Importance Of Social Media For Real Estate Professionals
IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS
More than four and a half billion people use some form of social media – that is more than half of the world’s current population and each one of these people has the potential to interact with your real estate business. But you may not stand the chance of reaching them without a good social media marketing strategy.
What’s more, according to Smart Insights, in the last year alone, there was 9% increase in the amount of active social media users globally. Employing the help of real estate social media marketing companies means that you will be able to implement an effective and lucrative social media strategy that allows you to reach more people than you ever thought possible. In this article, we want to explore some of the benefits that a social media marketing company can bring to your real estate business.
BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING FOR REAL ESTATE
All too often, we see many of the same businesses dominating social media – beauty, fashion, and food are some of the major players with Instagram followers in their millions but this is not to say that real estate does not have a place on social media – it does.
Once you understand the benefit of putting your brand in the spotlight, it is not difficult to see how social media will be extremely advantageous to your real estate empire.
Expert Knowledge
It’s no secret that to make your mark on social media, you need experience, a good strategy, and sometimes just a little bit of luck. Although the latter cannot be provided by a social media marketing expert, experience and strategy certainly can.
As a real estate agent or real estate photographer or real estate investor, you may have an impressive knowledge in your field but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a solid grasp on social media – but your social media marketing company will have.
This puts you in an advantageous position since you will have somebody who can develop the best strategy for getting your brand in view and noticed by the right people. Anyone can throw out advertisements on social media but knowing how to target specific markets and get results is a whole different ball game.
Save Money
OK, there may be a fee that comes with hiring a social media marketing expert, but nothing in life comes for free and the great thing is that you will be getting more bang for your buck.
Delivering paper print-outs will likely be a great waste of your time and money because when people are given leaflets like this, more often than not, they will dispose of them without a second thought. But social media can have a much greater impact meaning that your money is being well spent and you are much more likely to see a return.
Grow Your Network
Of course, making sales and finding great investments is one thing but to be truly successful in real estate, one is required to have a solid network made up of a variety of professionals – you always need a go-to for each task. The use of social media has proven time and time again to be exceptional in building your professional network.
That being said, it can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack but this is where your social media marketing team comes in. These highly skilled people will be able to promote your brand to the right people and ultimately create links to every relevant area making your business thrive,
Generate Better Quality Leads
It is reported that 47% of real estate businesses claim that their best leads come from social media campaigns and this is not a figure to be sniffed at.
Whilst having a lot of leads is one thing, converting them is another and a good social media campaign can be the difference between failure and success.
Target The Right Market
There are so many social media platforms and more are being developed every year. The big guns are still Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest but for business, LinkedIn is also extremely handy. However, your target market will play a part in which social media channels will benefit your business the most and a social media marketing expert will be able to determine this.
By placing an emphasis on certain channels, you can feel confident that you will get the most out of your social media campaigns and bring your brand in front of those who are likely to engage with it.
Build Brand Awareness
It is highly unlikely that people will be willing to engage with a brand that they do not recognize – trust is essential, especially in an industry like real estate where huge amounts of money are exchanged. But social media for real estate can take your brand from being unknown to a household name if it is used correctly.
Even if those exposed to your brand on social media aren’t currently looking to work with you, seeing your brand in the first instance will begin to build a level of trust. Then when the time comes that they require a real estate professional – your name might spring to mind.
Bring A Sense Of Personality
All too often in the past, the business has been just that – business. But with social media, you are given new freedom which allows you to show the personality of your brand and yourself.
Whilst it is important to regularly post real estate related content, you have the opportunity to post other things. This is a great way of engaging potential clients and showing that there is a person behind the brand.
What’s more, being able to directly communicate with your clients will make them feel as though you are taking a more personal approach which can go a long way in developed solid professional relationships.
Conclusion
Real estate is a huge worldwide business and it can be easy for your business to become lost in a sea of others. But hiring a social media marketing company is a great way to get your brand out there, manage your network, and ultimately drive your business to new heights.
Traditional Home Staging Vs Virtual Home Staging
Home Staging
Home Staging is decorating and preparing a property that is to be sold – vacant homes or homes with outdated furniture style. It improves the property’s appeal that can attract a huge number of potential buyers. To provide more potential buyers an impressive outlook on the property, designers who stage them often use new furniture, additional lights, accessories, carpets, paintings, and of course, plants. Some just rearrange everything that exists in the property and just add more details through the accessories. The better the staging, the more potential buyers may be attracted.
What are the advantages of Home Staging?
It sells faster than the empty ones.
