10 Ways to Grow Your Following on Twitter for Real Estate Agents

Last week we talked about Getting Started on Twitter as a Real Estate Agent.

If you haven’t read that post yet, take a few minutes to read it before moving on to this post.

Have you read it?

Good!

Now that you know the basics of Twitter, and why you need to be using it, we can go a bit more in depth.

Today we are going to talk about some of the more advanced aspects of using Twitter for real estate, specifically how to gain more followers.

We are going to talk about the best ways to engage with other users to grow your following and expand your influence, as well as how to use Twitter ads to get in front of people that you otherwise may never get in front of.

So…..lets get started!

If you read last weeks post, and put it into action, you should now have a Twitter account set up and you should be ready to begin using Twitter as part of your real estate marketing plan.

But that is just the beginning. What's next?

10 WAYS TO GET MORE FOLLOWS ON TWITTER

If you’re like most people, it doesn’t take long after getting your Twitter profile all set up for you to begin asking the question, “how do I get more followers?”

Unfortunately there is not one specific answer to that question. There are lots of ways to gain more followers. Not all will work for you. Every market and every business is different, but you can test these methods to see what works best for you.

#1: Engaging with Influencers

When you first started using Twitter you’ll notice that it can be difficult to gain followers. So is there any way to speed up the process?

One of the best methods you can use to speed up the process is to engage with influencers in your niche.

What do I mean by an influencer?

An influencer is simply somebody who has a large following and is respected by others in your niche.

A great way to connect with influencers is to share the content that they create and share. You can find this content by following them on Twitter, and by reading their blog (if they have one). Sharing their content can be done through the use of a retweet, or even just by linking to their content in your own tweet and mentioning them.

#2: Harnessing the Power of Twitter Lists

What is a Twitter list?

Twitter lists are a way of organizing Twitter users into specific categories. For example, I have a list called “realtors” where I place any Twitter user that I come across who is a real estate agent.

You can create all kinds lists, both public and private.

Note: You do not have to follow users that you place on a list. However, remember that many people are more likely to follow you if you follow them. Just putting them on a list may not entice them into following you.

These lists can be great ways to help you search for content from specifically that category when you’re looking to share something.

To create a Twitter list you will first need to go to your Twitter profile. Then you can either click on the “lists” tab just below your header image, or you can click on your profile icon in the top menu bar, and then select “lists.”

You can then choose to create a new list. You will want to give your list a name, and you can add a list description if you would like. This is also where you can choose to make your list public or private.

Why would you choose private? Maybe you want to create a list of potential clients who you want to monitor and be able to interact with over time. Adding them to a public list called “potential clients” may turn them off from interacting with you. When you add people to a public list, they are notified that they are on your list, but when you add them to a private list they are not notified.

Once you have the list created you can start to add people to your list. You can add them by searching for their username, or by navigating to their profile and clicking on the gear icon next to the follow button, and selecting “Add or remove from lists…”

#3: Jumping On Trending Topics

One of the most important things to remember for your interactions on Twitter is that people want to see content that is interesting to them. In general they don’t care about your business, unless your business has something that interests them. So, it is important that you begin to post content that is important to others.

Twitter makes it easy for us to know what people are talking about. They call it “trends.”

You will find the Twitter trends on the left side of your home page (pictured above) , and on the right side of your Twitter profile. On the mobile app  they can be found by clicking on the magnifying glass icon at the top of all pages.

Many times the current trends will not relate to your business, but consistently monitoring them will help you to notice time that they do and allow you to jump on the opportunity at that time.

In this ad Oreo did a great job of capitalizing on a trend during the Super Bowl when the power went out, a trend that at first glance may not have seemed like it was relevant to their product. Try to find similar ways to relate trending topics to your real estate business.

#4: Thanking People Who Engage With You

One of the best ways to genuinely connect with other Twitter users is to thank them for engaging with you.

The key words in that statement: “genuinely connect”

Thanking people for engaging with you makes them like you more. It makes you more relatable. It makes them feel special.

The purpose of social media is to actually connect with other people. I know that it is easy to focus on the benefits you may receive from social media use, but the most important aspect of your social media marketing plan must be to genuinely connect with others.

A simple thank you goes a long way towards doing so!

#5: Tweet at Other Twitter Users

Twitter is a platform built on connections, just like all of the other social media networks are. So naturally, connecting with others is one of the best ways to get them to follow you.

But who should you connect with?

You can connect with anyone that you would like, but there are a couple main categories to focus on:

1. Current & past clients
2. Potential clients
3. Twitter users that compliment your real estate business

Lets take a quick look at that last one. What do I mean by “compliment?”

I mean that you should take a step back and ask yourself what your potential clients are interested in. Then you should connect with accounts that offer exactly this type of content. These would not be direct competitors, such as other real estate agents. Rather they may be large accounts such as Better Homes & Gardens (national accounts in the general real estate industry) or smaller accounts that deal with the local market that you sell homes within.

You should be constantly searching out Twitter users who compliment your business, and focusing on connecting with them.

#6: Embed Your Tweets Into Blog Posts

Do you have a blog on your website? If not, you really should consider starting one.

Having a blog on your website is a great way to provide you current clients , and potential clients, with some great value. It is also a great way to establish some expertise in your particular niche.

Creating good content on your blog, that can be shared, is a great way to get your name out in front of more people.

But having your content shared is not the only way a blog post can help you to gain Twitter followers. You can also embed relevant tweets into your blog posts. This will give your reader the ability to follow you right there from your blog, and the ability to click directly to your Twitter profile.

