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Social media traffic is vital for a small business dependent on recurring customers. As home inspectors we need recurring business from our Realtors and social media can be the tool to lead engagement. So how do you use social media if you are beginning your home inspection business? Furthermore, which social media platforms should you use? We are going to tackle the important questions in this article!

Which social media platforms should you use?

There are many types of social media platforms, each with its own specific target market and media type. Concluding this section, we will dive into what is important for home inspectors.

Facebook – Target Market: Everyone. Media Type: Everything.

This is the media platform everyone is known to be on and it is used for everything. Anyone who is anything is on this platform.

Instagram – Target Market: Ages 18-29. Media Type: Images.

Known for its “influencers” and younger vibe, Instagram is the social media platform to tell your life story through images.

Twitter – Target Market: Ages 18-29. Media Type: Microblogging.

Also called “tweeting”, younger users can post short paragraphs about their lives.

Pinterest – Target Market: Ages 18-29; Majority Females. Media Type: Images.

Pinterest is best known for showing picture perfect recipes, weddings, and houses.

Youtube – Target Market: Ages 18-29. Media Type: Professional Videos.

Have something you want to share with the world in a video? Entertainment, schools, you name it, it is in a video.

LinkedIn – Target Market: Professionals. Media Type: Anything.

The you your mom wants to see is here. This is everyone’s professional lives and an online resume.

What social media platform should you invest in?

So which platform should you be on? Ultimately, it depends on where your Realtors are, right? Taking this into consideration, you may find your Realtors to be on every platform, but you putting yourself on every platform can actually hinder your growth. Deep diving into a media like Facebook can create a high presence rather than a low presence on all platforms. This should be highly considered when choosing platforms to invest your time into. While Facebook may great for everything, YouTube may be great for informational videos on your company, all while, Pinterest can be used to connect with female Realtors that post about homes.

How to market your platforms

Now that we can decipher what platforms you will want to consider, we should decide on what you are going to be posting. This task can be daunting, however, it is actually fairly simple. The keys are to keep it social, interactive, and consistent.

Gaining Exposure

Plain and simple, market your pages/content EVERYWHERE. For some ideas, here is a list of places you can gain more exposure to your social medias:

  • In your inspection emails, tell them to like your page!
  • At the end of inspections
  • During marketing events like presentations
  • Competitions between inspectors or for a raffle
  • Referral Rewards
  • Mass Emails

What to post

Engaging posts like selfies, funny videos, information videos, pictures of animals, etc, can never fail. On the other hand, a few company testimonials will never hurt your image either. For a few ideas think about these cool hashtags: #FlashbackFriday, #MotivationMonday, #WackyWednesday, and #TestimonialTuesday.

Social media is meant to be social! When posting, try not to think to hard, but rather post information your Realtors will want to read/see/like.

How often to post

This is a question asked quite frequently. Is posting 5 days/week too much? Is posting 3 days/week too less? What is the right answer?

The correct answer in how often to post is 1. How often your audience is receptive and 2. How often you can post. For instance, if you are posting too much, you may find the content lacking, and therefore, interaction, as well as follower count drops. Therefore, it is good to keep in mind your limitations as a business owner and the drop off rate for your follower count.

When to post

Another question asked often is when you should post. This can vary by media type and by clientele, however, these are the most active times for social media:

Monday-Thursday: 1 – 3pm

Friday: 3pm – After

Call to Actions

Social media is meant to be social, but you are there to make more money! So how should you frame call to actions?

Call to actions should be simple, limited, and informational. You may want to consider framing your call to actions by offering a blog post or by offering a discount strictly to those on your social media. At the same time, you should limit call to actions to less than once per week. With having too many call to actions you risk losing reception.

Measuring Success

How do you measure success with social media platforms?

Many medias offer a business account/page option to which you can see analytics of how many people click on your website from your profile. Furthermore, using a tool like Google Analytics, you can find how many people are clicking from your posts to your website.

For instance, if you post on Facebook about your latest blog, you may want to track how much traffic is going to that blog post. Google Analytics can tell you how many people are referred from social media. Just check this out:

You can see from this Google Analytics account, Social Media referred 19 new visitors within the selected timeframe (past 7 days in this instance).

Moreover, when tracking success, you should be watching your follower/like/engagement increase from month to month. The more engagement you receive overtime = the better Search Engine Optimization (SEO). As we all know, the better the SEO, the more inspections scheduled.

Concluding

I hope you found this post insightful into the many ways you can use social medias. As a business owner, you already have enough on your plate. On the other hand, just adding 30 minutes a day or 2 hours on the weekend to plan out a few engaging posts for the week, can have a huge effect in the long term.

The more Realtors see your name, the more you will be used! If you have any questions about social media, be sure to drop a comment!