Geo-targeting potential buyers
How do you reach potential housebuyers in a property's location? Social media can do it, says Tara Dulake.
GOOGLE MY BUSINESS
Google my business is one of the most sought-after business directories when it comes to targeting your local area. It’s not something most people have heard of, but it’s definitely the most important way to accurately target your local area. It works by managing your online presence across Google, including ‘Search’ and ‘Maps’. By verifying and editing your business information, you can help customers to find you, and tell them the story of your business. Our top tip is to always remember to include your local area in the description of your business and optimise your listing as much as possible, including adding photographs to your listing and asking existing clients to review you.
For Instagram, you have the option to share photographs to your photo map before posting. This uses the geotag feature and puts a thumbnail of your photo onto a Google map so that you can see where it was taken. It will also show up on the Explore page to users in the local area. Both these features allow you to show listings you’ve sold in the area, and local events you’ve been involved with that will target consumers specifically in your local area.
Twitter is all about the hashtags! In order to target your local area, all you need to do Is simply hashtag it! That might seem obvious, but to get even more reach from your local area, try pairing the hashtag with one that’s trending at the time. If you’re struggling for characters, why not tag where you are in your local area in your photo – that way, they might see it, and you’ll get a retweet!
Twitter has introduced geo-targeting to meet their local objectives – and you can target multiple locations.
Twitter has also introduced geo-targeting to help marketers successfully meet their local advertising objectives on Twitter. This means you can target a promoted tweet to a specific location based on a postcode or area name. What’s more, you can target more than one location, creating brand awareness for your company across one or multiple locations!
For Facebook, there are many groups you can access from your local area to post in. You can find these groups by searching your local area in the search box then selecting any relevant groups. This is a good way to engage with third parties too. If you find any relevant local pages, it is a great idea to like them. This will notify any local businesses of your page, and they may help to promote your page and vice versa.
You can also, (much like Instagram) tag the area you are in, so users will see your post when searching that area. However, the best way to target your local area on Facebook is through paid advertising and using the location targeting available. This is where you create an advert and select the audience you want to see it from a custom radius of your choice. Audiences can be found based on users’ location, according to their profile. You can then choose a specific audience, based on their interest and posts they have engaged with previously e.g. first-time buyers in that location radius. It’s by far the most accurate way to target exactly the right people in exactly the right area!
YOUTUBE
Do you have a video tour of a house to share on social media, or a video showcasing your local area? YouTube offers the ability to upload video content, but are you doing enough to optimise it for local search? YouTube is a search engine within itself. Make sure you optimise your videos with keyword specific terms to help them show in video search on Google, and on YouTube itself. You should include your location within the video title, description, tags, and even the video file name when you upload your video to ensure that it is optimised for both YouTube and Google search.
You can also run video ads on YouTube and across the web through the Google Display Network. Using advertising you can target specific areas, postcodes and locations which will allow you to target a specific demographic, or remarket to viewers based on their past interactions with your videos.
PROFILES
Across all of the platforms you manage, you should also ensure that any locations specific to the areas you cover are included within your profile descriptions. This will help your profiles and pages to show when a specific keyword is searched for on social media platforms.
