10 Facebook Tips From Successful Real Estate Agents (2024 Updated!)
Facebook isn’t only the most significant social network in America; it is also the biggest in the world. With over 220 million active users in the United States, Facebook is a goldmine for real estate agents.
From building brand awareness and trust, to reaching high intent customers, integrating your marketing efforts, and positioning yourself as the go-to local property expert, the possibility of what real estate agents can do on social media, especially Facebook is almost endless.
But the challenge for almost every real estate agent is how to make the most of Facebook to achieve those specific desired results.
We asked a handful of seasoned real estate marketing experts in various industries to get their thoughts and experience on how they are using Facebook to achieve their personal and business goals. You can also use a website builder to help you build a great real estate lead generation website that coexists with your Facebook page in order to bring in more prospects, without you having to buy real estate leads.
Here’s what these experts had to say:
1. Use Hashtags and Make Your Posts Look Engaging
Khali Gallman, a new agent with Coldwell Banker Midtown in South Carolina, explained how she uses hashtags and engaging posts to come up with new tactics on how to generate real estate leads.
“I have only been licensed for four months but have received most of my buyer traffic from Facebook. The key is to post relevant content with hashtags while making your page look engaging. I have a Facebook account and a Facebook page. I use the page to post relevant information to entice buyers and sellers.”
“I was able to secure a 3-sided deal with a couple who used me to list their home, while they built new construction (I’m their buyer’s agent), and I secured a buyer for their current home! Two of my buyer clients told me they searched for real estate agents in the Columbia area on Facebook and scrolled to my page because I looked friendly and gave information on the page that answered a lot of their questions,” said Gallman.
2. Offer Free Items and Giveaways
Justin Nabity, founder and CEO of Physicians Thrive, talks about offering giveaways and free items to gain more attention on Facebook.
“One tip to up your Facebook marketing game for the company is to do a giveaway of some kind. Many Facebook users tend to be fans of free items and giveaways. They get people’s attention, which in turn can help draw an audience to your posts and page.”
“Once you grab users’ attention with offers, use an instant form to collect their contact information. Over time, you can nurture the relationship and guide them through the customer journey from awareness to retention. This will help you not only generate leads from the best real estate lead generation companies but also develop a good marketing strategy and reach for your page,” said Nabity.
3. Share Posts About Your Personal Lifestyle
Melanie Patterson, a realtor at Bean Group, explains how social media offers a rare opportunity to showcase who you really are.
“Social media is your opportunity to shine. People invest in people, so be willing to share yourself with your fans in addition to your business posts. Hobbies, family, pets, holidays, or an active lifestyle can be shared between your regular business posts. Include photos and videos,” said Patterson.
“Social media should make people want to connect with you, so have fun with it and be playful!”
4. Use Facebook Live For Listing
Potential buyers are using Facebook more than ever before to search for homes on the market. This trend has only increased because of the pandemic.
According to Patterson, real estate agents should “Use Facebook Live for an open house and take your fans on a real-time tour of your listings. Talk up what you love about the home. Be sure to get your seller’s permission, of course.”
Joe Wilson, Senior Career Advisor at MintResume, emphasizes the need for top-quality visual content that will get a reaction.
“High-quality visual content is a great trick to get more insights and engagements on Facebook. Post visually pleasing property photos and house tour videos. Use promotional infographics, but keep it concise. This will get you more eyes on your posts and ads. You can also hop on social media trends so your posts go viral!”
“In creating a successful footprint on social media, it is also important to brand yourself. You can use a consistent template for FB content creation to build your brand identity. This impacts prospects, and as a result, they remember you,” said Wilson.
Maureen McDermut, a seasoned realtor, who decided to get her California real estate license back in the early 90s is now consistently in the top 1% of Sotheby’s International Realty. She made a similar point by reiterating why you need to use videos to gain traction on Facebook.
“Video, video, video. Putting together high-quality videos for Facebook has been so helpful for me. Property tours and market updates are the best to focus on. People love looking at homes, and video helps expand the reach of your ads and posts,” she said.
5. Use Third-Party Software To Manage Your Facebook
Updating Facebook posts manually may seem like a challenge, especially if you’re always on the move as a real estate agent. Thankfully, you can automate the process via various third-party apps.
