Let me just put something in perspective for you…
Over half of the population are millennials looking to buy their first home, and pretty much all of them are using the internet to search for property.
In my (slightly biased, perhaps) opinion, millennials are pretty savvy especially when tech is concerned, and it’s no exception when it comes to finding their first home.
Whether it’s looking for property-related hashtags and social media feeds, they’re on the ball.
But is this the way forward? In this blog, we’re going to be exploring whether the property sales sector could benefit from a little shift, or if this is just a recipe for disaster.
Let’s Talk Facebook
Think of a world where you’re able to show an extensive listing of information to every young couple who in their late-twenties and early-thirties within a 25-mile radius.
In person, this would be physically impossible to do in person, edging towards Facebook would allow you to target posts and ads to your core demographic.
Even when Facebook doesn’t deliver the results, it still has pretty savvy analytics that will help you to understand what went wrong and where.
Just by an estate agent using Facebook to share photos of the weekly food shop, or a dog playing in the back garden, the space Facebook allows for paints a picture of what living in a property is really like.
Chances are, this is going to be more emotional to a buyer and resonate with them much more than the usual (and often awkward) tour of the home.
Building a Brand
So, I’m pretty sure we’re all going to be on the same page when I say that social media is well and truly here to stay.
Brands will continue to find ways to make themselves relevant through the various platforms. Brand building has a positive impact on estate agents, as it increases their reach which go far beyond hearsay or word of mouth — people are going to be intrigued and there are ways you can keep this ever-changing.
This is only going to have a positive impact and outcome for property sales and agents alike. If you can’t compete, join ‘em, right? We say absolutely.
Social Media Allows For Better Connections
If you wanted to, you can add all the posh extras, but realistically, social media’s strength is its ability to connect with people. Social media offers a more advanced reach than any other method and can make the audience feel involved with your brand which is only going to resonate positively.
This feeling of connection turns into building strong relationships — we no longer live in a world where communication between brands and customers is one-way traffic. Customers, consumers, followers, audiences are all very much a part of the conversations today.
Estate agents who realise the importance of involving customers and make them feel a part of something is going to put them in a better place, one where they can build trust, but you can’t fake it. Any brand that goes through the motions will be easily spotted and struggle to build an audience. And the trust…what trust?
Showcase Your Expertise Worldwide
Whether it’s blog posts or property market news or something in the middle, social media offers an instant reach, which means providing insight to audiences at a faster pace. Estate agents know it’s not about the hard sell. Often, it’s simply more important to provide insightful and appreciated content.
All of this content is shareable on social media and provides followers with another avenue to showcase their work. Essentially, all roads lead back into building trust and providing all the information an audience needs to make informed decisions about their property.
Use Video Marketing To Your Advantage
Nearly all of the marketers say that video has helped to increase user understanding of their product or service.
Estate agents should take a page from their book and simply embrace it. Of the industries that could benefit most from being showcased as visual, anything to do with property has got to be up there. You see videos going ‘viral’ almost every single day, so who’s to say that this can’t happen in the professional world? It can, of course! Using a video on social media, with a combination of hashtags and any other keywords might just make an estate agent company a business of success.
Don’t Forget LinkedIn!
With millions of businesses being on LinkedIn, it essentially works as the middle man between casual social media, and professional networking. In terms of estate agents, using LinkedIn for both sales use as well as gaining more clients, and therefore revenue, through the connection-based method that LinkedIn goes by.
Being able to post photos on the platform is going to showcase your sales efficiently, while the comments section allows you to directly communicate with potential buyers or new clients, without it being too casual.
So Can You Sell Property Digitally?
Well, let’s be real, bricks and mortar aren’t too ‘attractive’ to look at, however, social media platforms give this the opportunity to showcase attractive visual content that an estate agent would be able to put on display.
Social media platforms are all about fast-moving content, about the instant and the visual developments that are happening this moment, which makes it the perfect opportunity for a sales agent in property.
However, with more businesses looking to social media as a way of advertising their brand, it makes it an extremely competitive space, and one that is going to only get more competitive.
At the end of the day, the future is digital, so if an estate agent can make use of the visual world of social media, then why wouldn’t you go for it?
