Ah, spring is in the air! Time to dust off the cobwebs, open the windows, and refresh your real estate social media presence. As a real estate agent, your social media profile is your digital storefront. It’s the first impression you make on potential clients, and it’s essential to keep it tidy and welcoming. So, grab your gloves and let’s get to work! Here are 14 tips to help you optimize your real estate social profile so you can be found by clients looking to buy, sell or invest.
14 Tips to Optimize Your Real Estate Social Media Platforms
1. Update Your Profile Photo
Review your profile picture. Is your photo the same one from when you got your real estate license? Or is your hair 5” shorter? Make sure your clients aren’t shocked when you show up to meet them!
Just because this is a real estate agent social media account, don’t be afraid to use a photo with personality. Profile photos on social media for realtors don’t have to be super stuffy and professional appearing. People connect with other people. So take the opportunity to let them see just what kind of real estate business you run!
Your profile picture should be a clear headshot of you looking friendly and approachable. Avoid using group shots or pictures with a busy background. It’s a great idea to use free graphic editing tools like Canva to remove the background from your photo and add a solid colored background. This will make your face standout.
2. Update Your Cover Photo
This area is prime real estate (heh, see what I did there?) to announce any special buyers guides you may have created for lead generation, special incentives or giveaways you’re running, an upcoming open house or simply show off some really great success stories / client testimonials from clients you’ve worked with.
Keep in mind, if you create a new one that is seasonal or has an ‘end date’, set yourself an alarm to go back and change it. If you don’t want to change it often, I suggest uploading a Facebook cover that gives instructions for your followers to download your lead magnet or is designed to speak to your target audience.
While you’re checking, head over to your LinkedIn page and update that one, too!
3. Edit Your About or Bio Section
Your bio and about sections can be a powerful social media marketing tool. At the very least your bio should have your name, identify you as a realtor and tell people the locations you serve.
Do you have a special niche in the real estate market? Do you focus on luxury properties? Commercial real estate or investment property? Family or historic homes? Maybe you specialize in staging homes or recently won a special award. Use your bio to let people know what kinds of content they can expect to see from you.
For example:
Jamie Makin | Upstate NY Realtor | Syracuse
Real Estate Agent
Upstate New York | CNY
Wife | Dog Mom
| Pizza lover
Finding your perfect Fixer-Upper
@brokerage | @team (optional)
DM me to start your search! 
4. Username
Did you know that you can change your social media user name?
Sure can. But why might you want to?
On Facebook and LinkedIn, changing your username will actually give you a customized URL. Instead of facebook.com/0oawhein2lj3a09hganklwe, you can have Facebook.com/TurnKeyContent Isn’t that much prettier? (And easier to remember!)
Aside from just a custom URL, on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, your username can serve as a keyword for searches as well.
If your username is RealEstateJamie, you’ll come up in results when someone searches ‘real estate’! You’ll still show in results if your username doesn’t have realtor in it. You just won’t be at the top.
You don’t need to worry too much about your username. It’s just another tool to help you rise in search results. That being said, if your account is focused on your real estate marketing efforts, I’d suggest finding a new username if you’re using something like KaydensMom1980. While it’s nice you are proud of Kayden, it doesn’t exactly scream “I’m the realtor you need!”.
5. Contact Buttons
This seems fairly obvious, but I’m going to say it anyway. Make sure potential clients have a way to get in touch with you.
Shockingly, there are a number of real estate agents who don’t have some form of easy to find contact info available front and center on their profiles. Instagram has a Message button at the top of your profile. But if you aren’t in the habit of checking your DMs, you can include a phone number right in your profile with instructions to text you.
Facebook has a whole section that you can put contact info in as well. But don’t overlook the contact button options on both platforms. Make it easy for leads to get in touch.
6. Links
On just about every social media platform, you’re allowed to have one link to an outside site. What is the link you have on your account? Does it still work or is it a broken link?
There are a variety of options for what link you can put there. Since you get only one, think about the single most important thing you want leads to do when they come to your account.
That thing becomes your link.
If you want to collect email addresses, then the link should be to a lead magnet or free opt-in. A lead magnet is a resource that your followers can receive in exchange for their email that will give them valuable information during their buying/selling journey. If you have one, consider making the sign up link prominent on your website.
If you don’t have a lead magnet, consider making one! They’re a wonderful way to collect leads and be of service to your followers as well.
You could also leave a link to an appointment calendar. Clients could then set appointments to meet with you to talk about buying or selling their home.
7. Edit Story Highlights
Archive any story highlights that are out of date. If you have highlight bubbles on your account that announce homes that are just listed, under contract or sold, remove old listings from all but the sold highlights.
“Sold” homes are great for social media marketing and serve as social proof to followers that you ‘get results’. But if these properties still appear as available when they’re not, they create clutter and can frustrate followers who will click away prematurely.
Consider if there are any other story highlight bubbles that would enhance your real estate social media marketing strategy. Tours of the local areas, behind the scenes content and testimonials are all great Facebook and Instagram content.
8. Branding
Check your branding. Are you using consistent colors, fonts, and styles across all your social media channels? This is a simple way to start to get recognized.
