How San Diego real estate agents turn social media into sales
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San Diego real estate agent Bern McGovern can't go out in North County without being recognized. Not because he's sold everyone's house, but because of his Instagram.
Why it matters: McGovern and other local agents are leveraging social media to build clientele and their brand in a market where buyers, sellers and dreamers eat up real estate content.
- "You have to separate yourself somehow," McGovern told Axios.
Zoom in: McGovern started posting on YouTube in 2018, and then he added Instagram, where he's gained more than 76,000 followers in about 18 months.
- Now, he reports getting about 70% of his clients from those social media channels.
Between the lines: Most of McGovern's Instagram videos share San Diego and North County news rather than listings and market trends. He can make one in 20 minutes and get 10,000 views almost guaranteed, he said.
- He shares news about local restaurants and businesses, ongoing construction and new developments, events and neighborhood guides. He generally films his posts in front of a green screen.
- "The local stuff is what gets people to trust you about the real estate stuff," McGovern told Axios.
- McGovern said people get to know him faster by watching his videos rather than reading reviews, and making content reaches a lot more people than cold calling or door-knocking.
- Building that trust is critical when buying and selling houses because people are making the biggest purchase of their life, he added.
When people are looking to move here, they're not searching real estate agents, McGovern said, but instead are searching neighborhoods, best places to live with kids, school districts or beach towns.
- So his videos reflect those curiosities.
Other local agents have gained followings posting highly sharable home tours that show people what they can get in various neighborhoods at various price points.
- Those videos are eye candy for San Diegans scrolling Instagram and TikTok, and they are legitimate leads for those who can afford to be in the market beyond window shopping.
- Some San Diego real estate agents also create educational content to help their peers navigate the industry.
San Diego real estate agent Dan Parker grew his business making YouTube videos about living in San Diego, and doubled his Instagram following to nearly 10,000 in the last year.
- And it's worked, Parker said, with more than 50% of his business coming directly from Instagram and YouTube at times.
- He's found long-form YouTube videos bring in more leads with fewer views than Instagram reels.
- "I've been able to grow our network and help more people buy and sell homes because of the content directly," he said.
The big picture: Real estate agents have been producing more short-form videos to market their properties and themselves, a tactic that really took off during the pandemic.
- Agents say personalized social media content helps them stand out in a crowded field of real estate agents and listings and build trust with clients before they even meet.
- "The question is no longer if you should be active on social media; it's how you show up," according to a Realtor.com article on real estate marketing trends such as treating platforms as search engines and using AI tools for posts.
State of play: There's a growing network of agents around the country creating real estate content and attending national conferences to learn about social media video tactics that they can take back to their own markets.
- McGovern and Parker recently co-hosted an event at AleSmith Brewing for about 100 local agents and mortgage brokers with panels on creating such content.
"No matter where you live, everyone's always interested in real estate," McGovern said. "It's nice to give people something other than just selling houses."