Is your REALTOR® MerrilyMobile on Facebook?

With the holidays upon us and the snapshot of our year quickly developing before our eyes, for many, reflection sets in. At Holiday gatherings we find ourselves catching up with friends and professional colleagues and it seems that on the forefront of many  minds are the economy, the real estate market and social media marketing.

As a matter of fact, this is the time when real estate professionals and small business owners alike should be working on a business plan for 2011. The consensus from the Holiday Party conversations is that most are very concerned about how they will network and find clients in this digital age. “Should I keep my website and should I make an attempt at a blog?”“Should I combine and streamline my websites?”“What marketing will I keep doing? What will I stop doing? What new marketing should I do?” These are all valid questions, certainly not isolated to the real estate industry.

We, at Signature Service Real Estate, have seen a 20% gowth this year in mobile use and are convinced we will see even more in the year to come. Even more than the explosion of mobile though, I would say, was the explosion of the term “social media,” which was plastered, said and seen everywhere you looked or at any real estate conference this year.

Overall, its explosion was greatly in the form of trial and error. Many tried it, most people didn’t make any sales from it, and few used it exceptionally well. Another great point that was made during cocktail conversations was the fact we can’t forget that there are millions of other ways to use the Internet to market your business & expose your listings to buyers. But where are the people we are attempting to expose our seller’s listings to? You guessed it; Facebook!

Whether a real estate brokerage or REALTOR® spends more or the same amount of time on Facebook next year, one thing to take away from this year’s many trials and errors is that you better have a social media presence and a plan to capture buyers and expose your listings. With the growth in mobile use and Facebook exposure it is clear that people want to know on the go! They also want to connect within the comfort of their communities on Facebook, where transparency and personal recommendations mean more than a Google search.

So ask yourself these questions if you are thinking about buying or selling real estate in the near future; is my agent marketing and networking on Facebook? Does my agent have mobile capture?

And if you are a REALTOR® currently working the business in Saskatchewan or Alberta, you should ask yourself the same questions about the broker you have affiliated yourself with.

In the meantime, visit us on Facebook or check our website out on your mobile device (no app needed).



Merry Mobile & Happy Facebook from us all at Signature Service Real Estate!