Infographic: Social Media Usage Q2 2016

The second quarter of 2016 represents LinkedIn's final earnings release as an independent publicly-traded corporation.  The social media platform for professionals continued to show growth across the board.  It will be interesting to see how LinkedIn gets absorbed and integrated into the Microsoft ecosystem once Microsoft's acquisition of the social platform closes.

Other social media platforms also grew in the quarter. Facebook's Daily Active Users (DAU) grew 17% year-over-year and all other core metrics had positive growth. Facebook's Instagram platform now has 500 million Monthly Active Users (MAU) and 300 million DAU.  Twitter's user base did not gain much, but showed incremental growth nonetheless.

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Real Estate Agents & Success With Social Media Marketing

As any agent knows, real estate is a people business. Forming local contacts is the key to finding new clients and developing your business. Networking can be an effective way to connect with others in the community and to forge new relationships. Traditional places to network include chambers of commerce, philanthropic organizations, places of worship and business networking organizations.

Social media can be a very effective way to complement conventional networking channels. It can help strengthen existing relationships and form new ones. Social media can be a very useful way to maintain contact even when you are not meeting in person and to share information that provides value to your network. In other words, social media can become an extension of your traditional networking methods.

It is very easy to get started marketing your real estate business on social media.  So, let’s get signed up and jump in!

Step One: Connect with Related Professionals

Throughout the course of their professional career, a real estate agent will work with a variety of other professionals. Each of these professionals represent someone who could potentially refer clients to the agent and likewise someone whom the agent could refer clients to. Of course, it’s not all about referring clients, but that can be a benefit of a healthy, active network.

The types of professionals a real estate agent should likely connect with are:

• Clients

• Friends

• Other Agents

• Mortgage professionals

• Lawyers

• Appraisers

• Insurance professionals

• Home stagers

• Interior designers

• Home inspectors

• Corporate relocation representatives

• Surveyors

• Movers

• Local financial professionals 

• Trade professionals

• Other professional contacts 

Step Two: Share Your Listings

Since you have a fiduciary responsibility to your sellers, it is important to gather the most exposure to their homes. By all means post a new listing on social media. Be sure to include a photo, a brief description of the home, and describe what makes it unique. If the status or price of a home changes, post it again and mention the change.  However, don’t post listings too frequently or your network may consider it spam.

Step Three: Think Local 

Your network isn't only interested in seeing the homes you are representing, but they would like to know more about the market you serve. For this reason, for every one listing you post on social media, you should post at least five to seven items of local interest. Real estate is local, so help your network learn more about what makes your local market special. This will strengthen your image as a local expert and even existing residents in your market will probably be interested to hear about the town they live in.

Step Four: Include Your Clients

Social media is about interacting with people and strengthening relationships.  Your clients are an existing part of your business network and it is a great idea to include them in your social media sphere of influence. When you gain a new client, reach out to them on social media and request to connect.

You can also take this further and include your clients in your posts.  For example, when a buyer or seller you represent closes on their home, you could ask their permission take a photo of them by the sold sign or the in front of the house and post it on social media. By tagging the client’s user ID, your post will show up in the feed of the people they are connected to – thus, expanding your visibility!

Step Five: Post Consistently

Your network wants to know what to expect from their relationship with you, so posting consistently is important. There are two parts to this concept. First, you post a consistent number of items on a consistent basis. Second, you should post about a consistent set of topics.

Step Six: Use Hashtags:

Hastags provide a method to categorize the content of a tweet to that it can be more easily found in searches. A hashtag is formatted with a pound sign (‘#’) followed by word or phrase without spaces. For an example, a hashtag that categorizes a tweet as relating to the outdoors might be formatted as “#outdoors” and inserted anywhere in the post.

