REALTOR Twitter Tips 2: So you want to be a real estate twit (some more) ?

We’ll assume you’ve already created your shiny new twitter account correctly. If not this article should help in that area, and feel free to read our first Real Estate Twitter Tips article here.

That aside there are a few things you’ll want to focus on to help get you on the fast track to using twitter more effectively. Like all social media it is encouraged that you access and use these profiles frequently (at least daily) for best results. Thankfully most major social networks are very mobile friendly which only increases their practicality through ease of use, and allows for exceptional response time when handling follower activity.

Remember the first basic simple things that come with ALL proper profile setup: Visit any available settings and enter information pertinent to you or your business. This means about text, any place you can put a link
to your main site (if you don’t have one, shame on you), and adding a profile picture. If you aren’t going to make use of the available tools don’t complain when you get less than stellar results. For many setting a non default [egg] profile picture doesn’t seem to be a big deal, but let me tell you it’s the little things that count. Having a default profile picture, or even a low tweet count, can be the first biggest block to losing followers.

Special REALTOR® Specific Tip: If you plan to use your twitter account for any largely visible real estate marketing and want to customize your background image, make sure you include the Equal Housing, National Association of REALTORS, and Your Regional MLS logos as well as (depending on your mls requirements) your office logo prominently in the image. This can help avoid technical problems with your mls or brokerage down the road.

Ready? Now TWEET!
…but don’t get carried away. once you’ve learned how to do it, the 140 character limit almost becomes like a challenge; it’s easy to go overboard. Tweet well, be entertaining, be relevant, but don’t be a flooder. It’s better to break up your tweets and spread them out over the course of a day rather than a dozen at a pop. Posting too frequently or in large uninterrupted bursts (Flooding) your stream can cost you followers, be thoughtful; considerate.

Even with a 140 Character Limit: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words.
Post photos. Services and apps like instagram make it easy to post images; sharing sites like Pinterest have become all the rage. Don’t let 140 character limit slow you down, get creative and reap the benefits. Humans are visual creatures; you very well may see your highest levels of interaction based on an image you post more than any smarmy quip.

Be a good listener.
It’s about more than just putting stuff out there though. Yes you want to interact often and posting great content (or at least links to it) must be par for the course, but beyond that there’s a whole other level of network nurturing to be done. Be there to serve. A big part of your success and visibility socially is what others say about you; being positive and offering assistance tends to garner better responses. If someone asks a question and you know the answer, put it out there. Retweet and share the links and tweets of people you follow (this is a compliment) and by helping get the word out about their posts you can often expect the same in return.

Follow back those (NON-BOTS) who follow you, even if they are technically your “competition”, as every follower potentially expands your overall exposure eponentially.

Search twitter for regional keywords (the cities where/around where you operate) and find other local people and businesses to connect with. Working your local-most sphere of influence is where you can very often see the bigger online interaction as well as the most real world returns.

Are you a real estate professional using social media to get the word out about your services or listings? We’d love to hear from you, talk some shop, or even try to answer any questions you might have. Drop us a line here, and feel free to tell us about your own online experiences (include your links!).

Realtor Twitter Tips: How to Be a REAL (estate) Twit!

Twitter can be used for more than just letting anonymous people and friends know that you are at Costco looking for a 20 gallon tub of mayonnaise. If used properly it can be a powerful ally in marketing your main Realtor website, listings, or blog posts in order to increase traffic and generate leads. Who knew140 characters could be so powerful!

Naming Your Account
Pick a name that has some of your desired keywords in it, or at least that has something to do with your services. Why make your twitter URL twitter.com/hinsel when you could make it twitter.com/boiserealestate ? Getting keywords into your URL is a good thing for search engines and to help people know what you do right from the get-go.

