Online sharing and microblogging sites such as Facebook and Twitter play an important role in decision making processes when it comes to entrusting the sale of homes to an agent, a recent survey has revealed.
Social networking is one of the top innovations of our era, and the impact of social media is felt in many areas of our lives. So it is no surprise that sellers turn to these sites when seeking guidance on who is best placed to market their property.
Networking Sites Used to Seek Selling Agents
According to a survey carried out on behalf of US agents, Prudential Fox and Roach, more than a third of vendors searching the internet for someone to help sell their home use social networking sites to seek recommendations and references. Of respondents searching online for an agent, 35% said that information from sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook had an effect on their final choice of agent.
The information may come as a wakeup call to any agents lagging behind in the social media stakes, since it confirms these sites play an important role, not only in property marketing for their existing portfolios, but also in their own self promotion. While sellers seeking an agent ranked the quality of the agency’s own website, its position on Google search results and mentions from industry authorities as important, the results clearly indicate they also want the more personalised level of endorsement that is best found through social media platforms.
Agents Must Show Online Expertise
It seems logical, therefore, that agents wanting to appeal to the movers and shakers in social networking circles, will increasingly need to demonstrate their own online expertise in order to secure these ever more influential endorsements.
