In this post, we’re ranking all of the real estate social networks for real estate agents to get leads.
Our Social Media Platform Ranking Criteria:
- Audience Size: The number of people who use the platform consistently
- Interest Targeting: The platform’s ability to target people who are interested in real estate
- Location Targeting: The platform’s ability to target people who live in your community
Real Estate Social Platform #1: Facebook Profile
Audience Size: 2/5
Interest Targeting: 1/5
Location Targeting: 1/5
Your Facebook profile is a social media platform to stay connected with close family members and friends. Here, you can receive life updates from those who matter most. You can also post to your newsfeed to keep everyone updated on your life, making it a great place to generate leads from your sphere of influence – but nothing more.
Your Facebook profile is set to private by default because it’s not designed for lead generation. In fact, Facebook intentionally buries overly promotional profiles to create a better user experience. Facebook also limits your friends list to just 5,000 people, which also limits the potential audience size on your profile as well.
However, there are two sections in your profile where real estate agents can (subtly) promote their business:
- Your profile cover
- Your profile description
Both of these areas can be seen prominently by the public, even if the person hasn’t friended you. So use these sections wisely – they’re both prime for real estate agents.
Let’s start with the profile cover. The profile cover photo is like a billboard. So it’s a perfect place to add a big, wide image that reminds people you’re in real estate. Add a picture of yourself in front of a sold sign, handing keys to buyers, or some other creative way to let the world know about your business. Just be sure to keep it classy. No phone numbers, no logos, and no photoshopped headshots. Just a natural, candid photo of you – doing what you do best at work.
On the other hand, your profile description is another prime area to promote your business. To capitalize on this area of your profile, just write a few words that identify what you do, who you serve, and how people can contact you in your description.
Most agents don’t even mention real estate on their profile cover or description, only their newsfeed – which Facebook dislikes and attempts to hide. But when you take the time to capitalize on both of these high-impact areas, you’ll be able to stay in compliance while also promoting your business to close family, friends, and anyone else who may be searching for a great agent in your area.
After you’ve created your profile cover and description to promote your business, you can also start prospecting on Facebook. To do this, just send a direct message (DM) via Facebook Messenger to anyone who you’ve friended. Starting a conversation with an old friend on Facebook Messenger is no different from starting a conversation in real life. Ask the person how they’re doing and start engaging in small talk.
Eventually, they’ll ask how you’re doing, and then you can casually mention real estate if it’s appropriate to do so. After the conversation’s over, be sure to like and comment whenever you see posts from that person in the future. Engaging with their posts is a simple and convenient way to follow up with that person and stay top of mind.
Even though the audience size is low, your Facebook profile is still one of the best real estate social media platforms for agents to generate leads from their sphere. In fact, we have members in our Community Influencer® Academy who are getting leads, clients, and referrals consistently from their profiles. One member, Jennifer, got 3 hot leads from her sphere just 3 days after joining the academy! Another member, Cari, deployed our signature Birthday Prospecting Method on a Monday, and by the end of the week, her calendar was booked solid with appointments. So we know it works!
Summary
In summary, Facebook is a great real estate social media if you know how to make use of it. Your Facebook Profile doesn’t have the largest audience size, and there’s no ability to target by interest, so you have to wait for people to start a conversation about real estate before promoting your business. But the good news is that it’s a great place to reconnect with people you already know. And this makes it one of the best real estate social networks to generate leads from your sphere!
Real Estate Social Platform #2: Facebook Page
Audience Size: 5/5
Interest Targeting: 5/5
Location Targeting: 5/5
Unlike your Facebook Profile, your Facebook Page is a great real estate social network where you can promote your real estate business freely. In fact, your Facebook Page is specifically designed to help you generate leads for your real estate business and stay connected to those interested.
On your page, you can post updates about real estate and other things happening in your community so they can be seen by anyone following your Page. You should also promote other local businesses on your Facebook Page too because it’s a great way to build strong referral relationships.
When it comes to prospecting from your Facebook Page, it isn’t as easy as prospecting from your personal profile, but it can be done. You’re allowed to follow up with anyone who’s ever messaged your business in the past. To follow up with any of these leads, just send them a DM asking if they are still interested in whatever they reached out for initially.
For instance, if someone messaged you with questions after watching one of your videos, you can ask them if they’re still thinking about making a move and start the conversation from there. If they aren’t, be patient. If they are, be helpful.
All of the lead generation tactics listed above work well, but there is one major benefit to having a Facebook Business Page. By having a professional page, Facebook allows you to run ads – the most powerful lead generation tool available for social media marketing.
Summary:
In summary, Facebook Ads allow you to access all 2.9 billion users, making it the largest potential audience size of any real estate social network on earth. Facebook Ads also allow you to drill down by interest and location, so you can target people specifically interested in real estate and who live in your area – making it one of the best real estate social networks to generate leads, hands down!