Customize Your Profile
You won’t get many followers if you stick to the default profile avatar. Put in your photo, or at least some sort of interesting graphic to catch peoples eye. A lot of times you will get people to look at your profile just based on the fact that your little smiley face caught their attention. Beyond that Twitter also gives you space to include a short bio; use this space wisely to include keywords and relevant information. You can also customize your background image – use this space to display a nice graphic listing some of your services so that it is visible behind your profile body. Add your location so people know where you operate from and don’t forget to add your website link as well!

Do Not Protect Your Tweets
This is the Twitter equivalent of standing in your closet shouting. Nobody but the people you let in will be able to see your tweets, and that includes search engines (plus who wants to stand in a closet with a shouting person anyway?!)

Think Globally,Network Locally
It’s great to have thousands of followers all over the country, it makes you look impressive to others, but fact is it really won’t help you leverage Twitter as a effective real estate marketing tool unless those followers happen to be in areas that you gain a lot of relocation action from. Do some local searches and find others in the area that are in the business or who you know and start there.

Serve Your Users
The biggest mistake anyone can make in using Twitter is to fall prey to the repeating parrot syndrome. There is very little more annoying, or more counter-productive to good Twitter marketing than blabbing the same message constantly. Buy my stuff, buy my stuff, buy my stuff. You want to market your listings and services but don’t be obnoxious about it. Chances are it will lose you more followers than gain any. Mix up your messages now and then, put in a joke or funny quote, let people know you are a real person typing into the box, not some automated program.

Connect Your Tweets
You can connect your Twitter account to your cell phone to easily update your account via text message.This is a great way to Tweet on the go. At an open house? Tweet it! Be sure to also connect your Twitter to any other social platforms you are using for marketing like Facebook, WordPress, or Myspace – that way your tweets can pull double duty in more than one place. (Selective Tweets is a great app for doing this on Facebook as it allows you to choose which tweets go to Facebook by adding “#fb” to the end of the tweets you want to send out)

Learn the Twitter Commands
Using the @ symbol before someone’s username ( @tourre ) is a reply/mention and the user will receive notification that you were talking about them – this is great to get in touch with people or target specific “tweeps”. Using the # means it is tweet about a certain topic or event (#LAME is generally about things that are lame, etc). You also have the ability to send to tweeps that follow you and receive direct messages — these don’t show as a public tweet; these are great for asking specific questions you don’t want the world at large to see. RT or Retweet is a function that allows you to share something someone you follow has tweeted with all of your own followers; is great for sharing and making new connections with little effort.

Tweet It!
Got an open house? Tweet it! Got a new listing? Tweet it! Just had Tour Real Estate shoot a real estate virtual tour? TWEET IT! Seeing a pattern here? Any time you do something of import for your marketing, whether it be updating your site, writing a new blog post, or making a closing you should tweet about it! This can increase your follower base and help drive traffic to your main site or blog.

Search for Tweets
This is almost as important as tweeting itself if you really want to work this platform. Search for topics that might lead you to people you can help, like “looking for a home in boise” or even just “boise home” will likely pull up some people looking for a place to buy – contact them! ENGAGE others and interact through communication: it is what this entire website is really for!

Not sure where to start? Is your follower count weak? Try using Twitters advanced search function ( http://search.twitter.com/ ) to find tweets on specific topics or from specific areas. This is a great tool for seeing what is going on around you, meeting new tweeps, and getting the ball rolling. There are any number of other applications and sites that can further enhance your Twitter experience ( like Twipic for sending photos from your phone to your Twitter page, or Tweetdeck, or tinyurl for shortening web addresses ) but use these with some caution to keep from contracting repeating parrot disease. Keep it simple, Tweet relevant, informative,or humorous tweets often and you will be well on your way to being a effective Twitter marketer!

All in all Twitter isn’t going to make or break your marketing strategy but it can be a useful resource to keep in your marketing toolbox and is a quick and easy way to share information, drive traffic, and find leads. Want to learn more about Realtor Social Marketing? Or maybe you want to get a Realtor website that puts you in control of your content and search engine visibility? Contact Tour Real Estate today to find out more about how you can start moving more real estate!