10 top tips on using Facebook for real estate agents

1.   Set up a business page

Rather than using your personal Facebook page, it’s best to set up a business page. Go to Facebook Business (external link)to learn how to create a page if you don’t already have one. Be sure to fill in your profile as fully as possible, including engaging profile and cover photos, and update your cover photo regularly to keep it fresh.

2.   Promote your Facebook page

There’s no point creating a page if nobody sees it! Be sure to promote your page on all relevant collateral, including your business card, email signature and advertising. Also, encourage friends and family to like and share your page to help spread the word. If you create a post that you’d like to get out to a wider audience, you can boost it using your credit card. A boost allows you to target your post according to age, location and interests, and can lead to more follows on your page.

3.   Follow the 80/20 rule

Simply putting up listings of houses you’re selling or bragging about your sales isn’t the best way to get people to engage and interact, which is what Facebook is all about. Try to make 80 percent of your content customer-focused, including helpful and relevant posts, and 20 percent for listings, open home info and other promotional information.

4.   Be visual

Posts containing photos or videos receive much higher engagement. Find ways to make your posts more visual yet relevant to your work — before and after staging photos, photo of happy clients in front of their new home with a testimonial, photos of unique homes, funny real estate signs, inspirational quotes or sharing settled.govt.nz videos (found on YouTube). You could even carve out your niche by filming your own brief real estate market updates. If you want to make your posts look more attractive, try using Canva(external link), which is a free and easy-to-use online graphic design tool.

5.   Be consistent, interactive and responsive

Once you commit to a Facebook page, you need to post at least once or twice a week to keep up the momentum. This will ensure your page continues to grow. Also, if people write comments or ask questions on your page, make sure you respond in a timely manner. People want to know that you’re there and that you care.

6.   Share interesting and informative facts

Our settled.govt.nz Facebook page(external link) is an excellent source for content. Feel free to share our posts any time or draw people’s attention to particular content on settled.govt.nz(external link). You can also share quirky facts that encourage interaction, such as how Americans used to have a mortgage burning party involving the ritual burning of a paid off mortgage document and how homeowners in Scotland paint their front door red when they pay off their mortgage.

7.   Show your personality

Write the way you talk and don’t be afraid to use (clean!) humour. People like to deal with a real human being rather than a corporate drone who’s only in it for the cash. Don’t forget that your personality is part of your brand.

8.   Offer helpful advice

Tips about how someone could stage their home for sale, renovate or decorate their home, save space etc. are good ways to gain likes and comments. If you want to be really fancy, you could create your own blog! This will position you as an expert in the real estate business. If you have a website, you could put your blog posts there and link to them on Facebook.

9.   Look at insights

Examine the insights tab on your Facebook page from time to time. This provides useful analytics about how people are engaging with your page and their age, gender and location as well as the times your fans are usually online. This will help you better understand who you’re talking to.

10.  Keep it local

Keep your ear to the ground and share information about what’s happening within the local community, such as local charity events and school fundraisers. This will be handy for people moving to a new area and will position you as a community-minded person.