Note: Another great way to use embedded tweets in your posts is to embed other users Tweets. This can help you to connect with other Twitter users who compliment your business. In real estate sales this may be local businesses, mortgage lenders, appraisers, home warranty companies, or any other user who could add value to your clients experience.  As you can see above, I embedded a Tweet from Oreo. This allows you, and everyone else that comes across this post the ability to connect with Oreo directly from my blog.

#7: Use Share Buttons and Social Icons

Want to turn a reader of your blog, or a potential client who is searching for a home on your website, into a Twitter follower? Well then you need to make it simple for them to become one.

The best way to do this is to include social icons on your website. This allows people who are on your website to make it over to your Twitter profile with just a simple click of a button.

Another great way to get more people to see your Twitter profile is to include social share buttons on your website. This makes it easy for your website visitors to share something from your website. If someone shares something from your site on Twitter, there is a lot larger possibility that their followers will see your content, and click through to your Twitter profile.

If your website is run on WordPress, I highly recommend using a plugin called SumoMe. It is free and has tons of great tools in addition to the social share buttons that you can activate on your website.

#8: Tweet More Often

How often are you tweeting now? There’s a good chance that it is not enough.

Many real estate agents are afraid to tweet too often. However, with the current lifespan of a tweet being approximately 30 seconds it is unlikely that you’ll tweet enough to irritate your followers.

If the content that you’re sharing provides value to your followers, you won’t ever have to worry about tweeting too much.

This is the key. Make sure that the content you are sharing is valuable to those who follow you. Don’t just try to pitch your listings, or your services every chance you get. Try to use the 80/20 rule – 80% content that provides value, 20% that has some sort of sales aspect to it.

So how much should you tweet?

If you’re currently tweeting three times a day, try moving to five. If you’re currently at five try going to seven.

Many of the most successful Twitter users tweet as often as once an hour, some even more than that.

It may seem overwhelming to have to be on Twitter so much if you are tweeting multiple times throughout the day. Don’t worry, not all of your tweets have to be live. You can use tools like Buffer, Edgar, and Sprout Social to help you schedule some of the tweets that you send out each day. This allows you to time block your social media sharing, and create a plan for the day in just a few minutes each morning.

#9: Use Relevant Hashtags In Your Tweets

One of the best ways for your tweets to be seen by a larger audience than just your current followers is to include relevant hashtags in each tweet.

To start off with, if you’re not sure what a hashtag is, here is an example: #realestate

What is the point of using a hashtag? It is basically a way to “tag” a piece of content so that it can be found through search. By including #realestate on a tweet, anyone who searches for #realestate on Twitter has the ability to come across your tweet, and if they like it they may make it to your profile and even end up following you.

Since you are limited to 140 characters on Twitter, try no to use more than 1-2 hashtags in each tweet. You can use tools such as RiteTag and Hashtagify.me to search for relevant and popular hashtags. While #TheNameOfYourTeam (insert your team name there) may seem relevant to you, there are most likely not many people specifically searching for it on Twitter.

#10: Use Twitter Ads

Just like with Facebook, the ability to run ads on Twitter is a great way to get your content in front of a larger audience.

To get started with Twitter ads, go to ads.twitter.com and sign in with your Twitter username and password.

You will first want to set up the payment method for your ads account. To do so, click on your Twitter profile name in the top right corner of the screen and then select payment methods.

Once you have your payment method set up, you can start creating your first ad.

To start off with you have to choose the type of campaign you want to run. You have the following options:

• Followers
• Website clicks or conversions
• Tweet engagements
• App installs or re-engagements
• Leads on Twitter
• Custom

For the purpose of this post we will choose “Followers” since we are talking about how to get more followers.

Once you have chosen “Followers” you will be taking to the campaign set-up screen. First you will want to enter a name for your campaign. You can call it whatever you want. For this example I will go with the name, “Get More Followers”.

You will also be able to choose when you want the campaign to run. If you would like it to run continuously, you can leave the “Start immediately, run continuously” bubble selected. If you want to choose specific dates to start and end the campaign, choose the ”Customize start and end dates” bubble.

Next it is time to create the ad itself. You have 2 options. First you can create a new tweet. Second you have the option of using one of your existing tweets (this is similar to using a Facebook post and boosting it).

We are going to create a new tweet.

When running an ad to gain more followers, Twitter does not suggest you add an image as they say it can distract users from clicking on the follow button. This is something that you may want to test for yourself. Try running 2 ads, both with the same wording, but only using an image on one of them to see how it affects the ads ability to generate more follows.

Once you have entered the text you want yo use for your tweet, and click the “Tweet (promoted-only)” button it is time to move past the creative section, and onto the targeting.

You can also target users more specifically by using any of the following additional targeting criteria:

• Followers
• Interests
• Tailored Audiences
• Behaviors
• Event Targeting

Just like on Facebook, it will take you some time and experimenting to find the best audience to target. Try to think like you target audience during this step. Who do they follow? What are their interests? Use these things to help you narrow down your audience to only the people you think will best fit your target market or buyers and sellers.

The last step is to set your budget, and save the campaign!

Final Thoughts

Paying for ads on Twitter is not a required step to gaining more followers. However, of the 10 methods listed above it can be one of the quickest and most effective ways.

Give each of the methods  a try and find out what works best for you. A successful Twitter marketing campaign includes the use of each of the methods, but you may find that there are one or two of the methods that you like to focus on most.

If put into action these methods can help you to have great success when using Twitter for real estate!

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