Before social media sites like Facebook became commonplace, real estate agents had to be pretty creative when it came to engaging with their sphere of influence. Direct mail, events, door knocking and even phone calls were expensive and time consuming.

Facebook has changed all of that. It’s flexible, easy to use, always at your fingertips, and, of course, free. Today’s REALTORS® are engaging friends, family and acquaintances with real-time micro conversations, while simultaneously building a network that agents from just a decade ago wouldn’t have dreamed possible.

So what’s not to like?

We’d be hard pressed to come up with any reason why you wouldn’t want to market yourself and your business on Facebook. In fact, a recent survey of 16,000 consumers found that nearly 50 percent of the participants trusted their social media friends, compared to 30 percent who trust traditional media outlets. Clearly, a giant advantage for REALTORS®.

But what to share?

It’s all starts with that “E” word … the one you’ve heard a thousand times … engagement. It’s important to not just broadcast information but to take the time to comment on your network’s activity where it fits and feels appropriate.

Layer in education. Talk about topics that answer the questions and needs of potential clients. Share hyper-local facts about your area—ideas or issues the mainstream media isn’t already covering, like ….

• Are local home values on the rise?
• How are local employment rates?
• What is the median list price of homes in the area?
• Are there reportable trends between sales price and sales volume?

This is where the RPR reports can be useful. Full of property and market information that is regularly updated and easily shared to Facebook. And of course the report is branded to you. Also, because the social post links back to the original sourced material, it reinforces the trust factor.

Give me the details! How do I share a report to Facebook?

First, visit the Reports page at narrpr.com. Create and run your report. Hear a doorbell? That’s the system telling you that the report is ready. Then, from the left column of your page, choose the plus sign highlighted in orange. It will display a “Things you can do with your report” pop up window. Then select “Share on Facebook.” Here is a quick video that will walk you through the process…