Popular real estate hashtags include:

#apartments

#broker

#cre - commercial real estate

#dreamhome

#foreclosure

#forsale

#home

#homeinspection

#homesforsale

#housing

#justlisted

#milliondollarlisting

#mortgage

#newhome

#newlistings

#openhouse

#properties

#property

#realestate

#realtor

#realty

#renovated

#rent

#rentals

Step Seven: Review Analytics

The major social media platforms all provide analytics to understand who your audience is and how they’re interacting with your posts. These analytics tools can be very insightful and help you understand which posts are producing the best user engagement. Creating more posts like these should improve your overall engagement in the future.

When reviewing your social analytics, start with looking at how many impressions your posts received. This will show you how much you are being seen and if the umber of impressions appears low, you may want to experiment with posting at different times of day. The next important metric is the number of engagements each post receives. Then you can tailor your future posts to be more like those that receive the highest engagement, Certain engagements, such as sharing your post or commenting on it, will increase your visibility and in turn, increase the post’s impressions.

Social media can be a very effective channel for real estate agents to meet and engage interested people, both in the community and worldwide.The key to success is to develop your profile as an expert In your local market and to share useful information with your followers. Engaging them, without overtly selling, will build a strong relationships that will pay off. When they have the need to buy or sell a home, they will already know an expert!  

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Infographic: Social Media Usage Q4 2015

2015 has wrapped up and the publicly-traded social media companies have reported their results for Q4 2015 and full-year 2015. As is often the case, these companies have provided updated usage metrics. Facebook was by far the winner for 2015 and LinkedIn showed growth as well. Twitter showed no change between Q3 and Q4, but showed growth year-over-year.

The infographic below illustrates the highlights of Q42015 social media usage:

Download Infographic

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Infographic: Social Media Usage Q3 2015

Publicly-traded social media sites will be reporting their financial results for Q4 2015 soon. As part of their financial reporting, they usually provide an update on the usage of their platform. In advance of Q4's update, here's a look at the reported data for Q3 2015. It is worth noting that Pinterest is not publicly traded and therefore does not report usage on a regular basis. The statistics for Pinterest are the most-recently metrics that they have stated publicly.

Download Infographic

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Getting to Know Facebook Insights Analytics

Facebook provides a set of analytics called Insights which provides a detailed view how people are engaging with your Facebook Page. The Overview tab provides a summary of page likes, post reach and engagement.

The Likes tab provides detail about the growth in number of page likes over a selected time span as well as information about the sources of those page likes.

The Reach tab within Insights shows how much reach your posts have obtained from both organic and paid sources.

On the Page Views tab you can see detail on where users visit on your Facebook page. The Page and Tabs chart displays the number of views to your timeline, info tab and photos tab. The Other Page Activity chart shows the number of actions people take, such as mentions, posts by others, check-ins and offers purchased. The External Referrers chart shows data about the sites that refer the most traffic to your page as well as a link to view other sites referring traffic.

The Posts tab provides insight into the posts and activity on the page. A chart provides information about when your fans are online. Detailed information about individual posts can be found in the All Posts Published section, including targeting, reach and engagement. You select different views for the chart, such as viewing posts by fans and non-fans.

You can learn about the demographics of the people interacting with your Page under the People tab within Insights. You can see information about users' gender, age, location and language. This can provide insight into whether the users you are reach represent your company's target customer or whether you will need to make adjustments to align your network with your ideal demographic groups.

The Pages to Watch section of your Page admin screen also provides a place to select your competitor’s Pages in order to track their level of activity over time. This is not directly part of Insights, but is a useful tool to keep track of the competition. For example, if a competing page has a sudden increase in engagement, you can review what they have been sharing on their page to see what might be the reason to the increase.

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What to Share on a Facebook Page

The people who liked your page have demonstrated interest in your company and engaging them will strengthen that relationship. A business Facebook Page is an ideal channel to share relevant information with your audience and to build mindshare with prospective customers. Some human-interest items can add a personal touch to your page, such as recognizing an employee’s achievement or sharing photos from an event. However, it is a business page and you should always keep things professional.