Real Estate Social Platform #3: Facebook Groups
Audience Size: 2/5
Interest Targeting: 3/5
Location Targeting: 4/5
Local Facebook Groups are a gold mine of real estate social media for meeting new people and staying involved in your local community. Inside groups, you can see updates from local residents, neighbors, and businesses. Plus, they can see your updates as well.
Creating your own local group is an excellent way for your community to meet and connect with other residents online. The beauty of managing your own local group is that you’re the chief of your tribe. So you get to moderate the content, the conversations, and the communication topics. And because you’re the admin, you also get to decide who gets accepted or declined.
Some of our academy members run massive local groups on Facebook and get warm leads every single week from them. They accept all residents but decline local real estate agents, which allows them to become the digital mayor of their town – with zero competition. Leading your own group can be hard work, but I’ve seen this real estate marketing tactic pay off firsthand.
When prospecting from Local Facebook Groups, never message other group members at random – especially if you aren’t in charge of the group. Most of the real estate social media groups you join will have rules against it, and if the group admin discovers that you’re using her group to generate leads, she’ll probably ban you from the group. Second, even if the group rules don’t explicitly forbid it, most group members won’t answer messages from other group members. So it’s only appropriate to DM someone if they’ve specifically asked for help on a group post or comment. In that case, you can send a DM to that person.
But there is one caveat to this social media strategy: When you message that group member, it won’t land directly in their inbox. It will come through as a message request, so many people won’t even realize that you’ve sent them a message. This is why I always teach our members to comment on the group’s thread first to tell the person you’ll be sending them a DM soon. So when you do, they’ll be on the lookout for your notification. Once they accept your message request, you can start a conversation with the person and reconnect with them again down the road at any time.
Summary:
In summary, Facebook Groups can potentially include a large audience for your real estate business. Still, there’s no ability to target by interest, so you have to wait for people to start a conversation before you can promote your real estate business. But the good news is that a local group is filled with local people! So the opportunities to generate more leads are endless!
Real Estate Social Platform #4: Instagram
Audience Size: 5/5
Interest Targeting: 5/5
Location Targeting: 5/5
An Instagram Profile is another great social media platform to connect with family and friends and promote your business as a real estate agent. Here you can see updates from all the people you’ve chosen to follow, and your followers can do the same. To get the most out of your Instagram profile, convert it to a business profile. Not only will you gain valuable insights into your followers, posts, and stats, but you’ll also be able to run Instagram Ads!
If you’re not running ads, the best way to prospect on Instagram is to simply comment on public posts created by local residents. Over time, these residents will see your comments consistently and get to know you in the process.
If you happen to know the person in real life, just DM the person on Instagram, ask how they’re doing, and start engaging in small talk – just like you do in real life or on Facebook DM’s. Eventually, they’ll ask how you’re doing, and you can casually mention real estate if it’s appropriate to do so.
If you don’t know the person in real life, I wouldn’t recommend messaging them at random – even though you can. It’s really only appropriate to DM a stranger if they’ve asked for help on another post or comment. In that case, you can send a DM to start a conversation.
To resume a conversation, just reach out to the person again to see if they are still interested in whatever you reached out for initially. For instance, if you messaged someone about buying a home, you can ask them if they’re still thinking about making a move. If they aren’t, be patient. If they are, be helpful.
Summary:
In summary, if you’re not running ads, Instagram doesn’t have the best audience size, interest targeting, or location targeting abilities. But it’s a great way to connect with new (and old) friends, which gives it tons of potential to generate new leads. However, if you’re running ads, Instagram has all of the same capabilities as Facebook Ads – making it a lead generation powerhouse!
Real Estate Social Platform #5: YouTube
Audience Size: 5/5
Interest Targeting: 4/5
Location Targeting: 3/5
Video is the next best thing to meet face to face. Video marketing allows you to provide value and prove your expertise to potential clients. It also gives you an opportunity to answer questions and overcome sales objections before they even arise. This kind of visual marketing even gives real estate agents the ability to pre-frame the client relationship by giving them a sneak peek into what it’s like to work with you and your team.
The best social media platform to upload your video content is YouTube. It’s the second-largest search engine in the world, and it’s owned by the largest search engine in the world: Google. This means that people can find you on both platforms!
For instance, if you created a video called “Top 10 Reasons To Move To Orange County” and posted it on YouTube, people could easily find that video when they Google something like, “Moving To Orange County.” These users also have the potential to zoom through your flywheel, becoming leads (or clients) just minutes after encountering you! Think about it. If someone types “Moving To Orange County,” it’s probably because they’re thinking about moving to Orange County, right?
This is why we have so many academy members getting clients ready to buy, sell, or invest in real estate ASAP. And because our members know how to establish rapport quickly on camera, their YouTube leads already know, trust, and remember them. It’s why they’re getting contracts without having to go on listing presentations or having to compete with other agents.
