Using Snapchat For Real Estate Marketing

What was once considered an app for teenagers and college students, Snapchat has grown into a force to be reckoned with for business professionals who want to generate leads with a new and diverse audience. If you’ve shied away from Snapchat for your real estate marketing, it’s time to reconsider.

As of September 2016, Snapchat surpassed 60 million daily users in the United States and Canada. In April, the app was getting 10 billion video views each day, and there’s no reason not to think that number hasn’t grown since then. People of all ages are flocking to Snapchat and businesses are following. As a real estate professional, you may want to consider adding Snapchat to your online marketing plan.

What is Snapchat

Snapchat is a video messaging app that lets you record video, take pictures, add text, and add filters to your images. You send these messages, called “Snaps,” out to your followers. Once they view your snap, it’s gone. There is no newsfeed like you have with Facebook or Twitter. Your job on Snapchat is to get the attention of your followers and keep it.

Snapchat is gaining in popularity, not only with users but also with brands. Top earners between the age of 30 and 45 are flocking to the app, according to Gary Vaynerchuk. These are the people with money to spend on new homes and other things businesses have to sell.

How to Gain Snapchat Followers

As with any social media platform, it takes time and persistence to build a following. Unlike other platforms, people don’t have a way to find you within Snapchat. They either need to know your user name or have your Snapcode in order to follow you. This means that it is necessary (and expected) that you will promote your Snapchat profile on other social media, in videos, on your blog and website, and in your email newsletters.

To promote your Snapcode, you can change your profile image on your Twitter or Facebook accounts. You can also schedule posts asking people to follow you and include your user name. Some people even put their Snapcode on t-shirts when they know they’ll be at a convention or home show, any place with a big crowd. Another option, according to Dustin Brohm in this video for the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), is to hold a contest. Ask people to follow you and send you a message on Snapchat. Choose a winner from the people who do both and give them a gift card to Amazon or a local restaurant.

How to Market Your Real Estate Business on Snapchat

The idea of Snapchat is to create a following and build relationships among people who may want to buy a home from you or have you list their home for sale. To do this, you’re going to need to find the balance between promoting your listings, showing off your local area, and sharing tidbits about your life just as you do with any other social media platform.

For instance, you may want to Snap local events or a new business opening in your market. When you’re at one of your listings, Snap a unique feature, the gorgeous view, or something that sets the property apart from others. At the same time, don’t forget to get a little personal – Snap your dog doing something silly, your kid’s baseball game, or something that shows something about your personal life. You don’t want all of your Snaps to be business. Be yourself and show off the unique, fun, or interesting things about your market, your homes, and yourself.

Other Tips for Snapchat

Keep a few things in mind when you begin exploring Snapchat.

• Create and use geofilters on Snapchat. These filters tell the when and where of your location which is a great way to remind your followers of where you are.
• Add text to your Snaps and include your contact information so someone can easily get in touch if they see something they like.
• Get hyperlocal in your Snaps. Go to specific locations and talk about what make them great, interesting, or fun.
• Have fun with Snapchat. Be yourself and don’t worry about perfection.

Snapchat may sound like another new trend that could fade away, but don’t be fooled. It’s a fast-growing app and platform that’s gaining in popularity. While it started out as something that high school and college kids focused on, it’s now being used by 100 million users a month worldwide. That’s a number too big to ignore.

Download the app, play around with it, and ask people to follow you. Snapchat isn’t going to replace your other online marketing, but it might just enhance it.