Making the Most of Your Social Media

BY MICHELE LERNER

Whether you’re a fan of Instagram or Facebook or prefer the professional interactions on LinkedIn or the free-forall nature of TikTok, there’s no escaping it: social media is an important element of nearly every Realtor ® ’s marketing plan. If you don’t use social media, you could be missing out on opportunities to connect with potential clients, deepen your community relationships, and widen your network within the real estate world.

For some agents, social media is a fun part of their day where they interact with friends and acquaintances. For others, it’s part of a strategic marketing plan.

“At first I wasn’t using social media but now 99 percent of my referrals are from people I’m connected with there,” said Shana Martine Sanchez, a Realtor ® with The Home Real Estate Group with Coldwell Banker Realty in Summit and Vice Chair of NJ Realtors ® Young Professionals Network Committee.

To be successful using social media, you need to be visible, engaging, interesting, and, most of all, authentic, said Sanchez.

While you may be wary of spending too much time on social media, it can be a valuable way to reach new customers and increase your visibility.

“If you’re on social media and you put a glimpse of a house in front of someone, they may not even be thinking about moving until they see it. It’s a great way to grab people’s attention,” said Alyssa Abrusci De Sario, a Realtor ® with Re/Max Heritage Properties in Flanders.

Tez Roro, a Realtor ® with Keller Williams Suburban Realty in Livingston and Chair of the NJ Realtors ® Young Professionals Network Committee, once received an offer on a multi-family property through Instagram.

“The buyer hadn’t even seen the property, and he found me on Instagram,” said Roro.

Authenticity Makes a Difference

Whether you’re serious or funny, it’s important to be yourself when using social media.

“You need to avoid coming across as too sales-y,” said Roro. “A litmus test for me is to post and comment and share information about topics and groups I’d be interested in regardless of being a real estate agent.”

Roro always answers questions or comments about real estate by offering resources or information rather than just posting “Call me!”

Consistently posting only about listings can make it obvious that you’re using social media for promotional purposes rather than to connect with people.

“I’m a former middle school teacher, so I know what it’s like to try to get people to pay attention,” said Colleen Hadden, a Realtor ® with Compass in Moorestown. “I do what I call ‘edu-taining’ and try to make things fun or do something funny while providing some education. My friends know I’m a goofball and I have three boys, so I let people see that side of my personality.”

Other agents may be more successful with their social media if they stick to videos about the market or other topics rather than trying to be funny if they’re not comfortable with that, said Hadden.

For Hadden, social media is fun and a stressreliever even more than a marketing tool.

Sanchez doesn’t love filming videos of herself, so she often interviews other people on video to post.

I think every agent should find what they like to post about or read about rather than copy other agents,” said Sanchez. “It’s also important to connect with other people on social media by reading their posts, sharing them, and commenting on them. It can’t be one-way.

While being true to yourself and your personality are important, De Sario recommends stepping outside your comfort zone sometimes, too.

Try something new on social media occasionally or experiment with video if you haven’t used it much,” said De Sario. “Follow someone you might not normally follow and be the name that people recognize. I followed a salesperson I met at a car dealership, and I ended up with a $1.4 million referral because the salesperson thought I did a good job marketing on Instagram.

Balancing Personal and Professional Posts

Part of being authentic is sharing a little of your personal life and interests alongside your real estate posts. Most agents have both a personal page and a business page on Facebook and Instagram. However, there’s plenty of crossover between the pages.

I plan social media posts about one month in advance and include a mix of educational items about real estate, town activities and local businesses,” said Sanchez. “I’m more spontaneous with stories on Facebook and Instagram, so those tend to be something I post when I’m out with friends or stopping at a local coffee shop and want to post about them.

To avoid social media overload, Chrissy Ferreira, a Realtor ® with eXp Realty in Montclair, prefers to post “stories” that disappear in 24 hours more often than posting to her news feed.

If someone doesn’t have a lot of time to scroll through their social media, they’re more likely to check stories that they know will disappear,” said Ferreira. “It creates a sense of urgency.

Ferreira checks her news feeds to make sure she splits her posts between personal and professional topics evenly.

