For some time, agents have been able to share their listings from Trulia with their Facebook followers, but today, Trulia announces they will be using Facebook Connect for agents to sign into their Trulia account with their Facebook credentials. This will mean that starting January 14, real estate professionals can expand their professional reach more deeply into their social media world.
Roost was awarded the Genius30 award for their linking real estate search to agent profiles and a bevy of real estate apps are available on Facebook through various entities. With agents searching for any way to extend their professional life into their social networking efforts to avoid the time suck that can be Twitter and Facebook.
Some are saying that this move is just a way for Trulia to garner links from Facebook while others are noting the helpful nature of linking the two. We’d like to know in comments what you think about the Trulia announcement.
The full press release:
Trulia connects real estate professional profiles to Facebook, reaching 500 million new prospects
Truila’s Growth in Consumer Leads Continues in 2011 as Real Estate Professionals Increase Exposure from Social Networks
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11, 2011 – Trulia.com, a leading site for real estate professionals, homebuyers and sellers, today announced the ability for real estate professionals to link their Trulia profiles to their social network through Facebook Connect. This new feature allows agents and brokers to expand their footprint and drive more inquires by connecting to Facebook’s network of more than 500 million users. Current Trulia members can already share listings and open house times on Facebook but all other professionals will have the ability to log into their Trulia accounts using their Facebook credentials beginning Friday, January 14.
Trulia pioneered socializing the real estate industry when it launched its Trulia Voices community in August 2007. The Trulia Voices community has helped agents establish a social presence, grow their digital resume and connect with millions of consumers. Full account integration through Facebook Connect is the next step in Trulia’s plan to help real estate professionals expand their social footprint to drive more value to their business. “Trulia is committed to providing real estate professionals with social networking tools that drive meaningful connections from both Trulia and their Facebook networks. Our members are looking for new ways to increase their reach and we plan to take advantage of the potential of social networks to deliver on their need”, said Sami Inkinen, COO and co-Founder of Trulia. ”Savvy agents and brokers understand the importance of reaching more consumers through social networks like Facebook, and Trulia plans to make it easier for them to connect with the social consumer.”
By creating a combined sphere of influence between Trulia and Facebook, Trulia now provides professionals with one-click-access to increase exposure to their business and uncover new leads from buyers and sellers on Facebook. In addition to the ability to login to Trulia through a Facebook account, real estate professionals can easily share listings and open house times with their social network and beyond.
All Trulia members will be able to link their accounts to Facebook beginning on Friday, January 14, 2011.
Eric Bramlett
January 11, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Personally, I think it’s smart to allow consumers/agents/whoever login to any site using Facebook Connect (or any of the services using OpenID.) We all have tons and tons of accounts all over the web – usernames & passwords that we probably standardize (and shouldn’t) b/c they’re too easy to forget if we don’t.
I’m obviously not the biggest fan of trulia’s linking strategies, but I don’t think there’s anything nefarious going on here. It looks to me like they’re trying to increase account creation/logins.
Agent for Movoto
January 11, 2011 at 5:37 pm
Insofar as it will help users consolidate login-info it’s a great idea. Will be interesting to whether/how it actually works in terms of generating business.
Ken Brand
January 11, 2011 at 9:05 pm
It makes me uncomfortable, but I believe it’s inevitable.
Soon, every significant (popular, trendy, ________?) web thing will have a umbilical cord to Facebook. I understand how it benefits the connection-creators, to me the the challenge is to figure-out-and-understand how to use the tool to benefit me-and-my-tribe, beyond the obvious, average and ordinary.
Jeff Royce, Frankly Real Estate
January 14, 2011 at 10:52 am
If this results in agents’ Facebook feeds getting filled up with listings, it’s a bad thing for those agents. All your Facebook friends do not want to see every listing you have. It’s a good way to get taken out of their feed altogether.