A member of HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate.
Re a l E s t a t e a n d T h e S o c i a l N e t w o r k
By now most of us have either seen “The Social Network” movie or heard about how social networking has revolutionized our world. As the regional vice president of Prudential California Realty for Orange County, people often ask for my opinion about the latest trends in real estate. The bottom line is that real estate will always be a relationship industry. The only difference these days is how we develop and maintain these relationships.
The buyers of today have become very adept at searching the web for properties. More importantly however, they look to their friends for information about new listings, and they connect with their friends through Facebook. No social networking platform in our industry allows us to create, nurture and enhance more relationships than Facebook.
If an agent lets their Facebook friends know about a great buy in their market, and their friends share that information with their friends, and their friends share that information with their friends, this creates a situation in which listing information can quickly and inexpensively reach a large pool of buyers.
At Prudential our goal is to help our agents serve their clients. To make it easier for our agents to manage their social media outlets and online marketing campaigns, we have formed exclusive relationships with a number of companies that specialize in this segment of real estate. We have devoted a great deal of attention to
help our marketing coordinators learn how to edit and post video blogs,
conducted multiple in-person training sessions about navigating social media sites, and created interactive webinars about the latest updates and
trends.
Patti Brotherton Regional Vice President Orange County
In short, our focus in recent years has been to ensure that our agents are proficient with all the
different avenues that are available to get the word out for their sellers. Print will always have
its place but electronic marketing can deliver a significant competitive advantage over those
agents that are either unwilling to participate or ignorant about the potential benefits.
The importance of video blogging can’t be ignored after realizing that millions of people
watch YouTube every day. One short little video can result in a lot of attention for both the agent
that posted it and the home that is available for sale. The value that this provides for our sellers
can’t be underestimated. Right now we are concentrating on how to create the most impact
with each video and how to push these videos out to all of the various media outlets in the
easiest way possible. With all of our high-profile relationships,
and investments into training our employees, the one simple goal behind it all is to help our agents do what they do best…sell homes!
Patti Brotherton is a 35- year industry veteran, former top producing agent and renowned business coach. Every month she shares her take on current market conditions and future trends, as well as useful tips and proven strategies for success.
