How to Build a Successful Real Estate TikTok Strategy, According to an Expert
A lot of real estate agents have questions about how to use social media effectively, especially when it comes to short-form videos on TikTok. Most agents don’t know what, when, how, or why to post – they just think they should because other agents are on it and they feel like they should be too.
But should you be on TikTok? And if so, how do you build a TikTok strategy that helps you build followers, get more views, and ultimately, generate new business? For that, we’ve turned to an expert: Yael Bunting of Yael + Co. Yael is a successful Toronto real estate agent and team leader that’s built an organic following of 160K+ engaged TikTok followers in a relatively short time!
Her approach to TikTok, which focuses on educating (and entertaining), has helped her reach countless buyers and sellers, resulting in more leads and about a 50% growth in her business after the first year of being on TikTok.
★ Want to learn more about how Yael uses TikTok to build her real estate business? Click right here to see her TikTok account and follow her.
Here’s what she had to say about building a successful real estate TikTok strategy (including what she wishes she knew when she first got started).
Q. What made you interested in starting a TikTok for your real estate business?
A. I started watching TikToks during COVID and became totally obsessed. I consumed TikTok content for probably about a year and a half before I ever posted a single piece of content. I was on ‘mat leave’ or whatever the entrepreneur’s version of that is, and I was thinking about ways to generate business once my daughter started daycare and I could truly dive back into things.
Because I was watching so much TikTok, I eventually ended up on Toronto Real Estate TikTok, and I would see so many other Realtors with a lot of followers talk about how they were getting leads from this platform.
Q. Why do you think TikTok is good for Realtors?
A. Being a good Realtor is frustrating. While I know I’m good at my job and I know I bring value to my clients, there’s a sense that nobody knows who I am. So often, you feel like you’re just shouting, “I’m here! Come find me!” It’s tricky because you know all these people would love to work with you, but they don’t even know you exist.
Even if you have money for a billboard or a radio ad (which I didn’t at the time), it doesn’t really get your essence out to people. I see TikTok and the algorithm as an opportunity to show people I exist and who I am.
Q. Why choose TikTok vs. Facebook or Instagram for real estate?
A. For me, the most interesting thing about TikTok is the algorithm. Compared to other apps, it’s so much better. As a user before a content creator, I saw how quickly it learned from me and just knew what I wanted to see.
I’d previously been on Facebook and Instagram, but it just wasn’t doing anything for me. I wasn’t getting thousands of followers, and the algorithm was just not there.
Although TikTok is still missing a huge part of the Millennial and ‘Elder Millennial’ segment, there are still so many diverse people on the app. I’ve had young people and seniors alike reach out.
TikTok’s algorithm is really what made me think I could reach the audience I wanted to reach.
Q. How did you start developing your strategy?
A. I did a ton of research on the algorithm from other creators about what they think works. I brainstormed ideas and made myself a goal of posting one piece of content every day for a year. Even if I didn’t get clients, I committed to giving it a full year.
I was very intentional in starting. Typically, I would post in the early evening to catch the after-dinner crowd. If you can capture a large audience at first, it has more of a chance to carry through. Which is one of the main benefits of TikTok. It doesn’t just show your video for 24 hours, it tends to live on much longer. Sometimes I see people commenting on videos from a year ago.
Q. Do you still post a new TikTok every day?
A. After the first year, I definitely slowed down. Mostly because it’s a lot of work. Not only are you creating all this content, but you’re also responding to comments. You’re building a community, you’re not just pushing stuff out and walking away. That’s also part of the algorithm. They want to see that.
They want to see that you’re a good community member. So you’re not just doing things on your own posts, but you’re commenting and interacting with other creators’ videos. That’s what you need to do to be an “all-around good TikTok-er.”
Q. What’s the key to a successful TikTok strategy for real estate?
Consistency. If you really want to gain followers, you have to be consistent and stick with it. Both in who you are and the type of content you are producing, and how frequently you post. Does it have to be every day? Maybe not. But at least multiple times per week to grow your community.
Each video is like a little marketer, so with each post that you have out there, they might be hitting different people for different reasons, depending on the content. So then you’re hitting more people and have a larger chance to grow.
And the more people who interact with or watch videos, the more the algorithm is going to push your content to other people.
A lot of the time, when people reach out to me on TikTok, they say they have been watching my videos for months. They found me at a time when buying or selling was just an idea, and then they got interested in real estate over time. They didn’t watch one video and then reach out.
It takes time and consistency to build a community and gain authority with your followers before they are in a position to buy or sell.
Q. What is the biggest challenge?
A. Putting in that kind of time is tough. Especially because it works. I started getting a lot of clients, and my business increased by over 50% because of TikTok. It’s a cycle. I didn’t have time to make videos every day because I was working with my clients. It’s a great thing, but then you have to remember where those clients came from.
It’s cyclical. TikTok is generating leads, but if you get so many clients, you don’t have the time to do the lead generation. But if you don’t do the lead generation, the clients will dry up, and you won’t be busy. And then you’ll have to start the wheel again.
