How To Use Twitter for Commercial Real Estate

The rise of social media has presented new, exciting opportunities for professional networking. Twitter is a social network where professionals have the opportunity to grow their network exponentially and create conversations with other professionals they wouldn't otherwise have access to. Commercial real estate (CRE) professionals have a unique opportunity to develop their professional network through Twitter. Here are a few points on how to use Twitter for Commercial Real Estate: 

Do Your Research 
Before launching your personal or company presence on Twitter, a good deal of time should be spent listening and researching the existing conversations and brands on Twitter. TweetDeck is an excellent tool to learn more about what is being said around specific topics and industries on Twitter. Time should also be spent seeking out your offline allies and seeing if they are on Twitter as well as identifying key industry influencers on Twitter. Adding these allies and influencers to "Lists" on Twitter can help you group these accounts. By grouping these accounts together, you can more easily see what conversations are being created around what topics and get an idea of how you fit into the conversation.

Pat The Backs Of Others 
Your greatest allies offline will be your greatest allies online. Reach out to your contacts in real life to let them know about your social media efforts and ask for support. Share the content of your business partners, community leaders and philanthropic connections and take the time to praise and promote their efforts. The more that you share their content, the more likely they are to share yours back.

Tweet Around an Event Or Conference 
Positively contributing to the conversation around an event or conference can be another way to use Twitter for Commercial Real Estate. Often times, a hashtag will be provided for a tradeshow, conference or event. Attendees can include this hashtag in this tweet for their tweets to be aggregated into all the tweets around the hashtag and thus, provide a central location for those involved to talk to one another via the social network. Talking to other attendees over a hashtag can help you rise above the clutter and create one-on-one connections. Learn more about how social media will contribute to the evolution of trade shows and corporate events in 2014. 

Write Compelling Tweets 
Approach your tweets like a journalist approaches the headline of a story. Compose short, compelling and to-the-point copy into your 140 characters to try and drive your audience to action. Be sure to clearly communicate the action you want your audience to take. Do you want them to click your link, retweet, reply back to you? Make your intention very clear to yield greater response.

Keep at It 
A strong and engaged Twitter network is not grown overnight. Consistent frequency and connection with your loyal followers is key to developing a thriving Twitter network of followers.

Block Real Estate Services, (BRES) welcomes you to follow us!  Click here to follow us on Twitter.

Contributor:

Paige Salveter, MBA
Director of Marketing & Communications
Block Real Estate Services
LinkedIn