Orji-Oko Uzor- Introduction
- Reasons why every realtor needs an awesome Instagram account
- How do you grow your real estate on Instagram?
- Powerful ways to use Instagram for real estate marketing
- Create the perfect Instagram profile for your real estate business
- What to post on Instagram to get real estate leads?
Introduction
If you are looking to start your
Instagram real estate markeking and learn how to be a pro. That’s why the first social media platform you should start building your presence on is Instagram. Instagram real estate marketing is very effective. But what makes it stand out from other social media platforms is the very fact that marketing is fun here. The reason being that the platform makes editing and sharing visual content (images and videos) very easy. And when it comes for you to promote homes and neighborhoods. Already there is no dearth of visual content for you to share with the world. This aids you connect with your local community for pennies on the dollar.
Unlike many other social media platform like Facebook. Reaching your prospects organically that’s without spending money on ads, is easier on Instagram. However if you have the budget. We would recommend that you start investing in Instagram ads right away! But first you need to learn how to be a pro in Instagram real estate marketing.
Reasons why every realtor needs an awesome Instagram account
Let’s discuss the easons why every realtor needs an awesome Instagram account and that includes you:
- Instagram account is a free form of advertising everyone is already familiar with. You and people you know are on Instagram because it’s a fun, beautiful, easy way to stay in touch.
- It’s extremely visual and shows off your listings. Instagram is a natural fit for realtors to post amazing pictures of their properties. Video walkthroughs, and other tidbits buyers need to know.
- You’ll see who likes your posts so you will be able to reach out directly to potential leads. And your existing customer base. On average, realtors always see 10x more engagement from their Instagram posts than from Facebook.
- The Instagram users has more money. According to Statista, Instagram users earn more money than those on Facebook and Twitter so they might be more qualified buyers
- Hashtags are now the new SEO. You might rank higher in an Instagram search with the right hashtags. Than you may rank with your traditional SEO approach on search engines.
- Understand that the more you post, the more engagement and traffic you’ll get. Thanks to the Instagram algorithms, your recent posts with more likes will automatically jump to the top of your users’ feeds. Meaning that your posts are likely to be viewed and interacted with often.
- It’s free event marketing. You use it for your happy hour parties, open houses, and other meetups where awareness is relevant for attendance.
- It’s a goldmine for referrals. Clients will need to keep up with you and refer your services to their friends, family, and coworkers. Your clients may tag their Instagram friends on your listings to spread it to those who don’t follow your account.
How do you grow your real estate on Instagram?
Get local
When you are setting up your first Instagram ad. Youu’ll notice there are many options in terms of creating a target audience. By far the most important targeting option for most real estate marketers is location targeting. One wonderful thing about Instagram is that you might get specific with your location targeting by using a set zip code and radius. That way, you only show ads to the folks who are likely to be interested in your properties. Make sure you include areas where your audience tends to move from. Don’t target only the towns you are selling in, but equally the city so you may capture some new leads who are likely to move.
Research hashtags to create a relevant list
Hashtagging might look like a useless sport, but it may actually be beneficial to increasing the reach of your Instagram content. According to Sprout Social, any Instagram post with at least one hashtag has 12.6% more engagement than those without! Now, the question is what should you be “hashtagging”? Well, this is where research will be helpful! There are many tools out there like RiteTag, ExportTweet, and Hashtagify. That will assist you with data on what hashtags are popular.
Use carousel ads to show more of each property
The good thing about Instagram is that you are never stuck in one format for your beautiful ads. But when you feel overwhelmed. One Instagram ad format where you can never go wrong is the beautiful carousel ad format. This ad format probably have been made for the real estate marketer. It allows you to display different images in a catalog-like format to allow your audience to scroll through and see many rooms or properties. This format equally gives you many opportunities to pull in new leads though beautiful imagery.
Take advantage of targeting options
Setting up your location targeting certainly does not mean you should stop there! Your real estate agency will likely have a pretty specific demographic to target. Based on the kinds of properties you sell or rent.
Instagram makes it very easy to target the older wealthy audience you might be looking for. Whether you want to segment your audience by their education, relationship status, life events, or varying interests or behaviors, the targeting options are almost endless!
Set defined goals
Why do you advertise on Instagram? Is it for you to engage with people searching to buy their first home? Or probably you’re going after renters who are willing to sign a year-long lease? Perhaps you want to tap into an entirely new market. Or even to create awareness amongst the location your real estate firm is serving? Whatever your goals are, the first step to configure a successful Instagram advertising campaign is to define them.
Setting your defined goals ahead of time will aid you to go through the flow of configuring your first advertisement. When you are choosing your campaign objective. It will equally direct you through the rest of the process. Specifically in choosing an ad format.
Powerful ways to use Instagram for real estate marketing
Here are powerful ways Instagram can be used for real estate marketing:
Feature current properties and developments
To feature what’s currently for sale or rent is the first thing that comes to mind when one use Instagram for real estate marketing. The social network is a perfect platform to show properties and developments. To do this efficiently, it’s worth spending some time on the visuals. Don’t just post a digital version of a print flyer and call it a day. Take time and develop creative specifically for Instagram that will be unique on the platform.
Feature future properties and developments
Just because a property isn’t yet on the market doesn’t mean that you can’t feature it on Instagram. The platform is a good way to let your audience know what will soon be listed and to build interest ahead of time inside them. Bear in mind that even when a property isn’t anywhere close to being in the market, it can still be showcased.