It’s a lot easier to keep the wheel going to have to start it up. But that’s a big challenge. Keeping it going when the rest of your business and your life are busy.
Q. What type of real estate content does well on TikTok?
A. It’s hard to guess what’s going to go viral. You never know if it’s your video or if TikTok just says, “not you today.” I think what’s nice about real estate is that it’s naturally an interesting topic. It’s controversial, especially in Toronto, so it’s not hard to have viral content. If I went on TikTok and made videos about being a cement salesperson, that would be harder.
People want to see nice houses, people want to see interesting things. With real estate, it’s all built in already.
My personal bread and butter are “talking head” videos. They don’t get as many views as my property videos, but I think they are what gets me clients. When clients reach out to me, they always say things like, “I’ve been watching your videos for months, I’ve learned so much from you, I got a lot of value from your videos, which is why you’re the one we contacted when the time was right.”
So many people forget why they are on social media. All they think about is viral content. But when it comes to a TikTok strategy for business, it’s more important to focus on the content that’s going to get you clients.
At first, I would post a bunch of different things and just watch and see what gets more traction, and then from there, narrow my focus. But then also knowing that even though my “talking head” videos get fewer views, they do get more qualified, important views that turn into clients.
It’s about growing a business, not being an influencer.
Q. Is it a good idea to jump on TikTok trends?
A. Not unless you can relate the trend back to real estate. Let’s say you do a trendy video. It goes viral. Yay for you. You are going to get followers from it. However, they are the wrong followers. They are going to drop off eventually.
That said, there is a certain part of having a following that does help. The algorithm will push your content out more with more followers, and overall, people like things that are popular. So there can be some benefit to hopping on trends. But I don’t think it should be a focus of your strategy. Ultimately, you’re getting the wrong followers, and TikTok won’t know who to show your content to.
Q. Speaking of strategy, how does your TikTok integrate into your overall digital strategy?
When I started on TikTok, I didn’t have a digital strategy. TikTok was my launching spot. Those “talking head” videos were my bread and butter. It’s what I love to do, and it’s what gets me clients.
At some point, someone told me there was a disconnect between my TikTok and my website. People were finding me on TikTok, and then they would click on the site. My site was fine, it was probably a lot better than many other Realtors. But it didn’t have the same vibe as my TikTok, and that made me realize I needed to connect the two and have more of what people like on TikTok on the site.
That way, when they find me on TikTok and then click to the site, they can see that yes, I am who they think I am, and they are also getting even more value.
That was the reason I had for relaunching my website, and that’s the main point of my digital strategy.
Q. What are the important analytics to measure with TikTok?
Sometimes I look at my analytics and see that one of my “talking head” videos has 5,000 views (paling in comparison to my property videos, which get 150k+). However, in the analytics, I can see that 2% of those 5,000 watched the whole video. That’s 100 people just sitting in a room and watching me talk about status certificates or land transfer taxes for three whole minutes.
Imagine you were going to run a seminar and you had 100 people come. That would be amazing. It doesn’t seem like a lot if you’re worrying about things going viral. But it’s a lot of real people. Even if it’s 18 people. That’s amazing. If you’re watching someone talk for three minutes about land transfer taxes, you care. That video is for you. No one is watching that if they aren’t interested in it.
It’s all about reaching the right people.
Q. Is production value important when filming TikTok videos for real estate?
A. I would argue that it’s more important to be more raw. That’s what initially attracted me to TikTok.
I’m not a professional video editor. Instagram is more of a platform where you want production value, a curated feed, etc. TikTok is behind the scenes. You’ll see agents who roll out of bed and post anything. It’s perfectly fine to do a video in your car holding your phone.
It’s pretty raw, which is easier. You don’t have to hire anyone or know how to edit. A lot of the people who are putting highly-produced videos on TikTok are missing the plot, in my opinion. People want to know the person behind the brand. Tell me a story.
Q. What are some of the biggest misconceptions real estate agents have about TikTok?
A. For a lot of Realtors, they don’t think it’s where their target market is. It has a reputation for being the “dancing app.” And you might get the odd comment from someone saying that you’re promoting to the wrong audience and that no one on TikTok has money to buy a house. But at the end of the day, any type of comment, good or bad, helps push the video to more people.
A lot of Realtors are also afraid of putting themselves out there. As good as the algorithm is, sometimes it can be scary. You can post something on Instagram and know that it’s going to reach whatever portion of your followers, but if you put something on TikTok, it’s going out to a whole bunch of random people. And people can be mean behind their keyboards.
At the same time, social media is amazing, and it’s great to build a community of loyal followers, but it’s a lot of time and work.
Q. Is there anything you wish you knew before you got started?
A. I do wish I had started sooner! If you’re thinking about starting on TikTok, don’t delay because it can be extremely successful and you’ll wish you didn’t wait so long.
Want to get better, more qualified leads and build your authority? Our Inbound Marketing Guide is a walkthrough of the overall philosophy of inbound marketing, why it’s effective, and how you can build it into your own real estate marketing strategy to get better marketing results.