Are you getting bored with your branding? Is it time to adopt some new templates for your posts, update your colors or employ a new style?
9. Review Your Content
Delete any old, irrelevant, or low-quality social media posts. You don’t have to go back to the beginning of time though.
People will swipe up 2-3 times when coming to your profile. So if you make sure that your last 30-ish posts are up to snuff, you’ll be fine. While it is a good idea to have a cohesive social media marketing presence, consumers don’t mind seeing an evolution in your digital marketing content.
Make sure the content you’re sharing is valuable and engaging. Real estate social media content can have a bit of value to the reader. This is a huge topic around real estate social media strategy and social media marketing that we will expand on in another post. Just know that you can play around with your real estate content to see what resonates with your audience. It won’t damage your account to test something new!
10. Check Your Analytics
It’s ok to try new things on your account because we have analytics to tell us if it was successful or not! Each social media platform has built in analytics that tell you what sort of results you got from each post, and overall across your account.
Check your analytics for the last 3 months to see what posts performed really well. If you have good results on a post, your audience likes that kind of content! Make more of it.
11. Update Hashtags
Research hashtags on social media for realtors that are relevant to your industry or area. There may be some new real estate hashtags that have caught traction either in your industry or just in your town. Stay on top of them for the best chance at good reach.
Lots of towns have #TownNameRealtor or #TownNameRealEstate. A quick search will tell you if that hashtag is being used enough for it to be included with your posts or not. If the last time someone used it was 4 months ago or has only been used by one agent, try finding another one. Obviously they didn’t see a lot of results from it and abandoned it.
Review the hashtags and accounts you follow. It’s not worth your time to audit the accounts that follow you. Especially since we don’t know why they followed you in the first place. But you should definitely review the accounts you follow.
The algorithms use accounts you follow to determine what type of content you are interested in and likely to talk about. So following accounts of other real estate agents is a good idea to reinforce with the algorithm, “hey, people that like them will like me, too!” It’s also a great way to stay up-to-date on industry news and trends, and connect with other professionals in your field.
And, of course, you’ll want to follow TurnKeyContent for content marketing tips for your real estate business.
12. Search for New Business
Connecting with local businesses on social media can be a great strategy in your real estate marketing. Do a little research on your chosen platform into new businesses in your local area. See what sort of content they are posting, if they having any events you can share with your audience, if they have any specials that your followers may be interested in, or, if you like their vibe, connect with them and offer to use your audience to get them some extra exposure!
In small business marketing and media management, you earn a lot of goodwill by partnering up with other small businesses in the area. Who knows, one day they may refer a friend to buy a house with you!
13. Engage on the Platform
No matter which one you’re talking about, social media platforms all want engagement. It’s what drives conversation!
Search for accounts where your followers are. What types of things do they like? Are they following a local new restaurant? Do they follow your brokerage and interact there? Are they following a local grocery store for recipes? All of these accounts are very likely places to find new clients while showing the algorithm “who” to show your account to.
Keep in mind: When interacting on other accounts where your ideal client is hanging out, you’re not there to poach people from that account. Your goal is to create genuine conversation only. Going to another realtor’s account and trying to entice commenters to book a showing with you is slimy. And you wouldn’t do that anyway, right?….
14. Plan for Consistency
Create a plan for consistency. The more consistently you show up for your followers, the more they will get to know, like and trust you.
Posting consistently to social media, for realtors, doesn’t necessarily mean posting daily. In fact, if you’re just starting your account, I suggest you DON’T post everyday. It can take a little while to learn how to navigate new social media tools like Canva for graphic design, come up with content ideas and even to create social media posts. While social media marketing is a great asset to your business, learning new marketing tools can take time away from other income producing activities if you’re a new agent.
Consistency in social media encompasses a couple things:
-
- How often you post.
- What you post about.
- Tone and feel of your posts.
- Engaging with your followers.
As long as you create a plan that you can stick to, (and actually stick to it), whatever level of consistency you decide is perfect.
There are a million and one posts out there telling you when to post online, how often, Hell, they might even say you’ll get the best reach if you face a southern direction at 4pm eastern and stand on your head while posting.
Screw them all.
The best time to post is when it works for your schedule. I would much rather you post when you can than never at all. (This is your cue to take a deep breath, because this is a hill I’m willing to die on.)
By following these tips and taking the time to spring clean your social media profile, you’ll be able to attract more potential clients, establish yourself as a trusted expert in your field, and grow your real estate business. Happy cleaning!
Want Help?
Did all this just rattle your cage a little? Feeling overwhelmed?
I can see how you might feel this way. It sounds like a lot of digging around in your social accounts to look at metrics and stats that are hard to make heads or tails of.
Don’t worry. We got you.
At TurnKey Content, I can do a deep dive into your real estate Instagram and/or Facebook page! We have a service called SECOND SET OF EYES: Social Media Audit where I take care of all of this for you.
Or maybe you’re confused about what to post on social media for realtors?
Not to worry, we have help for that as well!
Our Grab & Grow Social Posts and Captions Membership is a full digital marketing strategy wrapped up into a convenient package for busy realtors like you. Pop over and check it out.
Questions? Contact us!
