ORLANDO, FL -- (Marketwire) -- 11/10/12 -- As more home buyers, sellers and investors rely on social media and online resources for real estate information, Realtors® understand the importance of engaging in this space. To that end, Realtors® at today's Raise your Social Media Marketing to the Next Level session at the 2012 Realtors® Conference and Expo learned strategies to enhance their social business and digital engagement and methods to incorporate new outlets into their marketing mix.

"Technology has transformed the way Realtors® do business, and it's important to keep up with this ongoing evolution," said Nobu Hata, director of digital engagement for the National Association of Realtors®, who spoke during the session. "Given the Internet's convenience and round-the-clock accessibility, it's not surprising that many home buyers first look online for properties and information when beginning their search. And most of those buyers then turn to real estate professionals to help them realize their real estate goals."

According to the 2012 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, released today at the conference, nine out of 10 recent home buyers used the Internet to search for homes, up from seven out of 10 in 2003. And the percentage of buyers who report using the Internet "frequently" nearly doubled, from 42 percent in 2003 to 79 percent in 2012.

"Stay in touch and engaged with your clients online by making your website the most 'social' thing you use," said Hata. "Give consumers what they can't Google."

Nearly half of all Realtors® -- 49 percent -- report actively using social networking websites, and a small but growing segment of Realtors® use newer forms of communication, such as blogs (17 percent), according to the most recent NAR Member Profile.

Session participants discussed ways to leverage the business applications of popular social media platforms including Pinterest, Tumblr and Yelp, from recommendations about creating more visual content, and considerations related to the size advantages of a smart phone versus larger tablets.

NAR provides its members myriad social media resources to help amplify Realtor® social media engagement, including the Realtor® Magazine and Realtor® Action Center Twitter feeds, https://twitter.com/#!/realtormag and https://twitter.com/#!/realtoraction, respectively; NAR's main Facebook presence, https://www.facebook.com/#!/realtors; NAR's Research Facebook pages, www.facebook.com/narresearchgroup; the HouseLogic Facebook pages, www.facebook.com/HouseLogic; and the Realtors Property Resource® blog, http://blog.narrpr.com.

The National Association of Realtors®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org. This and other news releases are posted in the "News, Blogs and Videos" tab on the website.