If you’re selling a home, you want to draw as many potential buyers as possible. Social media provides many awesome ways to raise awareness of your property for sale at little-to-no cost.
According to the annual CMHC Mortgage Consumer Survey, more buyers are using social media:.
- 71% of mortgage consumers reported using an online source (up 6% over 2011)
- 1/3 relied on the internet exclusively (up 9% over 2011)
If you’re going the “For Sale by Owner” route, you need every tool at your disposal to attract qualified buyers. Even if you have an awesome real estate agent, it won’t hurt to do a bit of leg-work yourself to increase the buyer pool for your home.
Facebook and Twitter
If you’re selling a home, you can use your personal accounts to spread the word to friends and family of your home sale. To get the most out of either medium, try this:
- Don’t go overboard spamming your friends. A mention once every few days should more than adequate.
- Be enthustic, and ask for your followers to share your post (which includes a link to the listing) or pass along the information to friends.
- In your tweets and posts, include location information such as your city, neigborhood, or the common name for the part of town you live in (e.g. “Midtown Houston”). Remember that “My house is for sale” doesn’t mean much to people who don’t already know you.
- See this tweet, which incorporates the name of the metropolitan area (“Chicago”), the suburb (“Portland Park, IL), and a link to the profile.
YouTube
These days, you can make pretty decent video with just a cell phone camera and consumer editing software. By uploading it to YouTube, you can draw people to the YouTube page itself or embed the video elsewhere.
- Use software like Apple’s iMove to add voice-over narration, music, transitions, and calls to action (You can easily overlay a web address or phone number).
- It’s also easy to create photo slideshows for your YouTube channel.
- Be descriptive in the video’s YouTube description and include the home’s address, selling points, and a call-to-action.
- This YouTube listing page provides an excellent example. It includes just about everything you need to know in the title and description.
Pinterest is a visual medium, so it’s the ideal place to show off awesome, high-resolution photos of your home.
- If possible, use a DSLR or even a high-quality point-and-shoot to capture the photos you’ll use for Pinterest. You want pins that draw attention and compell others to repin.
- Once again, include location information in the description. Link your pins to listings where people can take action.
- For inspiration, check out the Team Chai Pinterest board, which is fun to scroll through thanks to its eye-grabbing photos.
Bring It All Together with a Blog
Create a blog post or even an entire blog dedicated to a home for sale. More technically-savvy individuals can pay just a few bucks to snatch up a domain name and host their own WordPress blog.
- Make this the hub of your activities. Include amazing photos, your YouTube videos, and content that explains what makes your home great.
- The title of your blog should be the home’s address, or if possible, perhaps the name of your neighborhood with “Home for Sale” appended. Use location keywords prominently on the site so the visitor can tell in less than 3 seconds where the home is.
- Sprinkle selling points throughout the blog. Include rich information about nearby amenities in the margins (See here for an example of a successful home-for-sale blog.
- And finally, include ways for visitors to contact you or your realtor. this may be a link to a listing. Make your call-to-action explicit. Go ahead and say “click on this link” or “Call this number” and you’ll likely get better results.
With a bit of creativity and tech-savvy, you can use social media to draw quality home shoppers and sell your home faster.
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