How The Social Network Helps Real Estate Get More Clicks

The information technology revolution in the country has not left any area untouched, real estate included. Further, with an ever- growing public interest in social media platforms, the way properties are being bought and sold in India has also witnessed a sea change. Today, the value of a home in a locality is only as high as the interest it generates, and the social media plays a crucial role in doing so.

Here is how technology and social media have transformed the traditional real estate business:

Advertising & marketing

Listing of properties has already shifted from newspaper to various real estate portals. Investors these days prefer online portals, as they are search-friendly, target specific customers and save time. Companies also launch their projects on social media platforms such Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Yelp among others to target the young working professionals, who frequent these sites. With the growing role of NRI investments in real estate, use of social media for advertising and sales will get even more crucial.

The importance of social media branding is also evident from the fact that even real estate advisors have taken to the online opportunity. The most preferred platform for real estate agents are Facebook and LinkedIn. Realty advisors use social media to generate leads. This trend will only go up only, as customers prefers to use Google rather than company websites for their investment needs.

Customer engagement

Engaging customers and following leads is a job that a number of property advisors and companies prefer to do on social media sites. Regular and targeted interactions also helps companies build a customer base via social media. Online presence of companies is also taken seriously by most people, and branding on social media is considered crucial. 

Crowdsourcing of funds

Crowdsourcing is fast gaining ground to raise funds for projects. The popularity of this model is evident from the fact that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has come up with guidelines for raising funds via crowdsourcing. If a property advisor or a startup is planning to buy a land parcel with growth potential, all they have to do is convince the Twitterati or Facebook users. A number of projects, both real estate and otherwise, have raised funds using this model.

Data analytics & big data

Rapidly changing trends in price markets is very crucial for the real estate sector. This brings into picture applying data analytics. The process uses algorithms to ease existing data to make a better purchase decisions for banks, builders, real estate agents and potential investors. A number of countries, including the US, are planning to come up with pooled public data of real estate prices with inputs from various sources. Such data would give an idea of the past, present and future prices of a locality. It will also be able to guide the investors on unsold inventory, growth drivers and livability index, giving depth to real estate decision making.