Research reveals that people under the age of 40 solely utilize the Web to research information, look up local business information and connect with others.  As a result, real estate agents, mortgage brokers and business owners are advertising through online media sources versus traditional print advertising.  Social media marketing is a term that describes use of social networks, online communities, blogs, or any other online collaborative media for marketing, sales, public relations and customer service.  So what that means is that it is the media we use to be social and connect with customers, prospects and friends.  A popular form of social media is microblogging.  Microblogging is posting messages that are 140 characters or less.  This forces us to be more succinct and get to the point.  Microblogging is like text messaging and a little bit more.  The most popular microblogging site is Twitter. 

Twitter recently reported that it has approximately 200 million users.  Of these users, an average 140 million tweets are sent per day and an average of 460,000 new accounts are created on a daily basis.  With numbers like this, it is obvious that information about a product or service can each millions of users with the click of a mouse.

Using Twitter is a great way for businesses to directly communicate with their prospects and clients.  Additionally, clients can pose questions or easily find out information from the business. Twitter can be used as a low cost marketing tool for communicating business related information, to attain new clients and generate more revenue.

Real estate agents, mortgage brokers and business professionals can harness the power of Twitter by finding prospects and communicating with clients.  However, utilizing Twitter to its full capabilities is more than just creating an account and acquiring followers.  Real estate agents need to consistently post relevant, useful and timely messages to their Twitter account.  Topics can include newly acquired listings, recently sold listings, property price changes, community and neighborhood news, tips on the best neighborhoods to live in and links to information on their website.

The use of social media to connect with prospects and clients is giving businesses a competitive edge.  Those who shy away from such technology will leave the door open for their competition to step in and take over.  Social media is here and it does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon.  Now is the time to jump on board this new technology train and see how far it will take you.