Numerous websites and applications exist that provide agents with guidance, content creation, and even outsourcing when it comes to social media mastery in the real estate industry. Conversely, brokers frequently find themselves uncertain about how best to manage their channels. Do they want to concentrate on recruiting messages aimed at agents? Are both the seller and the buyer satisfied? listing business appreciation events, agent triumphs, and highlights?

Carrie J. Little, designated managing broker for CarMarc Realty Group(link is external), has a clear perspective on social media utilization, in contrast to many brokers who are left in the dark. During a June 30 session at the 2021 REALTOR® Broker Summit, Little provided brokerages with seven tried-and-true social media techniques to use while they establish or reestablish their online presence.

1. Produce Content For Your Office's Agents.

Little said that brokers should think carefully about what their agents would want to broadcast on social media in order to redefine their brand. Using local data, Little provided an example of how to make visually striking market snapshots that could pique the interest of agents and the clients they service.

Brokerages can showcase their agents with unique, personal information in addition to data. Little stated, "Agents like to be acknowledged." They also require content to disseminate, specifically content that will enhance their reputations. For this reason, CarMarc Realty Group produces fresh listing images for agents, which are subsequently posted on the brokerage website. The separate agents can then exchange these images. "It provides them with content, communicates to the customer that they are working, communicates to their network that they are working, and demonstrates that they are genuinely handling a transaction from start to finish."

2. Produce Polished, Natural Content.

According to Little, a broker's internet reputation is based on the pictures and videos they upload. She constantly advises uploading high-quality pictures of everything, including listings, agents, brokers, and photographs used in blogs about gardening, staging, and other topics. The quality of the photos is more important than whether each agent is wearing a suit coat or a denim jacket, according to Little. "[Brokers] ought to consider employing that expert photographer."

However, stuffy content does not equate to professional photography. Brokers are encouraged by Little to produce and disseminate unfiltered, natural content regarding their day-to-day business operations. Little thinks that it's critical to share genuine tales about the real estate industry, whether they be in the form of a series on what it was like to start the company from scratch, an inside look at what it means to abide by the REALTOR® Code of Ethics, or advice on how brokers and agents assist buyers in navigating the marketplace. A starting point for producing sincere, "real life"-style material is video footage.

3. Work Together With Partners In The Industry.

Subsequently, Little suggests that brokerages collaborate with loan officers, inspectors, attorneys, and other associates to obtain diverse viewpoints and exclusive material that consumers cannot obtain elsewhere. "Maybe you should be preapproved or fully underwritten instead of just prequalified? Talk to a loan officer about this."

Other choices include speaking with real estate attorneys about what goes on behind the scenes during escrow or inspectors about what they are observing in today's homes. Little suggests that brokers utilize Facebook or Instagram for these interviews.

4. Employ Locations And Hashtags.

Little says, "When we talk about location-based and hashtag marketing, [that's] when the end user can find you based on a location or hashtag." She gave the following example: If a broker uses location tagging or hashtags correctly in their posts and someone is seeking for an agent in their city, the consumer will locate the broker more readily.

In addition to this use case, if a brokerage tags its postings appropriately, customers searching for local information are more likely to find them. A brokerage's posts will acquire traction if they are hashtagged or labeled by location—this lets users find the content of the brokerage on their own terms, whether they are sharing photos of a new café, a city concert series, or other local attractions.

Little advises brokers, however, to exercise caution when using hashtags in excess. Every site has its restrictions when it comes to hashtag usage, and on some—like Linkedin—going overboard is not only unnecessary but can actually hinder a user's efforts because it tampers with the algorithm.

5. Use Social Media To Interact.

Little defined engagement as "having a conversation with your followers." It holds equal significance to face-to-face interactions. She advises brokers and brokerage staff to always use five words or more when responding to posts. Longer comments will not only seem more genuine and conversational, but they will also be easier to see on many social media platforms since they are moved to the top of the screen.

6. Incorporate Video Footage.

According to Little, producing video content doesn't have to be labor-intensive or high-quality. "On Instagram, you can create a 60-second narrative. On TikTok, you may create a 60-second narrative. It's important to just begin going.

Accessibility of the videos is also crucial. In one instance, Little's son requested that she describe her films so he could "watch your videos while we are in class." She didn't support that behavior, but it did teach Little the value of accessibility and subtitles in drawing in more views from viewers who can't access content in a traditional manner. Captions make it easier to understand the information without having to turn up the volume on devices where users frequently have the sound down or off.

7. Social Recruiting.

Little suggests that brokers provide agents with something of value rather than the standard broker outreach in which you message an agent on their production and inquire as to whether they would consider shifting businesses. As a result, agents are able to start the hiring process independently.

Little notes that although agents are overloaded with continuing education courses, they are nevertheless eager to learn new strategies or business hacks. To that end, she has started producing short Instagram videos with informative material (link is external). Her intention is to demonstrate to prospective hires that she is an active, tech-savvy broker who is committed to her agents' success. She is prepared to assist them in joining her brokerage or setting them up with brokers in their respective marketplaces when they get in touch.

Regardless of your role as a digital marketer, designated managing broker, or broker-owner, these seven tactics will help you establish a more powerful social media presence, according to Little. Additionally, she urged those new to digital marketing to choose one new tactic at a time rather than attempting to execute them all at once. She urged the brokers in the audience, "Don't make this hard." "Go ahead and start now."