Real Estate and Pinterest – Why REALTORS Need to Join!

If you’ve considered jumping on the Pinterest bandwagon, wait no more. Although Facebook is still the leading social media network with 67 percent of American internet users, Pinterest is currently in third – and climbing. Users spend on average, an hour and 17 minutes on this social network, leading Facebook and Twitter by more than double.

So why should real estate professionals join Pinterest?

There are many valuable ways that REALTORS® can use Pinterest to help better brand themselves and help build business. Taking time to strategize on how and what to pin can put you ahead of the pack.

Create boards. Creating a variety of boards will help keep followers interested. A few examples could include homes that you sold last year, homes that are currently for sale, interior design tips, home staging advice, landscaping trends, local attractions in your area and neighborhoods that you typically sell in. The bigger the variety of boards, the better, but it’s also important to remember not to self-promote too much.

Create a video board. Videos are huge on Pinterest, but be cautious with self-promotion. Don’t use listing videos on this board, but rather if you have how-to videos of yourself, tutorials or frequently asked question videos, these can be a great source of information for followers.

Use keywords in photo descriptions. When writing a description under a pin, use keywords that people may search within Pinterest. This way, your pins will be easily found and potentially re-pinned more often. Not all of your listing posts have to include a price. Test different keywords and see what gets the most likes, re-pins and comments. Entice people to re-pin your content too. If they’re interested in learning more, they can be directed back to your website (see below).

Pin original content. This can be a great way to drive traffic to your website. Do you have a blog? Creating a blog post board is a great idea and pinning directly from your blog’s website using the pin it button can direct people back to your website. Want to pin a listing? Pin them directly from your website. This also has huge SEO benefits!

Be social. After all, it’s called social media for a reason. Follow people and brands that align with the content that you’re pinning. This will give you a constant feed of interesting pins and also give you great content to re-pin. Also, encourage people to comment on your photos. Ask for their opinion on a home’s interior décor or a photo of pretty landscaping.

Of all the social networks, Pinterest is one of the most fascinating. It has grown at a rate that no other social media site has seen and people are spending much more time on it than any other social network. If you’re on Facebook and Twitter, both of these sites integrate with Pinterest easily. It’s an easy-to-use tool that can help your personal branding as well as benefit your business.

By Teele Schneider