8 social media groups that provide a goldmine for real estate agents

Many of the different groups on social media sites can be great places to reach homeowners and property investors in your area. Today, I take a look at how to harness the power of Facebook groups and LinkedIn groups to boost your real estate marketing results.

What are groups on social media?

Groups on Facebook and LinkedIn are designated spaces where users can connect to others who have the same interest in common. Groups are basically communities of different sizes, where people can share information and advice, or post content other members will be interested in. The idea is that all members can participate and benefit from each other’s contributions.

This can be hugely helpful to you as a real estate agent because you’re relying on a very specific market – homeowners and property investors in your local neighbourhood.

These individuals can sometimes be difficult to identify and connect with online. Interest groups connected to your local area on Facebook and LinkedIn can, therefore, be an ideal place to find the people you need to be marketing to.

By joining relevant groups on Facebook and LinkedIn, and sharing content that’s useful to them, you can build your agent profile as an active and caring member of the local community, who can be trusted as a knowledgeable and safe pair of hands for property sellers and investors.

Why use Facebook and LinkedIn?

As Facebook and LinkedIn are both used by different types of audiences, it’s important to be active on both if you want to get the maximum benefit from your real estate social media marketing.

Facebook groups tend to be better from a more local perspective – it’s relatively easy to reach homeowners in your local neighbourhoods here. However, when it comes to finding property investors, LinkedIn groups can be ideal, especially if you share more technical or research-based information.

Finding and joining the social media right groups

It’s super-easy to find relevant local groups on both Facebook and LinkedIn – simply type the name of your suburb or region into the Search bar, and related groups will appear in the list of results. You can select the ones you want to join by reading their descriptions and deciding whether or not they’re relevant.

On LinkedIn, joining groups is usually as simple as clicking the “Ask to join” button. On Facebook, however, it can be a bit more complicated, as there are three different types of groups:

– Public

– Closed

– Secret

If a group is Public or Closed, any Facebook user can see it and request to join it. If it’s a Secret group, you have to wait to be invited by a current member, so it’s easier to join if you already have local connections who are in the group.

Closed and Secret groups tend to be more effective for real estate marketing as they have more specialist members who are truly interested in the topic. These people are more likely to engage with your posts. Micro targeting is the marketing of the future!

5 essential Facebook groups for real estate agents

These are the types of groups you really need to be joining on Facebook:

1. Buy, sell and swap groups

If people are having a clear-out, this is an indicator they could be preparing to move or downsize. Promoting moving sales in these groups on behalf of your clients is a great way of demonstrating your commitment and show that you’re prepared to go the extra mile as an agent.

2. Class of/ Grew up around/ Remember when/ Then and now/ Memories or histories

These groups are where you’ll typically find people sharing old school photos or pictures of the area. Many of the members of these types of groups will have had a long affiliation with the area, so it’s a great way to meet Baby Boomers who are likely to downsize.

3. Mothers and fathers groups

Examples of these include North Shore Mums, Hills District Mums and Hills District Dads – every area has them! Members of these groups obviously have children and might be thinking of upgrading for more space, so they’re well worth tapping into.

4. Humans of/ Living in

These are broader groups for people who live in and around your area.

5. Property to buy, rent or sell

These may have been set up by other real estate agents, but they can often be great places to find those FSBO (For Sale By Owner) properties. You can also use these groups to share your content about the home selling and buying process, building awareness of your real estate brand and driving traffic to your website.

3 types of LinkedIn groups for real estate marketing

LinkedIn tends to be used by professionals. The groups are slightly different than Facebook and the information you share should be, too. Here are the three types of groups you should be joining on this platform:

1. Chamber of commerce/ business networks

These are ideal for building your referral networks as they’re full of like-minded, locally focused business owners and service providers.

2. Property developer or asset manager groups

These are perfect for real estate professionals focused on commercial projects as this is where you’ll find your target clientele.

3. Property investor/ Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF) groups

This is where you can target those who have the intention and the means to invest in property.

How to take part in groups

It’s important to build relationships with the Admins of each group before you start posting in them. Not all groups allow you to post content that leads back to your website. Asking permission first is essential, otherwise you could find yourself getting banned, which won’t help your reputation online.

Post interesting, useful information that will be of value to the members of the group. Real estate and home-related content is a broad field, so there’s plenty of scope. Think about what people might be interested in knowing about when they’re not actively looking at property – what do your friends and family like to talk about around the BBQ? If you’re really stuck for topic ideas, that’s where my team and I can help, both providing weekly topic ideas and writing articles to help you promote your brand.

Social media groups are also an excellent way of letting people know what’s happening in your neighbourhood. Post about local or charitable events you’re involved with or supporting – this shows you are an active and caring member of the local community, which will make people more inclined to trust you with their business.

Be an active participant

Whichever groups you join, you need to be active in them. Comment on other people’s posts and be helpful. Share information that will be useful to them. Don’t view groups as a sales platform – nobody joins a local interest group to be given the hard sell.

Demonstrating that you care about the area and take an active part in your community is a great way to gain the trust of local homeowners. This is why groups need to become an integral part of your real estate marketing efforts.

Written by Melanie Hoole

My team and I specialise in helping real estate and property professionals perfect their personal brand, build a first-class digital profile and implement inbound marketing activities to attract leads. If you are unsure which direction to take with your digital marketing contact me for help.