Navigating social media as a real estate marketing tool is more than just opening up a Facebook, Twitter or Instagram account and making a few posts about properties intended to create buzz and excitement.

Understanding a few rules about how to not only grow, but maintain social media relevance, will go a long way in making it a success.

Listen to the Target Audience

Putting down a listing for a two-bedroom townhouse on Facebook with a few pictures on Instagram and a tweet or two is not enough. A real estate agent should figure out who their target audience is and read their posts and content. That townhouse, for example, might be the perfect fit for a newlywed couple looking for their first purchase. Therefore, the agent should join Facebook groups related to local wedding boutiques, wedding photographers and travel agencies that deal in honeymoons, and find out what newlyweds are looking for. Then the agent can tailor that listing to what the newlyweds want to know.

Quality Trumps Quantity

A lot of people freak out when their accounts have only a few followers. This is not necessarily a sign of poor brand awareness. Having 10,000 followers might sound great, but if none of them posts about the content, few sales or leads get generated. Instead, a real estate agent should focus on creating a quality, smaller community that is engaged with their brand. One hundred people discussing various listings will create a bigger impact than 1000 ignoring every post an agent makes. This kind of activity is every marketer’s dream.

Engagement

The most important thing of all is engagement. Too many times a person will take a few pictures and slap them on social media, then completely disappear. It is unreasonable to expect people to become engaged with a product unless they are getting direct feedback. Interaction with potential customers is not only a basic tenet of social media marketing, it is Sales 101. A real estate agent should be available to answer as many questions as possible about any listing and be ready to accept feedback, both positive and negative, with a friendly reply or response.

Social media should be treated as another tool in an agent’s arsenal to create leads and eventually sales.