If you’re preparing to become a real estate agent, you probably have a lot on your to-do list before you notch that first transaction. But don’t forget to prioritize your social media presence. In today’s real estate market, developing your brand on social media is crucial to earning top dollar. It’s also essential when it comes to marketing to Millennials.
Here’s how to audit your social media presence before you become a real estate agent and prepare it for your new career.
Review your social media before you become a real estate agent
Social media is one of the most critical ways to brand your real estate business. Here’s what you can do before you become a real estate agent to get all your accounts ready.
1. Choose a professional profile picture
Before you officially become a real estate agent and start earning listings, you’ll want to make sure your profile picture is consistent across all your accounts and that it looks professional and clean. You don’t have to spend a lot of money taking new pictures. Taking a well-lit photo with your smartphone can be sufficient. Here are some tips for taking professional-looking photos on your own.
2. Change your accounts from personal to business
Designating your Instagram and Facebook profile as a “business” gives you access to advanced metrics about your audience that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to view. It also allows you to start creating paid ads. Paid social media is crucial to developing your brand, learning what creative resonates with your audience, and understanding who your audience is and where they reside.
3. Update your contact information
You want to make sure that contacting you on social is as easy as possible. While a potential client might choose to message you directly on the social media platform, they might also call, text, email or visit your website. Make sure they can contact you through any of these methods and that all your information is updated and correct.
4. Add your real estate experience to LinkedIn
Even though you might not feel like an official real estate agent yet, it’s a good idea to update your LinkedIn profile to indicate you are preparing to get your real estate license. If you have an experience that relates to real estate or sales, make sure you adequately represent this as well.
Free Guide: Make the transition to real estate as seamless as possible with the Real Estate Career Switch Guide.
5. Connect with real estate leaders and community members
Following others in your niche is a great way to start getting your account prepared for your official debut as a real estate agent. Don’t focus solely on following big name real estate social media accounts (although those are important), but also follow local leaders, community members, and services to establish yourself, and your business, as a supportive member of your community. Also, take the time to follow local brokers and other agents you might be working with when you start your career. Social media can be a great way to begin networking at the start of your real estate career.
6. Remove old posts that don’t fit your brand
If you were only using social media for personal purposes before, you might not have been as conscious of what you were posting and what that might convey to your potential client base. Do a social media audit of your current posts, and consider removing anything negative or divisive. It’s great to inject your own personality into your social media posts. Just make sure whatever is currently on your profile isn’t something that could turn off prospective clients.
7. Decide what should stay private and change your settings
If you’re opting to keep separate personal and business social media profiles, then now’s the time to review your personal profile and change your privacy settings. After you’ve changed your settings, log out of each account and search for your name on each platform to double check that you correctly made your settings private.
8. Begin sharing relevant real estate content
In order to establish yourself as an industry expert and leader, share relevant real estate news with your audience. When you find content that you think is interesting or that would be helpful for others to know, start sharing this content across your platforms. The more helpful you can be, the more value people will find in following your real estate social media pages or blog, potentially increasing your engagement.
For examples and inspiration, check out these 17 Best Instagram Accounts for Real Estate.
9. Conduct an analysis of your online presence
Once you’ve cleaned up your social media profiles and tweaked them to be appropriate for your new career as a real estate agent, it’s time to double check that your efforts have been through. Websites like BrandYourself.com allow you to audit all of the information available about you online so that you can see if there are any gaps that you might have missed.
Another option is to Google yourself and evaluate whatever results come up. Make sure you Google yourself from an Incognito window (if you use Google Chrome) or erase your cookies before Googling from other websites. Why? You don’t want your search results to be influenced by your previous browsing history.
Don’t neglect social media
Not only is social media a great way to grow your brand, but it can also be used as a way to generate leads and even complete transactions. Make sure you get off on the right foot when it comes to social media by preparing your profiles before you officially become a real estate agent. Having all of your social media ready to go as soon as you get your real estate license can help you launch your career smoothly and could help you generate positive momentum for your future as a real estate agent.
