INTRODUCTION
Approximately nine in 10 U.S. companies of all types and sizes use social media to help generate awareness about their products, projects and services and to connect with prospects and potential customers. This should come as no surprise considering nearly 80 percent of Americans are currently active on social media.
Following are some tips on how you can use social media to market your new development.
ESTABLISH A PRESENCE ON VARIOUS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
With the growing number of social media sites, it can feel somewhat overwhelming to know where you should focus your marketing efforts. Since it’s always better to have a strong presence on a few channels vs. being partially present on many, start with two or three of the most popular sites.
According to Pew Research, YouTube has the largest number of adult users in the U.S. at 73 percent, followed by Facebook (68 percent) and Instagram (35 percent). Set up accounts and complete your business profile on each of these platforms to get started.
This includes creating a username (i.e. the name of your development), adding profile pictures and cover photos, as well as other pertinent information, such as information about your development, your location and supporting links. For instance, you can add your website, contact information, Instagram account and YouTube channel to the “About” section on Facebook.
We do not recommend a Google Business page for your development since you would need an address in it to be located on Google Maps. Even if you have a model home that serves as your base, that address would be temporarily used until you sell that home.
CREATE RELEVANT CONTENT TO SHARE WITH YOUR TARGET AUDIENCES
Keep your target audiences in mind when marketing your development on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, and post content that provides value to those groups. Also, consider the types of content that are appropriate for each platform. Some suggestions are included below.
Facebook – Share features of your development, along with local amenities like nearby schools, grocery stores and recreational areas to intrigue potential buyers. Keep these posts visual (i.e. photos, videos, article links and graphics) and tag other pages to help generate cross-promotion.
For example, you could share current or past projects from builders/contractors you partner with to help paint a picture of what your completed development will look like, and to encourage those companies to share your content.
Instagram – Use your mobile device to capture and post photos and videos of the various stages of your development, scenic images of the surrounding area or new lot owners. Include hashtags like #NewDevelopment in your description to make it easier for prospects to find your content. Similarly, you should add a hashtag for the city or neighborhood (e.g. #Madison) in which your development is located.
YouTube – Create short videos (30 seconds or shorter), such as weekly updates of the building process, new drone footage or a time-lapse video of the progress you’ve made to date. These videos can be shared on your other social media channels and your website to help extend their reach.
From the onset, try to post at least three to four times a week on Facebook and Instagram, and once a week on YouTube. To make this more manageable, create a calendar each month outlining the content you plan to post on each channel, and schedule posts in advance if possible.
Monitor the analytics of each platform on a regular basis to see what types of content are the most popular (and least popular), and adjust your strategy accordingly.
ADVERTISE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Until you get enough followers on your social media accounts, you should run ads to specifically target your prospects. Both YouTube and Facebook have advertising options that allow you to hone in on your audience based on demographics (e.g. age, gender, parental status), location and even specific interests.
For example, you could use Facebook ads to target parents who live within 25 miles of your development if you are trying to reach families in the surrounding area. Since Facebook controls the advertising on Instagram, you can set up one ad campaign to run on both channels. A budget of $5 per day is a good starting point, and ads should run for at least a week.
Similarly, you could use YouTube ads to target the same audience, or you can choose to display your ad in videos with certain topics or keywords. Most businesses start with a budget of $10 per day for local campaigns.
Make sure to monitor ad performance and adjust ad copy/visuals and targeting parameters based on your findings.