Brokers are spending a lot more time on social networking sites, but they’re not looking for dates. Instead, they’re spending serious advertising dollars to market their properties, sending out ad blasts via relatively new online applications like Twitter and launching partnerships with networking sites like Facebook. At the same time, brokers are advertising properties on a large number of online listing services — such as StreetEasy, Google and Zillow, in addition to their own Web sites.
Where are agents not spending the bulk of their marketing dollars? Print. Brokers from several firms said the Internet has become their primary marketing tool, and several said that close to half their marketing budgets are going toward online advertising.
“Five years ago, the majority of our budget was print advertising, and we did not advertise much online,” said Christina Lowris, executive vice president for advertising and marketing at the Corcoran Group.
“Our strategy is to be out there” by running listings on multiple Web sites simultaneously, said Dawn Tsien, president of the new development division at Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy. That’s necessary today because “80 to 85 percent of buyers are starting their searches on the Web,” she said.
Social networking sites, once the domain of teens and 20-somethings, are now the to-go source for launching marketing campaigns.
While some brokerages have been running ads on popular Web sites like the video clip site YouTube and social networking arenas such as MySpace and Facebook for more than a year now, several are increasing or just now launching marketing efforts on such sites.
The Web site Twitter, which allows participants to send short e-mail blasts to friends, similar to Facebook status updates and text messages, is beginning to be used for real estate marketing. The Bank Note, a commercial space in the South Bronx, is using the site to send out blasts to potential clients about the building.
Sarah Eisinger, senior property manager for Denham Wolf Real Estate Services, the Bank Note’s leasing agent, said the Twitter feed, which began in November, is promoting the building as a destination for artists and other creative types.
Meanwhile, the Haber Team at Prudential Douglas Elliman launched a Twitter account last month. Jason Haber, a broker on the team, said the account increases connections between potential buyers and other brokers, and it will be used to send out new listings. He said it is an extension of the group’s Facebook accounts and YouTube video tours. A check of Haber’s YouTube video tours shows most listings have over 1,000 views.
“Now that everyone is on Facebook, and we’ve been on it for years, it’s time for us to find the next wave,” Haber said. “There are so many new ways to market apartments, but you need to have a good sense of social media and how to use it.”
Friends with Facebook
Some firms, however, are just starting to advertise on Facebook, the Web’s leading social networking site in terms of unique visitors.
Tsien said Coldwell Banker will launch a new program in partnership with Facebook in January. The program will allow potential buyers to post a listing directly to their Facebook profile in order to solicit opinions from friends and relatives.
Jill Harnick, executive vice president of brand management at Prudential Douglas Elliman, meanwhile, confirmed that her firm is also exploring partnerships to utilize Facebook and other social networking sites for marketing purposes.
Matt Phipps, a real estate broker in Rhode Island and the vice chairman of the National Association of Realtors Communications Committee, said NAR has been encouraging brokers to utilize Facebook for advertising. He noted that several firms have been creating fan pages on the site and using them to market to younger potential buyers.
“Facebook shows a much greater engagement and return on investment,” said Jeff Lipson, an Internet marketing expert with the digital ad agency IconNicholson. “If I were to create an application on Facebook and call it “share a Coke with a friend,” I could then e-mail it to everyone on my page. This would then track it and show how many people are joining the application.”