One of our real estate agent members, Wanda, had a couple contact her about buying a new home after watching a video on YouTube. The wife confided that they had decided to use Wanda as their agent before they even met her because they already felt like they knew her. Another member, Karin, has used YouTube to consistently grow her business over the last several years, allowing her to expand from 1 market to 4!
As a bonus, because anyone in the world can find your local videos, you’ll get out-of-town buyers too – which is gold if you serve a second home or vacation home market. We have a member named Michael who had this exact scenario happen to him. A couple moving back to Missouri discovered him on YouTube and watched one of his videos. Their initial plan was to hire a Realtor® friend, but after seeing Michael’s video, they chose him as their Realtor® instead.
Another benefit of YouTube is that many of your competitors aren’t on it. Most agents don’t feel confident on camera, some can’t be bothered to film videos, and others are simply unwilling to take the time to learn how. Use this to your advantage!
Summary
In summary, YouTube can potentially include a massive audience size for real estate marketing, and it’s ability to target by interest and location is pretty high – as long as you know how to optimize your videos correctly. All of these factors make YouTube an amazing social media platform for generating real estate leads!
Real Estate Social Platform #6: Nextdoor
Audience Size: 3/5
Interest Targeting: 1/5
Location Targeting: 5/5
Nextdoor has the potential to include a decent audience size because many of your neighbors are already using the platform consistently. And since it’s a location-based platform, its location targeting is unmatched for a successful real estate agent.
However, there’s one major drawback: There’s zero ability to target by interest, so you have to wait for people to start a conversation about real estate before you can even tell anyone that you’re a real estate agent.
And that leads me to a second major drawback: Nextdoor users are annoyed by real estate agents. This means that someone can report you for promoting your business, and you’ll instantly be kicked off the social media platform (without warning or question).
Summary
Nextdoor does give agents the ability to run ads, but in my opinion, their ad platform is pretty rudimentary, and users don’t like seeing ads from agents either. So it’s just not ready for high-volume lead generation yet.
Real Estate Social Platform #7: Pinterest
Audience Size: 3/5
Interest Targeting: 3/5
Location Targeting: 1/5
Pinterest isn’t really a social network. It’s an image-based search engine, which makes it more similar to platforms like Google or YouTube. But it does have social media marketing capabilities, and most people still think of it as a social network, so I’ve included it on this list.
Pinterest has a ton of users, so the potential for a large real estate market actually quite good. It also really good at allowing people to search for things by interest. The problem is that these interests usually include things like recipes, quilting, and fashion – not real estate.
Pinterest is also an international-based platform, so the ability to target by interest and location is severely lacking.
Summary
In summary, Pinterest is a great platform for personal use, but there are better social media platforms for agents to get leads.
Real Estate Social Platform #8: LinkedIn
Audience Size: 3/5
Interest Targeting: 1/5
Location Targeting: 1/5
LinkedIn has the potential to include a decent audience size for real estate agents because almost everyone with a resume uses it. But it’s designed to be a national social media platform. So there’s no ability to target by interest or location, which means that it’s not the best social media platform to get real estate leads.
Summary
However, you can use LinkedIn as a real estate social network to find new vendors, lenders, appraisers, and other real estate professionals
Real Estate Social Network #9: TikTok
Audience Size: 4/5
Interest Targeting: 1/5
Location Targeting: 1/5
TikTok is currently the fastest-growing social media landscape on earth. So it definitely has the potential to include a massive audience size.
But this is one of the social media platforms that skews young, and many of its users have zero interest in the real estate industry.
It’s also designed to be a global platform, so the ability to target by location to generate leads is weak. And for all of these reasons, the opportunities to generate new real estate leads through this social media channel are low.
Summary
While Tiktok has a massive audience, it is not prime as a real estate social media due to its youthful users who do not have the ability to invest in real estate.
Real Estate Social Platform #10: Twitter
Audience Size: 3/5
Interest Targeting: 1/5
Location Targeting: 1/5
Twitter does have the potential to include a good-sized audience in the real estate market because a lot of people still use it. But it’s an international social media, so its ability to target real estate clients by location isn’t great. And it’s not designed to build long-term relationships. It also includes very few interest-targeting options, so the opportunity to get new real estate leads is low.
Summary
You can use Twitter as a great place to research real estate marketing ideas, news, global issues, and general public sentiment.
Real Estate Social Platform #11: Reddit
Audience Size: 3/5
Interest Targeting: 3/5
Location Targeting: 2/5
Reddit is a fast-growing social media, so the potential to include a large audience size is great. It also has local subreddits that allow you to talk about whatever topics you want – including real estate. But there’s one major drawback: Reddit users are anonymous, which makes lead generation efforts almost impossible.
Summary
While Reddit is great for having discussions to generate real social media marketing ideas, it is not for real estate investors or clients because Reddit users are anonymous.
