US real estate marketplace zillow.com has just plunged its listings into the social web with the addition of a “share” button on its home details pages. The question is, how should agents make use of this feature?
With Facebook officially passing 500 million members just a few days ago, zillow.com’s reasons for adding the share button are understandable. Facebook alone offers a huge potential audience, not to mention the other options included: Twitter and good old email.
Of course, the idea of sharing listings isn’t new - US market leader realtor.com offers this feature, as do many other portals across the globe. zillow.com is hoping people will hit the share button “liberally and often”. But is this a good strategy for agents?
Sara Bonert, director of broker relations at zillow.com, summed up the issue in a response to the original zillow.com announcement. The strategy of tweeting listings is “debatable,” she writes, before adding that “this is an easy way to get your listings into your Facebook news stream.”
As we heard from UK agent Edward Gailey earlier this month, “simply posting links to properties bored the public silly,” and that’s where the crux of the debate lies. On any social channel, there needs to be a balance between the listings you display and other information that people in your market are going to find useful and/or interesting.
To sum up, our advice on the listings share button is simple: use it wisely.
Related posts:
- Challenges and Opportunities on the Social Web
- Report Reveals Gaps in Aussie Social Media Use
- zillow.com: What Makes A Good Listing?
- How to Add the “Like” Button to Your Blog
- Back to Basics: Building a Social Media Plan
- zillow.com Widget Keeps Visitors Informed
- zillow.com’s Facebook Tabs: Will You Use Them?
- Big Changes at zillow.com
- Finding the Real Value of Social Media
- Tech Trends from the NAR Conference: Part 7 – Social Networking
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