Most of the property buyers prefer looking at photos of a fully-furnished room rather than the empty ones for they can feel or see what and how the room may be utilized even if they are not physically present in the property. It actually sells 88% faster.
It sells 20% more.
Unlike the unstaged homes, staged properties or homes are usually sold 20% more than others due to its appeal visually.
It provides highlights.
It creates points wherein buyers draw their attention to, making them focus on the selling points of the property.
There are 2 common types of home staging – the Traditional and Virtual.
What is Traditional Staging?
Traditional Staging is a costly way of staging for the stagers will have to buy or rent some furniture to stage a specific property the best way they can attract more potential buyers. This staging is where most effort is exerted and is taking a lot more time to achieve a good output.
What is included in Traditional Staging?
Traditional Staging Services includes Assessment of the property, Stager-Client consultations, Stager design processing, shopping for materials, and the actual redesigning. This usually costs $2,000-$2,400 on average per month.
There is a lot on the list when you search for whose company offers Traditional Home Staging, and they do not end their work with Home Staging itself. Most of the companies have Furniture Rental Companies to partner with, so if you are missing a piece of furniture to be used on your home, they can definitely help you solve that.
What is Virtual Staging?
Virtual Staging is simply defined as a home staging done digitally. To explain further, virtual staging is digitally adding furniture and decorations to a photo of an empty room or area – indoors or outdoors.
Just like the Traditional Home Staging, Virtual Staging is done to highlight a property’s best feature, market a specific property, and provide a better impression of it to attract most potential buyers but unlike the traditional home staging, virtual staging is a much cheaper way of turning a boring and empty room to a fully-furnished one. It may also be a help if a property is in need of a fix, decluttering, or renovation. Providing new walls, ceiling, and floors, changing its color or materials, and replacing existing furniture.
What are the advantages of Virtual Staging?
It takes less time and effort than the traditional.
Stated above is that, Traditional Staging includes assessments, consultations, design processing, shopping, and redesigning in general. It is manually done, and usually takes up days, weeks, and sometimes months to achieve a good outcome. Virtual Staging is done within 8-12 hours per room and style. The client just needs to provide 2 things. (1) What needs to be designed – Is it a bedroom? Living room? Or a bathroom? (2) What style/s is/are to be applied – Modern? Industrial? Contemporary? Coastal? Any request will do.
It is cheaper than the traditional one.
In Traditional, every piece of detail is needed to be bought causing the client to pay thousands. In Virtual Staging, the client just needs to pay an average of $15-$40 per room to be staged.
It is versatile.
In virtual staging, the designer can provide his client multiple choices of what the specific room would look like. The stager can turn a bedroom into a study room. Or even turn the bedroom into a gym with less cost paid and less time consumed.
How is Virtual Staging done?
Compared to Traditional Staging, Virtual Staging is done through computers. They are implemented in photos only. Real Estate Photographers are actually the ones giving the Designer the photos to be staged. After the transfer of all the photos to be staged, the designer will add 3D furniture with an appropriate style preferred by the clients, render and retouch the output, and send back after 24-48 hours.
Issues solved by Virtual Staging
Decluttering
Virtual Staging may be Virtual Decluttering too. Sometimes, homeowners are having a hard time decluttering stuff before the Real Estate Photographers come in to take photos of their properties to sell. In Virtual Decluttering, it will take a little time to clear everything out, and on the other hand, make it even more appealing to the audience.
Keeping it outdated and in style
Some details in the existing property don’t look good together. There are also outdated features that are in need of a replacement. To answer those issues, virtual staging is the way.
Tips to achieve a good-looking staged home
Add rugs or carpets
Adding such can make the room bigger, and can cover up boring flooring or some floorings that need a fix. Rugs can be an accent too.
Add artworks
Artworks, simple or not, may add a vibe to a specific room. This is a little spice added to make the room look fuller.
Add small accents
Decorations such as vases full of flowers, sculptures, or trays may also be an additional vibe in a specific room, making the room look alive.
Add TV
To a more realistic look, tv is a good thing to add. It may be turned on or not, it depends on what you prefer.
Keep things in style
Add a theme. That’s the key to a good looking room. Anything with a common denominator that is mixed and matched will look good together. Make sure all things match.
Hire the best Virtual Staging Company
It is a good move to hire those who really have the knowledge to do the job. It is all that matters. Some who claim to do Virtual Staging jobs have these fake-looking outcomes. Better to look for a good one that can give you High-Quality output in a small period of time, and that costs you less.
This is done with the same camera settings. All of the lights coming through is from bounced flash.
