How can agents engage with social media followers during lockdown?

As the ongoing pandemic and subsequent national lockdowns have confined people to their homes, the internet has become a safe space and an even greater tool for togetherness.

For estate and letting agents, it’s vital to use social media to its fullest extent. This will not only allow you to interact with potential new customers but will also guarantee that you are on hand to support your existing clients during these extraordinary times.

Below, we list three lockdown tips to utilise social media to assist and engage with your followers.

Advise, advertise and educate

Despite sectors such as hospitality and events being shut down, the housing market remains open for business, with people allowed to buy, sell and move home, as long as Covid guidelines are adhered to at all times.

With Covid cases dominating the media, the condition of the market may have escaped many. However, the power of social media enables you to connect with your followers and ensure that they are always kept up to speed.

Encouraging your followers to ask questions and offering advice where necessary will allow you to interact and respond in real time and help to keep your clients’ mind at ease. You may also wish to post links directing them to useful pages on your website, or short videos informing people about your current operations or viewing protocols.

It’s crucial that you regularly post a healthy mix of engaging and informative titbits, such as local property news, local area information and ‘hot’ properties (particularly on Instagram or Facebook), to establish a firmer social media presence and further reinforce that business is proceeding as usual.

Support and shout outs

The pandemic has shed light on the importance of community, with people helping one another in their times of need.

As an agent, you want potential and existing clients to see the value of your agency. Social media is not only a useful way to improve customer service, but it is also essential for showing how you are connected to your local community.

One way to demonstrate this is to interact with other local businesses. This could include doing shout outs to promote their business or taking it a step further to do joint promotions – for example, through charity work. This will show prospective customers that you are aware of the goings-on in the area, making them more inclined to instruct you to sell or let their property in the future.

Additionally, you could broadcast that your office doors are open to print schoolwork for families that may be under pressure. Creating and sending care packages to isolating clients can also help to boost spirits.

Keep up communication

More and more people are using social media to interact with organisations – and are doing so in a public way. It’s become even more important now to monitor your accounts and respond to any questions promptly and helpfully.

Regular contact with clients and potential clients on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram can help you to build a rapport, which makes the likelihood of an instruction or repeat business that much higher.

In the event that you receive a negative post or bad review – such as someone complaining about the service they’ve received – investigate and tackle it head-on. Always be transparent with your clients, explaining what you’ve done to rectify the issue.

Social media accounts are a valuable source of information about your customers, so take note of their comments and posts too. Use fun posts to drive engagement, such as running competitions, asking your audience questions and creating polls on topics relating to the industry.

When used correctly, social media can be very effective and can assist in generating leads from sellers, landlords, buyers and tenants. While these channels of communication are important for promoting your agency, they’re also necessary for engaging with today’s tech-savvy consumers.

For information on how we can help to grow your business online and generate leads effectively, you can check out our social media marketing service.