NEW HEATMAP REVEALS REGIONAL SOCIAL HOTSPOTS.
Following on from my previous blog asking “How is social media being embraced within the property industry?”, I thought I’d take a look at a great visualisation answering this very question.
The guys over at Propertyflock have recently launched the first social media heatmap for property. The heatmap shows estate agents up and down the country engaging with social media over the last eight years and tracks the acceleration of growth across the UK. From 2006 to 2015, we are able to see the areas of the country that were first to open Twitter accounts and the nation’s social media hotspots thereafter.
The map proves what we already knew: the property industry is alive and kicking in the usage of social media.
While more and more agents make social a bigger part of their marketing efforts, the map sheds light on regional insights and provides some interesting findings.
With Twitter launching in 2006, London saw the first agents try out the microblogging platform in 2007. Perhaps unsurprisingly, London remained the social hotspot in the years to come, and is followed closely by Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and other large cities across the country.
Here at Estate Agent UK Networking, we quickly saw the potential of social media for property and launched the #EAUKNetworking concept in 2010. As more agents joined the Twittersphere, it became increasingly important to provide an online community for the industry to seek and share advice on social tools. The Estate Agent Networking website provided this and more recently, our LinkedIn group as well. As agent’s social performance became more and more important, the #EAUK200 and #EAUK500 leaderboards were launched to commend influential individuals who were excelling at social media.
According to Propertyflock, agent Twitter accounts have now passed 5,000, and nearly 75% of the industry are embracing social media in their marketing. The community of agents is growing everyday, shown not only by the buzz of comments and conversations on Estate Agent Networking UK.
At the core of estate agency are people. The fundamental importance of trusted relationships and personality offline, goes to show why social media is such a powerful tool for this industry. Speaking to Rush Somauroo – the man behind the heatmap and Founder of Propertyflock – He explains “Social media gives agents the opportunity to bring their offline personality and expertise to an online environment with huge potential”. He goes on to say “It is the agents who embrace this – the ones who personalise their activity, share local content, and develop relationships – that are performing the best.”
You can view Propertyflock’s heatmap below, while we wait to see what the next few years has in store!
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Link to view heatmap: http://www.propertyflock.co.uk/heatmap