You’ve been hearing it for a while now: you should be on social media. You should be marketing yourself on social media. You’ve got it. But how do you get started? How do you get active here in a way that actually creates the impact you’re looking for? After all, you may have noticed that if you simply post to Facebook or Twitter: “Buy my house,” you won’t likely get a huge response. You need to have a strategy, and you need to know what will work for your audience—which is different online than it is in person.

Luckily, these three guidelines will help you set the pace for your social media, and give you a jumping-off point as you enter the world of social media marketing.

Don’t just be a salesperson—be a friend.

So you’ve got clients and community members following you on Facebook or Twitter? That’s great! But you can’t just use these channels as a way to throw your listings in front of them; that’s not what they want here.

They want to be entertained. Social media is like the digital office water cooler—share a funny story, ask everyone how they’re doing, and get a mini-update in a quick, snackable moment. In both scenarios, you only have so much time to capture your audience’s attention, so speak to them by sharing news they find relevant and by getting their input.

Save your promotional pushes, like links to listings, for infrequent moments—say, 20% of your time as opposed to 80%. You’ll appear genuine and make yourself an authority in the industry as well when you seek to inform and entertain, rather than sell.

What are some content types to help you get started?

• Articles from trusted sources
• Infographics
• Videos
• Fun images (credited)

Ask and answer questions

The biggest bonus of social media is the chance to speak directly with your potential clients in a relaxed, comfortable setting. In fact, 62% of millennials say if a brand engages with them on social networks, they are more likely to become loyal customers. So take the opportunity you’ve been given, and speak with your network. Answer questions, provide assistance. Many customers find communicating with brands on social media to be much preferable to any other option; they can receive simple, real-time customer service. This is a huge benefit you can easily provide!

Go further, and ask your community questions yourself. One of the most exciting things you can do as a marketer in today’s atmosphere is use the consumers’ interests to directly shape your actions! You can poll them on what they’d eat at an open house, or which staging style they prefer; the sky really is the limit, and people love to have their thoughts valued on social media.

So don’t avoid the people at your fingertips—make them your digital community.

Be consistent

Finding content and finding the time to post it constantly can be tricky, especially when you already have a full-time job. So before you throw yourself in, create a plan to post two times a week, or five times a week—pick a level to start that is most comfortable for you, but try to post at least twice a week.

Staying active will help you have a professional and authoritative presence online, so when prospective clients search for you, they know they’ll be working with a savvy, engaged company. And just as importantly, when the fans who follow you know that you’ll be regularly posting, sharing, and commenting, you’ll solidify their loyalty for your online persona (and eventually, as a client, offline).

Finally, once you plan a posting pattern that you can stick to, schedule your posts in advance of the week to make it easy on yourself.

This may all sound like some effort, but by using the right social media tools, you can easily schedule posts to all of your social channels at once, read and respond to comments, and discover curated content to find and share information with your own audience—all in one place, for every platform! Our favorite tool is Lumentus Social, which even has a real estate-focused content newsfeed for customized posting.

However you choose to plan out your use of social media, remember to follow these rules—and when in doubt, don’t forget this all about being social: so have fun, and make connections!