TikTok has its share of controversy, but the numbers don’t lie, and with more than 1 billion users worldwide and 150 million in the United States, the social media app is on par with Instagram and Facebook as a tool for businesses to reach customers.
That’s especially true in real estate, where brokers are using TikTok’s short-form videos to showcase their knowledge and personality, as well as their listings. It’s one more way for real estate brokers to show what they’re about and connect with potential clients.
“I gain most of my clients through my personality,” said Sara Starr Poulsen, a broker with Metropolist Real Estate in Seattle. “Yes, I’m very well-informed, and I’m great at what I do. But when I meet with prospective clients, I tell them this is what we’re going to do, and we’re going to have fun doing it.”
A viral post
Poulsen took a chance on TikTok, unsure what to expect at first. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she posted a funny video depicting working from home with kids, and the post went viral, garnering more than 800,000 views.
Poulsen said her candidness and humor are a good fit for TikTok. And, she says, you can’t force the business part of it. She aims to be relatable and real, sometimes posting videos when she’s not wearing makeup or with her kids in the background.
“It would be so inauthentic if you get up there and post a bunch of [real estate] stats,” she said. “That’s not where I’m shining. I try to focus on what clients come to me for … I get the most engagement from being my authentic, loud self.”
Poulsen recommends brokers wondering about TikTok look at the real estate content on the app, maybe post some live videos, and see what happens through trial and error. That’s essentially what she did, and now she has nearly 15,000 followers.
“It takes such a short amount of time out of my day,” she said. “And I do enjoy it, and I get great engagement.”
‘Just get started’
Lauren Matera has built one of the largest followings for a real estate professional on TikTok. Her account, @ItsThatRealEstateChick, has more than 432,000 followers and her content has received approximately 10.8 million likes.
She said she owes much of her real estate success to her social media following, which she credits for 95% of her business. Matera, who works with Coldwell Banker in Maryland, got her start in the business in the fall of 2020.
One common mistake she sees when people try to leverage TikTok for their real estate business is they give up too easily. A broker wouldn’t send out 10 postcards and give up if they failed to generate a lead, she said. So why would someone give up on social media after only 10 posts?
“Just get started,” Matera said. “Start creating and start posting and getting things out there.”
Matera said it took her a year to find her niche on TikTok, and at that point she had only about 1,000 followers. Then she started posting with more intention and found short-form video worked well for her. Her videos include a mix of listings, unique properties, real estate tips and humor.
“Be authentic, genuine and your algorithm will do the hard work for you,” she said. “Always be true. Be who you are. Show up. Show who you are. Say what you need to say. Do it consistently.”
Influencer adds TikTok
By the time Monica Church launched a TikTok account, she was already an established social media influencer. Her YouTube channel has more than 1.5 million subscribers, and she has nearly 200,000 followers on Instagram.
Church, a Seattle-area native, affiliates with Compass and is entering her third year in real estate. She admits that TikTok is third on the pecking order of where she devotes her social media resources.
“For me, TikTok is definitely the third priority, but it is only because I’ve grown YouTube for so long,” she said. “I probably put 5% of my time into TikTok. The only thing is with all the short-form content, it can be harder for people to get to know you on a more personal level.”
She said making a personal connection is the key to her social media success, and that’s true of TikTok, YouTube or any other platform. By being active on social media, clients get to know Church and build trust in her before they’ve ever met personally, Church said.
She recently got her first client lead through TikTok, although most of her business connections come from YouTube or Instagram.
“I’m a huge fan of [social media],” she said. “I love it. I sort of grew up in that generation where it comes natural for me.”