We're in the era of social media, but not every trend translates to business. However, we have our eyes on a few key social media trends that are specifically beneficial for commercial real estate professionals.
As a commercial real estate broker and leasing agent, you need to make sure that you're participating in the right ways that are actually going to boost your business.
We're here to help you determine which trends and tactics are the right fit for you, and helpful insight into how you can implement these movements into your commercial real estate marketing strategy.
Here are the five social media marketing trends that work for CRE.
#1. Posting On Your Story
Posting on your Instagram and Facebook stories allows you to maintain a near-constant connection with your followers, without having to worry about posting too much on your feed.
Stories are meant to be quick, engaging, and straightforward. They can be a great way to up your social media activity without taking too much time out of your day.
To start building high-performance stories, start capturing the moments in your day-to-day. Your sphere may be interested in what your team is working on, so don’t be shy to snap some pictures or get the cameras rolling when you’re:
- Touring new properties
- Viewing existing listings
- Out in the cities that you represent
- Meeting with a client
- Hosting a team event
- Attending an industry conference
Another quick way to add to your story is to share your posts to your story. When you publish an image or video on your feed, hit the “share to story” button to get more eyes on your content.
#2. Creating Compelling Reels
On Instagram and Facebook, a Reel is a short-format video that’s usually edited with sound effects, captions, background music, and other special effects.
Reels have higher reach than static photos you publish as they get broadcasted to a larger audience, including your followers and social media users that do not follow you. Video content is also known to generate higher engagement than still imagery, further elevating the value-add of Reels for your social media growth strategy.
If you want to grow your network, start posting Reels!
For example, you can create a Reel by compiling videos of a listing. Add voiceover or music, and you can quickly build an engaging video tour of the available property.
When you post Reels, it’s a good idea to use relevant hashtags to improve reach. By using hashtags, your Reel is more likely to be shared with non-followers that engage with similar content — making them more likely to engage with your post.
Try adding one Reel to your weekly content cadence and see how your performance metrics are impacted.
#3. Starting a Live Video
Live Videos are a fitting social media strategy for commercial real estate professionals since it amplifies your message to your entire pool of followers. When you start a Live Video on Instagram or Facebook, all of your followers receive a notification on their mobile device’s main notifications panel.
This will invite interested followers to tune into your Livestream and keep you top of mind with followers who miss it. Going Live is another high-impact way to create a more dynamic social media presence, which ultimately makes your commercial real estate brokerage more accessible to your audience.
Try scheduling a monthly Live Video session, where you discuss interesting topics that your audience is curious about. For example, you can do a live tour of a listing, conduct a “meet the team” session, or share a data recap on the local market data.
#4. Conducting a Question and Answer Session
When you post on your story, there is an interactive Questions button that you can add. You can choose which question you’d like to ask — which can range from “Ask Me Anything” to a very specific inquiry — and your followers can type in their questions.
You will be able to view the questions you were asked, and then answer them on your story. The answer slides will include the question originally asked and your answer. You can answer with a still image and type, or with a video recording of yourself speaking the answer.
This can be an effective way to interact with your sphere on social and generate higher engagement.
#5. Daily Posting
Posting once per day is an appropriate cadence for commercial real estate professionals looking to improve their activity on social media. By posting daily, you’ll build up a continual platform for communicating with your audience. You’ll also be able to get the upper hand on the newsfeed algorithms that amplify posts.
To streamline the process of daily posting, create a content calendar in advance that can be prescheduled with automated publication.
For more commercial real estate tips and tricks for the modern commercial real estate agent, explore more articles on the RealNex Blog.