Social Media in Real Estate

Undeniably, Facebook is the king of social media in the United States. Facebook has cemented itself into every aspect into our society and has become a major economic force in the way Americans consume products. No product is immune, including real estate. As an investor, you will need to incorporate Facebook into your business. This will require an untold number of hours in front of a computer. But why Facebook?

It is quite simple. How else can you reach 79% of your target audience for little to no costs? According to a Pew Research study from March 7th to April 4th 2016 found that nearly 8 in 10 Americans use Facebook. This is more than double it's closest competitor Twitter, or 25% more than Twitter and LinkedIn combined. With over 350 million people in the United States, by using Facebook, you are able reach 275 million potential customers. This is unprecedented in American marketing history. But wait a minute, if you do not use any of the other major social media applications like 30% of all American adults, then you are missing on additional free to low costs exposure to potential clients. 

The next four major social media sites all hover around the 30% of adult usage. Lets look at that exposure. It equates to 105,000,000 people per platform in the United States alone. What? You are going to pass on additional exposure, just because everyone says "use Facebook, it's all you need." What about YouTube? Over 1 billion hours of videos are watched daily by 4 billion viewers across the globe, most on mobile devices. So do you really want to pass on that type of exposure? I already know what you are thinking. This mass exposure doesn't relate to generating leads. My reply is simple.

Why do you advertise on Facebook then? 

You want the exposure to a target demographic, great! But, why are you ignoring a larger piece of the pie for that small sliver that everyone thinks is the end-all-be-all to social media marketing? My next question now is what about Chinese or Hispanic Social Media websites; are you using those as well? Why not? With our current immigration policies, you are passing on prime lessee candidates. Most landlords I know, take passports as valid ID for credit & background checks. They do not care nor do they ask if someone is here legally or not; as they should not since they are not peace officers or Immigrations Officials. Living in a boarder state has it's issues that can be resolved with proper vetting.

As I prepare to launch my social media content management company, my daughter asked me why I think someone would hire me. It is simple, I would provide them with valuable knowledge about social media, strategies to use multiple social media websites to increase their lead generations while having my company manage their posts and handle their reputation management. With a plan to address multiple social media websites, integrating them into their advertising without breaking their budgets. Then she asked me if, their major target demographic is American adults, why not just use Facebook? I told her it comes down to raw numbers.

People work with people they know, like, and trust. Plain and simple, how do you get to know someone today, you stalk their social profiles, to see what they like, dislike, support, who they hang out with. Basically, you imagine what it would be like hanging out with that person. After all, wouldn't you rather want to buy your meal from someone you know at McDonald's? She replied, yes she would; if she ever ate there. The same principles apply to real estate, the only difference it may take a prospective client longer to decide to choose a home seller, landlord, or property agent (approximately 120 days). After all they only have one way to find the person, that is Facebook.

I read a forum post here on Bigger Pockets Social Media website, that a person asked which website should they use....Overwhelmingly the replies all posted Facebook. I about screamed at my computer screen.

"ALL OF THEM!!!!"