Social Skills: Double Your Business With Double the Tweet Length

By Liz Dominguez

The time to tweet is now. If you haven't taken the Twitter world by storm yet, here's your chance to make a name for yourself. Social media is a great way to boost your real estate business and connect with your younger clients.

Marketing yourself with 140-character word limit can be tough. The right string of words can be powerful enough to evoke a series of retweets and mentions. With the wrong words, however, your thoughts will float into the Twitter void, never to be heard from again.

Lucky for you, Twitter is testing out an increased 280-character limit. That's double the length to make a strong impression. While a site-wide rollout hasn't been announced yet, a few will be randomly selected to test out the new tweet length. Here's how you can use Twitter's potential word count extension to increase your business.

1. Tag your clients to increase exposure. All those posts congratulating your buyers and sellers are wasted if not tagged. You want your clients to retweet these posts so they're circulated among friends and family. What better way to get referral business than by effortlessly tagging a client? The added space will allow you to tag multiple clients, perfect for homes that are being purchased by a couple or a few family members.

2. Increase your hashtag use to go viral. There's no easier way to rise to the top than making sure your keywords are working their magic. Search the Twitter feed to find out which hashtags are trending and use the ones that make sense with your tweet. You don't have to go hashtag crazy, but this will at least give you a chance to add more keywords than before. Use any relevant words that might trigger a search, but don't forget to include real estate specific terms, as well. Once you go viral, you'll have an abundant supply of new business.

3. Post interactive content to engage your audience. You no longer have to sacrifice content when posting videos or pictures. The original 140-character restriction may not be enough to properly describe a video or photo you're posting, especially if you want to link back to another source. This is a great opportunity to grow your brand awareness by posting more interactive marketing content. Use this as a platform for your virtual tours and add descriptive information about the properties to entice buyers.

4. Use your words to spark conversation. Expand on your thoughts and stay away from yes or no questions. With these extra words, you can create interesting dialogue based on information that is useful to your client base. For example, post home repair content for first-time homebuyers who lack the experience of maintaining a property. Always make sure you're posting valuable content, instead of words that just take up space. New business only comes to those who can provide value.

5. Expand your customer service outreach. Once clients realize that you're easily reachable via Twitter, your follower count will soar. The younger generation tends to stay away from phone or email, relying instead on social media for assistance and feedback. You can also use this platform to provide your clients with pertinent industry contact information. Do you partner with a local electrician or plumber? Share the information with your clients and you'll be seen as a resource for any home related needs.

No time to tweet? No problem! RISMedia's ACE can help.

Find more social media strategies, tips and trends in RISMedia's Social Skills series.