Twitter is arguably the most hyped - and therefore the most divisive - of all the online social networking tools. Plenty of agents have tried it out, and the results seem to be anything but uniform. Visit any real estate blog and you’ll find just as many people with tales of Twitter boosting their business as you will people who’ve seen no returns from Twitter whatsoever. So what’s the defining factor here?
Clearly, the agents using Twitter to boost their business are doing something different. As far as we can see, those Twitter users are employing at least one, if not more, of these tactics:
Offer something. Just like any other communication tool - email campaigns, letterbox flyers - you have to give people a reason to pay attention. So before you hit that “tweet” button, ask yourself how valuable this information is.
Don’t just talk, listen. There’s a reason the word “engagement” is thrown around so much when it comes to social media - it works best when there are similar amounts of give and take.
Understand the “tricks”. Get into the habit of using hash tags to link your tweets into ongoing conversations, and use the search function to find people you can engage with. Is someone looking for information on your area, or an insight into your market? Answer their questions and you might just be the agent they choose when the time is right.
Use separate accounts. Not everyone agrees on the idea of separating out personal and professional accounts, but how many times have you followed someone you thought could help you wit hour business, only to unfollow them as soon as they start tweeting about their breakfast?
Don’t buy into the “silver bullet” mentality. Because Twitter is the subject of so much hype, it’s easy to start thinking of it as a “magic” marketing tool. Of course, in the end it’s simply another way to communicate online, and as such demands time and perseverance for an eventual pay-off.
It goes without saying that before you can measure your success with Twitter, you’ll need to define what “success” will look like. For more on how to do that, and a closer look at social media ROI, check out our article here.
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