Inman

Realtor.com doubles its Facebook fans

Move Inc.’s use of social media to more than double the number of Realtor.com Facebook fans and build interest in the listing portal’s iPad app and "Ask a Realtor" offerings make it the "Best Socialized" enterprise-level business, according to the judges of Digiday’s SAMMY Awards.

Other companies taking home top prizes in the annual social advertising, media and marketing (SAMMY) contest included Wal-Mart, American Express, HBO and Nike.

Move won recognition for growing the audience of the Realtor.com Facebook page by 149 percent in one year (the page had 24,000 fans this week).

It’s done so in part by making Realtor.com content, including real estate listings, easily shared via multiple social networks. Realtor.com users can now log in to the site using their Facebook accounts, and the company claims to reach more than 6 million Twitter users each month. Realtor.com’s YouTube Channel features more than 300 videos that have been viewed more than 430,000 times.

The Realtor.com Facebook page also features promotions and content that’s meant to inform as well as encourage interaction.

Realtor.com offers trivia questions on real estate-related topics and a weekly "Pick Your Palace" vote for the portal’s Facebook fans, for example, asking them to choose their favorite property between two pictures.

Realtor.com has made it a policy to directly answer any customer questions posted on Facebook. The page is moderated 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays by a "Chief Facebook Officer" who provides content that includes announcements of new products.

A sweepstakes held in conjunction with the launch of the Realtor.com iPad app in April generated 4,200 new fans. Facebook users had to "like" the Realtor.com Facebook page to be entered to win one of six iPad 2s.

Move also used YouTube and other social media channels to promote the app, answer questions, and generate feedback about the app.