Hundreds of commercial real estate brokers — armed with wireless mics, tripod selfie sticks and piles of portable chargers — descended this fall on a hotel in Palm Desert, California. But they weren't selling property or signing leases.
Instead, they were learning how social media, and its likes and follows, might help them make more deals.
Developer Zach Molzer, who has nearly 14,000 followers on X and is renovating a tower in downtown Kansas City, taught attendees how to capture short-form video on the go. New York City broker Bob Knakel, with 60,000 LinkedIn followers, offered guidance on managing the drama that comes with a large online audience. And artificial intelligence specialist Topher Stephenson showed real estate bloggers how to build bots to promote content.
The record turnout for the fifth annual CREi Summit reflects something of an industry turning point, as more commercial brokers embrace social media like Instagram and TikTok to boost their brands — a strategy more commonly used by residential agents.
“What started as a Twitter chat during the pandemic has grown into a full-fledged community,” Cushman & Wakefield Executive Director Ken Ashley, founder of Commercial Real Estate Influencers, told CoStar News.
In a slower, more competitive market, attention is a scarce commodity, said Coy Davidson, a Houston tenant broker for Colliers who leaned into social media during the COVID-19 pandemic and never looked back.
“I did a 15-year, 38,000-foot deal in Dallas–Fort Worth — about a $680,000 commission — because the company's chief financial officer found my Texas office market post," Davidson said.
There's no guarantee that a broker can turn a post into such a high commission — or even a commission at all in the crowded digital field. Brokers may also need to prove the value of such an effort to employers, some of whom may be wary of costly gaffes or wasted time.
But some industry pros argue that social media can be an inexpensive — or free — way to stand out and close deals as the industry continues to work its way back to pre-pandemic demand levels and fights headwinds like high inflation and tariffs, as well as declining consumer confidence.
Standing out in the crowd
Some critics say social media is oversaturated with influencers trying to pitch or sell products to their followers, but commercial real estate influencers argue they are promoting their own brands and simply leveraging the platforms for maximum reach.
Carson Baird's biggest commission he can trace to a LinkedIn post is $55,000 after nearly a decade in the real estate business. But that's only part of the story, according to the industrial broker for LQ Commercial Real Estate Services in Fort Myers, Florida, who is known for his mustache and broker war stories on social media. The payoff is bigger when considering the opportunities that come from social media recognition, he said.
"If we talk about job offers, if we talk about pulling in new opportunities, getting in front of more people, that's a little bit harder to monetize," Baird added.
Brokers also say social media helps them stay top-of-mind and improves their search engine optimization on sites like Google. Davidson pointed out that landlords rarely call the 12th name that pops up in a browser search — and a strong online presence can help brokers show up first on that list. That pre-sell effect is the new competitive edge, he said.
“They already knew me from the content,” Davidson said.
Turning influence to income
Denver industrial broker Aviva Sonenreich, named the top Instagram influencer in commercial real estate for the second year in a row by CREi, said there's plenty of room for more commercial real estate influencers that have something to contribute.
Sonenreich has more than 1 million followers across Instagram and TikTok where she focuses on informal, fast-paced posts that educate and entertain. She readily acknowledges that not every post will generate a lead.
“The deals don’t materialize on post 1 — or post 30 — but the compounding is real,” Sonenreich said. “Add value, everywhere your customer is. Keep going and the internet will work overtime for you.”
Influencers who stand out are ones who share basic concepts of the business and can communicate them simply, said Skylar Romines, a commercial real estate insurance broker and founder of ATW Advisors. Romines has almost 10,000 followers on LinkedIn and 24,000 on X. Romines said it's just a digital attempt to boost the very traditional word of mouth.
“When the audience learns from you once, they’ll come back, and they’ll refer. That’s how influence turns into income," she said.
Influencers grow their followings by meeting like-minded individuals where they scroll, Romines said. She tailors her content to the social media platform; for example, she presents a buttoned-up professional style on LinkedIn, while Twitter sees more casual and off-the-cuff content. She refers to the strategy, using a pro golfer analogy, as "John Daly on Twitter, Tiger Woods on LinkedIn."
Romines advises time-pressed wannabe influencers to repurpose content — a podcast becomes a carousel, a short video and a newsletter — multiplying reach without multiplying effort.
Content converts clients
Even some social media skeptics are coming around. Davidson recalled how his boss — a top executive at Colliers — questioned his LinkedIn activity, until he showed him a commission check sourced directly from a post.
Other brokerages are investing in setting up their agents for social media success.
Joe Killinger, cofounder of Commercial Brokers International, built an in-house studio to help agents produce high-quality content.
His team records 30- to 60-second videos for YouTube and Instagram, while daily huddles aim to create a feedback loop that sharpens strategy.
The firm offers bonuses for posts that generate signed leases and trains new hires to focus on three pillars: asset class, market and personal story.
“Don’t post just to post,” Killinger said. “Make sure the value is there.”