Retweets and followers and hash tags, oh my! With its short, 140-character posts, ability to easily follow trending topics, and availability of consumers and peers to connect with, Twitter is an amazing tool for lead generation, nurturing, and networking opportunities with your real estate social network.

But, as with many social media tools available today, you get out what you put in. Twitter isn’t a magic solution to your social media needs, but with some effort, information, and strategy, it can become an influential part of your overall online real estate marketing strategy.

Whether you’re just starting to use Twitter, you’ve been silently following people for a while now, or even if you consider yourself Twitter-literate, consider these steps to Twitter success:

1. Provide value in your posts. Once you’re in a regular habit of seeking out new followers, make sure that you’re keeping them engaged with what you have to say. Posting regularly isn’t enough. Make sure that you’re providing value by tweeting interesting, engaging, relatable, funny, or relevant content. Also, vary the type of content you’re tweeting—text, pictures, videos, and retweets.

2. Interact with your followers. Encourage a dialogue with your followers by asking questions in your tweets. When followers reach out to you, reply to them— Twitter is meant to be interactive. Additionally, retweet other users’ real estate tweets to show that you support the real estate social network as a whole. To keep tabs on recent interactions, click the “Connect” tab on your Twitter home page.

3. Utilize hash tags. Consider hash tags the keywords of Twitter. When you tag important words or phrases in your tweets with a ‘#’, they become easily searchable for other users. For example, if you’re a Seattle-based real estate agent, every time you tweet about the market, use the hash tag “#seattlerealestate.”

4. Publicize in the real world. In addition to promoting yourself within Twitter, don’t forget that you can publicize your Twitter handle everywhere you communicate with peers and clients—on Facebook and your blog, in your email signature, on marketing materials and brochures, and on your business card. If you give presentations, let attendees know your twitter handle in case they want to live-tweet your event.

These tips are just the beginning of what’s possible with Twitter. Dedicate a few hours this week to exploring your Twitter account, finding some new followers, and making a strategic plan about the ways in which you want to use Twitter in your business.

Make Twitter the newest weapon in your online real estate marketing arsenal. Happy tweeting, and don’t forget to follow Market Leader on Twitter for more real estate marketing and sales tips.