Sell More With Instagram For Real Estate Agents

Instagram is the visual-based compliment to Facebook, and since it’s owned by Facebook it’s easy to cross-post and link your content. The platform has over a billion active daily users, so you’ll be sure to find people to target within your local market. The most important thing to remember is that as engaged as your people are on Facebook, they’ll be four times as engaged on Instagram. You can’t afford not to be on Instagram as part of your larger social media strategy for real estate agents. The platform is younger and more into social media in general, and you’ll likely be reaching outside your core audience if you focus on an older, more affluent crowd. But don’t neglect millenial money just because you have heard they don’t have the cash to buy homes, and don’t assume older folks with more earning potential aren’t on the platform. We’ll say it again—one billion active daily users, and they spend almost an hour on it per day versus half that on Facebook.

The Basics of Posting

There are a few things you need to do to get started once you’ve had some time to set up your account and get familiarized with the platform:

• Switch to a Business Profile: Business and personal are different things on Instagram, and while you can easily have crossover from your audience, you need both types. Keep one about your personal life for those you want to know more, and keep your agent-based content on your business profile. A little mixing is okay but don’t go overboard.
• Client Testimonials: Of course you know to use testimonials on your website, but it can be even more effective on Instagram. If you go the extra mile and make a video testimonial from clients, you’ll land big impact. You’ll probably have to offer up something to each client in return, but it’ll be paid back to you many times over.
• Don’t Neglect Videos: It’s easy to think videos are mostly content for TikTok, but Instagram is not only for pictures. Just like with Facebook Live, you should center your videos around virtual tours/inspections, Q&As, day in the life clips. Music can really help set the mood too, and shorter is better: think 30 seconds max … this isn’t a livestream.

Advanced Posting Parameters

Once you get the basics of posting on IG down, it’s time to focus on more advanced tips. The number one piece of advice is this: learn what your audience likes the most and create the real estate content they engage in most.

• Partner with Influencers: Having trouble gaining traction in your local market? Partner with an influencer to add instant credibility and authority, but keep in mind it won’t be for free. Also, influencers often compete and are agents themselves, so it might be easier to contact those who influence buyers but aren’t actual agents. If you are already successful yourself, remember that collaboration is huge on social media, and you can both boost your profiles if you work together.
• Recycle Content: Everyone struggles for content ideas from time to time, and that’s when you can plug in another user’s content. Just give credit, ask permission, and only do so sparingly and tastefully—so you don’t look like you are without your own voice and vision. /li>

Use Your Listings For Content

Your listings are natural content. Pictures, descriptions and property details … these are the headlines and captions you need for Instagram. Simply get posting! However, watch out and don’t rely on them too much or you’ll seem like you’re just piping MLS listings through to your Instagram page. Users don’t like lazy content creators because there are already so many of them out there. They know how to separate the wheat from the chaff, and when you invest in them they’ll invest in you.

Host Open Houses

Hosting in-person open houses can be exhausting, but you can do the same thing online, get more people seeing your properties than in-person and not waste time with all the prep you’d need if you had people actually walking through with you. Think about it—it’s a hassle to get somewhere after work, but it’s much easier to hop onto your phone and click into an Instagram Live feed on your commute home.

Be as Local as Possible

What makes your local area or each neighborhood in it unique? Don’t be the agent who has neighborhood sections on their websites with brief descriptions that might be anywhere in your state—show you actually are a local and understand what makes your area tick. After all, for most agents this is also where they call home.

• Content: You can always look at what other creators are posting onto Instagram, but it’s better to think about what most interests you about your local market and create posts based on those things. Is there are neglected block in a transitioning part of town? Are you frustrated about a relatable issue in the industry, like buyers thinking they’re better off without agents in heated markets? Keep a notepad with you or your notes app ready at all times so you can jot down ideas. And remember, if you can capture something timely, you will be more likely to trend. Be part of the industry conversation.
• Ads: Zip code and radius targeting is how Instagram targets potential clicks on your ads. The Instagram Insights tool will allow you to see the demographic information of who is engaging with your ads, and posts. The more you study this information, the more you’ll create the content your particular audience wants to see.