How Can Estate Agents Grow Their Social Media Following?

How can estate agents grow their social media following?

In this blog, we’re not focusing on reality TV personalities from “Selling Sunset” or agents showcasing super-mansions.

Instead, we’re talking about how everyday estate agents can organically grow their social media presence and utilise effective social media marketing to boost their agency’s brand.

Let’s be honest: growing your social accounts isn’t easy. It takes consistency and strategy. 
 
So, in this blog, we’re going to give you five steps for growing an engaged social media following that can directly support your business objectives and help develop your personal presence in the real estate industry. 

 

Why Should Agents Care About Social Media Marketing?

44% of agents have reported gaining a new client from social media, and 82% of agents have stated improving their social media presence is a key priority.

It’s clear that social media marketing is only going to become more important in the real estate sector. Here are five key ways it can benefit your agency:

1. Social media offers a cost-effective marketing channel for agents

The beauty of organic social media is that it’s typically lower cost than other promotional channels, and your target market is likely to have more trust in the content you post on this channel.

The growing bias towards authentic content driven by social media (think lower quality, user-generated content over polished ads) is undeniable, and it’s a trend almost anyone can capitalise on. Including you!

A shocking 50% of consumers now use social media to research a product or service.

Specifically, 27% of buyers and 32% of first-time buyers stated they would use social media to find their next real estate agent.

This raises the question: can your agency afford not to use social media?

2. Social media facilitates interaction with your target audience

Social media also offers a two-way conversation between the creator and the audience. 

Unlike traditional media, you’re able to engage and interact with your audience, making them feel closer to you.

40% of surveyed consumers stated they are unlikely to create an emotional connection with a brand they hadn’t engaged with on social media.

This is a unique advantage of social media which can be especially valuable in the real estate sector.

Potential clients want to select an agent they trust to facilitate an emotive and stressful stage of their lives, and the opportunity to connect with them in a non-sales environment can be invaluable in building that trust.

3. Social media builds community

Beyond facilitating connections with individual followers, social media personalities are increasingly focusing on building community on platforms.

This can be invaluable for word-of-mouth promotion and establishing yourself as an industry expert, raising your profile among peers and potential clients. 

4. Social media allows you to market your properties more effectively

Importantly, social media allows you to showcase properties in engaging ways.  

The growing prevalence of social media content creators has resulted in social platforms making content creation more accessible than ever.

This means that virtually anyone (with a little bit of help from experts like us) can get behind their phone camera and create captivating real estate content that could potentially build and convert their social media following. 
 
The days of site listings and leaflets being the only way to promote your properties are over. In fact, 33% of buyers are now finding their dream home on social media.

Catch your audience where they are spending the majority of their scrolling time – on social.

5. Social media supports lead generation

All these points ultimately highlight the potential for social media to be a powerful channel for lead generation at a low cost, whilst humanising your agency and boosting SEO in the meantime. What’s not to love about that?

Social media is now considered a top lead-generation source with 47% of real estate businesses stating that it’s a vital part of their lead-gen strategy.

Read our five steps below to find out how estate agents can grow their social media following using some basic marketing principles.

Step 1. Deciding Which Social Platforms You’ll Post To

So, you want to start posting but you have no clue where to start. 
 
Let’s start with the first question every marketer has to ask themselves when building a content strategy – who am I trying to connect with?

This will inform where your audience is and therefore which social media platforms you’ll be using.

 Take a look at this research from SproutSocial showing social media usage demographics if you’re not sure.

Step 2. Deciding What Valuable Content You’ll Post

You’ve figured out which social platforms you need to be present on to reach your target audience; now you need to decide what you will be posting. 

I like to think of this as who you’re going to be on social media.

What will your personal brand be on social?

What do you want to be known for?

Which content is going to convince someone to hit that follow button after seeing your content? 

The key here is creating value, whether through entertainment, education, or a blend of the two.

Your audience has to be getting something from your content, or they won’t be interested in becoming part of your community.
 

Let’s look at some examples. 

For instance, if you’re a residential agent, you’re likely looking to target first-time homebuyers, families, retirees, and investors.

Your valuable content will therefore likely include pieces such as property tours, neighbourhood guides, and maybe home-buying tips if you deal with a lot of first-time buyers. 

If you’re a letting agent, your target audience will be tenants and landlords. Valuable content for this group will likely include rental property showcases, tips for tenants, landlord advice, and maintenance tips.

Something to bear in mind here is the fine art of balancing promotional content with ‘generous’ content.

