It seems as though no person, of any age, remembers a time before social media. Just as Moore’s law describes how the doubling of transistors within an integrated circuit attest to the driving forces of technological and social change, so too does the permeation of social media. The peer-to-peer networking phenomenon is a staple of our personal lives and work lives including how we market commercial real estate.

Social Gets Big With Business First

Purists will argue that social media has existed since the early 1970s with the incarnation of Talkomatic, an early multi-user chat room application. However, the “big guns” of social media really didn’t take hold until society was squarely in the age of the World Wide Web. A few early instances like Open Diary, AOL Instant Messenger and a game-based social networking site name Habbo were all aimed at garnering consumer interest. While those first attempts at social networking shone brightly, briefly, most are now things of the past.

In 2002 a new breed of social networking launched with the advent of LinkedIn. A different kind of social networking service, the platform enabled business-minded users to mesh with others of the same ilk to network and connect with, in the hope of advancing careers, building partnerships or gaining advice. LinkedIn became the first niche social network to show staying power. Today it is a vibrant tool in the advancement of business.

Network, Connect, Advertise

For commercial real estate companies, LinkedIn can help in lead generation, brand building, or establishing your prominence as a thought leader. By design, the platform can connect you and your brand with real estate-minded professionals near and far.

As a social network, LinkedIn increases your exposure. It’s been used by Presidents and business professionals alike to increase interest in their brands. So, why not use it for promoting your commercial real estate business?

The timing of posts and quality of content will be essential to building your brand presence on LinkedIn, and a dedicated commercial real estate marketing firm can help with that.  Your engagement with your LinkedIn network spreads your ideas and perspectives about the industry into a social interaction that grows your sphere of influence and also helps with search engine optimization (SEO).

Company Posts are posted to your business’s page with all your branding and elements. These posts can be informative, educational or promotional since you own them. They can also be used as part of a broader paid advertising campaign on LinkedIn.

Personal Posts are associated with your user profile. They are most likely to get engagement because they are being shared directly with your network.

LinkedIn articles via the social network’s publishing platform allow you to share content with anyone following your profile. If your article is intriguing, it may get picked up by LinkedIn’s editorial staff for wider distribution.

One final point that makes use of the platform even more appealing is the continually growing mobile Internet population. These always-connected users make for prime opportunities to create relationship networks—and isn’t relationship building the key to commercial real estate success?