Social Media Marketing Best Practices for Enticing and Engaging Prospects in Real Estate

The Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors, Inc. (HGAR) and OneKey® MLS hosted a virtual panel recently featuring real estate and social media experts who discussed how to leverage social media to engage clients and attract new business. Leaders from Compass, Brown Harris Stevens and Marketing Sense for Business, LLC discussed the platforms TikTok, LinkedIn and Instagram in terms of the demographics of their users, and ways to use them in transactional real estate.

Richard Haggerty, CEO of OneKey® MLS, the regional multiple listing service that covers nearly a dozen counties in the greater NYC area from Manhattan, to Suffolk, Westchester and Sullivan, kicked off the discussion with a market update.

“We’re seeing pockets of activity, but I think we’re also seeing a lot of buyers staying on the sidelines to see what happens,” said Haggerty. “Even though we’re seeing a significant drop in sales, we’re still not seeing any type of a significant price correction yet. I don’t think we’re going to see a strong rebound until consumers are confident that inflation is under control.”

“Getting the Deal Done: Social Marketing Best Practices for Enticing and Engaging Prospects” took place March 9 and featured Antonio del Rosario, associate real estate broker, Brown Harris Stevens; Anna Klenkar, associate real estate broker, Compass; and Bruce Segall, president, Marketing Sense for Business, LLC.

“The interplay between your personal life, your personal brand and your company is really huge on LinkedIn,” said Segall. “That’s hard for people because they think ‘I’m here to be a professional’ and that’s really not true. People on LinkedIn want real interactions that can start the seed of a relationship and then actually go and meet in person.”

Del Rosario stressed authenticity on Instagram. “[Buyers] want to know you as if you are their best friend. They don’t need you as a friend, but they want to know you like a friend because they want to trust you. If they don’t trust you, they’ll never do business with you.”

“I think there’s a belief that hopping on a trend will get you in front of a lot of people – which it might – and in our business there’s an extended belief that that will get you business,” said Klenkar. “Someone is not going to sell their home with you because they saw you do a trend on TikTok.”

Some general advice was shared as well.

“Figure out what your value-add is and how you want to present yourself as an agent, and within the platform that you’re using, how you want to demonstrate that,” said Klenkar.

“If you’re not keeping up with what’s new, then you’re not doing your job. This is how I define our job as brokers: we market properties; we market ourselves to get properties to market,” said del Rosario.

“Have your primary platform presence, but don’t ignore the others,” said Segall.

The event was moderated by Brian D. Tormey, NTP, president of TitleVest, a leading NYC-based provider of title insurance and related real estate services.

For more, view the webinar here.

The webinar is part of the “Be Your Best” series created by HGAR and OneKey® MLS, to help Realtors and agents navigate a changing landscape. The event was sponsored by TitleVest.

About OneKey® MLS

OneKey® MLS has 50,000-plus subscribers and serves Manhattan, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Orange, Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. It was formed in 2018 by the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors and the Long Island Board of Realtors.

About Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors®

The Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors (www.hgar.com) is a not-for-profit trade association representing more than 14,000 real estate professionals in Manhattan, the Bronx, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Orange counties. It is the second-largest Realtor association in New York, and one of the largest in the U.S.

PHOTO CAPTION: The Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors, Inc. (HGAR) and OneKey® MLS hosted “Setting the Stage for Success” on March 9, 2023 as part of the “Be Your Best” series. From left: (top) Anna Klenkar, associate real estate broker, Compass; Bruce Segall, president, Marketing Sense for Business, LLC; and Richard Haggerty, CEO of OneKey® MLS; (bottom) Antonio del Rosario, associate real estate broker, Brown Harris Stevens; and
Brian D. Tormey, NTP, president, TitleVest.