Do you mostly shoot houses with no furniture? Here’s an idea how you can benefit more from it – Virtual Staging. You don’t have to do anything yet, you’ll earn more money. It’s a win-win situation for you and your client.
Thinking of integrating Virtual Staging on your service? Here are some pointers to help you get started.
Quality
There are a lot of companies offering virtual staging, however, most of them don’t look realistic. Compromising the price doesn’t mean to compromise the quality too. Make sure to try their free sample first before hiring them to do your staging.
Style & Materials
One other thing to consider is the 3d models. Choose a company that offers a variety of styles from classic traditional to modern furniture.
Pricing
We recommend having at least 50%-100% price increase from the original price of virtual staging. An average virtual staging costs $20 per image. You can charge it from $30 – $40 each. The average home consists of 3 rooms that can include virtual furniture. 1 Bedroom, 1 Dining room, and 1 Living room. That’s an average of $30 to $60 additional earnings per project without doing anything.
Should I Consider Using Matterport?
Should I consider using Matterport?
Are you a real estate photographer? If you are looking for a quick answer. The answer is “yes” As a professional, in order to be ahead in the competition we should be always looking for a new opportunity and technology. And one of that is Matterport.
3D Virtual Tour is the New Video Tour
Matterport is a digitized version of a space that you can access and view anywhere if you have internet. This a great new way to view a property without going into the location. This is a property buyer’s dream; to look for a place without going outside and check the place one by one. This will definitely help real estate agents and brokers to find a new lead and to be ahead in the competition. We believe that Virtual Tour will be the next big thing in real estate and real estate photography industry.
If you are still thinking if it’s worth adding a virtual tour as a service. Here are some statistics that might help you.
According to Apartments.com: Visitors to their website spend 3x – 6x more time engaging with property listings that offer a Virtual Tour 3D experience. Properties with Matterport tours receive 49% more qualified leads. You can check more
According to Redfin: Homes sell an average of 10 days faster and for $50,100 more than comparable homes thanks to Matterport 3D walkthroughs, advanced presentation technology, and great customer service.
According to REA Group: Buyers are 60% more likely to email an agent and 95% more likely to call an agent a properly they’ve seen on realestate.com.au that includes a Virtual Tour Showcase
Agents using Matterport are seeing real results: 90% stated that Matterport helped them build a stronger brand in the marketplace. 83% are more competitive because of Matterport.
74% win more listings because of Matterport.
Unfortunately, these costs expensive. You can buy a Matterport 2 Pro2 camera for $3,395. The good thing is Matterport supports a variety of 3D Cameras such as Ricoh, InstaOne, and even your iPhone and iPad. You could start to add this service just by using your phone and buy better equipment once the service became profitable.
How it works?
Simply download the Matterport app in the Appstore. When you open the app, there will be instructions on how to use it. It’s a step by step detailed guide so you will not be going to have a hard time figuring it out.
After capturing the space or room, Matterport will upload it in their platform and after 30 minutes or an hour, you will receive the virtual tour of the room in your email. From there, you can now publish it on your website or social media accounts. You can also customize the room by placing measurements and tags.
Matterport also supports 360 photos and if you’re looking for a professional that can edit 360 photos. You can check out Omorfia Manila.
Is Outsourcing Helpful For Business?
Outsourcing have been patronized by many Real Estate Photography Businesses nowadays in different countries across the globe, like USA and Australia, simply because of the convenience they’re receiving from such outsourcing agencies.
3 Major Advantages of Real Estate Photography Outsourcing are as follows:
Money-Saver
Outsourcing does not require much of what a usual hired employee needs such as minimum wages, holiday pays, paid leaves, and more, which gives some photographers a cheaper expense when it comes to providing services for their clients.
Time-Saver
Given the fact that Real Estate Photographers are too busy doing their jobs capturing properties, they too are busy providing a much better output of their photographs to be given to their clients by retouching those they previously captured. Having those captured photographs outsourced to agencies doing such, makes their time for themselves more flexible. Also, they can cater a lot more agents, and they can have more properties to shoot.
Business Growth
As mentioned to the previous advantage, Real Estate Photographers can cater a lot more agents making their business grow even more.Outsourcing can give them more time to focus on the business they are pursuing. Less time to edit and retouch, more time to focus on the business itself.
Philippines is one of the many countries which definitely has outsourcing businesses. Omorfia is a must try for those who are looking for one. Omorfia offers Photo Retouching, Floor Plan Designing in 2D and in 3D, and Virtual Staging. To see more of their samples and their information, you can find them at this website: www.omorfiamanila.com, or you can directly message them through email: sales@omorfiamedia.com
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