The introduction of the internet and smartphones has ushered in this new age for marketing! The combination of these two gave birth to a new marketing behemoth, social media. What was once used as a way to merely connect people has evolved into a borderless, transnational marketing tool. In just a span of a few years, social media has quickly become one of the most effective platforms to increase brand awareness and digitally market to your intended market.
Compared to traditional marketing outlets, social media’s power is in a league of its own. Imagine reaching a large number of people with a few clicks of a button, and if the post is well thought off and witty, you can immediately see it blow up within seconds of posting. This ultimately helps in reducing your company’s advertising costs while still keeping your existing and potential clients engaged.
With more than half of the world’s population having access to social media platforms, it is a no-brainer for marketers to take advantage of this huge pool of potential buyers.
Why Twitter?
Unlike other industry giants such as Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest, Twitter doesn’t offer that much as far as images, videos, or “inspos” are concerned. While Twitter allows its users to post videos and images, these are not the main reason why people log in on Twitter.
Twitter is mostly known for being a microblogging platform. With the platform’s 280-character limit, users can air out whatever thoughts they have on their minds. In some ways, people prefer Twitter over other social media platforms because of the lack of media distractions. People go there to read the thoughts of individuals they follow.
Call it what you want but what’s undeniable is that Twitter ranks as one of the leading social networks worldwide with 328 million monthly active users. As of this writing, approximately 6,000 tweets are tweeted out on Twitter every second.
That’s enough reason why you shouldn’t ignore Twitter when planning your social media management activities.
Twitter and Real Estate
Now that we’ve given a few points on why you should be on Twitter, let’s examine the connection between Twitter and the broader real estate market.
When you look at the recent numbers involving real estate sales, you’ll notice that most buyers are Millennials. It’s no surprise that Millennials are very much familiar with social media platforms and are quite adept at using them for purposes other than connecting with people. They use it to build social networks and, most importantly, marketing.
More than 60% of Twitter’s followers are Millennials — 37% belong to the 18-29 age group, while 25% belong to the 30-49 age bracket. What this means for you is that posting well-thought-out content on Twitter will do you wonders as far as generating leads is concerned. You can even take this a step further by connecting and engaging with your followers and the people you follow.
When you take the time to become an expert tweeter, you’ll not only achieve greater visibility as a local authority in your market. You’ll also get a serious leg up over competitors who underutilize the platform.
You can use your Twitter account to help increase traffic to your website. It’s a convenient and practical way to keep you up-to-date on local events and influencers. There are also a lot of free and paid tools that give you access to useful analytics. In turn, it helps you target leads with better content.
Twitter hashtags are also key. You can easily find and engage with leads by using it or through advanced searches.
1. Use Twitter Responsibly
Just like any other social media platform, you have to use Twitter responsibly unless you are ready to witness all your efforts go to waste. Do not use the platform indiscriminately. You have to keep in mind that your business handle is different from your personal one — separate those two as much as possible. The best way to do this is by setting goals.
2. Setting goals
Why are you on Twitter? To generate leads. How do you do that? By following industry leaders, engaging with followers, and connecting with new, potential clients. How do you do all of those? By planning it.
You can start by thinking about your target market. Are you targeting a specific group of millennials? What issues is your target market facing? How can you help them out? Aside from helping them out, what other value can you give? If you’re planning to increase your followers, by how much? And until when?
Once you’re done with those factors mentioned above, you can proceed to tweet something about the industry you’re in. Since we’re talking about real estate, you can tweet about the status of the real estate market in your area — prices, availability, outlook, and more.
Protip: You can try following the 80-20 rule. 80% of your tweets should be about giving value — giving tips, updates, news, and the like. While 20% should be marketing-related — listing new houses for rent, sale, and advertising your services. Remember that your goal is to offer help. The “sales” part will eventually follow.
3. Post a problem and offer a solution
The key to a successful Twitter following is being able to identify issues and resolve them. Strive to achieve this image. If you aim to be the go-to real estate expert in your area, then make sure that your tweets are consistent with that goal.
For example, you see a tweet about real estate (connected to your field of expertise), then take that opportunity to engage and form a connection. This is how you put the word out there. Again, it’s all about giving value. Even though you don’t get paid per se, you can still benefit from the engagement because more people will know you! Eventually, you will be their top-of-mind agent when they think about real estate.
4. Promote your brand
Once you have attained a certain level of legitimacy in your field, then the 20% we talked about earlier comes in. That’s when you slowly tweet content geared towards marketing.
Work hard to maintain a brand that’s known for being trustworthy and reliable, so be consistent with your niche. Sticking to your niche while engaging users with content specific to your business and core values will facilitate client loyalty and trust.
5. Tweet high-quality content
At the end of the day, Twitter is still a social media platform. So simply tweeting something of value is not enough to keep your followers engaged. You have to invest in tweeting high-quality content to provide the much-needed factor to “draw in” your target market.
You need to post visual-rich content, like high-quality images, videos, infographics, and much more. Tweeting engaging content with some real-estate-specific keywords will help you attain more followers. You can also share links to your blog or website and share about the services you offer. All in all, experiment with different marketing content and find out what best suits you.
6. Measure your progress
Since you’re on Twitter to market, it’s also wise to measure how far you’ve grown since joining the platform. The great thing about Twitter is that tons of tools are available to help you with analytics.
These tools allow you to generate reports showing your followers’ growth, engagement rate, and most popular posts. There are even tools that help you schedule your tweets ahead of time to make things easier to manage.
7.Always give a personal touch
In the digital age, giving your personal touch is a huge advantage. Social media platforms started as a way for people to connect, so a simple gesture of personally answering someone’s question on Twitter goes a long way. Again, it always ends up as a win for you if you give value to your clients.
In a time where inquiries are dominated by pre-written and AI responses, some questions are still best answered personally. Use this chance to show empathy and understanding, and your clients will thank you for it.
Bottomline
We hope you learned something from the tips above! Twitter is definitely a great way to build a reputation and promote your services. But as with any marketing and sales activity, buyers or sellers seldom choose agents solely based on their services or numbers. It’s the emotional connection that makes the difference! So, make sure every post has answered the “What’s in it for me?” question in every client’s mind.
When your followers consistently receive value from you, you’ll start seeing way more leads in your follower list.
