Facebook has more than 500 million users and statistics from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows that more than one-third of home buyers looked online for properties as their first step in the home-buying process last year. With this shift to online search and social media in our society, having a strategy that harnesses the potential of these methods is more important than ever.

• It's not about the hard sale. Social media is NOT advertising. While you can place ads on social networks like Facebook, you shouldn't be using your feeds and other free tools to only tout what you're trying to get others to buy. It's more about engagement, conversation, being helpful and gaining trust.
• Offer great, mixed-up content. Be exciting and show your personality by using a variety of topics and methods to get your message out and be appealing and findable for others. Post video, comment on others' conversations, be creative with it and it will give reason for people to engage with you.
• Build your sphere of influence. Once you've gained trust and begun to build online relationships, others can share your content and widen your circle, but you should also continue to find others with whom to connect through built-in friend finder tools on networks, as well as seeking user groups and doing offline meetings (like Tweetups) to continue to build on your reach.
• Respect your privacy and that of others. There was a lot of talk about privacy issues once Facebook changed its privacy policy. Remember to only post items that you intend for any audience, that is professional to your brand, and respect the privacy of your clients by not sharing information about them.
• Don't let it be a time monster. Social media can take us away from real-life work, so approach it with caution. Don't spend more than 30 minutes a day and stay focused on using the tools as a way to find and connect with people--not eat up your valuable time!

Read more about social media strategies and ROI for social media at RISMedia.

Posted in Internet Marketing, Lead Generation, Technology And YOU, Web 2.0 Marketing

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