Additional Tips

  • Learn about the different channels and start with the one you are most comfortable with.
  • Remember, your social media presence is your business card. Update your bio and the Messenger feature to make it easy for people to contact you.
  • Use automation and scheduling tools like Sprout Social, Agorapulse, and Hootsuite to help you save time.
  • You don’t need to post multiple times a day, but you should stick to a consistent schedule so that your followers will know when to expect content from you. It’s a great way to build trust.
  • Build your referral network by joining Facebook and LinkedIn groups to connect with others in commercial real estate and related industries.
  • Follow Texas REALTORS® social pages to share and retweet content relevant to your followers.
  • Make sure your advertisements comply with relevant parts of TREC rules, The Real Estate License Act, NAR Code of Ethics, RESPA, and Regulation Z Truth in Lending. More information about these rules can be found at goudounet.com/faq under the Advertising heading.
  • Always check if the social channel has specific requirements or prohibitions regarding posting a listing.

Have you considered using Instagram to promote a new commercial development or Facebook to find a buyer for a retail center? While social media is a marketing tool used by many residential agents and brokers, it’s not exclusive to them. Three commercial real estate brokers shared with Texas REALTOR® magazine how they use social media to grow their business.

Answers have been edited for space and clarity.

Engagement and Relationships

Staying top of mind is how Quenton Rockwell, Principal of Rockwell Commercial Group, Houston, cultivates a commercial following. Not only does Rockwell make a point to respond to all comments, he regularly posts humorous and real estate activity-based content. When he changed brokerages, his wife took short videos of him updating his logo and signage. They used the video for Instagram and Facebook Reels and generated over 500 views. “It was a great way to remind people that I’m in commercial real estate.” It worked: One of his connections reached out, leading to a new business opportunity.

Rockwell also highlights his buyers’ and sellers’ businesses. He creates social posts that include pictures, a brief description of their business, a link or a tag to their business page, and what it was like to work with them. “We are happy to help them and be a part of their story,” he adds.

The Power of Attraction

Libby Mitchell, Broker/Owner of Regency Real Estate Professionals, Beaumont, had a client who purposely deferred maintenance and stopped adding new leases on a large office complex. He planned to demo it and build his headquarters there; however, after Covid hit, he changed his plans.

“I had to market the property at around 60% occupancy and in need of repairs, without any signage,” Mitchell says. Using a pro forma and nearby comps, she focused her marketing on the potential. She then created a Facebook advertising campaign directed toward investors within 100 miles of the location.

A local developer/investor who had seen the ad agreed the potential was there and bought the property for cash. On the day of closing, the buyer already had contractors there to update the property inside and out. “He quickly filled the vacancies and renamed the center after his firstborn son.”

Besides creating ads, Mitchell advises to post listings as soon as possible, since a new listing always prompts urgency. She also suggests creating an album of professional photos including the interior and exterior, along with aerial maps to help attract more commercial prospects.

It’s About Having a Presence

Russell Webb, Owner of Silver Oak Commercial Realty, Southlake, sees LinkedIn and Facebook as powerful tools. “In today’s world, the MLS is not enough,” he says. “You need to have a social presence to compete.”

If you are new to social media, don’t let that stop you—you don’t need to be an expert and you don’t need to handle it all yourself. For instance, Webb uses a PR/social media vendor to help him write well-crafted listing descriptions and social posts about his completed sales and leases. Through their guidance, Webb has learned to focus on posting earlier in the week when his followers are most active and uses bullet points instead of paragraphs in the caption section to make his key information stand out.