Real Estate Developers: Boosting your Facebook Following
With shows like Property Brothers, Fixer Upper, Love it or List it, and pretty much anything on HGTV, it's obvious that today's consumer is very interested in homebuilding. Even when it's not their own home, people love to look to at before and after photos, and imagine their own home looking that spectacular. The innate human interest in home building gives real estate developers like you a real leg up when you're working on marketing your development. Even luckier is our society's current fascination with social media, which makes marketing your development a breeze, if you just know how to engage that key buyer who loves home building projects, and is interested in buying in your area.
If you've been doing any digital marketing at all, you know that Facebook is a remarkably successful outlet for marketing your real estate development. The question is though, how do you build on the existing following you have? Well, it's a lot easier than you might think. You're selling something that a lot of Facebook users already want. Here are a few ways you can tailor your content for super engaging Facebook posts that are sure to boost your following:
Post photos
There's nothing people love more than looking at before and after photos. From infomercials on the newest ab machine to finished houses, it's one of the easiest ways to get people engaged in any product. If you've finished a development, or are completing the interior design of your model homes, have a professional photographer come over, and post those new home photos in an album. By labeling the album, your followers will be able to figure out which development the home is in, and where it's located, which gives them a better chance of picturing themselves in the home itself. What's more, good before and after progress photos typically generate a lot of engagement. If you have a really outstanding album, it's likely to be shared by some of your followers, which ensures it gets more new eyes, expanding your Facebook following.
Share community news
As a real estate developer, you're selling more than just houses. You're selling a community. So whether you're marketing a sustainable living community, or a housing development that's set up for retirees, be sure to share community news that will get your target buyers excited about the community. Whether you've got a block party going on for Labor Day weekend, or you're opening the community greenhouse, the more you can share with people about the goings on of your housing development, the better they'll be able to see themselves fitting in that fun, happening community.
Video Tours
If you thought photos got a lot of engagement from your followers, wait until you post a quality video tour. People are inherently curious, and everyone wants to know what the house down the street looks like on the inside. Video tours are a cool, updated way to show off your handiwork, and they get people interested in both the projects you've completed, and the floorplan you're showcasing. In addition to drawing in quality leads, video tours are highly shareable, and when yours start circulating Facebook, they're sure to start drawing in more followers.
Ask questions
The best way to boost your following is to get people involved with your company's Facebook page. If you're putting out quality content that they like to look at, that's awesome, but your page will do even better if your followers are engaged. Ask your followers questions! You'd be surprised at how controversial home design can be. Consider throwing out a photo with a uniquely designed aspect of one of your recent projects, and ask your followers what they think. You might just spark a lively online discussion. Open vs. closed floorplan? Master bedroom on the first or second level? These sorts of questions are sure to get people involved, and the more people who get involved, the bigger your following will get.
Contests
Facebook contests are very low risk, and they do a lot to boost your Facebook following. For example, say you want to do a giveaway for the holidays. Post a photo of the prize you're offering to the winner, whether it's a Kitchen-Aid, a mini-fridge, or just a set of pots and pans. Then, tell people what they have to do to enter in your contest: like your page, share the giveaway post, tag one or two friends, or even post their favorite holiday cookie recipe! Then, you can choose a winner at random.
When the contest is over, someone goes home happy with the prize, and you end up with all of those additional followers and shares. Over the course of the contest, you'll have gotten a ton more likes, more followers to show your amazing content to, and a lot of shares that connect your housing development to a new crop of potential buyers. Not only have you boosted your Facebook following, you've increased your chances for more qualified leads.
Share company birthdays and important events
These days, consumers want to work with businesses they trust and feel invested in. If you regularly post employee birthdays, anniversaries of your company's founding day, or breaking ground days for new projects, you're reminding your followers that your company is made up of a bunch of people just like them. When your business is personal, people feel like they know you better and can trust you, which makes them more likely to work with you. The more people who want to work with you, the bigger your Facebook following.
Get active!
The more active you are on Facebook, the more followers you're going to get. Be sure to comment and reply back to followers who ask questions or comment on your posts. What's more, try to actively repost and share interesting content from other accounts that are relevant to your current followers. By sharing content you didn't write, you expand your Facebook base to the followers of whoever you reposted. The more active your account, the more legitimate you look to ranking bots, which means your Facebook page will pop up higher in search engine results pages. So like and share when you can, and you'll be sure to see that Facebook following expand.
Facebook is one of the most powerful digital marketing tools out there for real estate developers. If you're active on your page, and combine those organic marketing efforts with a solid Facebook Ad Campaign, you'll grow your following and see the high number of qualified leads you want. But if you're still not sure how to optimize your real estate development's digital marketing strategy, don't hesitate to give Evenbound a shout. We've cracked the code to real estate development marketing, and can deliver the qualified leads and high conversion rates you need to fill your developments in no time at all.
To see just how the Evenbound strategy delivers real results and fills housing developments, check out the case study below:
