Inman

Big NYC brokerage strikes social media marketing partnership

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Warburg Realty, which describes itself as one of the largest brokerages in New York City, has embarked on a new partnership that will enable it to execute targeted social media advertising for all of its listings.

The partnership pairs the brokerage with Adfenix, a Swedish company that uses artificial intelligence to create targeted marketing campaigns on social media platforms such as Facebook. According to a statement from the companies, Warburg is the first New York City brokerage to offer Adfenix’s services as a standard feature on all listings, and the firm will now be able to “hyper-target potential buyers most likely to be interested in their listings specifically.”

Frederick Warburg Peters

“Warburg remains committed to being proactive and discerning in finding the most powerful new tools to enhance the marketing success of our sellers, our agents, and the properties we represent,” Frederick Warburg Peters, CEO of Warburg Realty, said in a statement.

Warburg agents who have used the service have said that they are already seeing results, with Lisa Larson, a broker at the company, noting that at one property 10 percent of her showings were to people who saw the listing on either Facebook or Instagram.

“Using Adfenix has resulted in a significant boost of exposure for my sales listings, all of which reached more than 3,500 potential buyers online in the first two weeks after the campaign began,” Larson said in a statement.

Larson also said the information on the ad campaign that she received from Adfenix “provided invaluable insight into how to further market those properties for a successful sale.”

Warburg Realty was founded in 1896 and describes itself as one of New York City’s top ten real estate brokerages, as well as “one of the last privately held residential real estate firms” in the metropolis.

The partnership between the two companies comes as real estate firms large and small rush to capitalize on the seemingly limitless reach of social media. Earlier this month, for example, Curaytor announced a new service that includes full oversight of its customers’ Instagram ads, stories and general post strategy. That same day, Realogy also announced its own Facebook ad service. Other companies such as Compass and Homesnap have also recently beefed up their social media strategies.

Doubling down on social media, however, doesn’t come without peril; on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development charged Facebook with housing discrimination. The case stems from allegations that Facebook allowed people to discriminate against certain demographics in housing-related ad campaigns.

On Thursday, a spokesperson for Warburg told Inman that Adfenix does not target ads based on demographic information, instead relying on online behavior to tailor its marketing.

In the case of Warburg, the company described its new social media partnership with Adfenix as a “cornerstone” in its “continuous efforts to stay at the forefront of technology and marketing and advertising trends.”

Email Jim Dalrymple II