Get familiar with this unfamiliar graphic; Facebook's new Graph Search tool will radically change the site's search function, which will help agents with client outreach.

By Peter Ricci

Well, it’s finally happening – after years of users grappling with Facebook’s inferior search function, the mighty social media giant is finally launching a new search apparatus: the Graph Search.

Infinitely more elegant and detailed than Facebook’s original search function, the Graph Search promises to offer numerous improvements and features over the old function, many of which will be of huge benefit to real estate agents. Here are three reasons why you should be excited about the Graph Search.

Facebook’s Graph Search – 3 Reasons It Will Rock

1. Search Friends by City – Finally, Facebook will allow you to search your friends via what city AND neighborhood they live in, which will be a huge benefit to real estate agents. One scenario in particular jumps out: say you’re marketing a property in The Woodlands, and you have numerous friends, clients and acquaintances who live in the Energy Corridor; now, you can easily isolate them from your other friends, and send them information via Facebook about that property.

2. Search Friends by Industry – This will be another huge time-saver, as Graph Search will allow you to easily find all of your contacts who work in the real estate industry, from agents, to lenders, to appraisers, to attorneys, to stagers.

3. Super-Targeted Marketing – Finally, the Graph Search function will allow you to drill further down and separate your contacts by ‘likes,’ photos, you name it, which will provide you with a ridiculously easy method for understanding your clients’ motivations and interests. Think of how much better you’ll get along when you know your client loves Jimi Hendrix, or recently saw Skyfall for the fifth time?

As Katie Lance, the CEO of Katie Lance Consulting, phrased it in a RisMedia op-ed: “Remember the days when you barely knew your clients anniversary date or names of their children? This wealth of information will help you as a real estate professional take relationship building on Facebook to the next level.”

Lance also points out one more critical fact – make sure you sign up for Graph Search as soon as you can. Though the function is currently in beta, you can can visit its Web page on Facebook, scroll down to the bottom of the page and sign up for beta testing, giving you an early jumpstart to using this most exciting of technologies.