This is the first of a five part series of posts designed to get you thinking about using Social Media Marketing to find new clients and to strengthen relationships with your existing clients.

The big buzz in online marketing today is Social Media. Chances are that you are more than familiar with sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, YouTube, Pinterest – and many others. 

The initial goal of social networking sites was to connect people with relatives, old friends, and colleagues. However, the marketing world is now utilizing this powerful tool to popularize business brands all over the world. 

As a real estate professional, you can market your business directly to consumers at no cost using various social networking sites. The main thing that you need to do to be successful is to invest some time to grow and nurture your online following – transforming them into loyal life-long customers.

Social media is one of the fastest growing trends online. In fact, there are more than one billion people in the social media community. You probably already know that many of your customers are socializing online every day.  Therefore, it should be easy for you to use social media to keep them coming back. 

Even if you only generated 100 new leads through the use of social media, it is well worth the effort. The good news is that you can achieve these types of goals without spending an arm and leg.

Social media accounts are free to setup and use. This is why many real estate professionals have recently turned to social media to get more website traffic, more customers, and more profits.   

When it comes to prioritizing your marketing strategies, it can be hard to decide what will make the cut. But the problem is that many real estate professionals usually ignore some of the most powerful strategies, such as Social Media Marketing.  

Most real estate professionals simply do not have time to delve in this intriguing online concept and its mysterious features. Some of them do not understand what Social Media is, while others think it’s only for teenagers. However, what they do not realize is that ignoring social media could be a huge mistake.

Look at it this way; a good number of teenagers who joined Facebook in 2007 are in their early twenties now and they are still using Facebook.  Not only are they using Facebook, but so are their children, parents, grandparents, and siblings.

People of all ages, races, genders, and income levels are now using Facebook and other social media networking sites.  It does not really matter whether you are a fan of social media or not; statistics and technology determine how businesses should shift their marketing efforts.

Although the ultimate goal of Social Media Marketing is to generate more sales, the initial approach should be to create awareness about your business. It involves building a relationship with your contacts and reminding them that your business exists. Eventually, many of those contacts will convert into sales.  

If you would like some assistance getting your Social Media Marketing campaigns up and running, contact me for a free consultation. I am NOT accepting new clients until July 2012 due to current commitments, but I will be happy to schedule a no obligation call with you prior to then.