Blog World: Why Facebook And Twitter Are Necessary For Real Estate

This week we are live blogging and live tweeting from the Blog World & New Media Expo at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. The Blog World & New Media Expo is the world’s largest conference and tradeshow for bloggers, podcasters, web TV content creators and social media innovators. You can follow all of the action on Twitter, @Century21, or on the event’s hashtag, #BWENY.

The first session of the day today was a presentation from Tom Webster, VP of Strategy for Edison Research. You can follow Tom on Twitter, @Webby2001. Tom’s presentation was titled, “The Social Habit” and he shared statistics about the number of people using social media, their receptiveness to content from businesses and how companies can leverage these mediums to close deals. Sound relevant to your real estate business?

Who Uses Social Media?

Tom began by sharing that 56% of Americans have a profile on social media. That means that over half of this country’s population is available to see your social media marketing messages.  In total, 58 million Americans have what Tom called “The Social Habit,” meaning they check their social media profiles multiple times a day. Again, great opportunity to be seen and heard.

Of the Americans using social media platforms, 33% follow companies and businesses on Facebook and Twitter. That number has doubled in the past two years. Is your office one of the pages they are following?

The Power of Facebook for Business

79% of the people who shared that they follow businesses on social media said they are doing so via Facebook. Tom shared that 143 million Americans have a Facebook profile. That is 143 million opportunities for you to prospect and connect.

Get Tweeting!

We know Facebook is a marketing powerhouse, but do you, as a real estate professional, need to be on Twitter? Well, 26 million Americans use Twitter and four out of every ten Americans user Twitter every single day. It seems like it’s time to get tweeting!

The Growth of Social Media on Mobile

A major part of Tom’s presentation focused on the growth of social media platforms on mobile. He stated, “For millions of social media networkers, the smartphone is now the first screen, not the third screen.” He went on to share that 69% of social media users update via their mobile phone, 25% of which, do this every day. Also compelling were the stats that of current Facebook users, 54% access the site via their phone and 19% via a tablet. Clearly, today’s American consumer is networking on the go.

What it all Means

So what do all these numbers mean? They mean that as real estate professionals, you have a tremendous opportunity to prospect, connect and retain clients by marketing your services on Facebook and Twitter. Not only that, but if you can do so with sincerity and speed of response, you will fast become one of the most connected agents or brokers in your community.

Are you using Facebook and Twitter to market yourself?