“I like to post a lot of positive motivational messages, so I share videos and posts often that may make someone’s day better,” said Ferreira. “If I’m posting about real estate, I try to share a photo or video and turn it into a teachable moment.”

De Sario posts a mix of her daily activities, local events, photos of homes for sale, open houses and more.

I post anything that grabs people’s attention and usually post an Instagram story twice a day,” said De Sario. “I also make sure to use a lot of hashtags including names of towns so that people can find me if they’re searching for neighborhoods by keywords.

The main benefit of social media is visibility. Sanchez has also made friends in real life by meeting someone through social media and following up with an inperson meeting.

Lifting Your Community through Social Media

Facebook groups for various towns and interests are a prime way agents can support their community.

I’m active in the PTA and attend Board of Education meetings and planning and zoning meetings that I post about,” said Roro. “During the pandemic I started a ‘Buy Nothing’ project in our town and it took off right away with people sharing items on social media they didn’t need and asking for things they needed.

On LinkedIn, Roro connects people she knows and posts a weekly real estate item, along with items about parenting, education, and small businesses, since she’s also vice president of her local chamber of commerce.

People are buying a town, not just a house, so I like to share things about my community on my posts,” said Hadden.

“Colleen’s Community Connections” on Instagram is part of Hadden’s marketing plan. For example, January was National Soup Month, so Hadden filmed an Instagram Reels video outside Campbell’s Soup Co. headquarters in Camden, and then posted once each week at different local restaurants known for their soup.

I like to tag local businesses to give them exposure,” said Hadden. “They’re often grateful and will share the posts on their social media platforms, too.

Many of Sanchez’s social media videos are interviews with local business owners, particularly women, and highlights of community activities.

Making Agent Connections with Social Media

Sanchez highlights activities, interesting posts and listings of other real estate agents, even those outside her brokerage, on social media.

It’s important for agents to network with other agents,” said Sanchez. “It’s also good to let your clients know that you play nice in the sandbox with other agents and other companies.

As Chair of the Young Professionals Network for New Jersey Realtors ® , Roro has developed close friends with that network and their Facebook group.

Tagging NJ Realtors® and the National Association of Realtors® , other agents and brokerages at real estate events means agents are more likely to share each other’s posts, said Ferreira. She likes to celebrate the success of other agents on social media and share her enthusiasm when they do a good job.

When I told people I was going into real estate a lot of people called it a ‘cutthroat’ business,” said Hadden.

“But I find it’s very collaborative. I’ve met a lot of other agents through social media and ended up inviting them to meet for coffee. It helps us all to get to know each other.”

Social Media Metrics

Some agents, including Ferreira, track their social media to see which types of posts resonate the most and increase her connections. Others simply enjoy social media and pay less attention to the impact of particular posts.

People focus a lot on numbers, especially the number of followers they have,” said Hadden. “To me, it’s quality, not quantity that matters. If you have 10,000 followers around the world that’s not nearly as important as having a few local followers that you can convert into leads.

Hadden converted seven followers who were strangers to her outside of social media into customers in 2021, about half buyers and half sellers.

“That may not sound like a lot of people but to me it was surprising,” said Hadden. “Each one contacted me and said, ‘this feels a little weird, but I feel like I know you from seeing you on Instagram and I’d like you to help me buy a place or sell my house.”

One of De Sario’s most successful social media posts was highlight the streets and houses with the best Christmas lights in Northern New Jersey, which was shared widely.

Our goal in using social media is to get our brand name in front of people as often as we can,” said De Sario. “The more they see us, the more they remember us so when they hear of someone buying or selling a house, they’ll think of recommending us.

Real estate is about who you know and trust, said Ferreira. “Social media offers a way for people who don’t know me to get to know me, and for people who do know me to get to know me better,” said Ferreira.

IDEAS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA YOU CAN POST TODAY

1. Download the Canva app on your smartphone and share a motivational quote using a free Canva template.

2. When you pick up morning coffee from your favorite local shop, post a photo on Instagram stories and tag the shop.

3. Do you have a morning routine? Bring your followers along for the ride through Instagram stories.

4. Post your less perfect photos from the week into a carousel post, also known as a photo dump.

5. Create a short form video explaining the top lines from your town NJ Realtors® Housing Data.