The value of social media for property investors

The majority of estate agents believe that social media is the most important advertising channel for selling property. The Close conducted a survey of real estate professionals, with the majority (60%) of agents feeling that social media is more important than their own website for marketing purposes.

Earlier this year, Touchstone Education highlighted the importance of using off-market channels to generate the greatest rich and highest potential returns.

What do the figures mean for the industry? This blog post explains.

What are the benefits of promoting homes via social media?

There are many benefits of using social media platforms to promote properties.

Brand visibility: The primary reason behind using digital media platforms for promotion is that it can assist estate agents in building the name of their brand. This use of positioning can be eye-catching towards new clients. Business owners need to be certain of the tastes of their target groups and produce material that fit with their liking to create engagement.

Networking: A well connected social media network allows sellers to connect with potential customers, as well as estate agents can reconnect with past consumers and keep tabs on their audience. Business owners can ask for referrals, or prompt followers to share articles or links with individuals interested in purchasing a property.

Diversifying marketing: Employing multiple marketing methods can provide beneficial as returns come from various segments. Updating accounts on pages such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter can help to generate awareness amongst current and potential clients. Each platform has a wide range of features to encourage creativity and maximise reach.

Promote verified information: Reaching the right audience and sharing information in the shortest possible timeframe with accuracy is important for any organisation. Social media enables companies to share and broadcast news, information, progress and updates to all interested parties.

Boost website traffic: Sharing articles that link back to a website helps to connect with an audience that is after ‘expert opinion’ before making a purchasing decision.

Is social media a popular tool for house selling? According to a Zoopla report into the UK housing market, two thirds of estate agents use social media to promote their listings. Meanwhile the percentage of house hunters using Facebook to find their next home has doubled to 12%.

The data is contained within Zoopla’s annual data-fest which interviews 6,000 house hunters and 650 agents to discover emerging trends.

It revealed that 53% of agents intend to spend more on marketing their listings through social media.

Zoopla points out that property portals remain the key marketing tool for 59% of agents. This is a low figure considering 77% of house hunter use portals to conduct their search. Zoopla say 65% of their leads come from portal listings.

One fifth of consumers have a property app installed on their smartphones, whether they are active in the market or not.

Andy Marshall, Chief Commercial Officer at Zoopla said, “The industry is adapting to changes in consumer behaviour and looking to capitalise on the amount of time that prospective buyers and vendors spend in the digital environment.

“This is nowhere more apparent than in the research stages of buying, selling or renting a new home; agents know this, which is why more of them are embracing digital marketing than ever before.”

What are content market ideas for property investors and estate agents?

Useful content to consider when promoting a home via social media, include:

- Tips for selling
- Pointers for purchasing
- Things to ask an estate agent
- How to guides
- Interior tricks when selling
- Housing market insights
- Demonstratable local knowledge
- Facts about homes
- Q&A’s
- Aspirational content
- Musings on popular culture
- Industry news
- Interior design tips
- Other ways to utilise social media to get the most out of your property

1. Start more conversations

Engagement is a crucial way to convert sales through social media. Find out what potential customers want and need. This can include what they dislike about moving, when is the best time to move, inviting the audience to submit stories and more. Social media apps give the user the potential to send out polls, quizzes, start discussions and gather thoughts and opinions. Encourage the audience to tag friends, run competitions and so on.

2. Employ a video marketing strategy

32% of businesses use video for sales. Showcase homes using videos and reels to promote across a wide range of channels including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube. Videos and reels take more time to view, meaning that social media algorithms recognise the audience as more engaged and thus determine your profile as more valuable for users that increase visibility.

3. Utilise locality

Most property-seeking audiences will be from within the local community. Showcase involvement within the local community, show off knowledge of the area and build reputation within the region. Sharing local reviews and testimonials build endearment within the local community.