What is the Anatomy of a Good Market Update?
Homebuyers like to know what is happening in a market where they'll be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you work in the real estate industry, you know that market update posts on social media can get a little competitive. What information is important? How should it look? Is aesthetic that big of a deal?
The Title
Everyone does a Monday Market Update. The only reason I keep the title for MCGR is because it is the McGuire Monday Market Update and I like that it has so many M's. Alliteration, people!! Like any weekly content, the title should be baller - alliteration, rhythmic, the works. Not only does it just sound more attractive, but the consistency of using the same title every single week will allow your followers to develop expectations and hit that "like" button.
If your market updates are more spread out and dependent on market movement, the title should be reflective of the data. That doesn't necessarily mean it has to be clever! If inventory has increased significantly and you title your post "Up, up, and away!", nobody will know what you're talking about and may not even stop scrolling. There is a time and a place for punny or themed posts, but something as data-heavy and serious as a market update is not it.
The title should be formatted so that it is large enough to be noticed but not so large that there is no room for the data. Remember, your analysis will be 2-3 sentences and will need to be large enough to be easily read. If your title takes up too much room that your data is unreadably small, what's the point? The title is the attention-grabber, but not the focus.
The Numbers
Buyers care about three main data points - number of units on market, average time on market, and listing price.
The number of units on the market is pretty straightforward. However, there are a few routes you could take. Is your brokerage's focus residential or commercial? Are you including mobile homes? Lots and land? These distinctions need to be addressed as to not bloat the data. But don't make it complicated! "There are currently 102 homes on the market" is sufficient for a brokerage focusing on residential homes.
Average time on the market is also fairly straightforward. On average, how many days has this kind of property spent actively listed? Boom, done.
Price is where it can get tricky. Because there can be outliers in a market, we have to do math to counter the distortion. For example, if the majority of homes in a city have a listing price between $350,000 and $500,000 but there is a mansion just inside the city limits listed at $3,000,000, the average is going to be very skewed. To eliminate the pull of the average to the more expensive side, simply create a bell curve using all of the listing prices in the market and average the most heavily populated section of the curve. This will allow the number to be more reflective of the city's market without guesstimating or issuing a huge caveat in the caption.
The Phrasing
The phrasing in your market analysis is key. It needs to be as simple as possible while still explaining the data as clearly as you can. I find it best to create a template and use the same or similar phrasing in every update, that way you can focus more on the aesthetic of the post.
The Photo
Just because the post is a market update does not mean you can't continue to advertise property. Utilize this post as a promotional tool by selecting the most attractive listing photo you have as the background. Match the text colors to the staging accent colors for flow and contrast. Stylize the text to match the vibe of the photo. Data can still be beautiful!
I prefer to use the more artistic photos of the bunch for these kinds of posts. Does the pool look like a resort? Is the front door just the right amount of hipster? Can you zoom in on a plant on the fireplace and use the Rule of Thirds to make it just asymmetrical enough to be interesting? Play with the composition! Don't be afraid of making it pretty!
The Logo
Your company logo NEEDS to be prominent and conspicuous on every single post you publish. It's, like, the law. This doesn't mean that it needs to smash the aesthetic of the post! Use Photoshop to make the background transparent if you don't already have a transparency. Go grayscale and use a darker or lighter version to compliment the photo. Place the logo in a position that flows. Again, play with the composition!
The Caption
The caption is where the rules get less stringent. Once your data is stated concisely in the graphic, you have room to offer more in-depth analysis in the caption. Here is where you have the chance to explain the math, the trends, the statistics, historical points, the whole shebang. Keep in mind, in-depth does NOT mean lengthy. Nobody is going to read your 1000 word essay on Instagram.
If you have ever taken a statistics or research methodology class, you know that there are a million directions you can go with this analysis depending on how the data turns out. Comparisons, correlations, causations, all those great math words. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here is a great glossary that can get you started:
http://bobhall.tamu.edu/FiniteMath/Module8/Introduction.html
(This might even be more than you'll need!)
The Legalese
There are rules and regulations in real estate for everything - this is one of the most heavily-regulated industries in the US. Below are some links to help you not get fined.
http://www.dre.ca.gov/files/pdf/faqs/Team%20Name%20FAQs.pdf
http://www.dre.ca.gov/files/pdf/forms/re559.pdf
http://www.calbre.ca.gov/files/pdf/forms/re858.pdf
http://www.dre.ca.gov/files/pdf/faqs/FAQ_DoingBusinessOnTheInternet.pdf
http://www.dre.ca.gov/files/pdf/advisorypolicychangeteamnames.pdf
Sharing is Caring If you have any thoughts or feedback or extra knowledge, share it in the comments. The whole point of this blog is to help each other figure it all out!
