Using Twitter to Generate Real Estate Leads
Real estate investment is a world-wide business. Homes are one of the few commodities that that will always be bought and sold. Families continue to move from place to place and they always need somewhere to live. No matter the stability of the economy, residential real estate will be in demand in your area. As a Realtor, you need to be behind the welcoming force to new arrivals.
One great way to keep an eye on potential clients moving to your area is through social networking. Websites like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn offer unique opportunities for you to connect with real estate leads like never before. Advertise yourself as a real estate professional in the areas you service and people will find you.
The use of friend lists, groups and followers is one of the most important parts of social networking. Update your status multiple times daily to show your activity as a Realtor. These updates are called status updates, microblogs or tweets. You have a window of 140 characters, the same as a text message on your cell phone, to connect with clients.
Tweet Photos of Listings
Twitter updates are posted immediately, similar to an instant message or a text message. They are a great way to keep your leads informed. Make the most of your photo hosting service by posting links to photos of listings on Twitter. Some photo hosting services even post directly to Twitter and other social networking sites for you. Look for this feature in your account settings and simplify your online marketing even more.
Tweet Virtual Tours
People check online listings before planning a move. Be the source of information they’re looking for. Create virtual tours of the listings you promote and tweet those on Twitter. No one will walk into a real estate purchase without seeing the property first. You increase your chances of a face-to-face or even a sale if you post compelling photographs and a virtual tour.
A virtual tour is often considered the first walk-through of the property. Your viewers won’t feel that their face-to-face and first physical walk-through is the first time they see the property. They will feel a sense of familiarity with the property, so you can move to the next step.
Tweet Open Houses
The attendance of an open house is one of the most important aspects of your job. They give you the opportunity to meet potential clients and lay the foundation of your business relationship. Tweet every open house you attend so your clients know how to find you when they need you.
Specifics are a requirement when tweeting an open house. Give the address and as many details as the 140 characters will allow. For example, your post could read: “Open House 1234 Street Minneapolis 2stry Single Fam Home 4bed 2bth fenced 2acre lawn” and leave 56 characters available to include a link to photos or a virtual tour.
Tweet Videos of Your City
Virtual tours of a property are great tools when reaching buyers online. Virtual tours of your city or town are equally as important. When someone is looking to move, they go online to find out as much as they can about their potential new home. They need to know crime rates and other statistics. They’re also looking for traffic information and a nice view of the area.
Create several videos that promote the property. That is the primary selling point after all. Include a view of the area surrounding the home and any roads or intersections nearby. Be casual and let the viewer feel that they’re there with you. Capture video of the nearest town or city at various points during the day. Traffic during rush hour is a very important factor for potential buyers.
Videos of your city allow nearly unlimited exposure for your business as a real estate professional. Post the videos to your social media website of choice along with a message that briefly describes it and creates curiosity. The message: “Looking to move to Minneapolis? Check out our rush hour traffic video.” with a link to the video would create curiosity about the city and draw the attention of potential buyers.
The video itself would, of course, point to your website or social media page. There, people will have the opportunity to contact you. The hard part is now done. Lead generation takes on a whole new face.
Kevin Curtis is a licensed agent with RE/MAX Advantage Plus and The Minnesota Real Estate Team. The #1 Re/Max team in MN For 06, 07 & 08. Search for Minnesota and Minneapolis Real Estate and get ongoing insights into the Minnesota Real Estate market at MinnesotaPropertiesOnline.com. You can follow Kevin Curtis on Twitter
I hope you found this post useful! As always, if you or anyone you know is in need of a local Florida mortgage broker, I’m your guy. Call me at 863-604-3019 or apply online for your Florida mortgage. We’ll keep you posted and let you know when it’s time to pull the trigger!
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Hi Kevin,
I have to admit that I haven’t fully embraced Twitter yet. As a matter of fact I wrote an article about Twitter a few weeks ago on Bloodhound Blog:
http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/BloodhoundBlog/?p=8262
I think Twitter’s like everything else – you need to have an action plan associated with it. Once I feel like I’ve gotten a full grasp on Blogging, I’ll likely begin incorporating Twitter into my Social Media Mix.
Thanks for the article Kevin. It’s slowly pushing me to join the Twitterati!
Last blog post from Mark Green… I Just Got a Lead from YOUR Referral Partner
Mark – I’m with you 100 percent regarding the need for an actionable plan. The biggest mistake I see folks make (including me, at times) is they get up and running on way too many social networks at once.
The idea is to become a trusted and consistent member of any given community – which is hard to do when we spread ourselves too thin among too many of them.
Great Twitter article on the Bloodhound Blog, by the way! Folks – be sure to check it out!