How to Use Instagram to Grow Your Real Estate Business
Instagram is one of the best social media platforms for REALTORS and Real Estate Agents. If you are a real estate professional. Instagram should be listed amongst your most used social media platforms. It’s easy to use, sparks engagement and it’s highly visual. Another benefit that we see from the Instagram strategies that we implement for our clients is that they are able to build local brand awareness for their real estate business.
The charm of Instagram stems from the fact that users can post different kinds of content from photos, videos, and Instagram stories. It’s not that hard to come up with the right content to have a solid Instagram presence. You can post things like videos that showcase your listings to creative shots of the neighborhood and surrounding community. And, don’t forget to post what you are doing, selfies of you with your clients or pics of you and the attorney at the closing table. Your followers want to see your human side.
Instagram isn’t just for posting awesome pictures. There are more than a dozen ways to create leads and advertise through Instagram and we’re here to give you the low-down on the best tips and tricks to get you started.
- Create an Instagram business account for your brand
Don’t skip this step. Once you’ve downloaded the app, you can then sign up using an email address or sign up using your personal Facebook profile. It’s best to create a business Instagram account, that way you can view and monitor the analytical reports that come with your business account. With this perk, you are able to see how your posts are performing, it is also essential when you decide to run ads. An Instagram Business profile is the best way to showcase your brand and leverage your business properly.
- Be seen and Be Heard By Your Ideal Target Market
Make sure that you’ve set up your contact details and you have a well-written bio. Include 1-2 keywords related to real estate in your bio. Instagram is not only a social media channel, but it’s also a search engine. Don’t forget your profile picture, it is a must as this is used to identify you and your brand visually on Instagram. Your profile picture is one of the first things people see when they visit your page. You may use a professional looking head shot or your brand’s logo. You will need a square image or photo, with a size of at least 400x400px. Once done, go ahead and invite your family and friends to follow you.
- Create engaging content
Engagement is big on Instagram. Engaging content will help you get your posts to more people and it’s not that hard. This is especially true if you know who your target audience is. You can post photos of the house that you’re selling and ask your audience something about it (What is your dream theme for your home?), you can also post whom you’ve sold some of your listings. Apart from that, make sure that you also engage with your followers once they’ve engaged with your post. Answer all of the comments!
- Consistently post high-quality photos and video
Instagram is a highly visual platform. Just think about all of the content that you engage with on social media. Most likely it’s relevant to your interests and is of good quality. You don’t have to hire a professional photographer everytime you want to post something or get a high-end camera, but great lighting, the right angle, and a little creativity will surely go a long way.
- Share yourself
The people who follow you on Instagram don’t only want to know about real estate, but they want to know who you are. Do you have a dog? Share a photo of your pet. Drank a great coffee this morning? Share your short review about it. It won’t hurt you or your brand to share snippets of yourself and your life, it is also a great way to connect with your future clients.
- Captions help
Yes, we’ve said that Instagram is very visual but you can also put in some text or caption to go along your image or video. This is also the perfect venue to use keywords and hashtags for your brand.
- Use Instagram Stories
Aside from being fun, Instagram Stories help you and your brand to stay top of your potential clients’ mind. You can post polls, Boomerang videos, or simply just share your day. Since stories can only be viewed for 24hrs (they will disappear after that time frame), there is also a sense of urgency for your followers to check in on the stories of people and brands they are following.
- Instagram Story highlights
If you want your story to be seen by your followers for more than 24 hours, you can select it and post it as your Instagram story highlights. This will be seen at the top of your feed, the best thing is you can organize it to “folders.” These folders can also contain information about your listings as well as some of the FAQs or Frequently Asked Questions.
Now that you have these tips and tricks, you are now ready to get started! Remember that Instagram is an effective and powerful tool to connect with your potential clients and it may take time and effort but all these will pay off. So what will be your first post?