Showcase aspirational real estate
Many people love to look at real estate even when they’re not in the market, hence the appeal of TV shows like House Hunters. This is basically true for dream properties, such as luxury homes and beach getaways. Again, bear in mind that Instagram has many powerful content formats beyond single images. Stories and videos in particular might be powerful ways to show aspirational real estate.
Let audiences know about your successes
People love to work with individuals and firms that are successful. That’s why to use Instagram to boast a little is a powerful tactic. It shows to audiences that you’re every competent. They are likely to meet their real estate needs better than others. A key thing for you to keep in mind is that specificity helps when you talk about successes. By giving Instagram users details about your achievements, you will better differentiate yourself from the competition.
Promote specials and open houses
Instagram being a time-sensitive platform. Because feeds tend to turn over quickly and Stories disappear within a day. That may pose challenges, but it equally makes the social network a useful tool to promote time-sensitive information. Specifically, it’s a great platform to inform audiences about things like current price specials and upcoming open houses. With timely content, like with other Instagram content, it may pay to have some fun with your pieces. The tone of the platform tends to be light, and to add some humor may make your posts feel like they fit the medium.
Introduce yourself and your team
Who are you? This question is a one that audiences ask when evaluating real estate firms. To address it, you may use Instagram to showcase details about yourself as well as your team. This is another area where specifics are needed. The more familiar you make yourself to audiences, the more likely they will reach out to you.
Create the perfect Instagram profile for your real estate business
Use Instagram for business
Don’t use a personal profile if you are to promote your business on Instagram. Instagram business profile gives you the chance to unlock many features that are not available to personal profile. You can decide to run ads and more importantly, get access to user engagement analytics. With a business account, you’ll gain access to business features and Instagram Insights. These tools will help you understand who is engaging with your business on Instagram.
The best thing about having a business profile on Instagram is that you might retarget people. Who are engaging with your content with creative ads through Instagram as well as Facebook. It means that you might show Facebook ads to people who shares, likes and clicks on your Instagram content.
Create the perfect Instagram profile
The next step is to create an attention grabbing Instagram profile. That will encourage people to follow you.
The three most important components of a powerful Instagram profile:
Bio
You have 150 characters to state the value your real estate brand will provides to your clients. Add relevant hashtags, use Emojis and a clear call-to-action (CTA). The first thing you would like people to do after they land on your Instagram page.
Name
Add your name but it doesn’t hurt if you add a keyword or two such as ‘Homes for sale in your town’ to make it more search friendly.
Photo
Make sure your photo is modern, stylish, and friendly.
Use Instagram CTA
Instagram has been introducing Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons that allows businesses to collect leads. Currently, there are four types of Instagram CTA buttons are available: Call, Text, Email, or Directions. We would recommend that you avoid using ‘Email’ or ‘Directions’ action buttons. Rather, use ‘Call’ or ‘Text’. These action buttons work well for real estate professionals.
Stick to a theme: Colors, fonts & image filters
Take a look at any successful, verified Instagram account with thousands of followers. You would notice that it follows particular colors, fonts, photos, and camera filters. Meaning, they stick to a particular theme. Studies have shown that engagement increases when you follow a particular color and font theme. As people start to associate these colors and fonts with your brand. It leaves a lasting impression in the minds of people every time they visit your Instagram page. And see your content in their newsfeed. It makes your brand more memorable.
Instagram is all about images
This is one of the most important things you must keep in mind if you really want to grow your Instagram account. You should post high quality images only. It’s also relevant that you stick to the particular camera filters and color themes when posting images. The images ideally should be square in size, but you may experiment with various aspect ratios.
Location tagging and hashtags are important
Whenever you post, particularly an image or video of a neighborhood amenity. Make sure you tag a location. It is one of the best ways to optimize your real estate posts for Instagram search. The same goes true for hashtags.
What to post on Instagram to get real estate leads?
Listings posts
You should be posting beautiful images of homes, showing off the best interior and exterior features of the building. Give a well detailed description, such as MLS number, open house schedule, listing agent’s name. And how interested buyers may contact you for that property. Probably you have different beautiful images of a home listed for sale. You may add these images to a single post and make it scrollable. These photos will appear in sequence. This way you don’t need to post images of the same listing over and over again.
Visual guides to show amenities of your local community or neighborhood
One of the best ways, you can promote a home. By showcasing the features of the neighborhood through visual content such as images and videos.
Tell stories through visual content
You can interview chefs of the best restaurants, local business owners, movers, builders. And developers and professionals who will help people relocate to or out of your community. You will the post their images and videos with nice details about them in the description. This will aid you in buildinh your network and getting leads through referral. At the same time, this kind of content will equally help your prospective clients know more about the community.
Infographics about real estate market trends
Here, you will talk about the latest median listing price, the number of homes listed for sale, appreciation in home values. The number of days on the market for homes in your area, any improvement in school rankings in your area, a drop in the crime rate, and demographics are all good things to create beautiful infographics for Instagram. This kind of content will establish you as a neighborhood expert in your community.
Local events and happenings
When any community or sports event is coming up, make a good Instagram post about it This will prove you have your fingers on the pulse of your community and that you know what’s happening at the moment.
Testimonials
Instagram is the best place to showcase testimonials. You will go a step further and post video testimonials to make them more authentic and trustworthy. You need to be posting images and videos of happy moments with your clients is a great idea.
Don’t overdo it and stay disciplined with posting schedule
Many real estate agents that post images of homes listed for sale, do it several times in a day. This will not only overwhelm your followers, but equally reduce your organic reach. Never make the mistake of posting more than once or twice a day. In order for you to stay disciplined with your posting schedule. You might upload a week’s worth of content at once and then use a tool to remind yourself when it is time to post for the day.