Social media as a marketing tool : From the realtors perspective

The aim of this study was to examine how and why realtors on the Swedish real estate market use social media marketing. In 2014, eight out of ten Swedish realtors were using social media in their profession (Mäklarvärlden 2014). Social media has grown to become an established marketing tool, why the intention of the authors behind this paper was to further investigate how and why Swedish realtors has adapted their marketing mix towards social media. Since the area of subject was examined through the experience and knowledge of individual realtors, a qualitative approach is to prefer rather than a quantitative approach (Bryman & Bell 2013). The selection of respondents was based on these experiences and knowledges, as these could be used later on to describe how the area of subject can be perceived (Gunnarsson 2007). The interviews that was part of the study was first coded in a threestep method and second analyzed using a descriptive analyze model, which is a suitable method for descriptive examinations (Gunnarsson 2007). The study identifies two major descriptive motives why Swedish realtors uses social media marketing, that is word of mouth along with personal branding. The study suggests that the realtors aims to accomplish these motives by appearing as either professional, passionate, personal alternatively a combination of the three