Social Media vs Social Messaging
How to balance brand marketing with personal communication, and why housebuilders must manage both channels strategically.
Introduction
In today’s digital world, a strong presence on social media is essential for housebuilders looking to stay relevant and meet the expectations of modern buyers. That’s why many have embraced platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to promote their developments and build brand identity.
Meanwhile, on-site sales teams are increasingly turning to social messaging apps like WhatsApp and Messenger to connect directly with buyers, sharing regular updates and responses to queries in a personal and timely manner.
Both have shown to improve interest and customer satisfaction through the house-buying journey. But here’s the challenge: while social media posts are safe, controlled, and brand approved, they rely on your buyers seeing them; and while social messages are personal and guarantee delivery, they have their own risks around compliance, oversight and brand consistency.
In this blog, we’ll explain the key differences between social media and social messaging, how each is being used in the housebuilding industry, and why it’s time to manage both channels with equal care.
What’s the Difference?
Social Media
Public platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
Managed by marketing teams, with content carefully planned, approved, and scheduled.
Used to build brand awareness, promote developments, and engage wider audiences.
The opportunity: Social media is a great way to generate interest by showcasing new developments, their local area and the lifestyle that comes with buying a home with your brand. It’s ideal for reaching large audiences, especially when marketing a new development.
Social Messaging
Private messaging apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, iMessage, and SMS.
Often used informally by sales teams to communicate one-to-one with buyers.
Allows direct, personal engagement with guaranteed message delivery as buyers see a message notification.
The opportunity: When managed correctly, social messaging is an effective way to deliver important updates, personalised content, and marketing campaigns straight to the buyer’s pocket. No algorithm required.
How Each Is Being Used in the UK Housebuilding Industry
Social Media
Housebuilders are typically using social media to:
Promote new developments and plots.
Share showhome photos and virtual tours.
Run competitions and events.
Build brand awareness and community engagement.
Marketing teams carefully vet all content before posting, ensuring a consistent tone of voice and professional brand presence. However, there are some limitations that should be considered.
Limitations: Social media is not a guaranteed way to reach your buyers and you are mostly reliant on them following the brand account to see posts in their feed. Even then, social media algorithms may only show posts to around 10% of your followers unless boosted by paid ads. Also, as social media posts are primarily designed for general brand awareness to the public, they are not as effective as direct messaging for personalised communications.
Social Messaging
Sales teams across the industry are increasingly using social messaging to:
Share personalised updates on build progress.
Showcase show homes, ready built properties and help sell off-plan through virtual viewings.
Arrange viewings and appointments.
Answer buyer questions in real time.
Send completion day reminders and aftercare information.
Provide video-based customer service: short, friendly video communication clips that explain key steps and keep buyers engaged.
Limitations: These social messages are often sent informally by individuals through apps that are not designed for business use. Without central oversight, content is typically untacked and inconsistent across teams and regions. This not only means management has no visibility of what is being sent to buyers on a daily basis, but buyers are also not receiving the same customer experience as each other throughout their journey.
The Risks of Untracked Social Messaging
While social messaging delivers excellent connection with buyers, its current informal use exposes housebuilders to several risks:
Brand inconsistency: no control over tone of voice, visual presentation, or message content.
Data protection concerns: potential GDPR and data security risks if personal information is shared via unapproved channels.
Loss of audit trail: no central record of communications which can be problematic if staff leave or disputes arise.
Lack of management visibility: sales directors cannot see what messages are being sent, missing an opportunity to measure, improve customer experience, and send targeted content to boost sales opportunities.
The solution
By using a platform like Movin Technology, that is specifically built for social communications, housebuilders can:
Enable sales teams to send branded, trackable messages.
Tailor communication with personalised video messaging to improve both engagement and clarity.
Provide management with full visibility and reporting.
Increase property sales with video content by delivering tailored messages to enquiring customers early in the buying journey.
Enhance the overall housebuilder customer communication strategy and support video communications in the housing industry.
Trust / rely on our video messaging experts for best practices, support and training for quality control and the best customer experience.
Managing Both Channels Strategically
Both social media and social messaging are powerful tools that should be incorporated into your business practices, but both must be managed professionally.
Social media is ideal for building brand awareness and generating new leads, while social messaging is the best way to deliver tailored, personal, and timely communications to individual buyers that are guaranteed to be delivered.
Of course, traditional communication channels like phone calls and email still have their place and not every message needs to be social. Email is perfect for formal, detailed, and longer-form communication while phone calls offer immediate, real-time two-way conversations for personal or urgent matters. Planned use of multiple channels ensures the best customer experience.
Housebuilders who embrace secure, branded video and social messaging platforms will not only enhance their customer experience but also protect their brand and unlock new opportunities for growth.
If you’d like to see how Movin Technology can help your sales teams deliver professional, trackable messages and harness the advantages of video communication, book a demo today.