Ultimately, you’re on social media to generate leads and sales, but if your audience senses this is the only motivation behind your content, it will likely put them off. 

Balance promotional and value-added content on your profile to keep users engaged, and build community while promoting your agency and the properties you are marketing. 

Bonus point: remember, your profile should reflect your personal brand and the content you create – so your bio, profile photo, and captions should be in keeping with the identity you are building. 

Step Three: Being Consistent with Social Media Posting

Unfortunately, posting twice a month on socials and expecting viral fame is not a realistic expectation. 

Again, being consistent on social is hard, especially without a strategy which streamlines your process. It takes dedicated effort and time.

So, here are 3 tips to make posting consistently easier: 

1. Use a content calendar

Put an hour or two at the beginning of the month to plan your content in a content calendar. Hubspot has a great template here.

Commit to posting three times a week, to begin with, and see if that’s sustainable. Revise if necessary. 

The key to consistency is finding a process and publishing cadence that works for you.

2. Use AI tools to make content creation easier

A pivotal tip to help estate agents grow their social media following is to utilise AI.

AI is a content creator’s saviour – make sure you use it! It will make the process far quicker and easier.

In fact, over 55% of marketers now use AI in their content creation process.

For example, I used Perplexity to help me grammar check this blog, and it probably saved me 30 minutes of my time.

You can also use AI to help with content ideation and creation (copy and imagery).

Here are some prompt examples you could use with ChatGPT, Perplexity or Claude to get your creativity flowing:

My tip here would be to review anything AI created and give it a personal spin. After all, you are the expert, and your followers want your unique insights.

3. Create content templates

If you’re using video and graphics on your socials, creating templates will make things so much easier.

These are standardised designs which ensure content remains consistent, whilst saving you time.

For example, if you post property showcase videos frequently, create a template that you can drag and drop different content into to save time each week.

Or use a tool that has preset templates ready, like our campaigns tool.

A big benefit here is you can also brand your templates. This means followers can recognize your content instantly in their feed, helping to build your brand awareness. 

Here’s a list of templates you could create:

Step 4: Analysing Your Social Media Metrics and Adapting Your Strategy

Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that the first piece of content you post will get good reach and engagement.

Social media marketing involves a lot of trial and error. You’ll likely have to test a few different content formats and topics before you find something that resonates with your target market. Once you do, scale it! 

However, to do this, you have to keep a close eye on your metrics so you know what content is performing and what isn’t.

You can do this natively on all social platforms, but that can be a big waste of time. Instead, try to use a social scheduling or posting tool that can make social media analytics easier for you. 

Shameless plug: PropertyBox allows estate agents to create content, post it directly to socials, and track content performance all from one place. You could say we’re a social media one-stop shop.

Unsure of what metrics you should focus on? You can look at the video metrics cheat sheet we included in our video marketing blog for agents. Most of the metrics also apply to static content, apart from watch and retention time. 

Step 5: Engaging on Social Media

Social media is social for a reason. You’re not just shouting your content into the void to be consumed.

Encourage discussion in your comments, ask questions, and reply to your audience. Make your content seem like a safe place where your target audience can get advice about buying, selling, or renting. 

The key to encouraging engagement is showcasing you, not just the properties you’re selling or the expertise you can give.

Let people see your personality, hear your voice, and see you in content.

Potential clients are far more likely to engage with a person rather than a logo or a brand. They are also far more likely to relate to, and like someone, who is authentic and unique instead of a carbon copy of other real estate ‘influencers’. 

So don’t be afraid to be you!

Engagement is also key in sending messages to social media algorithms to push your content as it shows users are finding your content valuable in some way. Use hooks, CTAs, questions – anything you think will get people to stop scrolling, like, comment or share your content. 

Conclusion

And that concludes our five-step guide on how estate agents can grow their social media following.

Growing an engaged social media following is an incredibly valuable asset for estate agents in today’s marketing landscape, especially with the declining reliability of search. 

By leveraging cost-effective organic content, creating authentic interactions, and showcasing properties creatively, you can build a strong online presence that resonates with potential clients. 

Remember to choose the right platforms, create valuable content, and maintain consistency in your posting.

With these strategies, you’ll not only expand your reach but also establish yourself as a trusted expert in your local real estate market.  

Eleanor Keech

Eleanor has worked in content creation across various industries, including tech, beauty, and fitness. She is excited to support both existing and potential BoxPros through content that will help them enhance their property marketing.