Can you run a business purely on Social Media?

The way the world of communication is going, ie all online and increasingly mobile, it is foreseeable that you can rely totally on social media to build and maintain a profitable business. With the likes of Facebook, Pinterest and soon to be Twitter, you can easily purchase goods and services from social media so there is now no boundaries to overcome in order to sell. So does this tell us that we will all soon be without the need of telephone numbers, email addresses and even websites?

I can not see the likes of email, telephone numbers, websites, face to face business networking dying out anytime soon, but I can certainly see the importance of social media increasing and progressing it’s adaptation to our lifestyles. I can see how someone can solely use social media in order to run their business which may or may not require face to face interaction. I know a few people who do not have a website (all though would have emails and telephone numbers) and rely on social media to build their audience and business enquiries the same way as many people can rely on their websites to make them their daily bread. Ecommerce such as household items to eBooks are sold across the internet and social media used correctly can aid with sales and at times be all that is needed to drive brand awareness and new customers your way.

I spend a lot of time on social media, mostly studying conversations and popular links/images/videos among the target followers I have for the varied brands I work with. Simply by understanding your audience and customers likes and dislikes as well as their current needs, you can easily engage with them enough for them to purchase your products and services.

I am not saying that as an estate agent you will be able to place a house for sale on Pinterest or Facebook and somebody will come along with a ‘Buy It Now’ surprise for you, but just like Ebay, Facebook, Amazon and other buying and selling platforms, you will very soon be able to do a lot more with having your property on social media as each of these platforms evolve. I do believe that the likes of Rightmove and others will see competition from social media and for agents with property portfolios, they’ll have more places to actively market their property.

Can you imagine having a Twitter account that half the population of your local community actively follow? You’ll have a shop window more powerful than the high street shop window you have now, stronger viewing figures no doubt compared to your local newspaper and a far better reach than being on first page on Google. If more and more of the local community are embracing social media and spending more of their leisure time on it, then surely it will be important to have full listing details on these channels to engage these potential customers – Provide them with all the information they need directly on the social media channels they use, ie view a property listing, watch the video and click the request a viewing button.

There is no need to panic as for the time being if you have a quality brand, great website, good SEO and well presented properties on Rightmove and Zoopla you will do well in business, but I suggest that you do keep an eye on social media and the latest news on how it is progressing in popularity. Just as many internet experts would advise you to make sure your website is mobile friendly because of the increasing number of people using the internet on the mobiles, I would advise you to make sure you’ve a strong finger in the growing social media pie just incase…

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Breaking Property News – 29/03/24

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   Geovation Spring showcase – why it is important that you come and support the founders The event takes place on the evening of Wednesday the 17th of April, at Sutton Yard, London EC1V 7EN, please get it booked into your diary today. As ever the…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News – 28/03/24

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   tlyfe the tenant App gets huge marketing boost from national team tour from the Openbrix team As many will know tlyfe, powered by OpenBrix, is the UK’s most innovative tenant lifecycle app, taking the stress out of the move in process and helping to…
Read More
Breaking News

Over Four Out Of Five Tenants Unaware Of The Renters Reform Bill

OVER four out of five tenants remain unaware of the Renters (Reform) Bill and its contents, according to new research. The data comes from a representative survey of over 2,000 private renters conducted by the TDS Charitable Foundation, which works to advance education about housing rights and obligations in the private rented sector. The Bill…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

What is Property Damage in a Personal Injury Case?

Property damage refers to any damage that affects things instead of a person. This might include damage to your car, house, etc. As such, it is not regarded as a personal injury case. However, when an individual is injured when the accident occurs, the affected person can file a personal injury claim. A typical example…
Read More
Love or Hate Rightmove
Breaking News

Rightmove comment on new 99% first-time buyer mortgage product

Matt Smith, Rightmove’s mortgage expert said: “It’s encouraging to see lenders continuing to try to innovate in the mortgage market, even after the government abandoned its own plans to encourage lower deposit mortgages in the Spring Budget. This new product has the potential to help some first-time buyers who fit the affordability criteria, but are struggling…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News – 27/03/24

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   Coadjute ahead of the game as they are already licensed to provide digital TA6 Forms to property stakeholders This week, the Law Society announced its TA6 Form will now include Material Information as per the the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team…
Read More