Continuing with our discussion on SEO and ways your company can increase your standing, we’d like to point out another crucial element to your success. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, the concept of social networking has not gone unnoticed. More than likely you’ve experimented with some form or another, whether it be Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or YouTube, there is no denying the impact it’s had on our culture. As we all know, social networking is not just a fad, so it’s important for the Enterprise Network to keep up with these changing trends and evolve to meet the needs of our customers.

In the real estate industry, there is this notion that we don’t need to adapt to these trends because of the current demographics of homebuyers. Well, we’re here to say that’s not true anymore. Besides the fact that even my grandma has a Facebook account, keep in mind that by 2010, the number of Gen Y-ers will outnumber Baby Boomers. This new age customer is highly tech savvy, so we shouldn’t be afraid to experiment. By taking advantage of these free sites, you’re able to stay in front of the customer and help build your business- with no cost to you except your time and effort.

Earlier this year The Nielsen Company reported that time spent on Facebook increased 700% in the span of a year. Statistics also show that if Facebook alone were its own country, it’d be the 8^th most populated country in the world. Imagine what that would be if we were to combine statistics from all outlets! To see a more comprehensive breakdown of social networking statistics, check out this article Nielsen posted online.

Still not convinced that social networking is an important aspect of a company’s success? Below is a video on YouTube created by Socialnomics that reiterates the importance of social media and ROI.

There are many opportunities that await us if we open ourselves up to social networking, so we’ve come up with a few simple ways your company can use 4 of the most popular social networking sites.

1. Post Twitter updates! The retweets, video tagging and other features are new ways to market your company. By including keyword terms, people who use Twitter search are more likely to find you as well.
2. Create a Facebook profile for your company. Include information about your company and update your account with new property listings, events you’re hosting, press releases and more. You can also syndicate your blog to Facebook which is yet another way to bring traffic to your website!
3. A great social networking site for professionals is LinkedIn. Your network consists of your connections, your connections’ connections, and the people they know- which helps you connect to others in the same line of business as well as potential clients. Not to mention, if others make recommendations on your business, you’re appeal to customers will increase.
4. Posting engaging videos to YouTube is very useful to real estate professionals. Create a channel and customize it to feature properties currently for sale.

Think of social marketing as a way to setup your own content distribution plan. Using social platforms helps increase the circulation of quality content you’re producing and is a great way to increase readership and link bait. When you build the bridge to these sites and develop a following, you establish a distribution network that circulates your content to thousands of potential clients. Thus increases your chances that someone will comment or link to your site.