Pulse: Facebook Plays Key Role in the Land Buying Journey

According to the December LANDTHINK Pulse results, 67.5% of respondents said that Facebook serves as their top choice social media platform when searching rural land for sale. Social media acts as an excellent resource for people looking to buy land and as the results of our most recent survey showed, it has a significant influence on a buyer’s decision-making journey, especially in the beginning stage. Regardless of how you might feel about Facebook, in light of the recent outcry over their practice of censorship, Facebook is undeniably THE social-media powerhouse. With more than 2.7 billion monthly active users worldwide, Facebook has the most users of any other social media platform. The odds are good that you’ve visited it at least once today. Based on last month’s results, it’s safe to say that buyers like to be able to look on a variety of social media outlets to locate land they’re interested in learning more about. 

December Pulse Sponsored by

Last month, the December Pulse asked: When searching rural land for sale, which social media platform are you most likely to use?

During a time of social distance, stay-at-home orders, and limited contact with others, social media has became an important place to interact. With people using social media to stay in touch with friends and family, keep up with breaking news and shop, it makes sense that they would log on when searching for rural land. It’s highly unlikely that a buyer would put down a deposit by just looking at some Facebook posts, they are studying properties to narrow down their physical search on social media as well as the leading land for sale sites like the LANDFLIP NETWORK.

While a top-notch website is still the most important aspect of a land brokerages’ online presence, social media remains critical. Having a social media presence and using it to influence the buyer’s journey is an obvious advantage that land agents should not overlook. A land agent’s social presence offers a potential buyer a glimpse about how quickly their properties sell, and how previous clients feel about them.

Facebook has some great resources for those who are actively looking for properties right now. First, Facebook allows for a longer video format than some of the other sites, which means that agents can share detailed videos about properties for sale. Second, the relatively new feature, Facebook Stories, provides a new way of sharing visual content on social media- they are photographs or short video clips of 5-15 seconds. Facebook Stories enables you to take 360-degree images without having a 360 camera. These are useful tools for sellers because your land listings are so visual and success depends on the visual appeal of what you offer. Stories are the ideal format for landowners and land agents to present “Newly Listed” property updates. Third, Facebook launched Marketplace back in 2016, a tab within the app that allows all users to buy and sell across many different categories, including real estate. It is common for agents to post land listings on their personal Facebook pages, their business page, as well as Marketplace. Additionally, Facebook’s Messenger function makes communicating with prospective buyers and sellers easier, allowing for instant feedback and decisions.

Coming in a very distant second, 19.8% of our LANDTHINK audience said that they would most likely use LinkedIn when searching for rural land. LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, and it allows users to network and connect with other professionals and organizations. The platform touts over 722 million members in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. In terms of professionalism, no other platform compares. It’s a thriving community of workers and business owners who share and connect on a professional level, making it more formal than other social media platforms. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn does not focus on making friends or sharing personal photos, videos and music.

LinkedIn is the ideal social network for land agents, whether you sell rural or commercial property. It was somewhat of a surprise to see that LinkedIn ranked ahead of Instagram and Twitter in this month’s informal online survey. This could indicate that buyers are using LinkedIn to find out more about agents they have found elsewhere (like Facebook), vet their skills, experience and qualifications, and also network with other professionals. People join LinkedIn to network with other professionals in their own field, and later discover that LinkedIn real estate resources are extremely helpful. When people are networking, their interest can be sparked by your professional services, even if they’re not currently looking to buy or sell a property.

Land agents can optimize their presence on LinkedIn, but they must acknowledge the difference between their personal profile and company page. A personal profile can be used to demonstrate experience, list your education and post content that represents both your personal brand and your company. Your company LinkedIn page should be specifically for your land brokerage business. Land agents can get the most out of your LinkedIn account by joining groups as a way to continue building their network.

Any visual content a land agent can create will help their Facebook and LinkedIn marketing efforts. Last year, a LANDTHINK Pulse revealed that 76.6% of respondents thought PHOTOS of land for sale is the topmost helpful element when viewing land listings online. Photos, images, and graphics perform well on both Instagram, and Facebook, and LinkedIn provides another medium agents can use to publish multimedia and level-up their marketing strategy.

We were pleased that so many people chimed in on this question, and we thank everyone who answered the Pulse and shared it on social media with friends and connections in the land industry. LANDTHINK would like to extend a big thank thank you to The Land Show with Dave and Johnny for sponsoring the December Pulse and for coming up with a very interesting question to pose to our audience. The show can be heard throughout the state of Alabama on Saturday mornings. Visit their website for a list of the locations and stations and to listen to podcasts. Dave Milton and Jonathan Goode, land agents with Southeastern Land Group, host the show and want to introduce land investing to capable investors and help land owners reach true market potential when listing their properties.

Become a Pulse sponsor! It’s a great way to ensure your brokerage is the first one buyers and sellers call when they have a need to buy or sell property. You’ll get insane exposure on Social + Email + Web. That’s 500,000+ monthly eyes on you! Once you have it, you won’t want to give it up! Pulse sponsorships are offered on a first come first serve basis and are subject to certain limitations. If your business would be interested in sponsoring a Pulse question, please contact us soon.

Do you have a suggestion for next month’s Pulse question? Submit your question and we might choose yours!

We want to know what you think about our January Pulse question, chosen and sponsored by PotlatchDeltic: When buying rural land, how important is it that your property be located near public land? Answer now.