Social media is as important today as it ever has been for real estate agents.
From generating leads, to showcasing listings to revealing one’s personality to clients and more, social media helps agents grow their businesses on many levels.
Over the past few months, Inman spoke with numerous real estate agents who are doing things differently on social media — and those tactics are proving to be extremely fruitful.
We spoke with an agent who, decades into their career, gets one client per week through TikTok; an agent who gets views by bashing beautiful brownstones on TikTok; and an agent who is seriously growing her Rolodex by insulting people on Instagram. Those are just a few of the real estate pros who are making waves.
But, arguably, one of the original agents who capitalized on the front wave of social media was SERHANT. founder and CEO Ryan Serhant.
Serhant told Inman that if he had to do it all over and was starting from scratch on social media as an agent today, he would recognize that each social media app is distinct and draws its own unique type of audience.
Ryan Serhant | SERHANT. Studios
“I think when I first started, I was like, ‘Oh, I’ll do everything all the time for everyone,'” Serhant said. “And when you try to be everything to everyone, you end up becoming nothing to no one. So you want to pick your niche. There are riches in niches for a reason.”
Serhant added that making content is one of the things he loves about his job, and that is reflected in the work he puts out.
“I probably like it more than the stuff that other people really like,” he said. “I honestly like it more than I like making money — making money is just a commodity to me. And it’s a byproduct of the work. I know other people — all they care about is money, and so their content sucks because the audience sees it.”
One of the things that Serhant regularly says at his Sell It events is that salespeople need to figure out what their “and” is.
“You are a real estate agent and what?” he told Inman. “Cooking, babies, fitness, gardening, design media … What is your and? What’s that one thing, you have to pick one, that you connect to on a deeply personal level outside of just a house and then lean in on that.”
The real estate CEO emphasized that the reason people follow other people is because they’re interested in their personalities — not necessarily whatever it is they’re presenting on their platform. And if you’re authentic, the people who you want to attract will follow.
“The internet is full of people who are all trying to be different,” Serhant said. “So stop trying to be different, and just be yourself. You’re the only version of you that will ever exist in the history of the planet. That is authentic, that is vulnerable and that’s incredibly unique, so just do that.
“And connect to people. Connect to people on a personal and emotional level.”
It’s OK to have different types of content, Serhant said. That’s what can help keep things interesting. However, it’s important to make sure it all has a common thread. One helpful way of thinking about content is like a TV channel, Serhant explained. No one would turn on ESPN expecting some kind of Housewives-esque reality show, for instance.
“I typically try to do 1:1:1 business, motivational, personal,” Serhant said. “Or business, fitness, personal. And that’s sort of a lane I stay in.”
Posting consistently is also crucial to maintain followers, Serhant said, as is engaging with those followers through DMs and comments. “Consistency plus authenticity equals soon-to-be virality,” Serhant said.
It’s also perfectly fine to have a small market of followers.
“You’d rather have 100 percent of a tiny audience than 1 percent of a huge audience,” Serhant said.
What follows is are the top tips from other agents in the field who are steadily growing their businesses through the power of social media. Agents can apply these tips to their own social strategy and see what sticks.
General social media advice
Spotlight tip: Be authentic to yourself, even if it’s just one version of yourself.
Utah-based agent Kaitlin Hannig tapped into her inner sarcastic self to create her social media persona: a jaded real estate agent who isn’t afraid to tell you like it is — even if that means insulting her followers in the process.
@realtorkaitlin Welcome home, loser! This 1893 historical home has: -4 bed -3 bath -renovated kitchen -no confirmed ghosts She’s in the lower Aves and I couldn’t find any record of any murders occurring there. So either no one was murdered there or they did a good job covering their tracks. Comment the word personality below and I will send you the listing. #utahrealestate #saltlakecity #saltlake #utahrealtor ♬ original sound – Kaitlin Hannig – SLC Realtor
Spotlight tip: Only post about things that genuinely interest you — otherwise your audience will notice (and tune out) if you don’t care about your content.
