3 Social Media and Digital Trends for Real Estate Pros in 2011

While nearly every industry has experienced economic cutbacks in the past few years, the real estate market truly felt the brute impact of the recession. Real Estate veterans who have survived the turbulent times realized that offline methods of traditional advertising, networking events and even the best salesmanship in the world were not enough to stay competitive (or in operation for that matter). While it wasn’t widely accepted in its infancy, real estate agencies and professionals turned to social media as a way of communicating directly to potential buyers – and allowing for two-way conversations to take place.

When it comes to successful social media marketing in the real estate industry, the Corcoran Group, headquartered in NYC, has truly taken the saying “whatever it takes” to heart. You can find them on multiple social platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Gowalla, YouTube among numerous others. Instead of focusing on “beating the competition” – Corcoran focused on listening and communicating with their target audience.

Here are 3 Social Media and Digital Trends for Real Estate Pros in 2011.

1.) Geolocation and Mobile
Location, Location, Location. Real estate is all about location, right?

Growth of the Mobile Web and Geolocation

In a comprehensive 87-page report recently released by Morgan Stanley, it was reported that the Mobile Web will be bigger than desktop internet use by 2015. If you’ve been hesitant to adopt a mobile marketing strategy due to the fear that it’s just not big enough yet – think again.

Corcoran CEO Pam Liebman explains why it’s so important for the real estate industry, and how location-based applications have important implications for real estate and technology.

When interested prospects are searching google maps for nearby real estate, will your listings be found? How easily can you be found across multiple mobile platforms? Consider the possibilities with mobile application development.

2.) Online Video

Communicating your brand premise of what it’s actually like to live in your city, beyond the walls of the four walls of target audience’s living room, is one of the most important trends to take advantage of in 2011. Doug Heddings, a Top Real Estate Agent in Upper Manhattan explains,

Video is the single most effective tool I have used in the 17 years of my career. People see the floors, the moldings, what’s in the closets, what’s the view, is the bathroom renovated – with video, I can show them all of the tiny details that they are wondering about. It’s not long after that they’re calling for appointments.

While incorporating online video into your overall marketing strategy should be a priority, it’s equally important that you focus on shooting quality video. The luxury market does not have patience for poor quality audio, transitions, or lack of effective communication. It’s important to choose a provider who can help build your personal or agency brand and mobilize your business into the new year.

3.) Facebook and Twitter: Increase Engagement

It truly surprises me that there is still a mentality that these sites should be used for “private” use only. Facebook and Twitter are powerful marketing tools that enable real estate pros (and other professionals) the ability to get in front of their target audience directly and engage in conversation with them on a near daily basis! It’s seriously time to get with the decade. Here’s the third and possibly most important trend for 2011: Social Media is here to stay.

Facebook and Twitter are tools that connect you with your target market directly, allow you to post pictures, videos and listings in real time – and most importantly – build trust with your prospects. Can you target the exact demographics of an individual watching a television ad? Can you monitor whether or not a prospect opened a piece of direct mail or threw it away? (Obviously not.)

Social media should be every realtors best friend – and has proven to be a powerful tool for agencies that used facebook and twitter in 2010.

Here is a perfect example of how Corcoran has used Facebook to engage their audience. Pictures, video, testimonials and direct conversation!

Social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter allow you to build trust, relationships, and best of all – measure how effective the results are in addition to audience demographics with analytics tools like “Facebook Insights.”

While the outlook for 2011 is looking up for the housing market, now is the time to get competitive and take advantage of the latest technology advancements, tools, and monitoring / analytics programs.