Things to share on a Facebook Page include:

• New product introductions. People who have expressed interest in your company by liking your page would likely be interested in hearing about new products and services. Within the context of your network, announcing a new product may equate to sharing relevant content. Describing what is new or unique about the product increases the relevance of your post even and you should always provide a link to the product page or press announcement on your website so interested users can get more information.
• Sales and promotions. Sales and promotions for your products are likely to be of interest to people in your network In fact, they are probably more likely to convert on such an offer compared to the general population since they have expressed interest in your company already. For this reason, you may want to ‘reward’ your network with a special offer that is only available through your page – this can increase the probability of conversion even more.
• Business updates. Updating your network on business milestones and other newsworthy events may also be of interest to your audience. Relevant topics can include hitting a major sales milestones, new executive hires and company acquisitions. Be sure to consider that your audience members are most interested in posts that have the most direct impact to them, so business updates should not outweigh more practical posts.
• Product tips and helpful hints. Product tips and how-to posts are often the most relevant and engaging for the followers of a business on social media. Including a video or linking to more detailed information can increase relevancy. You may also wish to solicit your followers to have them post the various ways they have used your product. This not only increases engagement with your users but having them post on your behalf is also an implied endorsement of your product. As an added benefit, users in their network may see their post on your wall which can result in some added likes to your page.
• Conferences. The same type of people who like your page may also be the same type of people who interested in the conferences you are attending. Be sure to note if your company is speaking at the conference or has an exhibit. Tying a sale or promotion in with the conference can also be an effective tactic.
• Special events. Special events are also a great opportunities to engage the followers of your page. These events can include holidays, change of seasons, weather events, cultural activities, sporting events, or newsworthy items.
• Photos. Sharing a photo with your network from a company event, conference, or spontaneous employee moment can provide a personal touch to your Facebook Page’s wall. You should always get permission from employees and customers before sharing their image on social media.
• Links to blog posts. If your company has a blog, providing a brief summary and link to a new post can be a useful way to both engage your Facebook network and to build traffic to your blog. You can Invite discussion on your Page about the post to further prime engagement by your audience.
• Links to industry articles and news stories. Sharing on social media should not just be about content your company created but should also include items from other sources that would be of interest to your network. Doing so helps reinforce the impression that you are an expert in the industry and a valuable resource.

Engaging the people who have self-selected to hear from you will strengthen your relationship with them. Keep it interesting, useful, and professional. Your Facebook network wants to hear from you and engage.

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Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn is the social network for professionals and every business person would be well advised to be an active participant on the platform. LinkedIn is a great place to network with colleagues, clients and others in your industry. With over 400 million members, it is the go-to destination for business networking.

Whether you are just starting out on LinkedIn or you are a veteran, it is important to optimize your presence on the networl. In order to get the most out of your LinkedIn profile, it should contain detailed and relevant information about your skills and work experience. Having a rich profile tells your professional story and reinforces your personal brand.

• Add a photo. Profiles with a profile photo are 7 times more likely to be viewed than those without. Ideally, your photo should be a professional headshot, but a ‘professional-looking’ photo will also work.
• Add a summary. Your summary should be at least 40 words and should provide an overview of your experience and skills. Be sure to include relevant keywords within your summary in order to increase your visibility within searches.
• Provide a list of your skills. Skills provide more relevant information about your areas of knowledge, keywords on your page and are an opportunity for your connections to endorse you.
• Include your work experience. List the prior companies you worked for and key accomplishments. Rich media can be included, such as presentation slides and videos. This provides a way for former colleagues to find you and connect with you. It also details the extent of your professional experience for others wh may be viewing your profile.
• List your memberships within professional organizations. Displaying your professional memberships on your profile build your credibility as an industry expert. This also provides relevant keywords that can help people find you in a search.
• Display your industry certifications. Including your industry certifications on your profile serves a similar purpose as your memberships in professional organizations and is just as important.

Optimizing your LinkedIn profile helps you increase the chances that you will show up in relevant searches and can shape your personal branding. Be sure to periodically review your profile and keep your information up to date. LinkedIn can be a very valuable tool, so take advantage of all of the opportunities it provides.

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