Pinterest is a real estate professional’s social marketing dream come true. There are a lot of social networks available to help you connect with people, build relationships, and show off your business, but Pinterest – with its emphasis on big images, ease of sharing, and a reputation for planning your dreams – is perfect for real estate.
Here are the top three things you need to know to make Pinterest the best marketing tool you have.
1. Maximize Image Height
Pinterest is one of the most visual social channels, and content is arranged in long columns. That means that you get the most space on a screen if you have tall images.
You can sometimes accomplish this by cropping your pictures into an exaggerated portrait orientation, but you don’t want to lost half of the picture, either. A better option is to collage several pictures together into a column. There are several websites – like PicMonkey and Fotor – that will let you upload and collage pictures for free.
2. Build Links
As often as possible, but only where it makes sense to do so, link your pins back to your website or blog. There are two ways to do this: linking the image, and typing a link in the description.
If you repin something, or you pin something from the web, Pinterest will automatically link the image to the page it came from. This is a great option for individual listings or blog posts on your website. If you upload a pin from your computer, you can still link the image by clicking the Edit icon once you’ve saved your pin, and typing it in manually.
The second option is typing a link into the description of your pin. This is a better way to build links if the image isn’t yours. You could post a picture of a scenic neighborhood park, for example, and link back to a list of properties you represent in that area with a simple, “See homes for sale near this park.”
3. Three Kinds of Boards You Need
Put together Pinterest boards on a wide range of relevant topics. Here are some you definitely want to include:
- Neighborhood and Community Boards – Depending on how big your area is, curate a board for the different locals you cover. This is called “hyper-local marketing.” It makes you an expert on your area, and a trusted resource to your neighbors. Showcase scenic views, community events, family-friendly parks and amenities, hidden gems, etc.Then make sure you add a map to these boards. (Click Edit Board and toggle the “Add a map?” option to Yes.) With the map option on, you can specify a location for each pin, and Pinterest will display them on your board.Finally, consider sharing these boards with like-minded small (non-competing) businesses in your area – insurance agents, landscape developers, home repair services, etc. (Click Edit Board and type names next to “Who can add Pins?”) This takes some of the burden of building the board off your hands, and helps strengthen your community.
- Houses – Set up one board for homes that you are currently representing – lots of big, beautiful images, and link back to the specific listing on your website for each one. Another board can be your Pinterest resume – pictures of happy families in front of homes you have sold.
- Home Inspiration – Interior, exterior and landscape. Set up an interior design board for each room in the house – kitchen, bath, living room, dining, master bedroom, kids rooms, etc. – and start collecting pretty pictures and clever ideas. Other inspiration boards could be renovation tips, porches or decks, gardens and yards, etc. Lisa Herland and Diana Foster are real estate agents who have curated these kinds of boards.
Include other boards that show off your personality – places you’d like to vacation, quotes you like, fashion, etc. – but make sure you have the ones detailed above.
Pinning is Winning
Recent studies have revealed that Pinterest drives more traffic to websites than Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and Reddit combined. It’s second only to Facebook, which means your real estate business needs to be rocking it. Facebook is where people go to show off and catch gossip, but Pinterest is where they go to dream.
Be part of those dreams, and turn pins into profit.
A Special Invite
Katie Lance has over 15 years of marketing and branding experience, and a passion for helping companies with their social media and content strategies. She and five other entrepreneurs and consultants will be participating in an online, fireside chat event on Friday, June 20, at 10am PDT and we’d like to extend a special invitation to her readers. Click here to watch live >>
Entrepreneurship That’s Built to Last will explore and discuss how to reach your audience, grow your business, and manage the work/life balance to build your dream. You can register for free. We hope to see you there!
This was a guest blog post by The Grasshopper Team who loves sharing tips, tricks, advice, and how-tos with entrepreneurs around the world. We’re always here to answer questions or just chat.