Managing Facebook, and all social media, can feel completely overwhelming and like an endless time suck. Investing in a quality social media scheduler, like SmarterQueue or Buffer, then dedicating a specific block of time once per month to fill it up, is an efficient way to tame the beast.
According to Mitchell Freitas of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty in Florida, “Organization is everything. Separate some time from your week to plan out your content in advance. Planning content out in advance can save you the hassle and headache of posting social media posts when you could focus on getting new business! Look into content scheduling platforms like Buffer, Hootsuite, Later.com, or Heropost to automate the process. Some real estate CRMs also have this ability, so you don’t have to use different software tools.
Freitas Expertise considers himself a natural at cultivating lasting relationships with previous clients. With a background in marketing, he took a leap of faith and decided to turn to real estate fulltime after receiving his Florida real estate license two years ago.
6. Set Up High-Converting Facebook Ads
Levi Olmstead, Director of Marketing at 2ndKitchen explained how to set up Facebook ads that yield a high ROAS (return on ad spend).
“A quick hack for setting up high-converting Facebook Ads is to use lookalike audiences. You can upload a list of prospects or former leads, and then Facebook uses its algorithm to deliver your ads to audiences with the same makeup as the list you upload,” said Olmstead.
7. How Often Should You Post On Facebook?
Should you post once or twice in a day or even more? This is always tricky for real estate agents. Here’s what some experts have to say.
According to Maddy Partow, a realtor at RE/MAX Associated Realty, “My advice for social media: post regularly, at least 2-3 times a week. Talk about what you offer regularly- don’t be afraid to give yourself credit! Utilize a simple color pallet & 1-2 fonts in graphic posts.”
Colleen Riley of Sotheby’s International Realty, a Cape Cod Osterville Brokerage, explained further.
“My footprint is to make sure that I post at least five times a week. I also spend a lot of time commenting on my friends’ posts as well. People appreciate positive comments. Spend time adding new friends each week as well. I’ve had great success with my high school friends, so I’m currently going through my high school yearbook and sending friend requests,” said Riley.
8. Use Your Words To Boost Visibility
Carmen Varner, a social media manager for small businesses, explains how each word choice carries a certain weight on social media.
“Use your words. In a way, Facebook acts as a search engine. People can search for what they’re looking for, and it only pulls up what has already been posted. It helps if you’ve utilized certain terms or words at some point on your profile page because Facebook will pull that information or post up based on what people search.”
“Your post from four months ago talking about being an Austin, Texas-based real estate agent and what you do might come up when someone searches “real estate agent Austin” on Facebook. So, use your words, get specific, be clear,” Varner said.
9. Join Facebook Groups
Nathan Griffiths, the co-founder of Lifty Life Hospitality explained the need of joining different Facebook groups.
“Join Facebook groups for short-term vacation home and Airbnb hosts. Most states and major cities have Facebook groups dedicated to Airbnb and vacation home hosts. Many of the hosts own multiple properties. Furthermore, many hosts are buying and selling properties due to the economic slowdown and travel restrictions.”
“This is a particularly powerful marketing strategy for realtors working in tourist destinations like ski resorts and beach towns. You want to be helpful and answer people’s questions and become an influential community member, not a spammer,” said Griffiths.
10. Be Consistent and Don’t Miss the Big Picture
Mitchell Freitas of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty in Florida, explains why you shouldn’t miss the big picture.
“Create a recognizable brand. There are thousands of agents out there; create a brand that will make you stand out among the rest. Some small and simple ways you can start forming that image is through a logo and a consistent color palette used across your marketing channels,” Freitas said.
“Consistency is critical; oversaturation is killer. Find the sweet spot in posting enough to keep you top of mind without flooding your audience’s feed with content. If you find yourself losing/retaining followers, it could be a symptom of over posting,” he added.
Also, Nikki Field, a senior global real estate advisor and associate broker at Sotheby’s East Side Manhattan Brokerage, explains why consistency is key.
“You have to be consistent with social media – people want to know what I am doing, and I want to know what the world is doing. I normally like to post in the morning so people can start the day with me and I check throughout the day so I can follow up on my family, friends and clients. You never know what type of interesting conversation can spark up in the next hour!,” she said.