Las Vegas-based agent Jered Jones genuinely fell for the home in an impromptu tour he gave to his TikTok viewers, and ended up imploring them to help convince his wife they should buy it. The video from late August now has over four million views.
@jeredjoneshomes I am not kidding. Please. I am begging you. Help me convince my wife that we NEED to buy this house. Am I crazy? #vintage #vegas #historic #playboy ♬ original sound – Jered Jones Las Vegas Realtor
Spotlight tip: Develop a good hook to reel in the viewer.
People will stick around to watch content if it has a good hook, New York City agent Jordan Silver said. Calling out “Godless New Yorkers” is one way to do that.
@realjsilver♬ Autumn Leaves – Chet Baker
Spotlight tip: Consider batch recording content to create multiple posts.
Babs De Lay of Salt Lake City works with a videographer to record content for a few hours once every 10 days. Then, De Lay has a handful of 30- to 60-second videos to release to followers every few days.
@thebabsdelay Are you a fan of art? How about REALLY BIG art? This mural is called “Echoes of Eternity” by artists Miles Toland and Joseph Toney and can be found on the exterior of the Astra Tower in Salt Lake City. The mural is a beautiful homage to our state and might even just be the largest mural in Utah. Do you have any art pieces I should check out? #SaltLakeCity #UtahFacts #utahrealestate #utahhomes #utahrealtor #utah #realestate #saltlakecity #realtor #utahhistory #saltlakehistory #historytok #utahliving #historytiktok #utahhomeforsale #realestateagent #historybuff #localutah #HistoryTime #historyfacts #historymatters #architechture #architecture_hunter #architecture_lovers #architectlife ♬ original sound – Babs De Lay | Utah REALTOR®
Other general tips:
- Don’t worry about posting every single day — but aim for consistency.
- Use social media as just one of multiple marketing tools — don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
- Try different things to see what works with your audience, and keep evolving.
- Try not to take other people’s criticism too seriously.
- Get out of your own way — the sooner you get over the cringe-factor of seeing and hearing yourself on video, the better.
- Evaluate how well your posts perform; determine what went well, what went poorly and why.
- Study and learn from what other agents are doing, but don’t copy-cat. Find your own voice.
- Don’t get trapped into thinking you need fancy equipment. All you need to get started is a smart phone.
- When in doubt, keep things simple.
TikTok
Spotlight tip: Keep it short — no longer than 60 seconds, but better if it’s 30 seconds.
Tatiana Londono learned from her son that content needs to stay short and quippy on TikTok to match viewers’ attention spans.
@tatlondono Money isn’t everything BUT it sure does help😂 #millionaire #realestate #money #fyp #entrepreneur #success ♬ original sound – Tat Londono Real Estate Coach
Spotlight tip: Find a niche.
Broker and developer Mark O’Brien found his calling as the “Brownstone Whisperer” by posting raw videos of his gritty demolitions of NYC’s brownstones on TikTok.
@themarkobrienteam Look at all this history that got destroyed. 😮 My demolition guys had to come check on me. 😂 #restoration #tips #property #realestate #realestatedevelopment #maintenance #newyorkcity #newyork ♬ original sound – Mark O’Brien
Other tips:
- Use trending sounds.
- Use in-app captions.
- Make quick cuts between takes to minimize length and combat short attention spans.
- Use this platform for younger audiences.
Spotlight tip: Keep text short and to a 3rd-grade comprehension level.
Use lots of line breaks so that content is easily skimmable, and stick to written text that is two lines or shorter at a time. Former teacher and now-real estate agent Marie Lee, likes to keep Instagram content simple in this way so that it’s more easily digestible for her followers.
View this post on Instagram
Other tips:
- A great platform for millennials.
- Make content people-focused.
YouTube
Spotlight tip: Only post high-quality videos to YouTube.
Team leader Ian Grossman said that data has shown the majority of people who watch YouTube do so on their TVs, so agents should only post high-quality videos to the platform, since viewers will be able to see every detail.
Other tips:
- Opt for this platform for longer form content.
- Aim for more focused, consistent messaging on YouTube.
