Australia’s top real estate influencers to start following

All real estate agents aspire to use the power of social media to grow their business, engage with more consumers and generate leads. But sometimes that’s easier said than done.

For this reason, it’s worthwhile to start following the industry influencers that are at the top of their game to learn what strategies you can implement to boost your online presence.

The digital media ranking system BrandData has ranked the top 44 Australian real estate brands and franchises online presences by tracking follower and engagement measures across various digital platforms (including Twitter, Facebook, website, Instagram and Youtube).

The top 10 Australian Property Agent influencers as of October 25, 2017 based on the BrandData rankings are:

1. LJ Hooker

2. Ray White Group

3. McGrath Agents

4. Harcourts

5. Century 21

6. Raine & Horne

7. Barry Plant Real Estate

8. Elders Real Estate

9. Jellis Craig

10. Nelson Alexander Real Estate

Using the data from these rankings, we can see which agency or agent is the top influencer on different social portals.

Here are our key takeaways from studying the top influencers in real estate on the most popular social media platforms in Australia.

Ray White Group- Facebook

Ray White Group was ranked first for Facebook engagement. With over 10,000 likes their Facebook page is a masterclass on soft sell marketing techniques, where the focus is on building trust, fostering long-term relationships and engaging with their audience rather than just sell, sell, sell 100% of the time. Featuring a treasure trove of posts including competitions, how-to videos, property news, VIP events, agent profiles, corporate reports, white papers and the occasional listing, this is the page to check out if you’re ever stumped for Facebook content ideas.

One of our favourite types of posts they frequently share is their incredible range of original blog content. We think part of the reason their page is so successful is that they create and share ‘value adding’ helpful blog content to engage with different members of their audience sporadically. This reinforces the Ray White brand in readers’ minds as property experts who are committed to servicing their many and varied followers. This strategy is a win-win for Ray White as the blog articles are also great for SEO and driving traffic from Facebook straight to their website.

Ray White Group- Twitter

Ray White Group also ranked first for engagement on Twitter. Just shy of 8,000 followers, the content strategy on their Twitter account is similar to their Facebook page but with greater emphasis on sharing and retweeting news, current events and videos.

Research shows Tweets with images see five times higher engagement rates than those without and images increase retweeting by 150%. All Ray White’s posts contain large high-quality images with a short text summary, which helps to explain their success with the platform.

Ray White also shares and retweets lots of relevant video content, which is a great strategy for upping engagement with followers and industry networking. Studies show that 82% of users watch video content on Twitter and that adding video to a tweet gives you a 28% boost in engagement.

Nelson Alexander- YouTube

Nelson Alexander was ranked first for YouTube engagement. They’ve had over 1.5 million views since starting the YouTube channel in 2013. As far as we can tell, winning features of their YouTube channel and video content include:

• Clear and sophisticated branding.

• High-quality video production.

• A variety of different videos on offer including listing videos, guided listing tours, vendor interviews, auction footage, auctioneer and office profiles.

• Constantly uploading new videos (several times daily).

• Videos are optimised for mobile viewing.

• Sharing of YouTube content on Twitter.

Gavin Rubinstein- Instagram

The only individual real estate agent to make the top 44 Property Agents on BrandData’s list, Gavin Rubinstein is ranked first for Instagram engagement ahead of all the major Australian real estate franchises.

An agent at Ray White Double Bay, Gavin regularly shares Instagram stories and posts with his 14.5K followers. His posts are successful at building his brand and profile by providing glimpses into not just his professional life and achievements, but also titbits from his at times glamorous and everyday personal life (think holiday snaps, red carpet events and even cooking dinner). Gavin’s stellar Instagram account can be chalked up to:

• Knowing his audience- Gavin’s Insta marketing is geared towards the high-end lifestyles of followers and the clients he caters for in the Sydney property market.

• Adding value- Frequently posting quality, attractive, interesting and relevant content with his target audience in mind (typically every three to four days).

• Variety- Sharing the perfect balance of business philosophy, self-promotion, listing videos and personal posts to give followers a sense of who he is.

We hope these insights into what the best of the best influencers in Australian real estate do socially helps to guide your social media plan.

For more ways to improve your online presence take a look at our tips to develop a social content plan, a guide to becoming an Instagram pro and how to build your personal brand.