Marketing your home in the past included listing it with a real estate agent, placing a sign in your front yard, and hoping for the best. But with the advent of social media, times have certainly changed. Gone are the days when Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn were just for connecting with old friends and making new connections.
Today, agents and homeowners alike are taking advantage of the many opportunities and benefits that social media outlets offer in terms of marketing a home. Here are some tips to keep in mind.
Build Your Home’s Online Presence
The first thing you should consider when marketing your home is to build an online presence. Start by marketing your home on a real estate services site like Gott Real Estate. This will create a “home base” for your property, and will allow you to set up a listing on the multiple listing service (MLS), providing valuable exposure to thousands of people. Next, upload photos and write about the attractive features of your property.
Your home’s page will have its own unique URL. Just copy the link, log in to your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram accounts, and share away. You can also tap into your photography and social media skills to widen your outreach and gain interest outside of your networks. From your initial posting to follow-up pictures, make the most of your resources to ensure your online listing is capturing others’ attention.
Start Getting the Word Out
Take advantage of your network of friends by asking them to like, share or retweet any information you post about your property. Your initial post is the most important, and it should include attractive features, pictures, and your home’s proximity to shopping, entertainment, and local attractions. Be sure to mention any energy-efficient features, such as Energy Star-rated appliances or solar capabilities, to make your home more appealing. You may be surprised by how quickly your property’s information spreads to your friends, and then to your friends’ friends, and so on.
Photography is key to an online campaign, so be sure to stage the area beforehand by cleaning up clutter, adjusting lighting to brighten up the space and using a professional camera for optimum resolution. If a camera phone is your only option, make sure you turn the flash off to avoid overexposure and line up the shot with your camera’s gridlines. You can also touch up photos with the editing options in Instagram and Twitter. Instagram will let you save your edited version for use outside its platform.
Increase Views and Shares on Social Media
Keep in mind that you should be careful not to bombard your friends with repeated posts about your property, as this could lead to your posts being ignored. Follow-up posts should only deliver news of certain events related to your home, such as a price reduction or new open house dates. Try to deliver these updates within your normal, everyday posts.
On Twitter, you can increase views by incorporating hashtags for states and popular cities into your tweets. You never know what accounts are following those tags and may retweet on your behalf. Additionally, post more than one picture as Twitter allows up to four pictures to be posted at one time.
When posting on Facebook, search for the town or state pages based on your home’s location and ask them to share your listing with their followers. Be sure to tag those pages when posting the listing on your own Facebook page.
If you’re using Instagram, keep in mind that users can’t actually click-through links that you post. Instead, note how they can access the listing in the image description (by search ID, contact information, etc.), or direct them to the clickable link on your main Instagram page.
Word of mouth travels fast, but word on the Internet travels even faster. Business owners and retailers alike have known the importance of spreading the word about their products and services for decades. Try to treat your property the same by taking advantage of today’s social media opportunities. When you’re ready to proceed with marketing your home, visit Gott Real Estate to find an extensive network of real estate services, listings, and ideas that can help you launch your online campaign.
