We’re officially over the year’s midway mark, and hopefully you’ve been evaluating and assessing business practices across the board. Among other KPIs (key performance indicators), it’s especially important for brokerages to understand and constantly evaluate their digital footprint. Knowing what works and doesn’t work for you and your agents on social media is equally important.

Social networks are continuously expanding, refining, and redesigning their presence as well as perfecting their algorithms to ensure that users are receiving content they actually care about. Here are four tips to ensure that you are producing great content, reaching potential buyers’ and sellers’ newsfeeds, and engaging with them.

Make a Social Media Calendar

The life of a real estate professional can become quite hectic. In order to maintain healthy social media profiles, it is helpful to implement a social media calendar. It’s best practice to plan 1 – 3 months in advance and coordinate with blog posts, current events and property inventory. Here are a few ready-to-use social media calendars:

• HubSpot – Provides a tab for each major social media platform, gives you a monthly glimpse of posts and incorporates your arsenal of content all in one template.
• CoSchedule – Includes a robust social media calendar, editorial calendar and data-driven guide for Google Analytics and other insights.
• Hootsuite – Includes columns for several social media messaging platforms and links for major networks, all to help you better manage your content.

Market to A Different Audience

It’s common knowledge that social media is widely used by young adults and teenagers. While millennials have heavily shaped the direction of social media, SocialMediaToday emphasizes that many people are forgetting about or ignoring the 50+ age group when it comes to marketing on social outlets, thinking that social media is only a young person’s game. The report notes that, “65% of adults aged 50 and up are utilizing social media, a figure that has continued to grow in the last couple years.”

The best way to capitalize on those figures is to ensure that you segment your messaging by developing posts that appeal to particular groups. As well as understanding that engagement will vary, depending on the segment.

Cater Your Message for Each Platform

Savvy real estate professionals are leveraging various social media platforms to market their companies and their clients’ listings. They also have a greater understanding of what is required on each platform in order to garner the most engagement from users. Check out this social media cheat sheet to gain a better understanding of what message you should convey and to whom on each social network.

Embrace New Social Networks

Periscope. Facebook Live. Snapchat. Here you have three visually driven social media platforms allowing you to share image and/or video content in real-time. This gives you the opportunity to speak directly to those who are listening! You can:

• Broadcast live from open houses
• Share property stories and/or history
• Emphasize community features
• Offer home previews
• Give buyers a sneak peak into neighborhood staples
• Host live Q & A sessions
• Highlight valuable property features

You can also leverage Periscope, Facebook Live and Snapchat to build a community. When you view your online audience as more than just your next “like” and truly create content and exchange dialogue to address their needs, concerns, pains and interests, you’re able to better understand the dynamics of social media and create a high functioning community because of it.

Growing your real estate business is all about relationships. In fact, the National Association of REALTORS® reported that over 40% of buyers and sellers used a real estate agent that was referred by friends or family. Through connecting online, you increase your reach and the possibilities of engaging further.

The video aspect of each platform also offers the opportunity to give buyers and sellers a glimpse into who you are, which helps to build trust with those you may do business with in the future. To do so, Inman recommends:

• Making fun videos to introduce the real you; your uniqueness is what viewers will remember
• Using video to establish your brand and build your sphere of influence
• Tailor your videos to your audience

Social media offers plenty of opportunities to real estate professionals. No longer is it enough to just have various social media profiles. In order to leverage them successfully, you must strategize and plan for optimal engagement. After all, the goal is to position yourself as an expert within the real estate industry by expanding your reach across the web.

Follow ListHub on Twitter and Facebook for more tips on how to successfully market yourself in today’s increasingly digital world. Interested in using Facebook ads to reach potential clients? Download our free step-by-step guide to learn how to effectively target buyers and sellers.