Pay close attention to your social media presence - by Harry Zlokower

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Have you been on Facebook lately, Twitter? No doubt, you have a profile on Linkedin. Social media is no stranger to real estate public relations. Residential brokers have been using it for years. CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield and JLL have strong presence on Facebook. Social media has become a force in real estate public relations.

“The important thing is you want to make your brand intelligent and fresh on your social platforms which should be considered an additional dimension to your website and public persona,” said Heidi Raker, managing director, RGNarrative, an integrated PR and content marketing firm which owns Zlokower Co. “Set a realistic goal for frequency of posts each week and work to stick with that so your page doesn’t go dark for long stretches. If your content is engaging, your follower base will organically grow along with your credibility and positive image.” 

Raker advises real estate professionals to create profiles on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin with recognizable, memorable business names and a brand logo. On Twitter, begin by following accounts of other users whom you would like to follow you back, comment on and retweet tweets You can also direct messenger Twitter users. Similar activity can be performed on Facebook and LinkedIn. 

“It’s vital to have unified messaging across all your social platforms, your website and the communications you use with the news media,” Raker said. “Maintaining a presence with multiple posts and tweets per week will help your brand be a part of the conversation that is taking place online.”

 Raker suggests “a healthy mix” of trending data and insights combined to a lesser degree with self-promotional and company specific information to make your content shareable. “Remember that social media is an important vehicle for echoing all the communications you wish to convey about your brand and its importance in the real estate marketplace,” she said.

Harry Zlokower is founder of Zlokower Company Public Relations, New York, N.Y.