By Adam Frisch, Managing Principal, Mantus Real Estate
Social media has effectively taken the business world by storm and when used properly, it can provide a real boost for residential real estate brokers. These platforms can assist in both attracting clients as well as keeping abreast of industry happenings. Using social media should never be a replacement for making personal calls and sending individuals emails, but rather is an activity that should serve as a complement to those very essential tasks.
I advise my brokers to have one account on each social media platform instead of one for business use and another for personal matters. This allows one to cast a much wider net in terms of followers and keeps one’s personal brand consistent. Brokers should refrain from posting anything on social media that they would be embarrassed by if it were sent in an email directly to their clients. In terms of who has access to your social media accounts, one should be careful about allowing any brokers who specialize in the same area as they do, as there is a risk of ideas being taken. Setting your accounts to private so that you have to approve potential followers can be an effective way to keep track of who is looking at your content. One should also be cautious about sharing market information or details about specific projects on which they’re working.
Remember that situations are misconstrued by viewers of social media all of the time. Even if you don’t mean something in a negative way, be sure that anyone who sees it won’t take away an impression that you didn’t intend to make. Lastly, stay away from politics unless it’s directly related to the business of residential real estate, such as the recent legislation that was proposed to the New York City council regarding brokers fees and security deposits.
The rise of social media has offered all of us an unprecedented opportunity to construct a persona that we would like for the world to see and to use this as a means to grow our business. Post appropriately, post regularly and you may be amazed at the results you can achieve.
