about social media best practices for the real estate industry!

Which social media platforms to prioritise based on your objectives?

You’ve decided to develop your real estate online marketing and want to focus on developing your social media presence in 2023. That’s great! But remember that real estate social media marketing can quickly become a very time-consuming activity, and it can be hard to keep up with all the tasks. You’ll need to choose the best channels to focus on first. You need to think strategically and ask yourself a couple of specific questions. Here are the most important ones:

• Who is your target audience?
• What tools does the platform offer?
• How much time and money do you want to spend?

Having the answers to those questions will help you select the right social networks according to your goals and needs. As Chrystelle Charlier explains, “you want to be visible everywhere, but it's not effective if you don’t have the right resources”.

1. Facebook: still relevant in 2023

Despite its declining popularity, Facebook remains the leading social media channel in the world, with a socio-demographic representation that is still unmatched. Not only will it drive traffic to your website, but it will also let you choose between various formats for your social media content (photos, videos, live videos, articles, etc.). Facebook users are usually quite prone to interact and comment.

👉 Target audience: Individuals over the age of thirty, homeowners, home buyers and home sellers

👉 Tool: Facebook Business Manager with Creator Studio for targeting by preferences, location, age, interests, etc.

👉 Investment: Moderate. You need to publish one or two social media posts a day. To ensure that you get enough reach, you should consider running a few Facebook ads.

💡 Our advice: Assuming you have a moderate budget, the Facebook Business Manager tool should be considered for local use. This will improve your repetition rate and visibility with respect to your target market. “If you have a limited budget, focus on small and very specific geographical areas”, says Chrystelle Charlier.

2. Instagram: the key social media platform for targeting millennials

Instagram is a social network with a younger user base than Facebook. However, this platform is seeing an increase in users in their thirties and forties. For that reason, realtors should definitely consider integrating it into their social media marketing strategy. Besides the usual ‘grid’ posts, Instagram offers the possibility to share real estate content via Instagram stories and reels and to start live videos. Using hashtags is strongly recommended!

👉 Target audience: Young users (millennials), slowly trending towards an older population.

👉 Tool: As Instagram is owned by Facebook, the tools are the same and allow for targeting both networks through Facebook Business Manager and Creator Studio.

👉 Investment: Time-consuming. You must be highly interactive and present, both in your posts and in your responses to any comments. Content should also be given special attention, as the quality of the pictures and videos is key for Instagram posts.

💡 Our advice: Do not use this social media platform if you have limited time and money resources, or if you are not ready to post quality content both on your grid and as daily stories. If you focus on an older target group, Instagram is not the most suitable marketing channel.

3. YouTube: A great way to appear more approachable and showcase your expertise

As part of the Google family of products, YouTube is the standard for video streaming. If you’re looking into posting real estate video content, this is definitely the channel to focus on! Video content is great for developing your brand identity and appear more approachable, as it is very relatable and has a strong emotional side to it. You can use YouTube to share video testimonials and success stories, high-quality virtual tours of some of the dream homes you are currently selling, or simply showcase your know-how and expertise.

👉 Target audience: Individuals and professionals across all demographics, no age limit.

👉 Tool: YouTube Ads (paid). Similarly to Facebook Business Manager, it has “life event” and “purchase intent” functionalities, allowing you, e.g. to target people who likely just had a child, etc.

👉 Investment: Time and money investment is important. YouTube is a social network reserved for agencies with a media and video budget. The quality of the content is paramount.

4. LinkedIn: let’s talk business!

LinkedIn allows you to reach out to professionals directly, thanks to a very precise targeting tool. Not only can you use it for promoting your real estate business, it is of course also a platform you can leverage to recruit people.

👉 Target audience: Professionals only. This network provides access to users with the highest incomes;

👉 Tool: LinkedIn Campaign Manager. This tool offers extremely precise targeting possibilities and provides access to specific users. This allows you to create a tailored post, e.g. for executives working with developers in the real estate sector;

👉 Investment: Financial investment is high. Each LinkedIn ad is quite expensive (at least EUR 200), but given the quality and reach, it is considered a very good investment. A best practice when active on LinkedIn is to coordinate the efforts on your LinkedIn business page with those of your employees (e.g. by asking them to reshare your content on their own LinkedIn profiles), or else you will be out of step.

According to Chrystelle Charlier, “LinkedIn is the best social network for prospecting specific companies and their employees, thanks to its extremely precise targeting tool”.

What about other social media platforms?

Other social networks, such as Pinterest, Snapchat or TikTok, may also be of interest to real estate professionals. However, you must have a thorough knowledge and understanding of how these networks work in order to make an impact there. Regarding Pinterest, Chrystelle Charlier adds that “it is a social network really worth pursuing because the real estate agencies that decide to advertise on this network will be the first to do so”.

As for Twitter, its popularity really varies from country to country. While it is very popular in France, this is not necessarily true in Belgium or Switzerland, for example. It has lost considerable momentum in recent years and faces an uncertain future since being acquired by Elon Musk. Chrystelle Charlier advises real estate agents against using this network.

What to post on your social media accounts?

The sky is the limit! Be as creative as possible, and try to post various types of content. Here is a non-exhaustive list of content ideas:

• New listings
• Polls and interactive content
• Interesting blog articles
• Real estate news related to your vicinity
• Tips and tricks for home buyers, homeowners or home sellers
• Testimonials and positive reviews
• Open houses announcements
• …And why not organising live Q&A sessions every now and then?

Google My Business: Not a social network, but a “must-have” tool for sure!

If there is one tool that many people underestimate, it is Google My Business. Chrystelle Charlier considers Google My Business a strategic communication tool for every real estate agency. With 90% of real estate searches starting on search engines and Google accounting for most of them, having a well-thought-through Google My Business page has become crucial.

Google My Business allows you to achieve several things:

• you can be found more easily;
• you can showcase testimonials of happy past clients;
• you can manage and respond to feedback;
• you can drive visitors to your site;
• you can get more calls from potential clients;
• you can provide information.

Google My Business is a kind of “virtual business card” which allows you to share a lot of relevant information about your real estate business: website, address, phone number, business hours, photos, etc. It is therefore very important that you take care of it as if it was your “shop display”, as it can potentially generate many real estate leads.

Real estate social media marketing: The right network for the right purpose!

Defining your objectives, your target market and how much time and money you’re ready to invest will help you quickly identify the social network(s) that match your expectations and will help you achieve your goal.

Where to start? Facebook is the priority network to focus on when you are just starting out. To avoid making mistakes, it is best to get some training before throwing yourself into all-out social media marketing campaigns!

Remember to be patient when developing your social media strategy. The algorithms need time to adjust to your new posting pattern and the content you post. With patience and perseverance, you will gradually succeed in building an audience and strong brand identity on social media!