Social media consumes enormous agent attention for often minimal return. I’ve audited dozens of agent social media presences over the past year, and the same mistakes appear repeatedly.

Here’s what’s going wrong and what the minority of agents getting results are doing differently.

Mistake 1: Posting for Algorithms, Not People

The first mistake is creating content designed to please algorithms rather than serve actual audiences.

Symptoms:

• Generic motivational quotes with no connection to real estate
• Trend-chasing content (whatever dance or challenge is popular)
• Posting at “optimal times” regardless of content quality
• Obsessing over metrics that don’t connect to business

Why it fails: Algorithms change constantly. Content that games today’s algorithm may be invisible tomorrow. Worse, algorithm-optimised content often has no authentic connection to your expertise or market.

What works instead: Create content that would be valuable if platforms didn’t exist. Local market insights, genuine client stories, honest property analysis. Content with real substance performs over time regardless of algorithm shifts.

Mistake 2: All Listings, All the Time

Some agents treat social media as a listing billboard, posting every new property and sold result with minimal context.

Symptoms:

• Feed dominated by “Just Listed” and “Just Sold” posts
• No content between property announcements
• Identical formats repeated endlessly
• Promotional captions with no insight

Why it fails: Your followers don’t need another portal. They follow agents for personality and expertise, not property catalogues. Listing-only feeds become visual noise that gets scrolled past.

What works instead: Follow the 80/20 rule—80% value-adding content, 20% promotional. Share your perspective on the market. Explain what makes specific properties interesting. Tell stories about the people and processes behind transactions.

Mistake 3: Inconsistent Presence

The third common mistake is erratic posting—bursts of activity followed by weeks of silence.

Symptoms:

• Enthusiastic start followed by abandonment
• Posting only when something is worth “announcing”
• No content strategy or calendar
• Guilt-driven catch-up posts

Why it fails: Social media rewards consistency. Sporadic presence signals unreliability and makes it hard to build audience expectations. You’re always restarting rather than building momentum.

What works instead: Commit to a sustainable frequency—even if that’s just two posts per week—and maintain it. A reliable presence beats occasional viral attempts.

Mistake 4: Ignoring the Local Angle

Many agents post content that could come from any agent anywhere. There’s nothing distinctive about their market knowledge.

Symptoms:

• Generic advice that applies nationally
• No mention of specific suburbs, streets, or local context
• Content that could be written by AI without local knowledge
• Missing the stories and characters that make areas interesting

Why it fails: Your audience can get generic real estate content anywhere. Your unique value is local expertise that can’t be replicated by someone who doesn’t know your market.

What works instead: Make your location central to your content. Comment on specific suburb developments. Share insights about particular streets. Reference local landmarks, businesses, and community features. Be unmistakably local.

Mistake 5: Wrong Platform Focus

Some agents spread themselves across every platform without considering where their actual audience spends time.

Symptoms:

• Presence on five platforms with mediocre content on all
• Chasing new platforms without validating audience fit
• Same content cross-posted without platform adaptation
• Energy diluted across too many channels

Why it fails: Different demographics use different platforms. First-home buyers might be on TikTok; downsizers are probably not. Prestige buyers might be on LinkedIn; young families are on Instagram.

What works instead: Identify where your target clients actually spend time. Focus on one or two platforms and do them well rather than spreading thin. Adapt content for each platform’s conventions.

Mistake 6: No Engagement Strategy

Posting without engaging is like speaking at a party but never listening. Many agents broadcast but don’t participate.

Symptoms:

• No responses to comments on your posts
• Never engaging with others’ content
• No community participation
• Treating social media as one-way communication

Why it fails: Social media is social. The relationship-building that generates business happens through interaction, not broadcast. One genuine conversation creates more connection than ten posts.

What works instead: Respond to every comment. Engage meaningfully with content from people in your sphere. Join local community groups and participate genuinely. Make interaction a priority, not an afterthought.

Mistake 7: Inauthenticity

The hardest mistake to fix is content that doesn’t reflect who you actually are.

Symptoms:

• Forced enthusiasm that doesn’t match your personality
• Content themes that don’t connect to genuine interests
• Copying successful agents’ approaches without adaptation
• Visibly uncomfortable video presence

Why it fails: People detect inauthenticity instantly. Content that feels forced creates distance rather than connection. Your discomfort becomes their discomfort.

What works instead: Find content formats that suit your actual personality. If you hate video, don’t force it—write instead. If you’re naturally analytical, share market data rather than lifestyle content. Authenticity beats polish.

What Actually Generates Business

The agents I know who generate genuine business from social media share common approaches:

They showcase expertise, not properties: Their content demonstrates market knowledge, process expertise, and professional insight. Properties are examples within broader value, not the value itself.

They build relationships over time: They nurture audiences for months or years before expecting transactions. Social media is relationship maintenance, not lead generation.

They convert offline: Social media creates awareness and trust; actual business conversations happen in direct messages, calls, and meetings. They know when to move conversations private.

They measure what matters: They track enquiries and appraisals attributed to social media, not likes and followers. Vanity metrics are monitored but not optimised for.

They’re patient: Building social media presence takes 12-24 months of consistent effort. The agents generating business now started years ago. Even industry conferences like AREC now dedicate sessions to effective social media strategy for agents.

Practical Starting Point

If your social media isn’t working, here’s a reset approach:

1. Choose one platform and ignore the others for now
2. Commit to two posts per week minimum, indefinitely
3. Make every post local with specific suburb or market references
4. Engage with ten pieces of content daily from people in your sphere
5. Measure enquiries only, not engagement metrics
6. Give it 12 months before concluding it doesn’t work

Social media can generate business. But it requires strategy, consistency, and patience that most agents don’t bring. Fixing the common mistakes is the starting point.

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Linda Powers consults with real estate agencies on digital marketing strategy. Her observations on social media mistakes draw from auditing dozens of agent presences across Australian markets.